Pine Woods
One of Sutter Creek’s legends is that John Sutter founded this city in 1846 when he established a sawmill on the creek. But modern researchers have discovered he actually sent men into the Sierra foothills at least by 1844 to a place about four or five miles north of here he called Pine Woods.Pine Woods had no sawmill, but it did have a whipsawyers. From platforms and pits they sawed the giant cedar and pine felled in the area into planks and lumber for flat boats and various improvements at Sutter’s Fort. Besides lumber the outdoor manufactory at Pine Woods also produced charcoal, shingles, pumps, and barrel staves. His hired hands included Indians, overland immigrants, early California settlers and at least one woman and her children. They all traveled to Pine Woods on the trail Sutter’s wagons created or today’s highway 16 to Drytown.
As Sutter’s empire grew, Pine Woods could not produce lumber fast enough. Whipsaws would never out-cut a sawmill. That’s why he sent James Marshall out in 1847 to find another forest beside a stream big enough to power a sawmill. Marshal found such a place at “Culloma valley”. In the race dug to divert
this page online
Whether you call it a camp or a settlement, Pine Woods was surely the first such non-Indian seasonal “home” in the lower Sierra. But for a sawmill on the creek, Sutter’s men might have discovered gold in the valley above Sutter Creek, or at Pine Woods, too.
Erected 2004 by Amador County Sesquicentennial Committee and the Community of Sutter Creek. (Marker Number 8.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Native Sons/Daughters of the Golden West series list.
Location. 38° 23.517′ N, 120° 48.083′ W. Marker is in Sutter Creek, California, in Amador County. Marker is on Church Street, on the left when traveling east. The marker is on a Boulder to the right of the porch of the community center building. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 33 Church Street, Sutter Creek CA 95685, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Provis Park (within shouting distance of this marker); Cribbs Field (within shouting distance of this marker); Knight Foundry (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Sutter Creek United Methodist Church
is the last of eight commemorative plaques honoring
Amador County's Sesquicentennial Celebration
1854-2004
Dedicated by
Amador Parlor #17
September 5, 2006
Native Sons of the Golden West
Credits. This page was last revised on July 6, 2021. It was originally submitted on July 2, 2021, by James King of San Miguel, California. This page has been viewed 200 times since then and 121 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on July 2, 2021, by James King of San Miguel, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.
