Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

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Title: Volume 048-1 - January 1994 Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Collection Name: Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins # of Pages: 8 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2014-03-05 06:42:22 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 04:05:59 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 04:05:59

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

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in the United States on October 8, 1942. As chairman of California’s state mining board, MacBoyle “fought vigorously” for the miners, commuting back and forth to Washington D.C., where he tried to get the federal government to release tightly rationed steel supplies so the gold mines could maintain operations. He was unsuccessful, but in the course of his lobbying activities he became acquainted with Missouri Senator Harry S. Truman, who later visited Grass Valley and was a guest at the home of MacBoyle, a fellow Democrat. In 1928 MacBoyle was married in San Francisco to Gwendolyn Clifford, a plumber’s daughter who was the secretary for a Montgomery Street law firm. She has been described as “‘a stately, auburn-haired beauty whose personal sparkle caused her to be dubbed the ‘Golden Lady’ by San Francisco columnists.” The MacBoyles began to enjoy the fruits of their labors, spending much of their time in San Francisco, where they resided in a large “extravagantly decorated apartment” at 2000 Washington Street, and Errol maintained a downtown business office in the Russ Building. Their flat boasted gold leaf ceilings, gold lavatory fixtures, gold doorknobs, fine furniture, and antique Irish Waterford « glass, which the MacBoyles had purchased from the estate of William Bourn (of Empire Mine fame). The couple entertained lavishly, both at home and at the historic 2,000-acre Fountain Grove Winery in Sonoma County, which they acquired in 1937. Nevertheless he continued to maintain his voting address in Grass Valley, and in 1938, with the help of his lifetime friend and associate, Dr. Carl P. Jones, MacBoyle began planning to make their dream of a hospital for Grass Valley come true. According to the Sacramento Bee, “MacBoyle had envisioned the hospital as a possible Mayo Clinic of the West. It was planned so sunlight would penetrate each of its hundreds of rooms.” From his Idaho-Maryland stock dividends, MacBoyle contributed over $400,000 toward construction of the Grass Valley Memorial Hospital on the site of the Prisk Ranch. However, World War II intervened, cutting off supplies of needed materials, including German steel. With the closure of the mine, dividends stopped, and then MacBoyle was incapacitated by a stroke. By the time work halted, $425,000 had been spent on the building. When MacBoyle died in 1949, work had not resumed, but the Sacramento Bee optimistically reported “there is a movement under way to have it completed with public funds.” Unfortunately, 1930s specifications for the building were no longer sufficient to meet stricter postwar hospital requirements. In 1954 Charles V. Litton acquired the property and converted the structure into an engineering laboratory and MacBoyle’s fountain, patterned after one at the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco Bay. (Photo by Jim Rose.) living quarters for his family. The hoped-for hospital became the Litton Building, and $200,00 from the sale went into a fund to build Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital in 1958. In 1933 MacBoyle had built Loma Rica Field, a private airport to serve the needs of the Idaho-Maryland Mines by transporting gold to the San Francisco Mint. Local lore says the plane, a twin-engine Lockheed Electra, was also used to carry gold to Mexico, where the price of gold was much higher than in the U.S. (We have been unable to corroborate this story or another which claims the plane flew in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.) Loma Rica Field was used by the Army Air Corps in 1941 as a Squadron training site, but in the following year, when the government shut down gold mines, the field fell into disuse. After the war, attempts were made by local citizens in 1946 and 1947 to take the field into the county system and to secure federal funds to recondition and improve the site. Federal participation was arranged by Congressman Clair Engle. However, local efforts failed to acquire the property. During the summer of 1955 Charles Litton purchased the airport site and surrounding areas for $10,000. After the Nevada County Board of Supervisors refused to vote the necessary expenditures, the Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce and Downey Clinch solicited public and private support for the project. In 1956-57 the City of Grass Valley, the California Division of Forestry, the County of Nevada, and several individuals donated sufficient money and heavy equipment to grade, resurface and rehabilitate the landing area and taxiways. An important and compelling reason for the restoration of the field was to offer the state and federal governments a suitable facility for basing fire-fighting planes and a borate (fire retardant) plant. The Loma Rica airport was owned by Litton until 1956, when it was acquired by the Loma Rica Industrial Park