Georgetown, CA

Georgetown is a Gold Country town on the pine ridge locals call the Divide, in the northern part of El Dorado County. Miners founded it in 1849 as a camp nicknamed Growlersburg, after the way heavy gold nuggets supposedly rumbled in their pans, and a fire in 1852 pushed the settlement from its canyon spot up to the site it holds today. That rebuild gave the town its best feature. Main Street was laid out 100 feet across, with side streets at 60, and the generous width still lets the old storefronts breathe. Visitors notice it first, because the buildings sit well back from the traffic. In the mid 1850s the gold district drew about three thousand people to the area, and a Gold Rush atmosphere hangs on in the storefronts and the hotel. Georgetown Divide Recreation District runs the public side of town life. Beam Field handles ball games, the community center hosts classes and events, and Garden Valley Park, Banner Park and the Greenwood Schoolhouse are scattered across the Divide. For dinner, the hotel on Main Street is a bar known for its pretzels and chicken wraps. Los Abuelos Taqueria is the go-to for tacos and burritos, Royal Dragon is the area's only Chinese restaurant, and Buckeye Restaurant is known for jumbo shrimp. Art on The Divide is a gallery on the same stretch. Everything is small and a long way from anywhere bigger. Bigger shopping means driving down toward Placerville and the Highway 50 corridor, so many households fold errands into a single trip. The trade for that distance is winter. Storm weeks bring snow and closures that a valley town never sees, and ridge roads can stay slick long after the rain stops. People settle in Georgetown for the forest, the quiet and a main street that still has room to breathe.