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Photograph of Fountain-Tallman Soda Works
Photograph by Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Fountain-Tallman Soda Works

Built in 1853. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. 11 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1891.

From the record

“The Fountain-Tallman Soda Works is a historic building in Placerville, El Dorado County, California. It currently houses the Fountain & Tallman Museum, which is owned and operated by the El Dorado County Historical Society.”

Wikipedia article Fountain-Tallman Soda Works, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 21 National Register listings published here for El Dorado County · listed in 1984 · category: Building · built in 1853.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 524 Main St., Placerville, 95667
  • When was it listed? September 1984
  • Category. building
  • Census division. Placerville
  • When was it built? 1853
  • National Register reference number. 84000770 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

938 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 938 fires within 5 miles of Fountain-Tallman Soda Works between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,032 acres in total. 9 started naturally. 52 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined334
Equipment and vehicle use225
Debris and open burning211
Arson/incendiarism52
Misuse of fire by a minor48
Smoking33
Power generation/transmission/distribution14
Natural9
Recreation and ceremony9
Other causes2
Fireworks1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAmador-El Dorado UnitSERVICE
9 September 2015Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAmador-El Dorado UnitBOEGER WINERY PLACERVILLE
9 September 2015Smokingunder an acreAmador-El Dorado UnitBEALS RD GOLD_HILL
9 September 2014Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreAmador-El Dorado UnitLINDBERG
9 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAmador-El Dorado UnitHY 50 EB / FORNI OFF RAM
9 September 2007Debris and open burningunder an acreCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 1707
9 September 2007Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresCentral California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 1971
9 September 2001Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAmador-El Dorado UnitGATLIN

Every fire recorded in El Dorado County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 641 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 641 workings within 5 miles of Fountain-Tallman Soda Works: 330 occurrences, 178 unknowns, 120 past producers, 13 producers. 13 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Slate, Dimension, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Cold Springs Sand and Gravel Co.Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Diamond Springs LiCalciumUnknown
Grand VictoryGold, AntimonyPast ProducerSurface/Underground
Old Gravel MineGermaniumUnknown
OregonGold, Arsenic, LeadOccurrence
Pacific QuartzGold, Arsenic, SilverUnknown
Placerite Quarry and MillStoneProducer
Placerville DistrictGold, PlatinumPast Producer1848
Seven BellsCopper, GoldOccurrenceVein
UnknownGemstoneOccurrence

Every working recorded in El Dorado County

Storms near this property

5 since 2014

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Placerville, the town this property stands in, in 5 storm reports between 2014 and 2023: 3 heavy rain, 2 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
March 2023FloodPlacerville-The California Highway Patrol reported mud, dirt and rock along the southbound lane of State Highway 49 near the SR 193 junction.
December 2019Heavy RainPlacerville-A trained spotter reported widespread street flooding due to heavy rain. Spotter noted 0.61 inches of rain had fallen.
February 2017Heavy RainPlacerville-There were 1.80 of rain measured in Placerville, 24 hour total.
October 2016Heavy RainPlacerville-There were 4.00 inches of rainfall measured, 72 hour total.
December 2014FloodPlacerville-Flooding in southbound Highway 49 just north of 193 in Placerville caused traffic to swerve into northbound lanes.

Every storm recorded in El Dorado County

Maps showing this location

11 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
United States Post Office-Main Street Branchunder 500 feet2025
Confidence Hallunder 500 feet1982
John Pearson Soda Worksunder 500 feet1985
Combellack-Blair House0.2 miles1985
Episcopal Church of Our Saviour0.3 miles1977
Hattie (Gold Bug), Priest and Silver Pine Mines and Stampmill1.1 miles1985

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 84000770 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
El Dorado CountyAll 21 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.