Placerville

About an hour north of Angels Camp on Hwy 49 is the much larger (pop. ~12,000) town of Placerville.

Originally it was known as Dry Diggin's since miners moved cartloads of dry soil to running water to search for gold. Then,

Later in 1849, the town earned its most common historical name, "Hangtown", because of the numerous hangings that had occurred there.^[11] However there is debate on exactly how many lynchings occurred in the town.^[10] The town had no police force (in 1849) and five immigrants attempted robbery of a Mexican gambler.^[10] Of the five immigrants, two Frenchmen and one Chilean were known wanted men, and they were not given any trial, instead they were hung on an oak tree on Main Street by a mob.^[10][12] The name "Hangtown" stuck after that event.^[10]

The name was changed in 1984 when it was incorporated. At that time, it was the third largest town in California. The name is derived from 'placer', a deposit of sand or gravel in the bed of a river or lake, containing particles of valuable minerals.

In addition to a unique naming history, Placerville is also home to the oldest hardware store west of the Mississippi. Interesting place. Lots of good outdoor equipment, hardware, tools, and clothes.

On the street we find what seems to be an old delivery truck for the hardware that has been restored to better than new.

Gotta admit, that is a fine looking machine.

I'll give you three guesses what the Round Tent Store was in 1849. Yes, this started as a round tent. 

The Round Tent Store , literally a large round canvas tent was established in 1950 (sic) by Jacob Bernstein and Emmanual Bloomingdale to sell clothing. It burned down in the 1856 fire and was replaced by a handsome brick structure with a rounded façade, which sat far out into main Street. In 1828 the city widened Main Street and the Round Tent was moved back 17 feet to match the other buildings.