Washington, California

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For the town formerly called Washington, in Yolo County, California, see Broderick, California

Washington is a census-designated place located in Nevada County, California. Washington is located on the banks of the South Fork of The Yuba River and has a population of approximately two hundred people. There is a hotel/bar and restaurant, grocery store, a one room schoolhouse that has educated students continuously for one hundred years, and two trailer park campgrounds.

The population fluctuates seasonally and the town businesses rely on the tourist trade as the population increases in the summer. It was settled during the California Gold Rush in 1849 and produced a large amount of placer gold. Hard rock mines were established soon afterword and were very productive. Washington is the only settlement in the vicinity to have survived to this day. There remains today much evidence of placer gold mining, hydraulic mining, and hard rock mining. During the mining period there were a large number of Chinese living there.

Washington's biggest business is its popular campsite, the River Rest, which has been in business since the 1960s through different owners. The summer sees the campsite usually filled to capacity and reservations are generally required.

Washington was also featured in a national phone commercial in the 1990s ("From Washington, D.C., to Washington, California.").