For you Folsom newbies out there, you may be coming here from the Bay Area, Southern California, perhaps even out of state. You may hear us talking about Folsom potatoes, going up the hill, or parking on the lid… then you ask yourself what the heck it is we’re talking about. Allow us to introduce you to some Folsom slang – phrases known around these here parts!
Arco	Power Balance Pavilion – formerly known as Arco Arena, home of the Sacramento Kings.
Apple Hill	An area just past Placerville that is home to apple orchards, wineries, and Christmas Tree farms. Very popular from October – December.
The “Bay”	San Francisco Bay Area
“Bayrria”	Short for Bay Area.
Big Tit	Big rock on Lake Natoma that looks like… well, a tit!
The Bike Trail	American River Parkway Bike Trail from Sacramento to Beal’s Point (originally built in 1890s)
The Bridge	Usually refers to Rainbow Bridge, our city icon, which tends to snarl traffic due to it’s small size (2 lanes).
Cash Crossing	Folsom Lake Crossing – some locals like to honor the late Johnny Cash.
Causeway	Yolo Causeway between Sacramento and Davis.
Causeway Classic	Annual football game between local rival colleges Sacramento State and UC Davis.
China Wall	Area on Lake Natoma that is popular to jump off of. Several teen deaths have occured in this area.
Chinese Diggings	The rock piles on the side of Folsom-Auburn; been around since the gold rush when Chinese miners were around.
The City	San Francisco. We still realize Sacramento’s a second banana to “The City”. Some claim we inherited this term from Bay Area transplants.
Delta Breeze	Cool air that cools down Sacramento Valley in hot summer months. Winds pick up from Sacramento delta to the area.
Dinner bell	That sound you hear around 5:00 pm is from Folsom Prison. We all presume it’s for dinner.
The Dip	Formerly popular high school hangout Big Dip. Now a Fish & Ships place still called Big Dip; not as popular once the high school moved across town.
Downtown	Downtown Sacramento (not Folsom).
Dyke 8	Folsom Point boat launch. Dyke 8 was its former name, until it no longer was thought of as a politically correct name.
Folsom potatoes	All the river rocks that you pull up in your yard – so abundant you’d swear they grow in your soil. Travel down Folsom Boulevard and you’ll see lots of Folsom potatoes left over from the gold mining days.
Folsom Shovel	Jackhammer with clay spade bit; or a digging bar. Folsom’s soil in notoriously hard; Go down about a foot and it’s all hardpan.
FM-8	Any popular after work hangout for Intel employees. Named FM8 because their buildings are named FM1, FM2… up to FM7.
F-Town	Folsom.
Hangtown	Placerville. Hangtown was its nickname in the gold rush; they hung 3 desperados from an oak tree one day, and you can still view a hanging “man” outside one of the buildings.
The Hotel	Folsom Hotel on Sutter Street, now a bar. The original hotel is now apartments above the bar.
Lunch Bell	That siren you hear at 12:00 noon is Folsom Prison. It’s not really a lunch bell! Guards line them up to make sure everyone is accounted for.
Negro Bar	Area on Lake Natoma that used to be an African-American gold rush settlement. Now a popular swimming hole.
The Lid	Liedsdorff Lid. Liedsdorff Bridge that goes over Folsom Boulevard; used for parking.
The Market	Thursday Night Market. Weekly farmers market and craft fair during summer months on Sutter Street.
Mormon Island	Former Mormon community now under Folsom Lake.
The Pyramid	Pyramid/temple shaped building in West Sacramento.
New Folsom	Folsom Prison‘s newer maximum security prison.
Old Folsom	(1) Historic area of Folsom – Sutter Street and surrounding areas (most common term).
	(2) Original Folsom Prison, built in 19th century, still in use as a minimum security facility.
Old Sac	Old Sacramento – original downtown of Sacramento – now a tourist attraction.
Old Salmon Falls Bridge	Former bridge to Salmon Falls community, now under water. Becomes visible in drought years.
Old Town	Historic area of Folsom – Sutter Street and surrounding areas.
“Open the Dam Road”	Refers to Folsom Dam Road; now closed for security reasons; It has since been replaced by Folsom Lake Crossing.
The Outlets	Folsom Premium Outlets (outlet mall), across from the Folsom movie theater.
Rad Hills	El Dorado Hills. The sign overlooking Highway 50 used to say “Rad Hills”. (From stolen lettering)
The Railroad Block	Area by Sutter Street where future development will house gold rush-era tourist shops. Currently a parking lot with restored railroad turntable.
The Rodeo	Folsom Rodeo – annual event around 4th of July.
Snack Shack Lot	The parking lot below the Powerhouse Pub; formerly the site of the snack shack.
South of 50	Currently undeveloped land which is being considered for annexation to Folsom.
Tower	Historic Tower Theater in Sacramento. Across the street from 1st Tower Records.
Transplant	A former Bay Area or Southern California resident (i.e. “Bay Area transplant”; “SoCal transplant”).
“Up the hill”	Heading “up the hill” means traveling in to the Sierra Nevada, most likely Lake Tahoe or Reno. “We just drove up the hill to go skiing last weekend”.
Zittles	Zittle’s Gourd Farm. World famous gourd farm at corner of Folsom-Auburn and Oak.