Coloma is a former small town in El Dorado County, California, USA (Latitude/Longitude: 38.8000/-120.8892). It's approximately 5 miles northwest of Placerville, California. Coloma is most noted for being the site where James W. Marshall first discovered gold in California, at Sutter's Mill in 1848, leading to the California gold rush.
While some people still live in the area, Coloma is considered something of a ghost town, as civic buildings such as the jail have been abandoned and left to decay, and other buildings from its boom era (1847-1852) have been converted into museums and other historical displays. In fact, much of what used to be the town of Coloma is now the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park and is designated as a National Historic Landmark.
The name comes from the original natives' (Nisenan Indians) name for the valley Coloma is in, Cullumah, meaning "beautiful". Coloma is on the South Fork of the American River that runs through the valley.
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