The Falls of Salmon Falls.

There were once falls at Salmon Falls, now inundated by Folsom Reservoir. The rocks were blasted away in the 1920s, helping with logging operations, which floated timber down the river. Below is a screengrab of our 1873 map of the Georgetown Divide showing the old townsite.

Salmon Falls got its start in 1849 with miners working the creeks, including Sweetwater Creek, which the town grew up next to. Once Folsom Dam was constructed, this entire area flooded. The town’s cemetery was exhumed and the bodies re-buried at the “Re-location Cemetary” at El Dorado Hills.

In low rainfall years, the town re-emerges from its watery fate, and you can visit some of the old town sites. Here is a link to more info on this area.

1873 map showing Salmon Falls. See the entire map here.

The old Lotus Bridge site, and the Georgetown Divide history tour

Join us as we begin the Georgetown Divide History tour! The tour can start anywhere along the route, but we will use the crossing at the south fork of the American River in our example. This tour will eventually make a complete loop bringing us back to the starting point. Google powers the map we will be using and will allow you to use your cell phone device to follow and enjoy the various features we will learn. Once we have discussed a historical point of interest and "put it on the map," we will move on to the next spot. Eventually, we will have a "tour" you can use to explore our history-rich region. The map is located here on our webpage under "maps."

Close-up of the 1873 map of the Georgetown Divide. A link for this map is available in our map section here.

Our first stop along the tour is the old road route and bridge site across the south fork of The American River at Lotus. Looking at a close-up of the 1873 map of the Georgetown Divide above, you see two arrows. One shows the old Lotus crossing site near Hennigson Park, and the other shows the approximate route of the present-day bridge.

The old Lotus Bridge.

The old route used to cross the river at the present-day site of Henningson Park. Standing at the shore of the river, you can still see the concrete foundations for the old bridge sitting in the water. Once you crossed the bridge, the old road followed Beach Street towards the present-day Highway 49. We have drawn in the old route on our tour map so we can better visualize the way.

The Georgetown Divide History tour

The bridge was damaged by high waters in 1950 and ceased use when the present crossing, a bit upriver, was built in 1951. That bridge was replaced in 2019 by the bridge that stands today over the south fork of the American River. Join us as we continue our tour of the Georgetown Divide and visit the next site on our journey, the location, and ruins of the old Meyer's Dance Hall and Saloon.