Placerville Tutors Come To You

Placerville, California is a small town of approximately 10,000 residents, but remains an important community in California history. Gold was found in the city in the 1840s, and the region attracted a variety of characters—prospectors, miners, immigrants, and outlaws all flocked to Northern California to seek their fortunes. Placerville was at one time a hub of activity and commerce for the booming business that resulted from the Gold Rush. Levi Strauss, inventor of the iconic denim pants, was among those attracted to Placerville for its thriving economy in the nineteenth century.

Strauss was born in Germany, but at 18, made his way to the United States with his family, immigrating to Louisville, Kentucky and then San Francisco in 1853 to open up a branch of the dry goods store run by his brothers and sisters. It was in San Francisco that Strauss first conceived the idea of blue jeans, which were held together with copper rivets and made of blue-dyed cotton. The demand for pants that could withstand the wear and tear of hard work was high, and Strauss saw this need upon his arrival to the west coast. His invention was an immediate success, and soon, he was able to open other stores to sell his product, notably in Placerville.

Historic Main Street still stands in Placerville. At one time, Strauss’ store stood alongside other titans of industry on the main road, including Mark Hopkins, John Studebaker, and Snowshoe Thompson. Hopkins was a railroad financier, Studebaker a wagon manufacturer, and Thompson a mail courier that would carry letters from the Sierras to the east coast in all weather. In many ways, Strauss and others helped fuel the Gold Rush with Placerville’s important role in supplying mining camps in the region.

Strauss’ success in Placerville was bolstered by fellow entrepreneurs, and by the end of his life, he was able to bequeath fortunes to various charitable causes, including orphan asylums for Jewish and Catholic children. He also endowed a scholarship fund for students at UC Berkeley, and at the time of his death, his net worth was approximately 6 million—164 million in modern dollars.

Tutors in Placerville want to see the same levels of success for the students they help. Strauss’ story is a classic example of how the American Dream can be realized through hard work and innovation. Working with a tutor can not only help a student with faltering grades, but can also inspire passion and dedication to learning. There are tangible rewards to hard work, such as good grades, but there are also intangible rewards that illustrate what a love of learning can do to help a student improve. Tutors in Placerville are dedicated to helping their clients realize and unlock the same levels of potential that Strass brought with him when he opened his shop on Main Street.