El Dorado County Local News: History


All Local History News articles contributed by our local media allies and other local newsrooms.

Image caption: The California mental health crisis is tied to both homelessness and rising crime.
UPDATE: California’s Mental Health Crisis: How We Got Here

How the California mental health crisis emerged out of the state’s history of deinstitutionalization and laws designed to protect the mentally ill, as well as the communities around them.

Image caption: The 1965 law known as the Williamson Act has been responsible for keeping about half of California's farmland out of the hands of developers.
The Williamson Act: How the Law That Protects California’s Farmland Works

The Williamson Act, passed in 1965, now keeps more than 16 million acres of farmland out of the hands of developers. Here's how the law puts the brakes on the development of California agricultural properties.

Image caption: The Baldwin Hills area in South Los Angeles is one region where a state conservancy would keep open land accessible to the public.
California’s 10 State Conservancies: How They Protect Parks and Open Land

How California’s 10 state conservancies buy up open land and shield it from developers to preserve the natural environment for public use.

Image caption: Translated from the Greek, “Democracy” means “people power.” How much power do the people have in California?
People Power! What Is Democracy, and How Does It Work in California?

Democracy is a 2,500-year-old system of government still looked on today as the best system, because under a democratic system, the people govern themselves. But is that all there is to it? What is democracy? And how does it work …

Image caption: Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation has cost California 90 percent of its wetlands.
How Land Reclamation Hurts California’s Environment

Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation projects have helped to build California, but they are also damaging the state’s environment for people, plants and animals by eliminating essential wetlands.

Image caption: How California reclamation districts turned millions of acres of wetlands into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush.
Reclamation Districts: Turning ‘Swamps’ Into Farmland

California has used reclamation districts to turn millions of acres of unusable swamps into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush. Here’s how it happened.

Image caption: The California Supreme Court has defined the state’s legal and political agenda for more than 170 years.
How the California Supreme Court Blazes Legal Trails

The California Supreme Court has kept the state at the forefront of legal issues surrounding abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage, starting in its earliest days in the Gold Rush era.

Image caption: From nitrates to arsenic to “forever chemicals,” California’s water supply faces a serious pollution threat.
Dirty Water: California Faces a Water Contamination Crisis

Almost one million California residents are forced to drink from contaminated water supplies, or pay for bottled water. Economic inequality makes the crisis worse. What is the state doing to fix it?

Image caption: Moss Landing in Monterey Bay is the world’s largest battery storage facility for solar and other renewable energy.
Solar Power and California’s Clean Energy Goals

Solar power, and a network of giant battery storage facilities, are playing an essential role in moving California toward its goal of exclusive reliance on renewable energy sources.

Image caption: California transportation history runs from railroads to today’s car culture.
California’s History of Transportation: From Railroads to Highways

The history of transportation in California has shaped the state, from the railroads to today’s highways, making the need for planning increasingly urgent. Here’s how it all happened, and where we stand today.

Image caption: Over two weekends last October, residents of Santa Cruz and Watsonville  participated in demonstration rides aboard an electric streetcar on rails.
The ‘Rail Trail’ Movement, Explained

Thousands of miles of railroad track, including some in Santa Cruz County, now sit idle. The fate of those largely abandoned tracks has become a burning controversy.

Image caption: California continues to work on legislation that would make voting easier.
Voting Rites

California keeps on taking legislative steps that will keep it ranked in the top 10 of voter-friendly states.

Image caption: Access to abortion in California is limited in many areas, though state laws protect a woman’s right to choose.
Abortion Rights in California, Explained

California has historically been ahead of the rest of the country in expanding the legal right to abortion services. Here’s what state laws say today, and how we got here.

Image caption: The Man Lee and Wah Hop stores at the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Site are all that remains of Coloma’s Chinatown.
Excavating the Past

The Gold Rush runs through the veins of El Dorado County, especially in these historic landmarks.

Image caption: Old Sacramento Historic District Sacramento is an open-air museum of historic buildings.
Capital Collections

Sacramento’s rich past can be explored by visiting its many and varied historical museums.

Folsom Times logo From Folsom Times...

03/23/2025
Image for display with article titled Mather Field: From Combat Training Days to Capital Airshow Cornerstone

Each year, the skies over Sacramento County erupt in the thunder of afterburners, vintage warbirds, and thrilling aerial acrobatics. The occasion is the California Capital Airshow, a nationally recognized aviation spectacle that draws tens of thousands of spectators to Mather Airport. But this is more than just an event—it’s a revival. With each sonic boom and flyover, the show resurrects the rich, multi-generational legacy of Mather Field, once a vital military air base and one of the longest continuously operating airfields in U.S. history.

California Local Pin Marker From Mountain Democrat...

02/21/2025
Read on for more information about two upcoming projects on Sierra Community Access Television.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

02/14/2025
Image for display with article titled Valhalla Tahoe Undertakes Preservation of the Historic Heller Estate

Valhalla Tahoe is proud to announce the beginning of a significant preservation project at the beloved historic Heller Estate (Valhalla). This preservation effort, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, will ensure that Valhalla remains a treasured landmark for another 100 years.

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Observer...

02/04/2025
A look at 14 places in California where Black businesses and culture thrived.

California Local Pin Marker From Mountain Democrat...

01/29/2025
Read on to learn more about this year's Gold Discovery Day in Coloma on January 25.

Folsom Telegraph logo From Folsom Telegraph...

01/16/2025
Image for display with article titled Folsom Approves 7-Year Agreement With Historic Railroad for Train Rides

The Folsom City Council approved a seven-year agreement on January 14 that gives the Placerville & Sacramento Valley Railroad the right to keep running excursion train rides between Folsom and the El Dorado County line. The P&SVRR volunteer group has revived the Folsom stretch of California's first train line.

Folsom Times logo From Folsom Times...

01/07/2025
Image for display with article titled Folsom Prison Museum Suddenly Closes Its Doors

Folsom’s renowned Big House Prison Museum, a longtime destination for history enthusiasts and curious visitors, has abruptly closed its doors. The closure, which occurred this past week, is reportedly due to financial challenges faced by the organization that operates the non-profit facility.

Folsom Times logo From Folsom Times...

11/24/2024
Image for display with article titled Folsom Powerhouse FFPA Board Seeks Members

The Folsom Powerhouse State Historical Park, nestled on the hillside just southwest of Folsom’s Rainbow Bridge, is a preserved, significant national treasure from 1895, largely unknown to many in our region. Its non-profit cooperating association, Friends of the Folsom Powerhouse, is currently seeking additions to its Board of Directors.

Folsom Times logo From Folsom Times...

11/19/2024
Image for display with article titled Hundreds of Folsom Cordova Students,staff Celebrate Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day

Hundreds of students, families, teachers, and staff from across the Folsom Cordova Unified School District (FCUSD) took part in the nationwide celebration of Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day on November 14. The event, which honors Ruby Bridges' legacy as the first African American child to integrate an all-white school in the South, saw a remarkable expansion this year, with participation growing from just one school in 2023 to ten schools in 2024.

Tahoe Guide logo From Tahoe Guide...

11/18/2024
Image for display with article titled Book Explores Tahoe’s Grand Estates

Author Paul Nelson recently released his book “Lost Grand Resorts of Old Lake Tahoe,” chronicling some of Tahoe’s most opulent former resorts along with historical profiles of some fascinating characters from Lucky Baldwin to Harry Comstock, Duane Bliss, Norman Biltz (the Duke of Nevada) and a lot of characters and cons in between. The book features 110 illustrative historical photos.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

11/05/2024
Image for display with article titled New Book Unveils Lake Tahoe’s Forgotten Era of Luxury

When Paul Nelson first explored the abandoned grounds of the Brockway Hot Springs Hotel in 1968, he couldn't have known that decades later he would become the chronicler of Lake Tahoe's lost golden age of grand resorts. 

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

09/20/2024
Image for display with article titled Research Shows Lake Tahoe Is World’s Third-Oldest Freshwater Permanent Lake

Before considerable scientific research by Western Nevada College Professor of Geosciences Dr. Winnie Kortemeier, it was understood that Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America, was created during the Pleistocene era, also known as the Ice Age, roughly 10,000 to 2.6 million years ago. Through her radiometric dating of rocks and examining the basalt that has interacted with the water of Lake Tahoe, Dr. Kortemeier has determined that the lake is 2.3 million years old.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

08/28/2024
Image for display with article titled New Apple Podcast ‘Scamtown’ Features the Story of Harvey’s Casino in South Lake Tahoe

When filmmakers Brian Lazarte and James Lee Hernandez finished their latest projects, McMillions$, the story of a fraud ring that rigged the results of the McDonald's Monopoly game, and The Big Conn, a series about Eric C. Conn, a Kentucky lawyer who defrauded the US government of over $550 million through the Social Security program, everyone they knew was sending them stories of weird, quirky crimes.

California Local Pin Marker From Mountain Democrat...

07/31/2024
The Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park has openings for volunteers and upcoming training classes.

California Local Pin Marker From Georgetown Gazette...

07/18/2024
The 60 year old metal roof on the historic International Order of Odd Fellows roof was repaired after coming lose over the winter.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

07/15/2024
Image for display with article titled HistoriCorps, Eldorado National Forest Seek Volunteers for Preservation Project

HistoriCorps and Eldorado National Forest are seeking volunteers of all skill levels to help rehabilitate the historic Bunker Hill Lookout Tower, with week-long volunteer opportunities running from July 28 through September 6.

Tahoe Guide logo From Tahoe Guide...

06/17/2024
Image for display with article titled Sierra State Parks Foundation Celebrates 50 Years

The Sierra State Parks Foundation was born when a group led by local women of the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, persuaded the Department of Parks and Recreation to scrap its plans for razing the 1903 Ehrman Mansion after it was acquired by the state in 1965. As a result, the concept of creating formalized public-private partnerships to improve the management of the state’s park system was formed.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

03/28/2024
Image for display with article titled Help Restore Historic Fire Engine

The Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District is seeking community members to help restore an antique fire engine the district recently reacquired.

Tahoe Daily Tribune logo From Tahoe Daily Tribune...

03/09/2024
Image for display with article titled El Dorado County Warns of Possible Measles Exposure

On March 5 a child with a confirmed case of measles was seen in the Emergency Department at UC Davis after being evaluated at San Joaquin Urgent Care. According to estimations approximately 300 people may have been exposed during the that time. Counties of residence for the individuals include El Dorado County.