Nevada City

City and seat of Nevada County, northeastern California; population (1990) 2,900. It is situated on Deer Creek, in the northwestern foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and lies 6 km/4 mi northeast of Grass Valley and 89 km/55 mi northeast of Sacramento. Nevada City was one of the principal sites of the gold rush of 1849–56; the county produced roughly half of all the gold found in California.

During the gold rush, Nevada City mushroomed into the third largest settlement in the state. At first, small placer deposits of gold were panned for in streams here, but the town later became the centre of large-scale hydraulic mining, until this destructive method was banned in 1884. Nowadays, it is a resort and headquarters for the Tahoe National Forest. Wine and beer are produced here, and the city is noted for the careful restoration of its Victorian houses.