In late 1849, Black miners established a small mining operation on the south side of the American River during California's Gold Rush.
Folsom's Negro Bar Campground in the Folsom Lake Recreation Area is named after the miners, as is the bar itself.
Until the 1960s, an even more offensive racial name appeared on maps.
The latest effort to change the campground's name began in 2018, when Stockton resident Phaedra Jones and, later, Hannah Braidman of Folsom, petitioned California State Parks to change it, per reporting by The Bee's Mara Hoplamazian and Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks.
In addition, the U.S. Board of Geographic Names has jurisdiction over the name of the bar itself, so there are two government agencies who need to act in concert to rename it.
Braidman noted that there have been several attempts to change the name over decades, and a U.S Board of Geographic Names researcher, Jennifer Runyon, noted that a proposed name change has sat at the agency since January 2019.
By the board's rules, it takes eight months to make the change. We're approaching two years now.
"The (Sacramento African American Historical and Cultural Society's ) Juneteenth celebration focused on the forgotten history of African Americans along the American River during the Gold Rush era," California State Parks spokesman Jorge Moreno told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2017.
"The Society was clear that Negro Bar is very significant and that the name should not be changed. Many feel that a name change would reduce the cultural significance and important contribution that African Americans made in the region," Moreno added.
In contrast, Jones wrote in her petition that "when I saw that sign, I IMMEDIATELY felt uncomfortable, my stomach started hurting, I rolled up my windows and made sure I looked in my mirrors every 10 seconds. I couldn't wait to find the nearest freeway out of that town."
This is a traumatic name that is offensive to Black Californians _ and should be to anyone.
Some 67,000 Californians signed Jones's petition to make the change.
Historian Clarence Cesar wrote that the name of the bar and other similar names were a "glaring testimony to the racism infecting many, if not most, white miners."
Sacramento Historical Society president Bill George also noted that said changing place names "will be a part of the evolving story of history."
Let's keep evolving. We can find a name that isn't offensive and also honors the gold mining of the original Black miners.
