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Newspaper The Weekly Placer Herald (Auburn, Placer Co. [Calif.]) 1852-1855

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About The Weekly Placer Herald (Auburn, Placer Co. [Calif.]) 1852-1855

The California Gold Rush was short lived, but its impact was profound and enduring. Between 1848 and the mid-1850s hundreds of thousands of people moved into the state in search of easily accessible gold deposits. Most of these “49ers” initially settled in the Sierra Nevada region of California, from Butte County in the north to Mariposa County in the south, establishing both mining camps and new towns in the area. Within a decade the majority of workable gold deposits were emptied and prospectors were replaced by mechanization and capital. Most of the “Argonauts” moved either out of the region or into nearby growing towns and cities.

California “mining newspapers,” as they were called by one of their first chroniclers, Helen Giffen, sprang up in these newly settled towns as the initial Gold Rush waned. Not only were they some of the earliest papers printed in the state, collectively they chronicled a region as it transitioned from often lawless and violent mining camps to permanent settlements with organized governments and law enforcement. They also recorded the changing nature of mining and, as Giffen notes, “advocated mining and land reforms that were later written into California law.”

Located just north of El Dorado County, the birthplace of the California Gold Rush, Placer County was established in 1851 with the city of Auburn as its seat. The county’s name derived from the plentiful “placer” gold deposits in riverbeds that prospectors discovered in 1848. Auburn is roughly 30 miles from both Coloma, where gold was first uncovered at Sutter’s Mill, and Sacramento. Auburn’s proximity to gold mines and the state capital allowed it to continue to thrive beyond the 1880s, when gold mining began to be eclipsed by other industries.

Not surprisingly, given Auburn’s status as the county seat and its thriving economy, the city had numerous newspapers throughout the last half of the 19th century. One of the first and most enduring was the Placer Herald, which was established in September of 1852 as the Weekly Placer Herald by Richard Rust and Tabb Mitchell. The title changed to just the Placer Herald in September of 1855, with Mitchell remaining as editor. It was in continuous publication until 1966, when the publication moved to Rocklin and was renamed the Placer Rocklin Herald.

Provided By: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Weekly Placer Herald (Auburn, Placer Co. [Calif.]) 1852-1855

Dates of Publication

  • 1852-1855

Created / Published

  • Auburn, Placer Co. [Calif.] : T. Mitchell & Co., 1852-1855.

Headings

  • -  Placer County (Calif.)--Newspapers
  • -  California--Placer County
  • -  United States--California--Placer--Auburn

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Sept. 11, 1852)-v. 3, no. 52 (Sept. 8, 1855).
  • -  Master negatives are available for duplication from: California Newspaper Microfilm Archive; positive copies may be purchased by the reel; for further information consult the CNMA at: http://cbsr.ucr.edu External
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Placer herald (Auburn, Calif.) (DLC)sn 82014998 (OCoLC)8802258

Medium

  • v.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn93052117

OCLC Number

  • 28688639

ISSN Number

  • 2693-3209

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Weekly Placer Herald Auburn, Placer Co. Calif. -1855. (Auburn, CA), Jan. 1 1852. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn93052117/.

APA citation style:

(1852, January 1) The Weekly Placer Herald Auburn, Placer Co. Calif. -1855. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn93052117/.

MLA citation style:

The Weekly Placer Herald Auburn, Placer Co. Calif. -1855. (Auburn, CA) 1 Jan. 1852. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn93052117/.