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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NCHS Bulletin January 2007 Lewis Delavan—bravely continued with her for two days more along the Truckee River. They camped for three days at a trading post at the rim of the Nevada desert before setting out on the return journey. During this part of the journey Delavan somehow got lost, along with the single pack horse that carried all their supplies. His own horse and the pack horse both got away from him, and Delavan, unable to reestablish contact with his companions, was forced to walk the entire distance back to Grass Valley. Lola and her companions luckily were found and furnished with emergency rations by another party of vacationers from Nevada City. Thus ended Pauline’s association with Lola, who left Grass Valley soon after and went to Australia. By 1856 Pauline Rickmers had acquired a house of her own on a parcel of land that extended from upper Main Street to Neal Street. She then traveled to Germany and brought her mother to Grass Valley. During the next several years Pauline was involved in a variety of business and mining enterprises, all apparently successful. In 1862, one year after the death of Lola Montez, Pauline Rickmers married Joseph Van Hoeter, and together they established a soap factory on the Neal Street end of her lot. On November 1, 1863, a fire in downtown Grass Valley destroyed a ten-pin bowling alley and saloon she owned (operated by William Floyd), and her loss was estimated at $1000. On April 15, 1869, Pauline filed a declaration of her intent (as a married woman) to engage in business on her own, buying and selling real estate, and manufacturing and selling soap. In the spring of 1885 her husband Joseph had fitted out a skating rink on Mill Street, and a year later Pauline and Joseph opened “Van’s Opera House” in the remodeled and NEVADA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY EXECUTIVE BOARD President Allen DeNegri Vice President William Durbrow Executive Secretary Pat Chesnut Treasurer Glenn Straight DIRECTORS Firehouse Museum Wally Hagaman North Star Mining Museum Glenn Jones Searls Historical Library Ed Tyson Genealogical Research Maria Brower NCNGRR/Transportation Museum Division Madelyn Helling NCHS Books Division Desmond Gallagher Bulletin Editor Maria Brower Newsletter Editor Pat Chesnut Membership Webmaster Marilou Ficklin Publicity Sally Smith Archivist Gay Conner Director-at-Large Al Dittmann Director-at-Large Brita Rozynski Director-at-Large Brian Blair 6 enlarged skating rink. They sold the opera house to merchant Charles E. Clinch in 1894, and he renamed his acquisition “the Grass Valley Auditorium.” Two years later Pauline died, and in her obituary on May 15, 1896, the a Morning Union remembered Pauline as “an intelligent and eccentric character.” Her husband was described as a “warm-hearted and genial” person who seemed to take a lesser role in the family’s business affairs. Clinch persuaded Grass Valley to move its City Hall into the building in 1901, and in about 1910 the owners began to project black and white moving images onto a screen, and a fancy sign was installed to identify the “Strand Theater.” The Strand was successful for more than thirty years, not closing its doors until 1946, when the modern Del Oro Theater opened for business next door. Pauline would have fitted into today’s world quite well, performing as a successful independent businesswoman, skilled in real estate investment, property management, cos™ metics manufacturing and sales, and able to launch a happy first marriage with a congenial companion at the age of 48. A greater success story, I would say, than that of her onetime employer, the Countess of Landsfeld. P.O. Box 1300, Nevada City, CA 95959 Searls Historical Library 214 Church Street, Nevada City (530) 265-5910 Open 1-4 pm daily (except Sundays and holidays) Firehouse Museum 214 Main Street, Nevada City (530) 265-5468 Summer: Open Friday and Saturday 11 am to 4 pm Winter: Friday-Sunday 12:00 noon to 3 pm (except holidays) North Star Mining Museum Allison Ranch Road, Grass Valley (530) 273-4255 Open May . to October 15 from 10 am to 5 pm Railroad and Transportation Museum 5 Kidder Court, Nevada City (530) 470-0902 May 1 to Oct. 31: Open Friday thru Tuesday 10 am to 4 pm Nov. . to April 30: Open Tuesday and Saturday 10 am to 4 pm NCHS Books 511 North Pine St., Nevada City 95959 (530) 265-4312