Volume 049-2 - April 1995 (8 pages)

(mm o~ Catalog of Historical Landmarks and Dedicated Sites in Nevada County, California. Nevada County Historical Society, Nevada City, California, 1994. Many people like to visit places where historical events took place. For example, the battlefields of the Civil War. To mark such places with a commemorative plaque is the logical result of this. Nevada County has quite a number of them, and the present book is a catalog of them. An entire page is devoted to each entry. These pages contain the text of the plaque, along with the location of the plaque and some general information. The descriptions are grouped together under the heading of the organization which sponsored the plaque. We have the California Historical Landmarks (CHL), E Clampus Vitus (ECM and ECT), Nevada County Historical Points of Interest (NEV), Native Daughters and Sons of the Golden West (NGW), National Historic Landmarks (NHL), Dedications of the Nevada County Historical Society (NHS), Veterans Memorials (VET) and miscellaneous plaques (MISC). Within each group, the entries are numbered. For those groups which have already numbers for their monuments (such as CHL), their numbers are retained. For the others, the year in which their monuments were dedicated is used. This is a flexible system which allows to insert new pages in case new plaques have to be described. In some cases notes, historical or other, are appended and, if these notes were substantially increased, the book would gain much in informational value. Here are some thoughts which came up while reading the book: CHL 297, the monument remembering the discovery of “gold in quartz” by George Knight in October 1850. This entry has a note which declares that the name should be George McKnight. In the Bulletin of the Nevada County Historical Society for October 1980 there is an article by Theo Reidt which suggests that the name on the monument is correct. This matter merits more study. ECM 63A, the monument remembering the foundation of North San Juan, The plaque states that the name of the founder was Christian KEINZ. In the Bulletin for April 1980, there is an article which states (correctly) that the name of the founder was Christian KIENTZ. This article contains biographical information on this gentleman. ECM 69, Chinatown, Grass Valley. Among the Chinese persons mentioned on this plaque is Georgie Bow. The diminutive of his name is somewhat insulting. George Y. S. Bow was born in Grass Valley on 28 April 1892. After graduating from high school in 1911, George went to U.C. Berkeley to study mechanical engineering but, before graduating, he transferred to the military academy of Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, where he graduated as a lieutenant in 1914, The following year he met Sun Yat-Sen, who had started the Chinese revolution in 1911, which revolution started a civil war. Sun accepted him in his army, where George made himself useful training soldiers and supervising engineering works. One of the interesting episodes of George’s career was saving Chingling, the wife of Sun Yat-Sen from the army of the warlord Chen Chiung-Ming when the latter attacked Canton on 15 June 1922. George was a colonel at that time. He died on 2 October 1951. ECT 5/18, Jibboom Street, Truckee. The name of the street is spelled correctly on the sheet describing the monument, but is spelled wrongly in the index as “Jiboom Street” (page viii). NEV I, The Martin Luther Marsh House. The plaque is quoted as: “Marsh Luther Marsh House”. Is this a typo or does the plaque really say this? NGW 14, the James Watt memorial. The plaque and the note at the foot of the page do not say much about James Watt. According to Lardner and Brock, “Miss Finnie was united in marriage with James Watt, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, who came to Grass Valley in 1869. For over forty years, Mr. Watt was one of the leading merchants and a man of prominence and influence in Grass Valley. He passed away in 1916.” This book is published by the Nevada County Historical Society. On the copyright page we read: “Profits from sales of these catalogs will be used by the Nevada County Historical Society (in consultation with the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission) for the purchase of materials and labor to mount and display plaques and markers at significant historical sites . . . .” The catalog will be a useful guide to the memorable sites of Nevada County. vdP. Charlene Akers, Open to the Public, a Guide to the Museums of Northern California. Heyday Books; Berkeley, California; 1994. For those who do not have the money or the time to take a trip around the world, to take a safari in Africa or to explore Antarctica, here is good news. Our Northern California with its (still) beautiful natural treasures invites us to take short trips, a few days or a weekend. And for those who combine love of nature with love of history, there is an additional bonus, local museums. It is truly amazing how many museums there are in Northern California. Some of them are operated by the state or by local government, such as counties; others are operated by societies, for example the San Francisco Museum Society or local historical societies. And many of them are private enterprises. Admission is free to most of them, although a contribution is seldom sneezed at. The subject of these museums is very diversified. Art museums are mainly found in large cities like San Francisco or Sacramento. Many of the smaller museums are devoted to local history. But still others are devoted to unexpected topics. There is, for example, a tattoo museum (Berkeley) and a Barbie Doll museum (Palo Alto). Many of the museums have docents who usually are well informed. It is always a pleasure to talk to them and pick up some information as a bonus. And many museums have gift shops, stocked with items of local interest. This book covers the area of California north of San Luis Opispo and Kern counties, all the way to the Oregon border. I estimate that in this area some 500 or 500 museums are covered. Of course all museums in Nevada County (except the video museum in Grass Valley’s Memorial Park) are discussed. 15

(mm o~ Catalog of Historical Landmarks and Dedicated Sites in Nevada County, California. Nevada County Historical Society, Nevada City, California, 1994. Many people like to visit places where historical events took place. For example, the battlefields of the Civil War. To mark such places with a commemorative plaque is the logical result of this. Nevada County has quite a number of them, and the present book is a catalog of them. An entire page is devoted to each entry. These pages contain the text of the plaque, along with the location of the plaque and some general information. The descriptions are grouped together under the heading of the organization which sponsored the plaque. We have the California Historical Landmarks (CHL), E Clampus Vitus (ECM and ECT), Nevada County Historical Points of Interest (NEV), Native Daughters and Sons of the Golden West (NGW), National Historic Landmarks (NHL), Dedications of the Nevada County Historical Society (NHS), Veterans Memorials (VET) and miscellaneous plaques (MISC). Within each group, the entries are numbered. For those groups which have already numbers for their monuments (such as CHL), their numbers are retained. For the others, the year in which their monuments were dedicated is used. This is a flexible system which allows to insert new pages in case new plaques have to be described. In some cases notes, historical or other, are appended and, if these notes were substantially increased, the book would gain much in informational value. Here are some thoughts which came up while reading the book: CHL 297, the monument remembering the discovery of “gold in quartz” by George Knight in October 1850. This entry has a note which declares that the name should be George McKnight. In the Bulletin of the Nevada County Historical Society for October 1980 there is an article by Theo Reidt which suggests that the name on the monument is correct. This matter merits more study. ECM 63A, the monument remembering the foundation of North San Juan, The plaque states that the name of the founder was Christian KEINZ. In the Bulletin for April 1980, there is an article which states (correctly) that the name of the founder was Christian KIENTZ. This article contains biographical information on this gentleman. ECM 69, Chinatown, Grass Valley. Among the Chinese persons mentioned on this plaque is Georgie Bow. The diminutive of his name is somewhat insulting. George Y. S. Bow was born in Grass Valley on 28 April 1892. After graduating from high school in 1911, George went to U.C. Berkeley to study mechanical engineering but, before graduating, he transferred to the military academy of Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, where he graduated as a lieutenant in 1914, The following year he met Sun Yat-Sen, who had started the Chinese revolution in 1911, which revolution started a civil war. Sun accepted him in his army, where George made himself useful training soldiers and supervising engineering works. One of the interesting episodes of George’s career was saving Chingling, the wife of Sun Yat-Sen from the army of the warlord Chen Chiung-Ming when the latter attacked Canton on 15 June 1922. George was a colonel at that time. He died on 2 October 1951. ECT 5/18, Jibboom Street, Truckee. The name of the street is

spelled correctly on the sheet describing the monument, but is spelled wrongly in the index as “Jiboom Street” (page viii). NEV I, The Martin Luther Marsh House. The plaque is quoted as: “Marsh Luther Marsh House”. Is this a typo or does the plaque really say this? NGW 14, the James Watt memorial. The plaque and the note at the foot of the page do not say much about James Watt. According to Lardner and Brock, “Miss Finnie was united in marriage with James Watt, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, who came to Grass Valley in 1869. For over forty years, Mr. Watt was one of the leading merchants and a man of prominence and influence in Grass Valley. He passed away in 1916.” This book is published by the Nevada County Historical Society. On the copyright page we read: “Profits from sales of these catalogs will be used by the Nevada County Historical Society (in consultation with the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission) for the purchase of materials and labor to mount and display plaques and markers at significant historical sites . . . .” The catalog will be a useful guide to the memorable sites of Nevada County. vdP. Charlene Akers, Open to the Public, a Guide to the Museums of Northern California. Heyday Books; Berkeley, California; 1994. For those who do not have the money or the time to take a trip around the world, to take a safari in Africa or to explore Antarctica, here is good news. Our Northern California with its (still) beautiful natural treasures invites us to take short trips, a few days or a weekend. And for those who combine love of nature with love of history, there is an additional bonus, local museums. It is truly amazing how many museums there are in Northern California. Some of them are operated by the state or by local government, such as counties; others are operated by societies, for example the San Francisco Museum Society or local historical societies. And many of them are private enterprises. Admission is free to most of them, although a contribution is seldom sneezed at. The subject of these museums is very diversified. Art museums are mainly found in large cities like San Francisco or Sacramento. Many of the smaller museums are devoted to local history. But still others are devoted to unexpected topics. There is, for example, a tattoo museum (Berkeley) and a Barbie Doll museum (Palo Alto). Many of the museums have docents who usually are well informed. It is always a pleasure to talk to them and pick up some information as a bonus. And many museums have gift shops, stocked with items of local interest. This book covers the area of California north of San Luis Opispo and Kern counties, all the way to the Oregon border. I estimate that in this area some 500 or 500 museums are covered. Of course all museums in Nevada County (except the video museum in Grass Valley’s Memorial Park) are discussed. 15