I Took A Road Trip To Placerville Idaho

Just over an hour out of Eagle is the near ghost town of Placerville Idaho. I was introduced to this town by a good friend of mine. I decided to make a photography road trip day to Placerville because I like really small towns and especially ghosts towns.

• Date Settled: 1862

• Elevation: 4,324 Feet

• Current Population: Around 50

• Peak Population: Around 3,300

Placerville was one of the first camps established after rich placer deposits were discovered in the Boise Basin region in late 1862. Placerville was located on rich ground, and quickly grew to be one of the region's premier mining settlements with a peak population of several thousand by 1864.

During the first couple years of the Boise Basin rush, Placerville established itself as both a rich mining camp and the supply center for the rest of the region. By summer of 1863 Placerville had around 90 houses, thirteen saloons, five blacksmith shops, seven restaurants, and five meat markets.

Placerville's status as largest settlement in the region would end quickly though as the nearby boom town of Idaho City became both the largest city in both the Boise Basin and the entire Northwest, eclipsing even Portland, Oregon.

A little history on Placerville Idaho borrowed from Western Mining History