The Placerville Hardware, which opened in 1852 in the gold-country mining town of Placerville in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains is the oldest operating hardware in the American West.

Placerville Hardware has been a local institution for town folk and visitors since 1852. In fact, it's the oldest hardware store in the west.

In 1850, a frame hotel which occupied the same location. Franklin Stevens bought the hotel, then razed the building in 1854 and built a stone building housing his hardware store; the stone exterior helped it survive a catastrophic fire two years later. Soon thereafer, it was replaced with the brick building that stands today. In the first 50 years, the name and owners changed six times, until Placerville Hardware became the official name in 1907. Photo by Carol Highsmith.