Entry No. 9 — the Sacramento file — filed under: oddities
Loved To Death on Main
The shop that anchored Science Channel's "Oddities: San Francisco" relocated to a historic Main Street storefront in the Sierra foothills — diaphonized rat skeletons, memento mori mourning cards, scorpions set in lucite, and antique taxidermy line the shelves.
The story
You might recognize the inventory if you watched Science Channel's *Oddities: San Francisco*, where this operation served as Northern California's primary outpost for macabre Victoriana. When the Haight-Ashbury chapter ended, the glass cases didn't disappear—they were packed up and hauled straight into the Sierra Nevada foothills, taking over a historic brick storefront at 470 Main Street in Placerville.
It is a jarring, welcome contrast to the usual Gold Country antique loop of butter churns and framed mining certificates. Inside, the shelves trade in biological oddities and dark romanticism: diaphonized rat skeletons with transparent stained bone, scorpions encased in clear blocks of lucite, antique taxidermy under glass domes, and framed Victorian memento mori mourning cards crafted from human hair.
What it's like
Stepping inside feels like leaving the bright Sierra foothill sun for an unlit Victorian parlor. Navigating the narrow aisles requires a slow pace as you inspect cases packed with wet-specimen jars and velvet-lined trays of antique mourning jewelry. Plan your visit for a Thursday through Sunday afternoon. If you pair it with Placerville's 3rd-Saturday Art & Wine Walk, you can sip regional Sierra wines while examining preserved biological specimens—just confirm their current store hours online before making the drive up Highway 50.
The move: Browse the wet-specimen and mourning-jewelry cases together on a Thu–Sun afternoon, then walk Main Street on a 3rd-Saturday Art & Wine Walk when the shop pours alongside local wineries.
- 📍 Placerville (Gold Country)
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 470 Main St, Placerville, CA 95667
Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Hangman's Tree Ice Cream Saloon — Walk two minutes down Main Street to get ice cream directly over the stump of the oak tree where 1849 vigilantes executed outlaws.
- Coloma Jail Ruins — Drive seven miles north to Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park to inspect the roofless 1856 granite cellblock ruins.
- Ken Fox's Great Statues of Auburn — Head 19 miles north into Placer County to view colossal concrete figures hand-poured behind a local dental office starting in the late 1960s.
Good to know
Is this the same shop featured on Science Channel's Oddities: San Francisco?
Yes. The shop anchored the TV spin-off during its San Francisco run before relocating its entire collection of oddities to Placerville's Main Street.
What specific oddities do they carry?
Expect diaphonized rat skeletons, wet specimens preserved in jars, scorpions set in lucite, antique taxidermy, and Victorian memento mori mourning jewelry.
When is the shop open?
They generally operate Thursday through Sunday afternoons, though you should verify current hours before heading out as schedules can fluctuate.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · mtdemocrat.com · Facebook
last checked: 2026-07-20