Volcano (formerly, Soldier's Gulch and The Volcano) is a census-designated place in Amador County, California. It lies at an elevation of 2070 feet (631 m). The population was 115 at the 2010 census. It is located at 38°26′35″N 120°37′51″W, just north of Pine Grove. The town is registered as California Historical Landmark #29. The community is in ZIP code 95689 and area code 209.

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The town is named for its setting in a bowl-shaped valley which early miners thought was caused by a volcano. The early morning fog rising from the valley floor only reinforced that belief. The area was first known designated by Colonel Stevenson's men, who mined Soldiers Gulch in 1849. In 1851 a post office was established and by April 1852 there were 300 houses. By 1853 the flats and gulches swarmed with men, and there were 11 stores, 6 hotels, 3 bakeries, and 3 saloons. Hydraulic mining operations, begun in 1855, brought thousands of fortune seekers to form a town of 17 hotels, a library, a theater, and courts of quick justice. During the Civil War, Volcano's gold served the Union — the Volcano Blues smuggled the cannon "Old Abe" to intimidate rebel sympathizers. The cannon was cast by Cyrus Alger & Co. in Boston in 1837 and is the first of two 6-pounders made on the same day to be stamped with serial number 4. The cannon was never fired. The other cannon still survives at Shiloh Battlefield and is called "Shiloh Sam". Abe is the only cannon of that age in the U.S. still on a nineteenth century wooden carriage, and has had an interesting history all on its own.

 

The landmark St. George Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

Volcano almost became the county seat in 1854 and again in 1857, but the newspaper closed in 1857 and afterwards, the town began to decline.

 

Although small, Volcano is a town of many "firsts":

   1854 First theater group in California

   1854 First debating society in California

   1854 First circulating library in California

   1855 First private schools in California

   1855 First private law school in California

   1856 First legal hanging in Amador County

   1860 First astronomical observatory in California

   1978 First solar still in California

 

The observatory was established by George Madeira and is where the Great Comet of 1861 was discovered (in the U.S.). It is registered as California Historical Landmark #715.

Volcano is also home to Black Chasm Caverns, a National Natural Landmark.

 

Community theater, first established in 1854, continues in the town through the efforts of the Volcano Theater Company. The company conducts a full season each year, performing in both the 35-seat Cobblestone Theater and in the larger outdoor Volcano Amphitheater.

 

A post office opened in Volcano in 1851.

 

Volcano has got to be one of the Mother Lode's most picturesque towns. The town is named for it's setting in a bowl-shaped valley which early miners thought was caused by a volcano. The town dates back to the late 1850's and was originally nicknamed "Crater City".

 

It is said that in 1849 one miner took out 8 thousand dollars worth of gold in a few days! Another got 28 pounds in a single pocket.

 

In 1851 a post office was established and by April 1852 there were 300 houses, and by 1853 there were 11 stores, 6 hotels, 3 bakeries, and 3 saloons. In 1858 two mills with 8-stamps and six arrastres were in operation. Hydraulic operations began in 1855 and by 1867 most of the mining operations were idle.

 

Since Volcano is not located on highway 49, it has escaped much of the commercialization that we see on 49, with many of it's buildings dating back to the 1850's Volcano is a must see!