Amador City, California

Lower Rancheria is a former gold-mining camp in Amador County, California. It was located on Rancheria Creek 2 miles (3.2 km) east-southeast of Drytown, at an elevation of 1017 feet (310 m). Placer mining began at Lower Rancheria in 1848.Prior to 1855, the camp at Lower Rancheria was mostly populated by Spanish-speaking miners. On 6 August 1855 a series of murders were carried out at the camp by a group of Mexicans, who killed five men and one women and who also robbed the contents of a safe. Following this, three of the Mexicans were hanged, and the Mexican population of the camp were driven away.

New Chicago (formerly, Chicago) is an unincorporated community in Amador County, California. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Plymouth, at an elevation of 948 feet (289 m). In 1888, New Chicago was described as "only a mining camp" with a population of 150. A few residences remain in the area today.

Amador High School, located in Sutter Creek, California, is one of two public high schools in Amador County. Originally known as "Amador County High School" at its inception in 1911, the school's name changed to "Sutter Creek Union High School" in 1916, reverting to "Amador County High School" in 1949, at the request of that year's graduating class. In 1984, upon completion of the merger of three school districts in the county, the name was changed to "Amador High School".As of the 2020–21 school year, the school had an enrollment of 638 students and 31.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 20.2:1. There were 177 students (27.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 14 (2.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

The Gold Country (also known as Mother Lode Country) is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines that attracted waves of immigrants, known as the 49ers, during the 1849 California Gold Rush.

Sutter Creek (formerly spelled Sutter's Creek and Suttercreek; formerly named Suttersville) is a city in Amador County, California, United States. The population was 2,501 at the 2010 census, up from 2,303 at the 2000 census. It is accessible via State Route 49.

Sutter Hill is an unincorporated community in Amador County, California. It is located 7.25 miles (11.7 km) south-southeast of Plymouth, at an elevation of 1562 feet (476 m), or just north of Jackson along California State Route 49. Sutter Hill was the site of the establishment of Amador County in 1854. The Botto family established an estate on Sutter Hill in 1860 and lived there for five generations; other Italian families in the area established the Italian Benevolent Society of Amador County to support local miners. The society holds an annual picnic and parade in the area. By 1967, Sutter Hill had become a commercial district with supermarkets, lumber centers, general shopping centers, and the Amador County Airport.

Knight Foundry, also known as Knight's Foundry and Shops, is a cast iron foundry and machine shop in Sutter Creek, California. It was established in 1873 to supply heavy equipment and repair facilities to the gold mines and timber industry of the Mother Lode. Samuel N. Knight developed a high speed, cast iron impulse water turbine which was a forerunner of the Pelton wheel design. Knight Wheels were used in some of the first hydroelectric plants in California, Utah, and Oregon. This site is the last water-powered foundry and machine shop in the United States. A 42-inch (107 cm) Knight Wheel drives the main line shaft, with smaller water motors powering other machines.

Martell (formerly Oneida) is a census-designated place in Amador County, California, United States. It is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northwest of Jackson, at an elevation of 1486 feet (453 m). The population was 282 at the 2010 census. Martell is located west of Jackson and east of Ione, by which it is connected by the Amador Central Railroad. Martell is where several major retail and restaurant outlets for Amador County are located. The community is in ZIP code 95654 and area code 209.

Plymouth (formerly, Puckerville, Pokerville, and Poker Camp) is a city in Amador County, California, United States. The population was 1,005 at the 2010 census. The town was originally named Pokerville, when it was settled during the time of the gold rush. Plymouth is commonly now known as a "Gateway to Shenandoah Valley", a popular wine-producing region in the Sierra foothills. The Ione Band of Miwok Indians, a federally recognized tribe of Miwok people, is headquartered in Plymouth.

The Plymouth Trading Post is a brick building in Plymouth, California in Amador County, United States. The brick building was built in 1857 by hand by Joe Williams in 1857, to be his Trading Post. The Trading Post closed and the building became the headquarters of Plymouth Consolidated Mine in 1873. Plymouth Consolidated Mine was formed when a number of small mines combined. The building was the Plymouth Consolidated Mine main office and its commissary. Plymouth Trading Post is registered as California Historical Landmark #41, starting August 30, 1950. The Trading Post served the town and nearby Plymouth Mine. The building survived the 1877 that burned down much of the town. The brick walls foundations are 30 inches thick. The floor support beams are 12x12 inches of wood. Joe Williams "dug" the basement with dynamite to remove the shale rock below the building. There were hitching posts ring on the side of the building. Plymouth Consolidated Mine's Pacific shaft, was the deepest hard rock shaft at 4,450 feet by 1925 working the Plymouth gold vain. The main haul of gold was between 1883 and 1889, when it operated 160 stamps that crushed 400 tons of quartz ore a day. The Plymouth Consolidated Mine mined over $13,500,000 dollars of gold and closed in 1947. Some of the mines that Consolidated in 1883 were: Plymouth, Empire, and Amador Pacific mining companies. The mines were all located in the northern part of Mother Lode Gold Belt of the Sierra Nevada foothills at an elevation of 332 feet. After consolidation, the company had 126.3 acres of land that included: the Plymouth, Southerland, Oaks, Pacific, Simpson, Aden, Reese, Phoenix East claims, the Phoenix mill site, and interests in the Reese and Woolford, Indiana, Rising Star, Conville, and Beta claims. The first gold in the area was found in 1852. The Plymouth Consolidated Mine was idle from 1892 to 1911.

The Argonaut Mine is a gold mine in Jackson, California, United States. The deposit was discovered 1850 and was the site of the worst gold-mining disaster in the state's history. The mine closed in 1942 and, along with the nearby Kennedy Mine, is registered as California Historical Landmark #786.The gold deposit was discovered in the 1850s by two miners, James Hager and William Tudor, both freed slaves. Serious development began in 1893 when it was purchased by the Argonaut Mining Company. The mine operated until 1942 reaching a vertical depth of 5,570 feet (1,700 m) via a 63-degree shaft and produced more than $25 million (~$356 million in 2022) in gold.

The Kennedy Gold Mine is a gold mine in Jackson, California, one of the deepest mines on the Mother Lode. It closed in 1942 and together with nearby Argonaut Mine, is registered as California Historical Landmark No. 786. It has since been re-opened as a tourist attraction. The mine is named for Andrew Kennedy, an Irish immigrant, who reportedly discovered a quartz outcropping in the late 1850s near what is now State Route 49. The Kennedy Mining Company was formed in 1860 when he and three partners began digging shafts near today's mine property entrance. The mine operated sporadically until it closed in 1878. In 1886 fifteen people invested $97,600 (~$2.82 million in 2022) to reopen the mine under the corporate entity of the Kennedy Mining and Milling Company. In 1898 the company began sinking a new shaft 1,950 feet (591 m) east of the original shafts. This East Shaft would eventually reach a vertical depth of 5,912 feet (1,792 m), the deepest vertical depth gold mine in North America at the time. In 1928 a surface fire burned all the structures except two. All other buildings and foundations were built after 1928. The company operated the mine until 1942 when the U.S. Government closed gold mines because of the war effort. On August 27, 1922, when forty-seven miners were trapped by fire in the nearby Argonaut Mine 4,650 feet (1,409 m) below ground, rescue efforts were launched from the Kennedy Mine to connect the tunnels of the two mines. Unfortunately progress was slow and rescuers arrived too late to save the miners in the Argonaut. At the time of its closing, the mine had produced some $34.3 million (according to the California Department of Conservation) when gold was valued at $20.67 and $35.00 per ounce. The company paid its stockholders $5.8 million between 1886 and 1937. Over 95% of these dividends were paid at $20.67 per ounce.