Angels Camp was ideally situated on Angels Creek, which went dry during the summer months at the first settlement, but was soon augmented with water brought through various ditch systems to work the placers.  Water for placer mining was first brought into Angels Camp in 1853 by the Union Water Company.  Completed to Murphys in 1853, the system was extended to Washington Flat and Angels Camp that same year by utilizing the bed of Angels Creek.  Over the ensuing years the system was improved many times, especially after its acquisition by the Utica Gold Mining Company in the late 1880s.  Taken over by PG&E in 1946, it has recently been acquired by the Utica Power Authority, a consortum of local water agencies. 

By Judith Marvin