PLACERVILLE, CA, (LILA SEIDMAN) – Two weeks after the City of Placerville opted to nix a noose depicted on its city logo, officials affirmed that the area’s Gold Rush-era name, “Hangtown,” won’t be going anywhere.
City Council members voted unanimously to recognize that “Old Hangtown” and “Old Dry Diggins,” another moniker tied to the majority-white town’s mining past, are historically significant.
The decision arrives amid continuing acrimony over how to present the area’s Wild West origins. Three nooses were recently found hanging in the city, including two that weren’t removed because they were on private property and did not rise to the level of a crime, according to Placerville police.
Mayor Dennis Thomas said he and Councilman Michael Saragosa brought the item forward this week in light of confusion after the unanimous vote on April 13 to scrub the noose from the town’s logo …