Big Oak Flat

Tuolumne County · Big Oak Flat · location approximate

First called Savage Diggins after man who discovered gold here, 1848. Renamed Big Oak Flat about 1850 after giant oak tree that stood in center of town, near this spot. Oak was about 13 feet in diameter and was undermined in 1869 and burned in 1890. Pieces remain. Rich placer and lode mines reported to have yielded $28,000,000 during heyday. Stone buildings, erected 1852, still standing 1949.

1971 register text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native people; the state's landmark listings still carry most of this wording, and the California Office of Historic Preservation maintains the program's current texts.

Many of these plaques have since been recast or their texts revised. The California Historical Landmarks program and its current texts are maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation. California Office of Historic Preservation ↗

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Marker data: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Historical Landmarks (1971)

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