History of Smith Flat House

The gold discovered by James Marshall at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 started a Gold Rush to the El Dorado area beginning in 1849. Men came hoping to find riches in the streams and rivers of the area. It also brought adventurous people with other ideas. One of these men would eventually lend his name to the town now known as Smith Flat. The town “is believed to have been named after a pioneer farmer or rancher named Jeb Smith, who was the first person to settle there, although there is little evidence to support the fact (6).” What evidence does exist suggests that Smith was “in the vanguard of the early California Pioneers,” and that “he started one of the first ranches in El Dorado County (2).”

Smith Flat was not only for farmers and ranchers though; like most of the area it was also home to generous gold deposits. The first of these deposits were “discovered by [the] Ward Brothers, Tom, Jack and Bob, in White Rock Canyon (2).” The Deep Blue Channel, as they would later name it (2), ran from White Rock Canyon through Smith Flat to Cedar Ravine (6).

Over the top of the Deep Blue Channel was built the Three Mile House, known as such due to its distance from Placerville on the trail to Carson City, in Smith Flat in 1853. This building is now known as the Smith Flat House. It “originally consisted of a general store, post office, bedroom, dining room and dance floor…(6). ” Over the next century and a half the Smith Flat House would change hands and uses multiple times. “In 1862 F.J. Pelpmeyer sold the property to Fredericka Dollmeyer (3).” It was then sold to A.B. Saul the same year (4). Then in 1872 A.B. Saul sold the property to G.B. Rafetto and Nicola Avonso, and in 1873 Geo E. Williams sold his share to G.B. Rafetto and Luigi Campini. (4) Then finally “in 1878 Luigi Campini sold his share to Nicola Fossati (4).” Unfortunately records and names of this period were a decidedly ephemeral thing it can be difficult to trace exactly who owned what. There are also reports that “Martha Saul Albert and Catherine Saul operated the property as a wagon stop for travelers during the bonanza days of the Comstock mines (3),” as opposed to A.B. Saul who was most likely a brother or husband. There are also conflicting reports as to when Nicola Fossati arrived from Italy and bought the Smith Flat House, with some sources claiming he bought the property in 1872 (3), and others saying he did not even come to America from Italy until 1874 (4). Regardless of the early confusion with the dates and the names, one thing is clear, once Fossati bought the Three Mile House he renamed it the Smith Flat House, though it known as Fossati’s Three Mile House (4), and turned it into a hotel. As time passed the hotel would eventually become known as the Smith Flat House, but it would remain in the Fossati family’s possession even when it was once again sold in 1975 to “Joe Cola (third generation Fossati family) and his wife Beverly, Joe’s brother and sister-in-law, and another couple [who] bought the property… (4)” eventually turning it into a restaurant. Then in 2002 the property left the Fossati family. It was bought by John Conforti and in 2006 a green renovation began turning the Smith Flat House into its present incarnation as a Center for Health, which opened its doors in 2008.

Throughout its history the Smith Flat House has served many purposes; from a rest stop and post office, to a saloon and dance hall, a hotel and restaurant, and even occasionally a playhouse, to its present state as a Center for Health, the Smith Flat House has seen all of the history of El Dorado County, changing with the times, but always enduring.

Historic Timeline:

  • 1848-Marshall discovers gold at Sutter’s Mill
  • 1849-Start of California’s Gold Rush
  • 1849-Jeb Smith arrives and sets up his ranch
  • 1849-Ward Brothers discover gold in the White Rock Canyon, known as the Deep Blue Channel.
  • 1853- The Smith Flat House, known as the Three Mile House is built on top of the Deep Blue Channel in Smith Flat
  • 1858- Smith Flat School opens
  • 1859-Silver discovered in Comstock area
  • 1862-F.J. Pelpmeyer sells Three Mile House to Fredericka Dollmeyer
  • 1862-A.B. Saul buys Three Mile House
  • 1863- A.B. Saul adds Blacksmith shop and barn next to Smith Flat House
  • 1873-A.B. Saul sells Smith Flat House to G.B. Rafetto and Nicola Avonso
  • 1874-Comstock Bonanza ends
  • 1876-Post office is added to Smith Flat House with G.B. Rafetto serving as first Postmaster
  • 1878-Nicola Fossati buys the Three Mile House, renaming it as Fossati’s Three Mile House Hotel
  • 1890’s-Renovations by Fossati including a “kitchen, pantry, laundry, more bedrooms and a saloon cardroom”(5)
  • 1929-Great Depression begins, 25 cent dances are held at the Smith Flat House (1)
  • 1975-Joe Cola and family buy the Smith Flat House
  • 1982-Smith Flat Post office closed
  • 1982-Smith Flat House reopens as a restaurant
  • 2002- John Conforti buys the Smith Flat House
  • 2006-Green reconstruction begins
  • 2008-Smith Flat House Center for Health opens

Works cited:

  1. Bronson, Edna. The Sacramento Bee. February, 6 1994.
  2. Floberg, E. The Pony Express Courier. November 1940. pg. 5.
  3. Hughey, Richard. The Mountain Democrat. August 12, 1997. pg. A-14.
  4. El Dorado County Historical Museum.
  5. Noble, Doug. The Mountain Democrat. September 11, 1998.
  6. Noble, Doug. The Mountain Democrat. September 28 1998.