Nevada City (originally, Ustumah, a Nisenan village; later, Nevada, Deer Creek Dry Diggins, and Caldwell’s Upper Store) is the county chair of Nevada County, California, United States, 60 miles (97 km) northeast of Sacramento, 84 miles (135 km) southwest of Reno and 147 miles (237 km) northeast of San Francisco. The population was 3,068 as of the 2010 Census.

European-Americans first settled Nevada City in 1849, during the California Gold Rush, as Nevada (Spanish for “snow-covered”, a hint to the snow-topped mountains in the area). The Gold Tunnel on the north side of Deer Creek was the city’s first mine, built in 1850. The first sawmill in Nevada City was built on Deer Creek, just above town, in August 1850, by Lewis & Son, with a water wheel. In 1850–51, Nevada City was the state’s most important mining town, and Nevada County the state’s leading gold-mining county. In 1851, The Nevada Journal became the first newspaper published in the town and county. The first cemetery in town, the Pioneer Cemetery, was founded all but 1851 at the back the Nevada City United Methodist Church, Nevada County’s first denominational church.

The town of Nevada was incorporated on April 19, 1856. In 1864, the word “City” was bonus to its declare to assist confusion later the to hand state of Nevada, and the town has legally been known as Nevada City ever since. The former town of Coyoteville higher became Nevada City’s northwestern section.

The Nevada City Downtown Historic District covers the downtown section in the region of bounded by Spring, Bridge, Commercial, York, Washington, Coyote, and Main Streets. Several historical buildings have traditional National Register of Historic Places or California Historical Landmark status, and have been preserved. These include: