Getting holdout of the ground and into the pouch on your belt was hard and dangerous work. One famous miner who made it look easy was Potato Creek Johnny.

In May of 1929, the lucky little miner (he stood only 4 foot 3 inches tall) scooped a nugget out of Potato Creek that weighed in at 7.75 troy ounces — equivalent to over half a pound. A replica of the nugget is on display in the Adams Museum.

Johnny blamed the decline of placer mining on “so many amachoors rilling up the stream,” making it hard to find nuggets. That was only part of the story.

Now head down the ramp and turn left toward Main Street. The next interpretive sign is at the corner of Main and Pine.