Collection: Books and Periodicals > Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins

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Title: Volume 061-1 - January 2007 Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Collection Name: Nevada County Historical Society Bulletins # of Pages: 6 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2014-03-12 08:36:32 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 04:06:02 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 04:06:02

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

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¢ Heritage Home 40 at 257 Auburn Street Home of Edward and Libby Kiernan THIS BEAUTIFULLY RESTORED two-story woodframed Queen Anne classic has shiplap siding, a hipped roof with lower cross gables and a gabled dormer. It has spindlework porch supports and two turreted porch roofs, rare in this area. It is painted a soft green with white and burgundy trim, and accented with wood shingles. This lovely home was built in the early 1900s on land that was owned by John Hoyle and purchased by Samuel Bethell in 1872. No records were found as to the original owner or builder of this home. The first known resident was Ernest Hocking in 1922, and his family resided in this home for 55 years. Ernest Hiram “Hi” Hocking was born in Grass Valley on September 16, 1883. He worked at the North Star mine from 1907 to 1916, during which time he married Theresa “Tess” White on June 24, 1908, and two children were born there: Clarice Elizabeth on June 14, 1909, and Robert Ernest on October 26, 1911. Ernest Hocking then worked four years for the Tightner mine in Alleghany, was at the Champion mine near Nevada City in 1920-21, and at the Empire Mine for three more years. In 1924 he decided to take a business course at Mt. St. Mary’s Academy. In 1925 he opened “Hi’s Place,” a soda fountain and lunch counter in the Cardinal building at the corner of South Auburn and Mohawk streets. During the 1930s and 40s he and Tess also had a fountain and confectionery store at 145 Mill Street, the Golden Poppy Confectionery—also known as the “Knotty Poppy.” (Tess’ Kitchen Store occupies that spot today.) After Pearl Harbor, many men entered the service or took wartime defense jobs that paid better than mine work. Because he was 58 years old, Hocking was exempt from the draft. Experienced miners were in short supply, so he closed Hi’s Place in 1942 and went to work at the New Brunswick mine. Tess continued to run the Golden Poppy, which had become a very popular student hangout. In addition to this house, the Hockings also owned a lot on their north side on which the family operated a nursery and a farmers market before selling it to the County of Nevada about 1930. The Grass Valley Veterans Memorial building was built on this parcel and another purchased > from the Rodda family for that purpose in 1928. Ernest Hocking passed away on June 29, 1959. Tess Hocking remained in this home until her death on January 23, 1965, and her daughter Clarice continued to live there until 1977, when Yvonne Boles bought it for use as a boarding house. By the time Louis Freschi acquired it in 1988, the house at 257 South Auburn Street had become very run down. He restored and remodeled it before selling it in November 2001 to Ed and Libby Kiernan, the current owners, who are completing the labor of love Freschi began. 7 * “ghee BS In this photo taken sometime in the 1920s, South Auburn Street can be seen in the foreground. The house on the left (A) is the Rodda house, before it was sold to the county and removed in 1928. The Hocking house (B) is at the far right. Between the two houses is the lot and barn purchased from Hocking and combined with the Rodda parcel to create a site for the Veterans Memorial Auditorium. (Detail of a photo from Cliff Bowen that appeared in the July 1998 NCHS Bulletin.) lfollow the Students’ Parade for a good time at the KNOTTY POPPY Golden Poppy Confectionery E. H. HOCKING, Prop. \