![](\"https:\/\/janabommersbach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/hellraisers-trailblazers.jpg\")
<\/p>\nPLACERVILLE, Ca. (Jana Bommersbach) \u2014 This story was almost lost forever. It would have been if the town of Placerville, California\u2014once known as \u201cHangtown\u201d\u2014had issued its threatened demolition permit on an 1856 building that was falling apart. Would have been if the town\u2019s historical society hadn\u2019t considered a lawsuit while begging for a different result. Would have been if Tim and Sue Taylor had given a different answer to the mortgage holders demand, \u201cYou buy it, you fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thanks to all those things falling into place, it can now be told that a large oak tree used to hang three men here in 1849 was cut down in 1853 because blacksmith John Studebaker needed the wood for wheelbarrows and pick handles to supply the Gold Bug Mine\u2014making such a fortune he and his brother back in Indiana created a wagon (and later a car) carrying their name\u2014while the hanging site made way for a building that served as a saloon for 113 years until it sat vacant and deteriorating before being saved and redone into an ice cream saloon.<\/p>\n
Now, that\u2019s a story worth telling.<\/p>\n
Tim Taylor loves telling the strange history of his new obsession, saying he now knows that anybody who gets into this restoration business has to have \u201clot of money and lots of love.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith an old building, you fix one thing and find three more things that need fixing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He and his wife bought the old building in 2013 and spent four years renovating it. \u201cThe floor sloped seven inches, so of course the walls and ceiling went with it,\u201d Taylor reports. \u201cWe stripped the inside down to the joists.\u201d The Hangman\u2019s Tree Ice Cream Saloon opened in January of 2017\u201420 flavors, featuring Cascade Glacier ice cream made in Eugene, Oregon.<\/p>\n
A large mural painted in 1945, depicting Hangtown of the 1850s, was carefully saved and is a highlight of the visual treats the ice cream saloon also offers. Other walls are filled with historical photos, as well as one of the picks John Studebaker made from the hanging oak tree. Studebaker, by the way, came back to town in 1915 to write his memoir, arriving in a brand new Studebaker.<\/p>\n
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She cowrote the Emmy-winning Outrageous Arizona and has written two true crime books, a children\u2019s book and the historical novel Cattle Kate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"Jana Bommersbach has earned recognition as Arizona\u2019s Journalist of the Year and won an Emmy and two Lifetime Achievement","source_url":"https:\/\/janabommersbach.com\/","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"7","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"0","layout":"no-sidebar-narrow","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"float","share_float_style":"share-normal","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"0","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"1"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2,3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n