Jackson

Jackson wasn't the Gold Country's rowdiest town, but the party lasted longer here than most anywhere else: "girls' dormitories" (aka brothels) and nickel slot machines flourished until the mid-1950s. Jackson also had the world's deepest and richest gold mines, the Kennedy and the Argonaut, which together produced $70 million in gold. Most of the miners who worked the lode were of Serbian or Italian origin, and they gave the town a European character that persists to this day. A walking-tour map of historic sites, downloadable from the city's website (ci.jackson.ca.us; click on "Visit Jackson" and then "Things to Do"), includes the town's steeply terraced Serbian cemetery.