Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

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Title: Volume 042-1 - January 1988 Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Collection Name: Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins # of Pages: 10 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

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Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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KATE HAYES by Peter W. van der Pas I. KATE HAYES IN NEVADA COUNTY TOPOGRAPHY In Nevada County, several geographical and topographical features carry the name of Kate Hayes. This is curious for, with one exception, I did not find the name of Kate Hayes associated with such features in other counties. Kate Hayes Street In Grass Valley, we find a Kate Hayes Street. It runs parallel to South Auburn Street, connecting Empire Street with Race Street. In the directories! for 1856, 1861, 1865 and 1867, we find no mention of Kate Hayes Street. The directories for 1871 and 1895 do not have addresses and therefore do not mention this street either. The 1872 map of Grass Valley? has Race Street at its southern border, therefore it does not show Kate Hayes Street, even if it existed at the time. The Sanborn Fire Map* of 1891 does not show the area where Kate Hayes Street should be, but the Fire Map‘ of 1898 shows the street, running south from Race Street, until about half way to Empire Street. Therefore we may conclude that Kate Hayes Street was started shortly betore 1898. Kate Hayes Hill Unlike Kate Hayes Street, a Kate Hayes Hill is mentioned in several directories. In the directory of 1861, we find Race Street mentioned once; this was probably a quite new street at that time. Kate Hayes Hill is mentioned nine times in the 1865 directory for Grass Valley, and the directory for 1868 mentions Kate Hayes Hill no less than 31 times. In Thompson and West? we find recorded: “In 1871, the Grass Valley Water Company was organized and made a contract with the city to supply water for twenty years. The company built the Stoney Point Reservoir on Kate Hayes Hill, at an altitude of 192 feet above the lowest and 60 feet above the highest point in the city.” This would imply that the reservoir was not too far away from the contemporary city limits. I did not find Stoney Point on any map I consulted. In 1896, an Atlas Folio® was published. On the map, respresenting the vicinity of Grass Valley a “‘dry reservoir” is shown at an altitude of 2950 feet. On the map of the Grass Valley quadrangle, 7.5 minute series’, this location is shown at 2620 feet. It is very likely that this was the location of Kate Hayes Hill. Another Kate Hayes Hill The Grass Valley Directory? for 1865 has a special listing for Allison Ranch. In this list, most persons are listed as living near the Allison Ranch mine. However, there is a group of 13 names (in addition to the nine already mentioned for Grass Valley), with addresses at Kate Hayes Hill. Curiously, all these names start with “S”. One would suspect these miners, who obviously worked at the Allison Ranch mine, lived close to the mine and that, therefore, there was a second Kate Hayes Hill. Indeed, on the map of Nevada County® of 1880, we find a property, owned by Mrs. G. [?] Hayes at TISN-R8E, section 22. This is about two miles south of Allison Ranch mine. It is possible that this is the site of a second Kate Hayes Hill. Mrs. Hayes herself is not listed in the directory. In the list of claims on this map, no Kate Hayes claim is mentioned. Kate Hayes Mine In the directory for 1867, we find mentioned!® a “Kate Hayes Mining Co.; Late Hayes Hill” and one employee is even mentioned: M. Sullivan, drifter, Kate Hayes Mine. In addition, this directory'' mentions a placer mine at Kate WILSON ST. LN. ORIAL “Fy w ler =!" RESERVOIR Hayes Hill near Grass Valley and a mine, owned by the Narragansett Company, located directly west of Kate Hayes Hill'2. Thompson and West’? state that, up to 1855, the “Lola Montez, Kate Hayes and other diggins had yielded a half million dollars in gold.” The directory for 1895 mentions a Kate Hayes Mine near Grass Valley of which J.C. Roberts was the superintendent'*. The combined map of Grass Valley and Nevada City'5 shows Kate Hayes claims east of Grass Valley. Finally, in Johnston’s Gold Quartz veins of Grass Valley'® we read about a “Kate Hayes vein, cropping out west of the Pennsylvania vein and roughly parallel to it. It was worked in the sixties and is said to have produced $125,000 from ore, assaying $35 to $50 a ton. The old shaft, 300 feet deep, was opened in 1895.” On the accompanying map in this book, the vein