<p>PLACERVILLE, Calif. — The California Gold Rush town of Placerville will change its logo to remove a noose that stems from its mid-19th century reputation as “Hangtown” following lynchings of criminal suspects by mobs of miners.</p>
<p>The City Council voted Tuesday night to remove the noose after listening to emotional comment from residents, CBS 13 Sacramento reported.</p>
<p>Some argued that it is part of the history of the town, but others said it is violent and gives the city a bad reputation, the station reported.</p>
<p>The council’s vote was unanimous.</p>
<p>The decision comes amid a reconsidering of images of nooses in the context of racial injustice and the history of violence against Black people in America. </p>
<p>The signs and symbols of Hangtown are commonplace in Placerville, the El Dorado County seat in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada about two hours northeast of San Francisco.</p>
<p>The circular logo shows a miner washing gold in a stream. The noose hangs from a tree in the background. Written around the image are the words “City of Placerville,” “Old Hangtown” and “1854,” the year the city was incorporated.</p>
<p>Placerville dates to the era when thousands of fortune-seekers from all over the world suddenly descended on California in search of the Mother Lode.</p>
<p>According to the city’s history <a href="https://www.cityofplacerville.org/news/post/11895/">presentation</a>, the area was first called Dry Diggins — a reference to a type of mining — and then became known as Hangtown when three men — two French and one Chilean — were lynched in 1849 on suspicion of crimes. </p>
<p>The fourth and final lynching occurred in 1850 after a man stabbed someone in a saloon, according to the presentation by Brendan Lindsay, associate professor of history at California State University, Sacramento.</p>
<p>Other lynchings were considered but suspects were ultimately turned over to authorities and the name Placerville rapidly overtook the nickname in published reports.</p>
