Sierra City, California – A Bad Start
1850, one of the earlier years of California Gold Rush, the state gets flooded with prospectors but all the most popular claims in Sutter’s Mill and such towns are already taken and people begin to scatter all over the Sierra Nevada to look for new gold strikes.
Philo Haven and Joseph Zumwalt ventured to the western slopes of the mountain range in northern California. They find some buttes there which have gold and that event marks the founding of Sierra City. The name comes from the mountains, obviously.
The mines, as well as the early townsite sat in a precarious location and this was a reason for disaster. Two years after the founding and constructing mine into the Sierra Buttes, a large avalanche struck Sierra City and had smitten it from the face of the earth.
You would think that we could end the story here. The town was established; some gold was prospected but then the cataclysm made people abandon everything. Partially, you are right but you can’t help admiring the strength of people’s ambition. In a few years, the town was resettled and miners continued to worked for gold.
The Golden Age of Sierra City
So, with the reconstruction of Sierra City, gold prospecting continued. The Reis brothers founded numerous mines on both sides of the North Yuba river which flowed nearby. Theirs were mostly claims for hard rock mines but some placer deposits along the North Yuba river were also found and successfully worked.
Sierra Buttes can boast about the biggest nugget ever found in California, The Monumental Nugget weighing 106 pounds. It was basically a chunk of gold the size of a football. During the decade of California Gold Rush and while gold was in abundance, the population of Sierra City reached more than 3,000.
Also Read: 16+ Pound Chunk of Raw Crystalline Gold Found in Northern California
The dwindling of Gold
In 1959 the Gold Rush in California was basically over, and people began to leave in search for other deposits and a lot of towns were abandoned completely. The gold certainly wasn’t completely gone, but is was much harder for a man to make a living than it was ten years prior.
Sierra City was quite lucky in that regard. A lot of people left the town but the ones that stayed could earn their livelihood through mining primarily at the larger lode mines. Most of the mining came to an almost complete stop by 1914.
As technologies developed, new ways to mine gold deeper and find it more effectively were found, so in the 1920s some small-scale gold mining was restored. Operations in the areas have started and stopped for nearly a century now, and some gold mining continues even today.
If we count all the gold that was mined in Sierra City, we will be astonished to see a number valued at over $30 million. A very productive result for such a small town and the many mines in the hills that surround it.
Also Read: Plenty of Gold Panning Areas in California
Sierra City today
Nowadays, Sierra City is a good example of a small mountain tourist town. With a population of only 200 people, it utilizes its history and its sights to attract tourists. The town actually has a Gold Rush History Museum that has many interesting objects and documents from that time. You can also try your hand at becoming a real gold prospector because the town administration allows people to pan for gold in the North Yuba River nearby.
And if you are not satisfied after that, well, Sierra City has some more in stock for you. Kentucky Mine Stamp Mill was restored to its full functionality just for the enjoyment of the tourists. It is the only functional stamp mill in California as of today. So, if you consider yourself a prospector and are fascinated by the early Gold Rush history, you can’t pass Sierra City up.
Next: 17 of California’s Richest Gold Mining Locations