When friends visited recently from elsewhere in California they drove us up into the Sierra foothills to spend the day in the lovely old gold rush city of Auburn, just east of Sacramento. Looming above us all day long was this lovely Placer County Courthouse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. I went inside years ago when I was covering the politics of homeowners associations and private communities for The Associated Press; I was looking up a lawsuit related to Del Webb's Sun City Roseville.
When I see this picture I think of a million small-town courthouses spread throughout the U.S., often with a square in front and always the most majestic government building in town. This one is especially nice.
We had a great time visiting Auburn that day, wandering the Farmers Market, strolling through an Oldtown Auburn Historic District and then downtown Auburn. My favorite was a serious store for miners and a couple of wonderful old used bookstores. Very civilized and walkable little city.
