Volcano, California
| Volcano | |
|---|---|
| census-designated place | |
The landmark St. George Hotel in Volcano
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 Volcano
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| Coordinates: 38°26′35″N 120°37′51″W / 38.44306°N 120.63083°WCoordinates: 38°26′35″N 120°37′51″W / 38.44306°N 120.63083°W | |
| Country |
 United States
|
| State |
 California
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| County | Amador County |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.501 sq mi (3.887 km2) |
| • Land | 1.501 sq mi (3.887 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) 0% |
| Elevation | 2,070 ft (631 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 115 |
| • Density | 77/sq mi (30/km2) |
| ZIP Code | 95689 |
| Area code(s) | 209 |
| GNIS feature ID | 237127, 2583178 |
| Website | |
| Reference no. | 29 |
Volcano (formerly, Soldier's Gulch and The Volcano) is a census-designated place in Amador County, California. It lies at an elevation of 2070 feet (631 m). The population was 115 at the 2010 census. It is located at 38°26′35″N 120°37′51″W / 38.44306°N 120.63083°W, just north of Pine Grove. The town is registered as a California Historical Landmark. The community is in ZIP code 95689 and area code 209.
The town is named for its setting in a bowl-shaped valley which early miners thought was caused by a volcano. Early morning fog rising from the valley floor only reinforced that belief. The area was first known designated by Colonel Stevenson's men, who mined Soldiers Gulch in 1849. In 1851 a post office was established and by April 1852 there were 300 houses. By 1853 the flats and gulches swarmed with men, and there were 11 stores, six hotels, three bakeries, and three saloons. Hydraulic mining operations, begun in 1855, brought thousands of fortune seekers to form a town of 17 hotels, a library, a theater, and courts of quick justice.
During the Civil War, Volcano's gold served the Union. The Volcano Blues smuggled the cannon "Old Abe," into the town by hearse, to intimidate rebel sympathizers. The cannon was cast by Cyrus Alger & Co. in Boston in 1837 and is the first of two 6-pounders made on the same day to be stamped with serial number 4. This 800 lb cannon held by the Volcano Blues was only fired once during the Civil War. The Confederate faction known as Knights of the Golden Circle owned many of the Main Street business. "Old Abe" was fired down Main Street causing windows to break in all the shops that had not been warned – the ones sympathetic to the South. The other cannon still survives at Shiloh Battlefield and is called "Shiloh Sam". Abe is the only cannon of that age in the U.S. still on a nineteenth century wooden carriage, and has had an interesting history all on its own.
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