Mining in El Dorado County, California.
As early as 1848, gold was found in the Mosquito Valley of El Dorado County, California. As more and more people flocked to the Gold Rush country, hundreds of mining camps sprang up across the region. One that flourished was Newtown, some nine miles Southeast of Placerville.
Established in 1852, Newtown was first settled by Swiss immigrants who spoke Italian and called the village “Sunny Italy.” As it grew quickly, Newtown boasted a post office, several retail establishments, and about 5,000 residents, with some claiming it was bigger than Placerville. Rich with placer gold, the Wells Fargo Express began serving Newton three times a week, and passenger stage routes were added later.
Tales abounded of the easy gold to be found. On one occasion, two large nuggets, one weighing 36 ounces and the other 42, were plucked from the South Fork of Webber Creek, one mile downstream from Newtown in Pleasant Valley.
Into this midst of easy findings and quick fortunes came a young immigrant from Finland who went by the name of “Sailor Jack.” Though the naïve man knew absolutely nothing of gold mining, he was determined to make his fortune in the goldfields. No sooner had he come to town than several experienced miners, as a practical joke, convinced the newcomer to file a claim on a piece of land they knew was worthless. But as fate would have it, the joke ended up on the pranksters when Sailor Jack struck pay dirt on his claim, and the mine became one of the richest in El Dorado County. Called the Sailor Jack Mine, it was also known as the Pinchgut Mine, the One Spot Mine, and the Pinchemtight Mine. In its early days, the placer mine, located about 1 ½ miles North of Newtown, yielded about $40,000 worth of gold.
Miners prospecting by Frederic Remington.
During these frenzied days at the Sailor Jack Mine, one of the miners found yet another rich discovery. The miner found several large gold nuggets in an area above the Sailor Jack, Goose Neck Ravine. When he returned, he shared his discovery with several other miners, who thought the nuggets might have come from the Sailor Jack’s lead source. Unfortunately, though the prospector and several others returned to the area time after time, they could never find where the nuggets came from. From then on, the site has been called the Lost Goose Egg Mine.
Today, nothing is left of Newtown except an old stone building and a cemetery near Newtown Road and Fort Jim Road, about eight miles Southeast of Placerville. The Sailor Jack Mine was located about 1 ½ miles due North of Newtown near today’s Webber Reservoir.
© Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated September 2026.
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