Red Dog, California

Red Dog was a California gold rush mining town located in the Gold Country in south-central Nevada County, California, United States, 6mi northeast of Chicago Park. Red Dog Hill, a mine and campsite, was founded by three men all under the age of 22, and was named by their youngest, a 15-year-old prospector. As mining operations grew, the campsite became a settlement, and then a town with a population of 2,000 residents, before it was eventually abandoned. Still considered important today, Red Dog Townsite is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Red Dog has been noted for its unusual place name.HistoryWhile prospecting in 1850, three young men, all aged 21 or younger, discovered gold on a hill on the east side of Greenhorn ridge. The two from Arkansas, Henry Jacob Stehr and the Irishman Joseph Chew (or Chow), named the ravine after their home state of Arkansas. Charles ("Charlie") Wilson of Illinois, the youngest of the three at age 15, named the hill "Red Dog" after a zinc mine.Mining campsites began to form in Red Dog as well as other places nearby such as Chalk Bluff (1.5mi away), Hunt's Hill, Little York and You Bet (1mi away). Their existence was tied to ongoing mining operations. Red Dog Mining Company's Mine was situated at an elevation of 2910ft above sea level and expanded over 200acre. It used water powered through Old Chalk Bluff ditch from the head of Deer Creek.