1895 Map of Smartsville

About this map

Gold mining operations and family-named ranches define this late 19th-century landscape at the intersection of Butte, Yuba, Nevada, and Placer counties. The map captures the industrial peak of the California Mother Lode, centered on the deep-shaft Empire Mine and the neighboring Idaho Mine and North Star Mines. To the north and west, the terrain transitions from the high peaks like Oregon Peak into a network of creek-fed valleys including Penn Valley and Sharon Valley, where smaller settlements like Camptonville and Bangor flourished.