Placer County Historical Society Books
Build up your history library with books from the Placer County Historical Society
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Auburn’s 49ers Vol. 1-6 by April McDonald-Loomis
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Auburn Images (2018 revised edition)
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Auburn Dry Diggings and Water: Rivers, Ravines, Ditches, Springs, Wells, and Waste by John Knox
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Auburn's Landmarks and Monuments by April McDonald-Loomis and John Knox
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Egbert, Sisson, Wallace and Crocker: Merchants, Lumbermen and Chinese Railroad Labor Contractors by John Knox
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Historical Homes and Buildings of Auburn by April McDonald-Loomis
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History of Placer and Nevada Counties (1924) by Lardner and Brock
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History of Placer County (1882) Thompson and West
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Infamous Crimes and Criminals (2020 revised edition)
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Notable and Interesting Women of Placer County Vol. 1 by April McDonald-Loomis
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Notable and Interesting Women of Placer County Vol. 2 by April McDonald-Loomis
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Placer County Courthouse (2020 revised edition)
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Placer County Directory of (1861)
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Roadhouses in Placer County (2020 revised edition)
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Samuel Holladay’s 1849 Journey
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The Story of the Bernhard Family by John Knox and Carol Cramer
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Current Offerings
Where to buy in Auburn:
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Pioneer Mining Supply - 878 High Street (530) 823-9000
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Placer County Visitor Center - 1103 High Street (530) 887-2111
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Winston Smith Books - 933 Lincoln Way; also has a wide selection of other California historical books. (530) 823-5940
Book published by the Placer County Historical Society
Egbert, Sisson, Wallace and Crocker: Merchants, Lumbermen and Chinese Railroad Labor Contractors
by John Knox​
Among the untold chapters in the history of Placer County is the story of the small 49er mercantile company in Illinoistown which supplied the bulk of the Chinese labor when the Central Pacific Railroad began advertising for laborers in 1865. Within two years this small firm, Egbert & Co., acquired a near total monopoly in the Chinese labor market and supplied much of the Chinese railroad labor on the coast over the next two and a half decades. By 1870 they had also become major dealers in groceries, hardware and other provisions, specializing in Chinese goods, with stores located on the lines of the Western Pacific, California and Oregon, and Central Pacific Railroads. In addition, for a number of years they were a major dealer in wood, timber, lumber and charcoal in the Truckee River Basin. These are but several examples of their many successful endeavors, the most unusual perhaps being their opening of the first salmon cannery in Alaska. It was surprising then to learn that they remain, except for a few historians, little known. Egbert, Sisson, Wallace and Crocker: Merchants, Lumbermen and Chinese Railroad Labor Contractors, just published by the Placer County Historical Society and written and compiled by PCHS member and local historian John Knox, aims to remedy that oversight through an abundance of primary source material chronicling the business and partnership of Placer County’s Egbert & Co. Available from the Placer County Historical Society at this time.