Gold Rush Hangtown's Execution Oak, Now an Ice Cream Parlor
305 Main St, Placerville, CA 95667
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Ice cream shop; typical items under $10
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved Main Street sidewalk; interior flat
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1895 · California Historical Landmark No. 141 · Gold Rush History · Hangtown History · Vigilante Justice
The California Gold Rush that followed James Marshall's January 1848 discovery at Sutter's Mill created Placerville almost overnight. The town — initially called Dry Diggins — became a major supply and staging point for miners working the Mother Lode. Crime followed prosperity, and in a camp without functioning courts, justice was swift and informal.
A large white oak at the center of town became the instrument of that justice beginning in 1849. From its branches, miners and merchants hanged those convicted by impromptu tribunals of robbery, murder, and other offenses. The frequency of executions gave the settlement its most persistent name: Hangtown. The reputation was significant enough that civic boosters eventually pushed for the town's renaming to Placerville, hoping to distance the community from its violent past.
The oak was cut down in 1853 after its notoriety had become an embarrassment. The stump remained in place. In 1895, a two-story commercial building was erected on the lot, enclosing the stump within its ground floor. California recognized the site as Historical Landmark No. 141.
The Hangman's Tree Bar operated in the building for generations, closing in 2008 when the city declared the structure unsafe. Following structural renovation, the Hangman's Tree Ice Cream Saloon opened in 2017, serving Cascade Glacier ice cream — produced in Eugene, Oregon — in a space with one of the more sobering histories of any dessert establishment in the state.
Sources
The Hangman's Tree site has accumulated multiple paranormal accounts across its decades of operation as a bar and, later, an ice cream parlor. The dominant figure is called Daryl by those who encounter him — an identification that emerged from the building's culture rather than any historical record. He appears tall, in dark clothing and a top hat, and manifests most often as a shadow figure at the bar.
Additional male figures in 1800s-era clothing have been described in the space: moving items around without apparent purpose, producing the smell of cigar smoke in a non-smoking environment, and standing close enough to visitors to produce discomfort without making contact. This cluster of similar behaviors — movement, smoke, proximity — suggests a layered presence rather than a single figure.
The stump of the original oak remains in the building's ground floor, physically present beneath the structure. Whether this detail — the literal remains of the instrument of execution still occupying the space — contributes to the location's atmospheric density is a question the accounts don't answer directly, but it's difficult to ignore.
Amy's Crypt paranormal travel site documented a visit to Placerville's ghost-dense Main Street, noting the Hangman's Tree as one of several active sites in a concentrated area that also includes the Cary House Hotel across the street.
Notable Entities
Stop at the ice cream parlor built over the stump of Placerville's original execution oak — the white oak from which vigilantes hanged robbers and murderers during the 1849-1853 Gold Rush period. The building erected in 1895 now houses Cascade Glacier ice cream and a documented history as California Historical Landmark No. 141.
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