Smooth Azalea – Rhododendron arborescens

by | Dec 19, 2023 | Azalea

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38°51′15″N 120°51′34″W / 38.85417°N 120.85944°W / 38.85417; -120.85944

Garden Valley (formerly, Johntown) is an unincorporated community in El Dorado County, California.[1] It is located on Johntown Creek 6.25 miles (10 km) north-northwest of Chili Bar,[2] at an elevation of 1949 feet (594 m).[1]

A post office operated at Garden Valley from 1852 to 1853, from 1854 to 1862, from 1872 to 1895, and from 1896 to present (having moved in 1940).[2] The place was originally called Johntown in honor of the sailor who discovered gold at the site.[2]

The first Garden Valley community hall was built in 1856 by the Sons of Temperance; it was replaced by a second hall in the 1870s and a third in 1933. James Marshall, whose 1848 discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill launched the California Gold Rush, was a regular visitor to Garden Valley.[3]

Garden Valley, like many communities in the foothills of El Dorado County, lies in a region with significant levels of asbestos in the soil. Roads in Garden Valley were paved in 1986 in an effort to control asbestos-laden dust; the state issued an air quality warning for the area in 1999, but county supervisors voted down a measure to protect the residents from asbestos dust.[4]

Education

The Black Oak Mine Unified School District serves Garden Valley.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Garden Valley, California
  2. ^ a b c Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 489. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  3. ^ "Garden Valley citizens build meeting hall". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, CA. May 9, 1933. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  4. ^ Bowman, Chris (January 15, 2000). "El Dorado Hills homes checked for asbestos". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, CA. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  5. ^ Home page. Black Oak Mine Unified School District. July 20, 2002. Retrieved on October 27, 2010.

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