Georgetown

History

Founded August 7, 1849, by George Phipps and party, Georgetown was nicknamed "Growlersburg" due to the heavy, gold-laden quartz rocks that "growled" in the miners' pants as they walked around town. Georgetown is named for George Washington. The first post office was established in 1851. After a disastrous fire in 1852, the old town was moved from the canyon in lower Main Street to its present site, and, unique in early-day planning, Main Street was laid out wide, with side streets . After this new reconstruction, the residents of the city proclaimed their town as the "Pride of the Mountains". The hub of an immensely rich gold mining area, Georgetown had a population of about three thousand from 1854 to 1856. As a gold rush camp, the community outlasted many other towns, because the gold found nearby was solid primary deposits, as opposed to placer deposits. Gold production continued until after the turn of the 20th century.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , of which over 99% is land. For the 2000 census, the CDP's area was smaller. It had a total area of , of which was land and 0.24% was water. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Georgetown has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. Due to orographic lifting, Georgetown gets about four times the amount of precipitation as the western valley locations. A small amount of it falls as snow that melts quickly due to the above freezing temperatures, but for no more than four inches a year. The high precipitation allows for vegetation to flourish, but when a lot of it becomes dry during the hot and dry summers, wildfires become a prominent risk.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Golden Sierra Junior Senior High
  High · Garden Valley · 488 students · 18.8:1 ratio
• Georgetown Elementary
  Elementary · Georgetown · 251 students · 22.8:1 ratio
• American River Charter
  Other · Georgetown · 228 students · 28.5:1 ratio
• Otter Creek Elementary
  Elementary · Georgetown · 15 students
• Divide High
  High · Georgetown · 14 students