Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

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Title: Volume 048-4 - October 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 07:00:58 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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e™ Library, written in May’s own esting things he did over the intervening years cannot be covered. One of the most interesting citizens of Nevada County was the older daughter, May. As she grew up she became the darling of Nevada City. She was petite, demure and kind. She also was high-spirited and adventurous. As a child, in 1887, May was taken by her father to England to attend the Golden Jubilee celebrating the 50th year of Queen Victoria’s popular reign. May was presented to the queen. (It is possible that Mr. Martin took the opportunity, while in England, to visit his parents in Cornwall. This is pure conjecture, but I would like to believe it true.) She worked nearly 50 years in the office at the Miners’ Foundry, first with her father, then later with her husband, Dick Goyne. Some of the bookkeeping records of those years are in the Searls handwriting, using a very finetipped quill pen. I looked at some of them not long ago. During those years she also found the time and energy to direct, produce, or somehow be involved in virtually every play, musical production or parade in town. Hers was an extraordinary personality, and she left upon Nevada City an imprint still felt today. Although we think of her as an historical person, she lived a long life, more than 80 years, and this brought her within the memory of people alive today. Betsy Bennett and Bob Paine knew her. When she died in 1962, Bob Paine wrote in her epitaph: “Nevada City has said goodbye to a great lady. There will never be another like her.” Dick Goyne is our third noteworthy owner. He was a local boy. Probably the smartest things he ever did were to go to work at the Miners’ Foundry, and to marry the boss’s daughter, May Martin. In 1921, when he was growing old, William Martin deeded the foundry to Dick rather than to his son, Robert. Dick and May together ran the foundry for 36 years—until 1957. The early years especially, were very active ones for the foundry. The gold mines in the area were busy and productive, constantly needing new machinery, re= This “Little Willie” display at the Miners’ Foundry shows the evolution from the first model (lower left) to the more streamlined versions that eventually replaced it. The cutaway model (middle bottom) shows the various components. The foundry began manufacturing Little Willie in 1946 in the building now known as the Winery. In 1974 the juicer business was sold and the manufacturing plant was removed to a location near the airport. From 1946 to 1985 30,000 juicers were sold. (Miners’ Foundry photo.) pairs and parts for stamp mills, rock crushers, ore cars, man-skips, and other equipment of the mining industry. The lumber industry needed parts for steam engines, rigging equipment, winches, etc. The Great Depression of 1929 to 1937 scarcely touched Nevada City and Grass Valley. But World War II did. It brought the prosperity of the 1920s and 30s to a rude halt. The mines were closed in October, 1942. They were permitted to reopen in July 1945, but things were never the same. Many of the mines did not reopen. Those that did looked to new technology. The venerable stamp mills, the bread and butter item for the Miners’ Foundry, were relegated to secondary roles, then shut down completely. In 1950 the last iron was poured at the Miners’ Foundry and the Goynes reluctantly shut down the two cupolas. The foundry then switched to a variety of fabricated steel products, such as 33