The city of Grass Valley is the largest city in the western region of Nevada County, California, United States. Situated at roughly 2,500ft elevation in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, this historic northern Gold Country city is 57mi by car from the state capitol in Sacramento, 64mi from Sacramento International Airport, 88mi west of Reno, Nevada, and 177mi northeast of San Jose. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 12,860.HistoryGrass Valley, which was originally known as Boston Ravine and later officially named Centerville, dates from the California Gold Rush, as does nearby Nevada City. When a post office was established in 1851, it was renamed Grass Valley the following year for unknown reasons. The town incorporated in 1860.Grass Valley is the location of the Empire Mine and North Star Mine, two of the richest mines in California. George Starr, manager of the Empire Mine, and William Bowers Bourn II, the mine owner, donated mine property which became Memorial Park.
