Douglas City, California

Douglas City is a census-designated place (CDP) in Trinity County, California first settled during the California Gold Rush. Douglas City sits at an elevation of 2152ft. The ZIP Code is 96024. The community is inside area code 530. The 2010 United States census reported Douglas City's population was 713. The Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area is nearby.HistoryThe prehistoric residents of the area were Wintun people; from North Fork to Douglas City the group was called Tien-Tien which means "friends". The Karuk called the same people the Kashahara. Local people suffered loss of population beginning with the epidemic of 1842. The explorer Jedediah Smith and his party came through the Hayfork area in 1828, killing several local people to intimidate the others and permit their passage. The Tien-Tien population was further reduced during the gold rush along the Trinity River.In 1848, Pierson B. Reading found gold along the Trinity; the bar he worked is at Reading's Creek just south of the Douglas City bridge. Reading took out over $80,000 dollars of gold on his first trip. Douglas Bar was active before 1856. Settlers arrived quickly, workings began on other bars in the area and towns formed at places along the trails for housing and supply. In just two years, every bar along the Trinity and its tributary streams was being worked and agriculture had started in some of the valleys.