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Page: of 12
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Serving the communities of Nevada City, Grass Valley, Red Dog, You Bet,
French Corral, Rough and Ready, Graniteville, North San Juan, North Bloomfield, Humbug, Relief Hill,
Union Hill, Peardale, Summit City, Walloupa, Gouge Eye, Lime Kiln, Chicago Park, Wolf, Christmas
Hill, Gold Flat, Soggsville, Gold Bar, Lowell Hill, Baqurbon Hill, Scotch Hill, North, Columbia, Columbia Hill, Brandy Flat,
Newtown, Indian Flat, Bridgeport, Birchville, Moore‘s Flat, Orleans Flat, Remington Hill, Anthony House, Delirium Tremens,.
NUMBER 24 VOLUME 49
re, 4 a Pe RO age OPE oe ar
a ™ oe
PERIODICALS section
CAL. ST. LIBRARY
SACTN. CAL. 958
10 Cents A Copy Published Wednesdays, Nevada City
Town Talk, Glenbrook, Little York, Cherokee, Mooney Flat, Sweetland, Alpha, Omega,
Washington, Blue Tent, La Batr Meadows, Cedar Ridge,
Hill, Liberty Hill, Sailor Flat, Lake City, Selby Flat, Grizzly
Sebastopol, Quaker Hill, Willow Valley,
WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 1969
Calendar of events f
July 1--Evangeline Chapter,
8 p.m., Masonic Hall, Nevada
July 1--W.A.C., Banner
Grange #627, 12 noon, Mrs,
Lucille Duffy's home.
July 1--NDGW, Manzanita
Parlor, 8 p.m., St. Patrick's
Parish Hall.
. July 1--Companions of Foresters of America, 8p.m., Auditorium Hall, G.V.
July 2--Nevada County Bridge
Club, 12 noon, Vet. Mem. Bidg.,
Grass Valley. :
July 2--Neighbors of Woodcraft, & p.m., Auditorium Hall,
’ Grass Valley.
July 2--Nevada Lodge No. 13,
July 2--Nevada City Soroptimists, 12 noon, Victorian Rm.,
National Hotel, N.C. es
July 2--NDGW, Laurel Parlor
#6, 8 p.m., Veterans Bldg., N.C.
July 3--W.W, #1 Benefit Party
for Nev. Gen. Hosp., 8 p.m., Vet.
Mem, Bidg., Grass Valley.
July 3--Grass Valley ‘Lodge
#12; 8 p.m., IOOF Hall, Grass
Valley. ,
July 3, 4, 5--"Pinafore", 8
p.m., Nevada City Theatre, Nevada City.
July. $--Neighbors of Woodcraft; Champion Circle #325, 8
p.m., Calif. Hall, N. C.
July ~3--Nevada City Elks
Dance and buffet, Elks Hall.
July 4--Parade in Grass
Valley.
July 5--Goldancers Square
Dance Party, Seaman's Lodge,
Nevada City.
July 6--Church of your choice,
July 7--Aurora Chapter of
Eastern Star, Grass Valley,
DARK,
July 8--Neva Rebekah Lodge,
8 p.m,, IOOF Hall, Nevada City.
July 8--Nev. Co, Duplicate .
~ Bridge Club Dinner, 6:30 p.m.,
Watt Park Fire Hall.
July: 8--RainbowGirls, 7:30
p.m,, Masonic Hall, Nevada City.
July 8--Nev. Co.Gem & Mineral Show, Forestry Bldg., Ridge
Rd. & N.C, Hiway.
July 8-Christian Women's
Fellowship, 10a.m., G.V. Christian Church, ‘
July 8--F arm Bureau Womens
Club, 12 noon meeting, Vet.
Mem. Bldg., Nevada City.
» July .9--Nevada Lodge #13,
F&AM, Masonic Hall, Nevada
. City, 7:30:p.m.
July 9-=Nevada City Soroptimists, 12 noon, VictorianRm.,N Hotel, N.C.
‘July 10--Nevada City Elks
©
Club, 12 noon luncheon-meeting. °
#12, 8 p.m., IOOF Hall, G.V.
July 10--Nevada City Garden ©
July 11--Past Noble Grands,
8 p.m., IOOF Hall, Grass Valley.
July 12--Military Order of
the Louse, R.A.P. Hut: #49,
Babe's Hall, No. San Juan,
duly .12--Esther Rebekah
Lodge #9, 8 p.m., IOOF Hall,
Grass Valley. :
July 13--Church of your
choice. ‘
July 14--Mother Lode Bottle
Club, 7:30 p.m., Vet. Mem.
Bldg., Nevada City.
July 15--NDGW, Manzanita
Parlor, 8 p.m., St. Patrick's
Parish Hall, G.V.
July-.15--Madison Lodge No.
23, 7:30 p.m., Masonic Hall,
Grass Valley. . ;
July 15--Evangeline Chapter,
Nevada City, DARK.
July. 16--Nevada Lodge #13,
F&AM, 7:30 p.m., Masonic Hall,
Nevada City.
July 17--Neighbors of Wood eraft, Champion Circle #325,
7:30 p.m., Calif. Hall, N.C.
July 17--Nevada City Elks
M eeting.
July 17--Grass Valley Lodge
No, 12, 8 p.m., IOOF Hall, Grass
Ko . ly 18--Union Encampment,
Ladies Auxiliary, 8 p.m., IOOF
Hall, Grass Valley.
July 19--Public Party, 8p.m.,
IOOF Hall, Grass Valley.
July 20--Church of
choice, :
July 21--Aurora Chapter,
eastern Star, Grass Valley,
DARK.
July 22-Neva Rebekah Lodge
#116, 8 p.m., IOOF Hall, Nevada
City, .
July 22--Rainbow Girls, 7:30
p.m,, Masonic Temple, Nevada
City. sec
July 22-Catholic Ladies Relief
Soc., 8 p.m., St. Patrick's Hall,
Grass Valley. ;
July 23--Nevada Lodge #13,
F&AM, 7:30p.m., Masonic Temple, Nevada City.
July 23--Newcomers Club, 12
noon luncheon-meeting, Nevada
City.
July 24--Nevada City Elks
Meeting.
July 24--Grass Valley Lodge
Social Night, Pot Luck, 6:30
p.m., IOOF Hall,
July 25--Banner Grange #627,
8 p.m., McCourtney Rd. Grange
Hall, Grass Valley.
July 26--Unity White Shrine,
8 p.m., Masonic Temple, G.V.
July 26--Esther -Rebekah
Lodge #9, 8 p.m., IOOF Hall,
Grass Valley.
July 27--Church (of your
choice, —
July 28-July. 29--.
July 30--Nevada Lodge #13,
F&AM, Masonic Temple, N.C,
July 31-your
(EDITOR"'S NOTE: The Nugget
carried an historically important series. of articles in
1951 titled "100 Years of Nevada
County." These vignettes of our
Golden Empire then were compiled. into a book, only a few
. of which remain today. Because of local interest in things
. historical, the Nugget will republish those articles in’ ensuing weeks and encourages its
readers to clip the stories and
keep them for future reference
and recollection.)
Within a: radius of 25 miles
in Nevada and Placer counties
in the 1850's four great developments — beginning with
sluice mining — revolutionized
gold mining. In the resultant
boom the Nevada County Narrow Gauge railroad was born,
. flourished, and passed into history, its. entire career within
memory of men living today.
One of the high trestles still
spans the Bear river a few
miles east of Colfax, symbol
of days when the little wood
burners scurried through the
mountains like rabbits with their
tails afire.
In June, 1850, gold in quartz
was. discovered on Gold Hill
ledge at Grass Valley.
A rich vein on the same hill
was found in November, and
crude instruments were used
to crush the rock until January,
1851, when the first quartz mill
was erected on Wolf's creek in
Boston ravine at the foot of
Gold Hill, ,
_ Three years later at Coyoteville, near Nevada-City, a miner
‘named E.:E. Matteson experimented with a canvas. hose and
nozzle, and found that with this
hydraulic mining outfit he could
do the work of several men.
Thus was the fourth development -hydraulic mining —
originated.
From the early days of the’
resultant boom the need for
better transportation was felt.
. The stage line operated through
the mining towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City along roads
that were quagmires in winter,
and it required days to haul
freight and supplies to the booming gold mines, bits
For -a time there was
the Central Pacific, which was
expanding from its small beginning in Sacramento, would
pass througf Grass Valley and
Nevada City, However, with the
selection of the Donner Summit
route by Central Pacific (now
Southern Pacific) these mining
100 years of Nevada county
our great 1850 developments
centers realized they must look
to their own resources for rail
connections.
Idea of a horse-railroad to
Colfax was carried to the state
legislature, but a franchise was
refused, and Nevada City and
Grass Valley watched with regret as the Central Pacific limbed eastward on the other side
of Bear river. With each echoing scream of the wood-burning
locomotives across the Bear and
the Greenhorn the longing of
these towns for rail connections
The matter was finally brought
to a head by the Coleman
brothers, who had a tract of
timber land they wanted tomake
accessible. At a town meeting
in Nevada City, Jan. 27, 1874,
a committee of 20 citizens, 10
from Nevada City and 10 from
Grass Valley, was named
organize a railroad.
Grass Valley was repreed on the committee by Edward
Coleman, W. Watt,
Leach, M. P. O'Conner, J. C.
Coleman, Alonzo Delano, A, B.
Dibble, Samuel Granger, F. G.
Beatty and J. M. Lakenan.
From Nevada City were.
George F. Jacobs, Niles Searls,
R, M. Hunt, Charles Marsh,
R, W, Tully, N. P. Brown, T.W.
Sigourney, G. W. Smith, M. L.
March, J. H. Helm. One of the
leading spirits for the railroad
was N. P. Brown, at that time
editor of the Nevada City Transcript. .
More than 125 persons subscribed sums ranging from $100
to $1500, and over $150,000
was pledged in the two towns,
At the insistance of Senator
O'Connor of Nevada County a
special railroad bill was drafted
and by March 12, 1874, it had
been approved by both houses
of the legislature and signed
by Governor Booth.
‘ Application was made to the
government for the customary
land grants and bond subsidies
of those times. The right-ofway was granted, but instead
of a subsidy the road was given
irrevocable right to charge a
fare of 10 cents per passengermile and to assess minimum
freight rates,
_ On April 4, 1874, a company
with $400,000 capital stock was
incorporated, with John C. ColeReuben .
there were many pessimists who
laid wagers the track would
never reach Grass Valley, but
the work was pushed so well,
in all seasons and weather, that
eleven months later construction trains reached the Grass
Valley depot site.
However, the track still need_ ed improving, and the first Bear
River bridge was much lower
and less imposing than the later
200-foot-high span.
The first regular train from
Colfax reached Grass Valley
on April 17, 1876, after large
crowds had greeted it at stations all along the way.
On May 10, the "golden spike"'
was driven at Nevada City, but
it was not until May 20 that
the old cannon was dragged from
the summit of Sugar Loaf at
Nevada City through a tumultuous crowd to greet the first
work train. Behind the cannon
marched a colorful procession
headed by a military band.
As the parade halted a shout
arose, hats sailed in the air
and all eyes turned down the
valley. There, belching smoke,
came Engine No. 1. It screeched
to a grinding halt, the cannon
roared and Judge Searls mounted to the pilot to deliver the
address of welcome to the iron
horse which had come at last
to the hills of gold, Two days
later regular train service was
established.
As soon as the railroad went
into operation freight rates
‘ dropped from staggering sums
touching $200 a ton tc less than
$2.a.ton,. The railroad prospered. .
from the start, although travelers sometimes paid as much
to ride from Colfax to Nevada
City. as they did to make the
trip from San Francisco to Sacramento, For several weeks after the opening of the line, excursion trains, packed with passengers, were runonthe slightest pretext.
It was described as "The railroad that is paved with gold,"
for the tailings from the gold
quartz mines were used in the
construction of the roadbed, and
on a rainy day the pyrite may
still be seen gleaming with its
brilliant metallic luster.
It is said that in the early
days of the railroad considerable trouble was experienced
in keeping the miners from
sluicing out the roadbed.
The locomotives were 4-4-0s,
“American type" built by the
Baldwin Locomotive Works in
(Continued on Page 7)
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