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Volume 030-4 - October 1976 (8 pages)
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Page: of 8
Northern Mines with the Circus. She
was reported to be a friend of Lola
Montez and it was thru this association
that Lotta Crabtree came to Rough and
Ready. Lotta, who later became a
wealthy and world famous actress,
made her first appearance at the age of
seven years, before an audience of
miners in the Fippin Blacksmith Shop.
She was a spirited little thing and
danced and sang, with verve, the .
numbers Lola had taught her. She was
lifted onto the famous Anvil, which
crossed the plains in Fippins covered
wagon, to receive their acclaim and
nuggets.
While this is only a very superficial list of the outstanding Pioneer
women of our Community it is probably
the basis for the comment in the Grass
Valley Telegraph of April 6, 1854; ‘“‘We
believe that in proportion to size for a
mountain village, Rough and Ready is
ahead of all others in California, in the
number of respectable ladies that can
be collected together’’.
Organization
It also probably accounts for the
fact that Rough and Ready had the first
Church in the County. It was called The
Christian Association and was used
harmoniously by all religious faiths.
Circuit Riders, particularly of the
Methodist Church, arranged for Services to be held each Sunday. The
Church was not rebuilt after the fire of
1859. Services have been held in our
town from time to time over the years
but there was no Church building fora
hundred years. In 1959 the Wedding
Chapel was built and has on occasions
been used for Services.
In 1850 there were seven Saloons
in the town and they all did a thriving
business. It has been said they helped
Rough and Ready earn its name. In
1851 there was a Masonic Lodge, an
Odd Fellows Lodge, an Odd Fellows
Encampment, two Divisions of Sons of
Temperance, and the Church here. The
Church and the Masonic Hall burned in
the fire of 1859 as did five of the
Saloons. Today Rough and Ready has
one Lodge, the Rough and Ready
Grange #795, a Chamber of Commerce,
and a Volunteer Fire Department.
Remnants of the Past
The Odd Fellows Lodge, Mountain Rose Lodge #26 Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, which was built in 1851
and rebuilt in 1854 was miraculously
missed by the fire of 1859. It was
restored by a Community Hall Association in 1952 and is presently owned
by the Rough and Ready Grange #795
which was Chartered in 1956. Another
remnant of the fires destruction was
the old Fippin Blacksmith Shop which
still stands where it and the Single
Carpenter Shop were built over 100
years ago. The two shops were
eventually combined, as the families
were combined, and are now being
restored by the Rough and Ready
Chamber of Commerce.
The old Rough and Ready School
building, built in 1856-57, is now
privately owned but still stands on
i EER
‘ mh:
‘The Rough & Ready Hotel (now gone) was a popular stop over and social center.
The upper left was a dance hall with the store and bar on the ground floor with
the Rough and Ready Post Office and Hotel lobby. Proprietors, Sam and Rose
fisher on the right and Stewart Warner and Marthalene Gates to their left.