Did You Know?
Amador City and County are named for Jose Maria Amador, a wealthy California rancher who mined along the Amador Creek in 1848. It was 1851 that the settlement of Amador City began, after gold outcroppings had been prospected on both sides of “Amadore’s Creek,” several hundred yards upstream from downtown. The “Original” or “Little” Amador Mine (north) and the Spring Hill (south) were probably Amador County’s first gold mines. The city’s most productive mine, the Keystone, produced about $24 million in gold!