Station 72 - Cool, California - El Dorado County Fire District *
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A Brief History of Cool...

Gold Miners Located on Highway 49, about four miles south of the Confluence of the North and Middle Forks of the American River, lies the small community of Cool, California.

The history of Cool dates back to before 1850, but the town as it exists today was founded officially in 1885. Pioneer settlers, miners and residents settled here, seeing it as a perfect "jumping off" place, providing supplies for the mining towns on the divide.

A stage stop, inn and blacksmith shop were the first businesses established in the small hamlet, providing for the teamsters that fought their way up the steep and treacherous Auburn grade with much-needed supplies for the mines.

Originally, Cool was called Cave Valley because of the numerous Limestone Caves that provided miners with some relief from the summer heat that often exceeded 100 degrees. Some of the caves were used as storage for ice, which was cut from the frozen lakes in the higher elevations during the winter, and were a favorite diversion for the miners on Sundays and Holidays.

The Cool area was a productive agricultural district and provided fresh fruit and meat for many of the mining operations in El Dorado County.

Cap Lewis, the owner and operator of the stage service from Auburn, Georgetown and Placerville built a new station at Cave Valley in 1884. He wanted the station and Post Office to be called Cleveland, after President Grover Cleveland, but was turned down by the Assistant Postmaster General as the name was already taken. Cool was substituted after lengthy debate and the realization that Cave Valley was also already taken.

There are at least three possible stories behind the name "Cool." First and foremost was that there was an itinerant minister popular at the time, Aaron Cool, who had quite a following and used to preach in Greenwood, another nearby foothills community. The second story states that the Caves were where the miners went in summer to get cooled off. The Baley House (Pilot Hill) The third is that the weather in "Cool" is usually cooler than the surrounding communities because of a predominant southerly breeze that is funneled into the area by terrain, even during the hottest days of Summer.

Just South of Cool is the mining area that was known as Hogg's Dry Diggin's. Reports were of gold nuggets being found "just sitting on the ground." Surface water was, and still is, a hotly debated subject on the Western Slope of the Sierras and miner's ditches still carry much of the local drinking water to the reservoirs of the Georgetown Divide Public Utility District (GDPUD).

The original school district that was formed was called Cave Valley. Later, the school district was merged into the Northside School District and was then absorbed by the Black Oak School District.

The Cool area was the location of the first Grange in California and still has the honor of having the oldest Grange; Pilot Hill Grange #1, located one-half mile east of town on Highway 193.

For many years the "Northside" brand of cherries sold well in eastern markets and the area's pear orchards, many of which still remain growing wild and untended, provided pears for the mining camps.

The Spreckel's Lime and Aggregate Quarry is located in Cool and continues to provide limestone for the sugar beet industry and gravel for roads, levees and landscaping.

Several of California's leading political leaders have been associated with Cool. Former Assemblyman Eugene Chappie was a rancher here. Roseville Mayor, State Assemblyman and United States Congressman Harold T. "Bizz" Johnson is related to the original stage company owner, Issac E. Terry. Terry Hill in old Greenwood still bears his name.

Prior to the mid-sixties, fire suppression on the Western Slope was at best a haphazard affair, with fate having a lot to do with the eventual outcome of fires. In 1962 the communities of Pilot Hill and Cool started the "Northside Improvement Club" and built a small fire garage at the intersection of Rattlesnake Bar Road and Highway 49 in Pilot Hill.

News clippings carried the story of the firehouse with no doors, as the donated doors were too heavy for the structure to support. In 1972 the Northside Fire District was formed and in 1993 was consolidated into the El Dorado County Fire Protection District.

Gold is still found in the streams and rivers nearby and the Marshall Gold Discovery Site in Coloma, where the California Gold Rush began, is just 11 miles South on Highway 49.
Captain Jeff Tolson
El Dorado County Fire Station 72
Cool, California
Area Resources & Businesses

The town of Cool consists of a Post Office, grocery, fire station, service station, several nice restaurants and a small strip mall featuring real estate and service industry businesses at the junction of Highways 49 and 193.

The residential community of Auburn Lake Trails, consisting of about 1000 homesites, is located in Cool.

The Auburn State Recreational Area encompasses Cool, offering an Equestrian Center and parking area with horseback riding, mountain biking and hiking trails that cover 5600 acres on the uncompleted Auburn Dam site. The Western States 100 mile run passes through Cool on it's way to the finish line in Auburn. The same trails also accommodate the world-famous Tevis Cup horseback endurance ride.
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  Online Resources
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* * * El Dorado County Office of Education *
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* * * Black Oak Mine Unified School District *
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* * * Golden Sierra High School *
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* * * Cool Christian School *
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* * * Cool Community Church *
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* * * Divide Library - Georgetown Branch *
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* * * El Dorado County Parks *
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* * * Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park *
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* * * Folsom-Auburn Trail Riders Action Coalition -
Mountain Bike Trail Advocates		 *
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* * * Top Ten Trails of Auburn State Recreation Area *
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* * * The Mountain Democrat -
Placerville Newspaper		 *
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* * * The Sacramento Bee -
Sacramento Newspaper		 *
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* * * Auburn Lake Trails *
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* * * The Bayley House *
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* * * Jeepers Jamboree *
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  Local Businesses
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* * * Cool Animal Hospital 885-8322 *
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* * * Cool Care Children's Center 889-1119 *
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* * * Cool Chiropractic / Cool Lady Fitness 889-8826 *
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* * * Cool Corner Video 888-8024 *
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* * * Cool Cuts 823-5095 *
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* * * Cool Deli 823-2314 *
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* * * Cool Feed & Ranch Supply 887-0200 *
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* * * Cool Florist 885-2750 *
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* * * Cool General Store 885-4020 *
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* * * Cool Massage Therapy 823-7072 *
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* * * Cool Mini Storage 885-9949 *
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* * * Cool Nails 886-8687 *
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* * * Cris Grey and Dr. Janie Evans, OD
Optometrist		 823-5082 *
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* * * Excel Heating & Air 823-7781 *
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* * * Farmers Insurance Group 885-0405 *
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* * * Gary Ferguson Design Associates 885-5562 *
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* * * Rikard Forsberg, DDS 888-6079 *
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* * * Georgetown Divide Supply 885-7421 *
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* * * Happy Palace Chinese Restaurant 823-1688 *
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* * * LCC Communications Satellite TV 622-7907 *
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* * * Main Street Cafe & Grill 887-0633 *
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* * * Matthews Mortgage 888-1123 *
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* * * The Milestone Saloon 889-1768 *
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* * * Bob Moore's Auto Care 823-6411 *
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* * * The Nugget Restaurant 823-1294 *
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* * * Placer Sierra Savings Bank 888-2909 *
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* * * Red Roof Real Estate 558-0746 *
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* * * Dale Schafer, Law Offices 823-9963 *
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* * * Sierra Super Stop 888-7080 *
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* * * Timberline Realty, Inc. 823-1088 *
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* * * Town & Country Hair House 889-8008 *
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* * * U.S. Post Office (Cool) 885-3839 *
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