Explore the Past

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The Sierra Nevada foothills have been home for people for millennia.  The area was settled thousands of years ago by the Northern Sierra Miwok, Maidu, Nisenan and many other Native Californian groups. Changes to their way of life started with the arrival of American fur trappers in 1827, but the 1848 Gold Rush was the event that changed California and its people forever. The story of the incredible range of first Native peoples, prospectors, immigrants, fortune seekers and more lives on in the Sierra Foothills, through the historic towns that are still mostly unchanged, museums and national and state parks that work to preserve the past.

  • Auburn City Hall
    Museums

    Placer County Museum

    Located on the first floor of Auburn’s iconic courthouse, the Placer County Museum tells the story of Placer County’s history starting from the original Nisenan Maidu inhabitants through to the latter half of the 20th century.