Volume 053-2 - April 1999 (10 pages)

NCHS Bulletin April 1999 Book Review Roger Lescohier: The Miners Foundry, Nevada City’s Treasure of the Past. Self published, Nevada City, 1998. N THE MONTH OF JANUARY 1848, gold was discovered in California. One year later an enormous influx of people came to California to find their fortune. At that time gold was mainly found in river banks or locations called placers by the Mexicans. This placer gold didn’t last long—in the fall of 1850 it was discovered that gold occurred in quartz. The recovery of gold from quartz was difficult and needed heavy machinery, which was originally imported from the East, and later manufactured in California. This gave rise to enormous development of iron works, the remnants of these are still found in various gold country locations. One of the first of these iron works was located in Nevada City, known as the Miners Foundry. As far as I know, no book has been devoted to the history of the Miners Foundry until this book by Mr. Lescohier. The book is divided into three parts, the first of which deals with the history of the foundry. The second part offers a number of pictures, while the third part describes the operations of an iron works. The history section is organized in chronological order, starting with the small foundry established by E. Coker in 1855. A few years later the foundry was taken over by Mr. Heugh and Mr. Thom. When Mr. Heugh died in 1867, Mr. Thom sold the interest of Mr. Heugh to George Allen. Around 1878, Lester Pelton invented his water wheel, which was much more efficient than other existing water wheels. Water wheels at the time were used to produce energy, which had been produced before by steam engines. Steam engines already had been used before the Pelton Wheel took over. The 10 started the Miners Foundry became the main producer of Pelton Wheels until the demand for them became too great. Then Pelton went to San Francisco and organized a company to produce his own wheels, calied the “Pelton Water Wheel Company.” The mines used much equipment which could not be produced by a foundry, therefore most of them developed large machine shops to produce and repair such material. Over the years, the gold industry had received several great setbacks. One of them was the Sawyer decision which forbade hydraulicking. Another was due to World War II, when a presidential order forced closure of the mines. Most of the Nevada County mines were closed before 1957. The Miners Foundry had some long-time owners. In 1921 Richard Goyne inherited the foundry from his father-in-law, William H. Martin, who had been the owner from 1907 to 1921. The previously mentioned setbacks did not affect the foundry too badly, because they had started the production of “Little Willies,” which were juicers. These were improved several times over the years until the last and most successful version was produced in great numbers. In 1974 the juicer business was ended and the foundry building was sold to Osborne and Woods, who American Victorian Museum and operated it for several years. The building was later taken over by the Nevada City Winery. At present the building is run by the Miners Foundry Trust, who specialize in supporting the performing arts. It will be clear that the Miners Foundry has always been closely associated with the welfare of Nevada NEVADA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY P.O. Box 1300, Nevada City, CA 95959 — President Priscilla van der Pa First Vice President Adele Santos Second Vice President Anne Brooke Membership Secretary Cynthia Sosa Recording Secretary Gay Conner Executive Secretary Paul Hinshelwood Treasurer David Comstock Past President Jim Rose Directors Nevada City (1999) Bill Postell Grass Valley (1999) Michet Janicot County-at-large (1999) Fred Relaford Nevada City (2000) Ed Breitt Grass Valley (2000) Eleanor Hinshelwood County-at-large (2000) Elmabel/Nick Rohrman Nevada City (2001) Al Dittmann Grass Valley (2001) Bob Austin County-at-large (2001) Bedford Lampkin Bulletin Editor: Bedford Lampkin Searls Historical Library 214 Church Street, Nevada City (530) 265-5910 Open 1-4 pm except Sundays & holidays Firehouse Museum 214 Main Street, Nevada City (530) 265-5468 my Summer: Open 11 am to 4 pm daily Winter: Open 11 am to 4 pm Thurs-Sun North Star Mining Museum Allison Ranch Rd, Grass Valley (530) 273-4255 Open May 1 to October 1: 10 am to 5 pm Transportation Museum Division (530) 272-2085 Video History Museum and Theater Central Ave., Memorial Park, Grass Valley Summer: 11 am to 4 pm except Wednesday NCHS Books 10105 Laurentian Way, Nevada City 95959 (530) 478-0231 City. In this review, we have limited ourselves to the historical part of the booklet. The remainder of the booklet will provide more information to the avid reader, who can buy it at Foundry events, or at Harmony Books or Brigadoon Books in Nevada City. We hope the N.C.H.S. will soon offer it in their ¢ book sales listings, as it is a very read“ able little book about an importa Nevada City landmark. vdP é f ry

NCHS Bulletin April 1999 Book Review Roger Lescohier: The Miners Foundry, Nevada City’s Treasure of the Past. Self published, Nevada City, 1998. N THE MONTH OF JANUARY 1848, gold was discovered in California. One year later an enormous influx of people came to California to find their fortune. At that time gold was mainly found in river banks or locations called placers by the Mexicans. This placer gold didn’t last long—in the fall of 1850 it was discovered that gold occurred in quartz. The recovery of gold from quartz was difficult and needed heavy machinery, which was originally imported from the East, and later manufactured in California. This gave rise to enormous development of iron works, the remnants of these are still found in various gold country locations. One of the first of these iron works was located in Nevada City, known as the Miners Foundry. As far as I know, no book has been devoted to the history of the Miners Foundry until this book by Mr. Lescohier. The book is divided into three parts, the first of which deals with the history of the foundry. The second part offers a number of pictures, while the third part describes the operations of an iron works. The history section is organized in chronological order, starting with the small foundry established by E. Coker in 1855. A few years later the foundry was taken over by Mr. Heugh and Mr. Thom. When Mr. Heugh died in 1867, Mr. Thom sold the interest of Mr. Heugh to George Allen. Around 1878, Lester Pelton invented his water wheel, which was much more efficient than other existing water wheels. Water wheels at the time were used to produce energy, which had been produced before by steam engines. Steam engines already had been used before the Pelton Wheel took over. The 10 started the Miners Foundry became the main producer of Pelton Wheels until the demand for them became too great. Then Pelton went to San Francisco and organized a company to produce his own wheels, calied the “Pelton Water Wheel Company.” The mines used much equipment which could not be produced by a foundry, therefore most of them developed large machine shops to produce and repair such material. Over the years, the gold industry had received several great setbacks. One of them was the Sawyer decision which forbade hydraulicking. Another was due to World War II, when a presidential order forced closure of the mines. Most of the Nevada County mines were closed before 1957. The Miners Foundry had some long-time owners. In 1921 Richard Goyne inherited the foundry from his father-in-law, William H. Martin, who had been the owner from 1907 to 1921. The previously mentioned

setbacks did not affect the foundry too badly, because they had started the production of “Little Willies,” which were juicers. These were improved several times over the years until the last and most successful version was produced in great numbers. In 1974 the juicer business was ended and the foundry building was sold to Osborne and Woods, who American Victorian Museum and operated it for several years. The building was later taken over by the Nevada City Winery. At present the building is run by the Miners Foundry Trust, who specialize in supporting the performing arts. It will be clear that the Miners Foundry has always been closely associated with the welfare of Nevada NEVADA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY P.O. Box 1300, Nevada City, CA 95959 — President Priscilla van der Pa First Vice President Adele Santos Second Vice President Anne Brooke Membership Secretary Cynthia Sosa Recording Secretary Gay Conner Executive Secretary Paul Hinshelwood Treasurer David Comstock Past President Jim Rose Directors Nevada City (1999) Bill Postell Grass Valley (1999) Michet Janicot County-at-large (1999) Fred Relaford Nevada City (2000) Ed Breitt Grass Valley (2000) Eleanor Hinshelwood County-at-large (2000) Elmabel/Nick Rohrman Nevada City (2001) Al Dittmann Grass Valley (2001) Bob Austin County-at-large (2001) Bedford Lampkin Bulletin Editor: Bedford Lampkin Searls Historical Library 214 Church Street, Nevada City (530) 265-5910 Open 1-4 pm except Sundays & holidays Firehouse Museum 214 Main Street, Nevada City (530) 265-5468 my Summer: Open 11 am to 4 pm daily Winter: Open 11 am to 4 pm Thurs-Sun North Star Mining Museum Allison Ranch Rd, Grass Valley (530) 273-4255 Open May 1 to October 1: 10 am to 5 pm Transportation Museum Division (530) 272-2085 Video History Museum and Theater Central Ave., Memorial Park, Grass Valley Summer: 11 am to 4 pm except Wednesday NCHS Books 10105 Laurentian Way, Nevada City 95959 (530) 478-0231 City. In this review, we have limited ourselves to the historical part of the booklet. The remainder of the booklet will provide more information to the avid reader, who can buy it at Foundry events, or at Harmony Books or Brigadoon Books in Nevada City. We hope the N.C.H.S. will soon offer it in their ¢ book sales listings, as it is a very read“ able little book about an importa Nevada City landmark. vdP é f ry