Weimar, California
| Weimar | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
  Weimar Location in California | |
| Coordinates: 39°02′15″N 120°58′21″W / 39.03750°N 120.97250°WCoordinates: 39°02′15″N 120°58′21″W / 39.03750°N 120.97250°W | |
| Country |
 United States |
| State |
 California |
| County | Placer County |
| Elevation[1] | 2,257 ft (688 m) |
| ZIP code | 95739, 95713 |
| Area code(s) | 530 |
| GNIS feature ID | 237401[2] |
Weimar (formerly, New England Mills and Weimer) is an unincorporated community in Placer County, California,[1] located in the Sacramento area. Weimar is located 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south-southwest of Colfax.[3]
By car, Weimar is about one hour from Reno, Nevada and about one hour northeast of Sacramento, California on east I-80. It is directly adjacent to Interstate 80. Amtrak stops at Colfax, California which is about 3 miles east on I-80 past Weimar. Weimar, California was originally named New England Mills. The elevation is about 2300–2600 feet.
Weimar has a campground in it, and also has access to the North Fork of the American River. The former Weimar Sanitorium, a Tuberculosis treatment hospital, is now Weimar Institute, home to the NEWSTART Lifestyle Program. The Institute also includes Weimar College, and Weimar Academy, a boarding school for high school students, both associated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is also home to the Weimar Hills Charter School, which offers grades 4th through 8th.
The Weimar post office opened in 1866.[3] Its ZIP code is 95736 and its area code 530.
Town Name
There has been much historic amnesia about the origin of the name "Weimar". Unquestionably, the area was named for a prominent Nisenan chief, who was a signator to the Treaty of Fort Union in 1851 and later moved to the Round Valley Reservation. He became unhappy, as did other Nisenan and returned to his original homeland in 1860 and died in 1881. There is much evidence to substantiate this claim, including California Place Names by Erwin Gustav Gudde.[4]
Another explanation comes from the Geisendorfer family; descendants of George Geisendorfer, founder of the town. George Geisendorfer was born in the area of Weimar, Germany. Many of the original inhabitants of Weimar (New England Mills) were also of German descent. Members of the town, and the Geisendorfer family, have testified that George Geisendorfer himself decided to rename the town “Weimar” when the post office rejected the original name of New England Mills.[5]
Additionally, the first and second postmasters who presided over the Weimar post office were a wife and husband by the names of Mary Mitchell and Edmund Vore. Edmund Vore had been maimed and orphaned by an “indian raiding party” as child. This fact diminishes the speculation that he would be involved in honoring a native chief to such a degree.[6]
References
- 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Weimar, California
- ↑ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- 1 2 Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 575. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
- ↑ http://books.google.com/books?id=M-22djGNuhwC&pg=SL3-PA360&lpg=SL3-PA360&dq=weimar+postmaster+mary+mitchell&source=bl&ots=-MIF3GYPIV&sig=6XH3ZZS5W4FfzugsJVY5G2xbAoc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0DbYU77iM4qNyASMooCoDw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=weimar%20postmaster%20mary%20mitchell&f=false
- ↑ http://www.colfaxrecord.com/article/weimars-name-history-mystery
- ↑ https://archive.org/stream/historyofplacern00lard#page/1082/mode/2up/search/weimar
