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‘Hangtown’: California Town Debates Removing Noose From Town Logo

[Youtube/Screenshot/Public — User: CBS Sacramento]

[Youtube/Screenshot/Public — User: CBS Sacramento]

Nicholas Elias Contributor
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Placerville, California, also known as “Hangtown,” will vote Tuesday to decide if the town should remove a noose from its logo.


“They took law into their own hands at that time and there were people that were hanged for their crimes,” city manager Cleve Morris said to CBS. The nickname “Hangtown” will reportedly not be voted on during the city council meeting Tuesday due to protest from residents. (RELATED: ‘Code Talkers’: Navajo Nation Submits Bid For Redskins New Name)

“Some of those feel like that is taking away a piece of our history, I think we can still maintain our history if the council decides to go that route,” Morris told CBS, “others will think that is a step in the right direction, I’m sure.”

Local residents who spoke to CBS said that they understand the need to remove the noose from the town logo, but emphasized that “Hangtown” was part of the town’s history. “I understand why there is pressure to change the noose,” Michael Valdez, a tattoo artist at Hangman Tattoo, said to CBS, “It could be misguided because nobody was lynched here for racial reasons. It was capital punishment.”


Other residents such as Kelley Rogers, the owner of the Hangtown Skate Shop, said that now is the time for change, per CBS. “With COVID and the George Floyd thing and the suicide aspect, that absolutely drove it home for me,” Rogers told CBS, “I did not want to represent that and I do not think the city should represent that either.” 

Rogers has reportedly now moved forward with rebranding the skate shop to now be called Motherload Board Supply Company.