grass valley historic context doc...

City of Grass Valley, Historic Context Historic Resource Associates, 2008 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT FOR THE CITY OF GRASS VALLEY, NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

November 2008 Revised 2010

Submitted to:

City of Grass Valley Community Development Department

125 E. Main Street Grass Valley, CA

Submitted by:

Historic Resource Associates 2001 Sheffield Drive

El Dorado Hills, CA 95762


PREFACE In the summer of 2008 Historic Resource Associates contracted with the City of Grass Valley to prepare a historic context, inventory buildings and structures in the 1872 Townsite, develop a historic preservation ordinance, and prepare preservation design guidelines. The process of developing the context statement was integral to defining the city’s architectural heritage and later planning efforts. Grass Valley embodies the characteristics that represent the success experienced during the late nineteenth century by California miners, merchants, and citizens. Discovered in 1849 along Wolf Creek, the community’s gold placer diggings quickly evolved into capitalized industrial gold quartz mines. Grass Valley, and its neighbor Nevada City, played a significant role in the economic and social development of Nevada County. Nevada County was established and named after the city by an act of the state legislature on April 25, 1851.1 The physical composition of Grass Valley, lying in the Sierra Nevada foothills at an elevation between 2400-2600 feet, reflects its natural setting, nestled between two mountain ridges and bisected by several creeks that are tributaries to the Bear River. At first, settlement occurred randomly throughout the valley, particularly along Wolf Creek. By the 1860s when gold quartz mining became the principal occupation of most of the community’s residents, the population was booming. William Frederick Prisk’s Pictorial History of Nevada County, described Grass Valley as “nestled among the pine clad hills, whose sunny slopes are dotted with the fragrant gardens and cosy homes of the industrious miner . . . its narrow streets, lined on either side with handsome cottages and elegant residences, gives it a picturesqueness and an air of romance, which can never be attained by the well-planned, straight-avenued modern town.” 2 Prisk’s rather eloquent description of Grass Valley glosses over the hardships faced by the city’s working class population, as well as the upturns and downturns in the economy associated largely with a single industry - hardrock mining. Notwithstanding the difficulties faced during the city’s rise to prominence in the nineteenth century, it clearly was one of the most important and successful gold rush era communities. Its success can be seen in its architectural heritage featuring a wide-diverse range of buildings and structures dating from the 1850s through the 1940s. The visual character of Grass Valley was and is reflected in its cultural history, a theme that is discussed repeatedly throughout the following historic context.

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1 Erwin G. Gudde. California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969; p. 219. 2 William Frederick Prisk Jr. comp. 1895 Pictorial History of Nevada County, California. Grass Valley: Grass Valley Daily Morning Union, 1895.


ACKNOWLDEGEMENTS

This study would not be possible if it were not for the generous assistance from a variety of individuals and organizations, as well as the staff of the City of Grass Valley. Of particular importance I would like to thank Grass Valley Mayor Mark Johnson, City Planner Dan Chance, and City Community Development Director Joe Heckel for their patience and interest in seeing this study come to fruition, as well as Vice Major Lisa Swarthout, Planning Commissioner Kateri Harrison, Historic Commission Chair Gwynn Waldsmith, and Historic Commissioner Teresa Poston. Thanks also go to Grass Valley Historian David Comstock and Joe McKinney for their insight regarding the development of the community.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . ii I. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . 1 II. HISTORIC CONTEXT . . . . . . . . 4 A. From Mining Camp to Mining Town (1848-1852) . . . . 4 B. From Mining Town to Major Commercial Center (1853-1859) . . . 10 C. The Civil War Years and Consolidation of Quartz Mining (1860s) . . 15 D. Merchants, Mining, and Town Development (1870s-1880s) . . . 25 E. Formation of Modern-Day Grass Valley (1890s-1910s) . . . 28 F. The Roaring 20s and the Great Depression (1920s-1930s) . . . 39 G. Post World War II Years (1940s-1950s) . . . . . 42 III. IMPORTANT THEMES IN THE HISTORY OF GRASS VALLEY . . . 46 A. Mining . . . . . . . . . 47 B. Infrastructure . . . . . . . . 47 C. Commerce/Trade . . . . . . . . 47 D. Socio-Cultural . . . . . . . . 47 E. Religion . . . . . . . . . 48 F. Education . . . . . . . . . 48 G. Residential Housing . . . . . . . . 48 H. Landscape Architecture . . . . . . . 48 IV. REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . 49


FIGURES Figure 1: City of Grass Valley 1872 Townsite . . . . . . 4 Figure 2: Northern Maidu Basketweavers at the Greenville Indian School . . 5 Figure 3: Canfield’s Map of Yuba, Sierra & Nevada Counties . . . . 6 Figure 4: Illustration of Boston Ravine, circa 1852 . . . . . 7 Figure 5: Illustration of Grass Valley, circa 1851 . . . . . 8 Figure 6: View of Grass Valley, circa 1852 . . . . . . 9 Figure 7: Illustration of Boston Ravine and Grass Valley . . . 11 Figure 8: Illustration of Grass Valley in 1858 . . . . . . 13 Figure 9: View of Main Street, circa 1866 . . . . . . 15 Figure 10: Photograph of shift of Cornish Miners on the Empire Mine skips, circa 1900 . 16 Figure 11: Lola Montez, from a painting by F.K. Stieler, 1847 . . . . 18 Figure 12: Lola Montex House, 248 Mill Street, Grass Valley, circa 1930s . . . 19 Figure 13: Lotta Crabtree, 1876 . . . . . . . . 20 Figure 14: View of Grass Valley from Cemetery Hill, circa 1866 . . . . 21 Figure 15: Rocky Bar Quartz Mill, Grass Valley, circa 1866 . . . . 24 Figure 16: Grass Valley Chinatown, 1891 . . . . . . 26 Figure 17: Bird’s Eye View of Grass Valley, 1871 . . . . . 28 Figure 18: View of Grass Valley, circa 1890s . . . . . . 29 Figure 19: View of Mount St. Mary’s Academy School, 1934 . . . . 30 Figure 20: Map illustrating Grass Valley’s expansion to the south during the 1890s . 31 Figure 21: View down Main Street, 1895 . . . . . . 32 Figure 22: Empire Mine, circa 1900 . . . . . . . 33 Figure 23: 1890s View of Grass Valley . . . . . . . 34 Figure 24: Formally D. Fricot House, possibly W. Main Street, Grass Valley, circa 1890s . 36 Figure 25: View of the Fletcher House, Grass Valley . . . . . 37 Figure 26: Welcome Sign celebrating California’s 50th Anniversary, 1900 . . . 38 Figure 27: Chinese Joss House, Grass Valley, circa 1920s . . . . 39 Figure 28: As-Built Highway Map, 1934 . . . . . . 41 Figure 29: View of Mill Street, 1930s . . . . . . . 42 Figure 30: View of Mill Street, looking towards the Del Oro Theater, 1940s . . 43 Figure 31: 1945 Map of the City of Grass Valley & Vicinity . . . . 44 Figure 32: Illustration of Grass Valley, California, 1948 . . . . . 45 APPENDICES Appendix A: Architectural Legacy of Grass Valley Appendix B: Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties Appendix C: Historical Timeline of Grass Valley Appendix D: McKenney’s Pacific Coast Directory for 1886-1887

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I. INTRODUCTION This historic context is foremost a narrative that attempts to define and interpret the architectural heritage of Grass Valley. It is not intended to be a definitive history of the community, nor will it capture all the personal stories of many of its business leaders and residents. The study is divided into three parts: a chronological historic context of Grass Valley, a brief discussion of thematic areas of importance as they relate to physical characteristics of Grass Valley, and finally an architectural context that serves as a preliminary overview of character defining features and architectural styles found in the community. Together this data will serve to define the significance of historic properties in Grass Valley and create the basis for a preservation ordinance and design guidelines. The historic context focuses on the 1872 Official Grass Valley Townsite, as delineated in Figure 1. According to current records with the City of Grass Valley, the Townsite encompasses 370 acres, 1,164 parcels, and approximately 1,928 buildings and structures. The 1872 Townsite, however, does not include the current entire jurisdictional boundaries of Grass Valley. Principal streets from north to south within the 1872 Townsite include Broadway Avenue, N. and S. Auburn Street, Alta Street, Eureka Street, Richardson Street, W. and E. Main Street, Carpenter Street, Townsend Street, High Street, S. School Street, S. Church Street, Mill Street, Walsh Street, Columbia Street, Chapel Street, Race Street, and portions of Hwy 174/Colfax Avenue. In addition, there are other cross-streets, as well as State Highway (SR) 49/20, which bisects the Townsite from north to south on its way towards Nevada City. The 1872 street pattern is not unlike other gold rush era mining communities, being irregular, following natural contours of the landscape, and limiting creek crossing as much as possible. The general aspect of the Townsite is east to west with gentle to moderate slopes on both sides of SR 49/20. While the topography of the Townsite was critical for the layout of streets and buildings, the geomorphology formed the catalyst for the creation of the Townsite itself, namely gold bearing quartz. Prior to the establishment of statehood, many viewed California as a region ripe for exploitation and colonization. As the cultural landscape evolved over time, town sites such as Grass Valley gained complexity and acquired certain characteristics or layers of meaning that can be traced through historical, archaeological, geographical, and sociological study. Towns are foremost living landscapes, evolving as the culture, climate, and natural surroundings change. The character of a town reflects the values of its occupants who helped shape it and those who continue to reside within it. Foremost, a town has an identity or “sense of place.” Defining a town’s sense of place involves both its metaphysical characteristics and its physical appearance. Certainly past experience is a key to interpreting degrees of adaptation, acculturation, assimilation, and social change. The residences, businesses, and landscape can tell us a great deal about history and society. Towns are also places of cultural exchange. This exchange is interpreted by historical inquiry, through historic documents, oral history, and physical features. Education, arts, literature, science, and journalism are key ingredients to defining the character of a community. In general, California towns reflect two schools of evolution. The first is a designed community, which generally includes gridded streets. The second is a more organic or vernacular community, defined by natural occurrences, such as creeks, mountains, and economic imperatives, such as the discovery of placer and quartz gold, as was the case in Grass Valley. In this situation the town is

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designed around natural features or organized outside the sphere of economic activity, namely gold mining. Grass Valley, known for its gold rush era buildings and structures, is characterized by an architectural heritage that spans 158 years. The history of the city is represented in its cultural diversity, which provides the community with a strong sense of place. Nestled between two ridgelines, and bisected by Wolf Creek, the natural landscape is dominated by rolling hills once rich in placer and quartz gold. Historic evidence suggests that miners in 1848 prospected along Wolf Creek, a tributary to the Bear River, but failed to recognize the value of the location for both placer and lode gold, and soon moved on. The history of Grass Valley can be traced back to the summer of 1849, a time when emigrant parties were still arriving in the gold districts of California, traveling overland along the California Trail, by Sea around Cape Horn, or across the Isthmus of Panama.1 Their cattle wandered from the campsite and emigrants found them several miles away grazing in a meadow they called “grassy valley.” The valley or meadow, reportedly located near East Bennett Street, is part of a wetlands within the Empire Mine State Park.2 Like other California gold camps, Grass Valley developed precariously, prey to the unpredictability of early-day gold mining. Inevitably, the community matured and the fruits of early pioneers were visible in the form of picturesque homes, brick stores, and maturing trees, shrubs, and flower gardens. The story of Grass Valley, as described in the following chapters, is intended to guide the reader to a better understanding of the community’s architectural heritage, an appreciation for its cultural diversity, and a desire to preserve the remaining significant buildings and structures that define this Sierra foothill town.

1 Ralph Mann. After the Gold Rush: Society in Grass Valley and Nevada City, California 1849-1870. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1982, p. 10. 2 City of Grass Valley Historical Commission. Heritage Homes of Grass Valley: A Catalog of Award –Winning Homes, 1997-2006. City of Grass Valley Historical Commission, 2008.

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Figure 1: City of Grass Valley 1872 Townsite

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II. HISTORIC CONTEXT A. From Mining Camp to Mining Town (1848-1852) The history of Grass Valley is, in part, a story of the pioneers who settled in the fledgling mining camp during the gold rush and whose contributions are recognized in economic growth, but also in the area’s built environment resources. Prior to the creation of Grass Valley as one of the most important gold rush mining communities in the Northern Mines, the natural features of the region attracted Native Americans. Grass Valley is located squarely in the territory occupied in aboriginal and historic times by the Northern Maidu. Their territory extended from the Bear River north to Eagle Lake and Lassen Peak and abutted the territory of the Foothill Nisenan to the south. Fundamentally, both the Northern Maidu and the Foothill Nisenan shared many cultural traits and intermarriage was common.3 The Northern Maidu were very adept at weaving intricate baskets from locally obtained plants, including willow and redbud, as is depicted in Figure 2. In Hugh W. Littlejohn's unpublished manuscript “Nisenan Geography (1928),” he notes that the Nisenan had names for every mountain, hill, flat, valley, canyon, spring, creek, and river. Rivers played an important role for the Nisenan, not only as territorial boundaries, but also as areas to procure food, such as salmon. The Nisenan called the North Fork of the American River "Yo dok im se o," the Middle Fork of the American River "Ko a ba," where the Middle and North Fork of the American River meet "Chul ku im se o," and the Bear River "Ku mim se o." 4

The permanent villages of the Northern Maidu and Nisenan were generally located in the Foothill Belt or the lower Yellow Pine Belt, at elevations between 1,000 and 4,000 feet. Winter village locations were found on knolls or in valleys with good southern exposure and adjacent to springs or other permanent sources of water. At the principal village, common structures included family dwellings, acorn granaries, bedrock mortars, a sweat house, and a dance house.5

Figure 2: Northern Maidu basketweavers at the Greenville Indian School (courtesy CSUS, eGuide, “Enduring Traditions: Baskets in Native California Ethnographic Documents and Abstracts”)

3 Francis Riddell. “Maidu and Konkow,” in Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 8. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1978, p. 370. 4 Hugh W. Littlejohn. Nisenan Geography. Berkeley: University of California, 1928, p. 54. 5 Littlejohn, 1928.

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Territorial boundaries were oriented towards natural resources and land forms. In the foothills and mountains the major drainages became formal or informal boundaries. Thus, the Placerville District was between the Cosumnes River and the Middle Fork of the American River, the Auburn District was between the Middle Fork of the American River and the Bear River, and the Nevada City District was between the Bear River and the Yuba River. In these districts, there were important villages, where headmen held significant power. The traditional homeland of the Northern Maidu was disrupted shortly after the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma in 1849. During the next few decades, the vast majority of Northern Maidu in the Grass Valley area either died of disease or were driven from their ancestral villages. The alteration to their lifeways was both devastating and swift, however, many survived and today they remain an important part of the area’s cultural history. According to Claudine Chalmers, the first documented “non-Maidu visitors to what would later become Grass Valley were members of the overland company that passed through in the fall of 1846, among them French-born pioneers Claude Chana, Charles Covillaud, and Eugene B. Verge.” 6 In contrast, Samuel Butler provided the following account of the discovery of Grass Valley, which resulted in the creation of a mining camp:

In the month of October, 1848, the foot of white men first invaded this beautiful valley, and trampled upon the luxurious grass. At that time the site upon which the city now stands was a lovely valley, covered with luxurious verdure, through which ran a refreshing stream that sparkled in the eyes of the weary traveler.7

The “white men” that Butler describes were David Stump, Jas. Berry, and another man, all from the Willamette Valley, Oregon, having recently mined along the Bear River. The men reportedly discovered “gold in heavy pieces and large quantities” in the crevices where the Eureka and Idaho Mines were developed in later years. The three men apparently left present-day Grass Valley before winter. The next time “white men” entered the vicinity of Grass Valley was in 1849, when emigrants camped there in search of stray cattle.8 Butler’s description of the “valley,” later to become the community of Grass Valley, was likely embellished, perhaps to attract others to its location. Prior to settlement by Euro-Americans, Grass Valley was densely treed with old-growth conifers, such as sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), and yellow pine (Pinus ponderosa), many of which rose over 100 feet in height. The sinuous path of Wolf Creek through the valley formed a riparian corridor covered with alder, willow, and native grasses along its banks, perhaps the same grasses described by Butler in 1848 when the first white men entered the valley.

6 Claudine Chalmers, Grass Valley Downtown Association. Images of America: Grass Valley. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2006, p. 15. 7 Samuel Butler. “A Historic Sketch of Grass Valley.” In Davis A. and Ardis Comstock. 1895 Pictorial History of Nevada County California: A Reissue of “Nevada County Mining Review” compiled by William Frederick Prisk Jr. and the Staff of the Grass Valley Daily Morning Union and “Grass Valley and Vicinity” compiled by J. E. Poingdestgre with an Historical Sketch by Samuel Butler. Grass Valley: Comstock Bonanza Press, 2000, p. 147. It should be pointed out here that Butler likely extracted his information from the sketch provided by Alonzo Delano in 1849 regarding the discovery of Grass Valley. 8 Butler, 2000, p. 148. A similar account is provided by Michel Janicot in his manuscript, “Grass Valley: The Formative Years of Civic Government, 1849-1865, A Historical Perspective,” April 1988, p. 2.

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According to Historian Erwin G. Gudde, following the discovery of placer gold in the valley, a sawmill was erected in the fall of 1849 and the first cabin was built by a man named Scott. The following year quartz containing gold was discovered. The town was known between 1851 and 1852 as Centerville, the name adopted by the post office in the fledgling mining camp. Centerville developed near the intersection of Main and Mill Streets, according to Chalmers. The original name was chosen because the post office sat on the new postal route between Marysville and Nevada City.9 Alonzo Delano described Grass Valley in 1851 as “a little valley among the hills, whose verdure, surrounded by the red, dry mountain earth of the region, suggested for a name to the first discoverer, that of “Grass Valley.” 10 On August 20, 1852 the name was changed to Grass Valley.11

In 1850, gold mining in Grass Valley and Nevada City was concentrated around the placer diggings. Nevada City’s placer mines generally paid more then those in Grass Valley, and, as a consequence, a slightly larger proportion of non-miners to miners occupied the town.12 The first semi-permanent occupants of Grass Valley in 1849 are said to have been Benjamin Taylor, Dr. Saunders, Captain Boughton, and his two sons, Greenbury and Alexander. The party built a cabin atop Badger Hill in the month of August. On August 12th, Zenas H. Denman arrived to join the party. Following Denman came John Little, John Barry, and the Fowler brothers, who also built a cabin in the vicinity of Badger Hill. In the fall of 1849 the Rhode Island Company constructed the “Providence Store” on the summit of what was to become Main Street. All the above named individuals reportedly spent the winter of 1849 in Grass Valley, and through their efforts formed the nucleus of a fledgling mining camp.13

Figure 3: Canfield’s Map of Yuba, Sierra & Nevada Counties.14 The map depicts many of the area’s gold rush camps. Note Grass Valley is depicted at the lower left center of the map.

9 Chalmers, 2006, p. 19. 10 Alonzo Delano, 1849, p. 66. 11 Gudde, 1969, p. 126. 12 Mann, 1982, p. 20. 13 Butler, 2000, p. 148. 14 Canfield, Chauncey de Leon, ed. Diary of a Forty-Niner. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1920.

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In 1849-1850, the area of around Boston Ravine was settled by the “Boston Company,” from which it derived its name. Reverend H. Cummings served as president of the company, which arrived on the 23rd of September 1849. The company hastily erected four cabins on the south side of the ravine and spent the winter encamped there. The first non-Indian burial reportedly took place near Boston Ravine, presided by Rev. H. Cummings. Jules Rossiere is said to have opened a store along the ravine around 1849.15 An illustration of Boston Ravine reportedly drawn around 1850 depicts four or five log buildings nestled among the pine and oak trees (refer to Figure 4). In December 1849, Jules Roussiere opened the first store at Boston Ravine, which later was sold to Frenchman Bertrand L. Lamarque. German-born artist A. Nahl, brother of the famous artist Charles Nahl, drew a sketch of Boston Ravine in 1851-1852, suggesting it had grown in size from 1849, encompassing a dozen or more buildings and structures, as depicted in Figure 4. According to Chalmers, only a brick building at Mill and Empire Streets remains of the once thriving mining camp.16 As the town grew, lumber was needed for the construction of homes and businesses. Towards that end, James Walsh, Zenas Wheeler, and G.P. Clark constructed a water-powered sawmill in Grass Valley near the site of what was to become Taylor’s Foundary. Similar mills were constructed in other mining camps, such as the one built in Coloma in 1848 by James Marshall.

Figure 4: Illustration of Boston Ravine, circa 1852. In this sketch all the buildings appear to have been constructed from logs with shake roofs. Early shakes measured roughly 3’ in length compared to the much shorter shakes of today (courtesy Bancroft Library).

In 1850 the first store in what was to become the heart of Grass Valley was opened by a man named Morey. His merchandize was secured in a tent on the site of what was to become Turner’s Variety Store. Morey reportedly sold his store to Leighton, Kent, and Day, who erected the first commercial building in the city made of milled lumber. It was in this store that the first official miner’s meeting was held in Grass Valley, creating rules and regulations for the district. 17 15 Butler, 2000, p. 148; Chalmers, 2006, p. 16. 16 Chalmers, 2006, p. 16. 17 Butler, 2000, p. 149.

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The first family to settle in Grass Valley was reportedly a Mr. and Mrs. Scott, in the summer of 1850. Still by 1851, Grass Valley remained a loosely knit mining camp, with a handful of families, yet many more transient miners. Besides mining, many of the camp’s early inhabitants were engaged in trading merchandize. In Figure 5 below, Grass Valley is very accurately portrayed. Note that the valley floor bisected by Wolf Creek is largely denuded of timber with the remaining stands of old-growth conifers largely on the slopes above town.

Figure 5: Illustration of Grass Valley, circa 1851 (courtesy Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley) During the early 1850s, while Grass Valley slowly developed, its neighbor Nevada City had become an important center of commerce, having benefited from the rich Auriferous gold-bearing gravel leads. As the prestige of Nevada City eclipsed Grass Valley, the camp began to take on the accoutrements of the city, characterized by commercial streets lined with impressive-looking buildings, some two-stories tall.18

The tides began to turn for Grass Valley in 1851, following discovery of quartz gold in the hillsides surrounding Wolf Creek.19 While the discovery drew the interest of other miners, the practicability of extracting gold from quartz was rudimentary at best. Even so, the quartz excitement generated interested in the camp and led to other discoveries in the ensuing years. By the spring of 1851, roughly 150 wood or canvas buildings dotted the valley along Wolf Creek.20 Based upon illustrations of Grass Valley in the early 1850s (refer to Figures 4-6), the first buildings were constructed of logs and clad with ribbed shakes or clapboards. Roofs were canvas or shake and susceptible to incendiary and wild fires. An account provided by Butler, suggests that the first gold-bearing quartz ore was discovered by a man named McKnight in October 1850 on Gold Hill, at the time referred to as “Gold Mountain.”21 Specimens of ore were taken from the ledge and were crushed in hand mortars, yielding about $500 per ton. It was not until the spring of 1851 that the quartz excitement spread through California’s mining region and created a “rush” to Grass Valley.

18 Butler, 2000, p. 23. 19 According to Ralph Mann, placer miners stumbled onto the quartz gold in June 1850 while mining for placer gold along Wolf Creek. The quartz ledge was reportedly on the hill overlooking Boston Ravine, and the ledge soon became known as Gold Hill. Mann, 1982, p. 13. 20 Chalmers, 2006, p. 25. 21 Butler, 2000, p. 149.

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In 1851 a post office was established in Grass Valley, with Dr. C.D. Cleveland as postmaster. In the fall of that year Reverend Blythe organized a church society and erected the first church. The first private school was opened in 1852 with Miss Rosa Farrington (aka Mrs. J.P. Stone). School was held in a log cabin located where later the house of Lola Montez stood. The first public school was opened in 1853.22

Figure 6: View of Grass Valley, circa 1852 (courtesy Bancroft Library, Online Archive Image Collection)

By the fall of 1851, Grass Valley assumed a sense of permanence evidenced by its numerous residential and commercial buildings and structures, albeit hastily constructed.23 In 1851 twenty quartz mills were in operation attempting to process the gold-bearing ore. As mining spread from river to ravine and beyond, the prospects of easy gold diggings lessened and more frequently miners began to form companies to bore underground through the process of tunneling. While placer mining continued in the hills surrounding Grass Valley and Nevada City in the early 1850s, quartz gold created the most interest and speculators began to invest large sums of capital in the quartz mining operations. Neither community, however, had the skill or expertise to carry out successful quartz mining, particularly the process of reducing the ore and processing the gold. By 1852, miners and mining companies still had little success in refining the quartz gold, and at one point only two quartz mines in Grass Valley continued production.24

22 Butler, 2000, p. 23 An 1852 lithograph of Grass Valley clearly shows rows of cabins, a well-defined main street, and a commercial center close to where the present business district is today. Ref. Britton & Rey, San Francisco. Copy available at Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. 24 It was reported in 1852 that 2 million dollars of gold quartz had been extracted from the Gold Hill mines at Grass Valley. Mann, 1982, p. 26.

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The Chavanne Brothers and a man name Fricot came to Grass Valley after hearing news of the discoveries at Gold Hill. The Lafayette (later known as the North Star) claim was already taken by others, and so the party took the adjoining claim on the hill and named it the Wimah, for an Indian chief camped at the bottom of the hill. Having little luck in breaking down the quartz and securing the gold, the party secured a mill situated in Boston Ravine on Wolf Creek. Known as the French Mill, the mill was relatively successful and the party was able to make a sizeable profit. Fricot bought into other mines, including the Eureka, and was ultimately one of the more successful early-day quartz miners in Grass Valley, in later years building a handsome house next to the French Mill.25 B. From Mining Town to Major Commercial Center (1853-1859) In 1853, commercial brick buildings were being erected in Grass Valley and Nevada City and a telegraph line between the two towns and Sacramento opened up communication. The first substantial building in Grass Valley was reportedly Edward McLaughlin’s hardware store, located one door east of the Masonic Hall on Main Street. McLaughlin announced his opening in the Telegraph, Grass Valley’s newest newspaper, who had just opened an office in town. By 1853 there were six quartz mills in operation. Ditch companies expanded their water systems providing year-round supplies to miners and for the townspeople. The steady supply of water also proved important for the development of hydraulic mining, reportedly begun in Nevada County in 1853, a technology using canvas hose and brass nozzles to direct the supply of water towards buried banks of Auriferous gravels.26 In the same year a plat map of the “Village of Grass Valley” was drawn depicting the main streets and transportation arteries running through the town. The major streets included Main Street; Mill; Church; Peecham or Peckham, later renamed Bank Alley; Auburn; Walsh, later renamed Neal; the road to Steep Hollow, later Race Street; and Hill, later renamed School Street, which once connected with French Avenue in Boston Ravine. The map also depicted twelve gold mills, ten of them along Wolf Creek; five hotel-boarding houses (Peckham, the Alta House, the Benten House, the Beatty House and the Pacific Hotel); a Masonic Lodge; and Adams and Gregory Express Companies buildings.27

25 Butler, 2000, p. 151. 26 Mann, 1982, p. 29. 27 Janicot, 1988, p. 10.

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Figure 7: Illustration of Boston Ravine and Grass Valley in the mid-1850s (City of Grass Valley Historic files).

Even with the development of a more permanent population in Grass Valley and Nevada City, transience remained high through the mid-1850s. While Grass Valley and Nevada City were among the largest in the state in both population and gold production in the mid-1850s, both communities were susceptible to calamities, particularly fires, floods, and mine failures. Even with a number of brick commercial storefronts having been built in 1854, including G.V. Adams Express Company, fires reeked havoc when they erupted.28 On the night of September 13, 1855, a fire which started in Madame Bonhore’s Hotel on lower Main Street in Grass Valley destroyed 300 buildings at a loss of over $400,000. Much of the damage to businesses occurred from shake or shingle roofs that caught fire from blowing embers.29 The previous year the Grass Valley Telegraph reported that the Hook and Ladder fire company had been organized, although with limited equipment and water, the company apparently had little effect on extinguishing wide-scale fires. Not longer after the destruction of the fire had been cleaned up, new construction had commenced on fireproof brick buildings on Mill near the corner of Main, constructed by Edward McLaughlin and C.R. Edwards. The Grass Valley Telegraph reported that the new two-story buildings were to be 22’ x 52’ each, with 24” thick front and rear walls. The masonry work was being carried out by Messrs. Shillinder & Lebitt of Nevada, with both buildings to be completed by September 1855.30 By the mid-1850s Grass Valley’s commercial district had an air of permanence. Near the

28 Grass Valley Telegraph, October 31, 1854. 29 Mann, 1982, p. 32; Butler, 2000, p. 150. 30 Grass Valley Telegraph, July 10, 1855.

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intersection of West and East Main and South Auburn Street were Ole Johnson Furniture, Loutzsenheiser Drug Store, the Masonic Hall, McLaughlin’s Hardware Store, Jeffries & Brothers Grocers, Hoffman & Ruck Bakery, the Union Hotel, and the United States Hotel. On Mill Street were Edwards & Brady Bakery, the new location of McLaughlin’s Hardware Store (brick building), John Parker Clothing, and the Odd Fellows Building.31 Figure 7 clearly illustrates the two primary hubs of commerce in Grass Valley, namely Boston Ravine and the intersection of Mill and Main Streets. Wolf Creek formed the southern edge of the town, although it is likely there were numerous cabins strewn along the banks of Wolf Creek in the early-days of the community. In order to promote a sense of self-governance, in 1855 Grass Valley incorporated under a system of trustees, who passed ordinances and appointed a town marshal to enforce them. A law suit brought forward by a client’s conviction on a misdemeanor charge, resulted in the state supreme court overturning Grass Valley’s incorporation. The city remained unincorporated until 1861.32 Reincorporation occurred in 1866, 1870, and again in 1893 with a new charter adopted by its citizens, which increased the powers of the municipality.33 The population of Grass Valley reflected gold rush stereotypes, striving on one hand to create a community with stability and family values, yet on the other hand perpetuating the stereotypical characteristics associated with drinking, gambling, prostitution, and other vices. In Grass Valley, disputes between “tinhorns” and miners resulted in at least one homicide and one near-lynching.”34 Through the early 1850s, the population of both Grass Valley and Nevada City remained overwhelmingly young, single, and male. Respectable women remained scarce. One notable woman in Grass Valley was Eleanore Dumont, later known as Madame Moustache, who in 1854 presided over one of the town’s more popular gambling establishments. Brothels were relatively common in Grass Valley, and boarding houses dotted the busy commercial and residential streets. In 1850, there were reportedly only thirteen women living in Grass Valley, eight were housewives, one was a servant, and four took in boarders.35 By the mid-1850s identifiable family-oriented neighborhoods had developed in Grass Valley. While the community was still comprised of a disproportionate number of young males who were boarders, residential neighborhoods, such as those just north of Grass Valley’s main business district, which included churches and social halls, promoted family values. During the mid-1850s, Grass Valley exhibited a rather narrow range of architectural styles (refer to Figure 8). One of the most common and perhaps popular styles of wood-frame architecture was in the “Vernacular Mother Lode” and “Greek Revival” style. The border of the illustration reveals both single-story and two-story wood-frame residences and businesses, although modest in size and scale, characterized by symmetrical fenestration, front-gables, boxed eaves, and full front porches. What is particularly fascinating about the illustration is the number of hipped roof houses that already existed in Grass Valley during the mid-1850s, a style of house that was rather uncommon in California until the latter part of the nineteenth century.

31 Lyle L. White. Nevada City, California typescript map, n.d. 32 White, n.d. 33 Butler, 2000, p. 150. 34 Mann, 1982, p. 36. 35 Mann, 1982, p. 37, 44.

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Figure 8: Illustration of Grass Valley in 1858. Kuchel & Dresel illustrators; Britton & Rey lithographers, San Francisco, California (courtesy Bancroft Library). Note that even in 1858, some eight years after the town’s discovery, the vegetation remained largely denuded. Grass Valley’s hasty development of quartz mines and mills did, however, create a more stable community, and encourage a more permanent work force and new sense of prosperity. The quartz mining industry created a sense of security and ultimately encouraged the growth of families in the community. The local newspapers extolled the virtues that families brought to the community and proclaimed an end to the vices and degenerative attributes of the past. However, it was young male laborers that were needed in the burgeoning quartz mining industry. Steady employment in the quartz industry attracted young men of all nationalities to Grass Valley during the mid-1850s. The number of African-Americans increased steadily, but only made a small minority of the total population. For the most part the few Black residents of Grass Valley during the 1850s were ignored, although newspapers depicted their behavior generally as immoral and unbridled. Most of the African-Americans in Grass Valley were relegated to live in narrowly defined enclaves within the community.36 Nigger Hill marks the location of some of the community’s Black population, reportedly located near the present-day 400 block of Washington Street, also the location

36 Mann, 1982, p. 52.

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of Black miner Charles Crantz.37 In 1855, the Grass Valley Telegraph reported that in Nevada County there were 54 Black individuals who purchased their freedom.38 The Chinese were clearly the largest non-white presence in both Grass Valley and Nevada City, with 2,000 living in Nevada County in 1852. Racial stereotypes abounded in both communities, and although there was a decline in numbers in both camps after passage of the Foreign Miner’s Tax of 1852, identifiable Chinese districts began to develop. The Chinese often leased buildings in the cheapest and roughest downtown blocks, establishing stores, restaurants, and gambling dens. The Chinese, like the Blacks in Grass Valley, lived apart from the white community. Grass Valley miners generally excluded Chinese from working in the underground quartz mines. Chinese miners were accepted more in Nevada City, because they were an integral part of the operations of placer mining, particularly hydraulic mining operations. Anti-foreign sentiment ran deep in Grass Valley and several incidents erupted into violence, generally directed at the town’s minority groups, particularly the Chinese.39 Although Grass Valley had a greater proportion of foreign-born than Nevada City, its largest groups, the Irish and Cornish, were critical to all aspects of underground mining. More importantly, they were western Europeans, sharing many of the cultural values of native born citizens.40 Despite racial tensions in both communities, its residents found time for leisure and amusements. In 1854 Hughes’ Union Race Course opened, located on undeveloped land between Grass Valley and Nevada City. While its owners designed it for horse racing, other sporting events took place, including boxing matches and bullfights.41 By 1857, the Grass Valley business climate was robust due to the prosperity of the quartz mines. Capital flowed into the city from both national and international investors. However, when the discovery of gold along the Fraser River drew excitement among the California mining camps, it was estimated that nearly one-fourth of the town’s voters departed for the region. A similar exodus occurred in the summer and fall of 1859, when rich discoveries of both gold and silver were made on the Comstock Lode. The Comstock drew many miners from Grass Valley and Nevada City, but it failed to upset the long-term development of mining interests in both communities. The transcendence of Grass Valley from a rough and ready gold rush mining camp to a community with schools, churches, residential districts, and a commercial downtown, evolved alongside its successful quartz mining industry. When author and journalist Bayard Taylor visited Grass Valley in 1859, being his second trip to California since 1849, he described the town as follows: “descending into town, we found macadamized and watered streets, and plank sidewalks, respectable hotels, a theater, express offices, and all other signs of a high civilization.” 42 37 Misc. Notes. City of Grass Valley Historical Records, Grass Valley, California. 38 Grass Valley Telegraph, December 4, 1855. 39 Mann, 1982, p. 55. 40 Mann, 1982, p. 63. 41 Mann, 1982, p. 64. 42 Bayard Taylor. At Home and Abroad: A Sketch-Book of Life, Scenery, and Men. Second Series. New York: G.P. Putnam, 1865, pp. 128-129.

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C. The Civil War Years and Consolidation of Quartz Mining (1860s) The 1860s began with increased development in the mines of Grass Valley. This increased development was only temporarily halted by the great flood during the winter of 1861-1862, which severely damaged buildings and structures along virtually all the creeks and tributaries that flowed into the Yuba and Bear Rivers, including Wolf and Deer Creeks. The 1860s also brought many improvements to Grass Valley and Nevada City. Both commercial centers were constructed largely of brick, had planked or macadamized streets, wooden sidewalks, domestic water service, and were lit by gas produced locally from pitch pine and coal. With Grass Valley’s incorporation in 1861, local authority shifted from the township to local government enacting laws and providing services. Despite having a hook-and-ladder fire brigade in Grass Valley in 1860, an incendiary fire destroyed 30 buildings, and in 1862 the company lost its principal firehouse during a downtown fire.43

Figure 9: View of Main Street, circa 1866. Note the large wood planking overlaying the dirt surfaced street. Lawrence and Houseworth Photograph. (courtesy Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco)

By 1862 Grass Valley had its own ore reduction works, and mining engineers, superintendents, and investors were engaged in quartz mining operations in and near the community. Because of the requisite capital and expertise needed as the quartz mines dug deeper below the city, mining fell into the hands of fewer and larger concerns. During the early 1860s Grass Valley township had a greater proportion of miners in the male working population then did Nevada City. In 1860 in Grass Valley, almost one in ten employed males worked at some variety of unskilled labor, such as road maintenance, shipping, or domestic services. Nevada City, on the other hand, had a much greater number of merchants. Income levels in both communities, averaging $3 a day for quartz miners, were adequate to sustain a decent standard of living, since most miners in the city worked year-round. However, a disproportionate number of mine laborers found it impossible to acquire property and most continued to pay rent in the numerous boarding houses in the city.44

43 Mann, 1982, pp. 77-78. 44 Mann, 1982, pp. 83-85.

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Figure 10: Photograph of shift of Cornish miners on the Empire Mine skips, returning to the surface, circa 1900. G.W. Star Collection (courtesy of the California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology) In 1860, 22 percent of Grass Valley’s male workers had been born in Ireland, and 20 percent were from Great Britain, mostly from Cornwall County. In the quartz mines the labor force was predominantly Irish, as was the case at the Allison Ranch, where Irish-born owners hired their countrymen, forming a nearly all-Irish community. The Cornish-Irish competition in the mines of Grass Valley frequently boiled over into disputes, some becoming violent. One writer noted that in 1868 “that he had been told that unless a man came from the same town, village, or neighborhood as the boss, that there was a poor show for him to get work,” a reference to immigrants’ mutual support.45 The Cornish were particularly in demand for Grass Valley’s deep quartz mines, which required skills that the Cornish could provide. Known for their technical skills, independence and initiative, Cornish miners had a tradition of tutwork46 and tribute common in Cornwall.47 In 1849, when news of the gold rush reached Cornwall, a record number of over 1,000 people left Plymouth, England for Quebec in a single week.48 In addition, news of the gold rush had reached the Cornish copper and iron mining communities in Wisconsin, Michigan and Jo Daviess County, Illinois.49 The Cornish developed the best system for spreading the word regarding job opportunities in America, known as the “Cornish grapevine,” which by letters and word of mouth brought thousands of miners to Grass Valley. The common nickname “Cousin Jacks,” arose from their custom of urging mine superintendents to hold a job for a cousin back in Cornwall or in some other state.50

45 Mark Wyman. Hard-Rock Epic. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979, p. 43. 46 Taskworkers who provided their own tools, candles and dynamite. 47 Shirley Ewart. Highly Respectable Families: The Cornish of Grass Valley, California 1854-1954. Grass Valley: Comstock Bonanza Press, 1998, p. 133. 48 William S. Shepperson. British Immigrants to North America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1957, p. 83. 49 Mann, 1982, p. 86. 50 Wyman, 1979, p. 43.

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Early gold mining techniques in Grass Valley were remarkably similar to the copper and tin mining techniques employed in Cornwall. Cornish miners realized that gold could be extracted by digging into the quartz veins, which were “formed exactly like the copper lodes in Cornwall, only they lie very flat.”51 By the late 1850s a serious economic depression, which lasted well into the 1860s, settled on the northern mines. Many Cornish miners left for other mining areas, including the Fraser River in British Columbia and the silver mines in Nevada. Selina Bice, born on August 15, 1853 and reportedly the first white child born in Grass Valley, was the daughter of Nicholas and Rebecca Bice, immigrants from Cornwall.52 By 1855, Grass Valley was known as a moral town, which appealed to Cornish families, as religion played a paramount role in Cornish society. Most Cornish belonged to the Methodist Church. The Grass Valley Methodist Church, constructed in 1854, boasted 65 members by 1858.53 There was a close social connection between the Grass Valley Methodist Church and the American Salvation Army, which had a strong musical tradition. Grass Valley’s wealthiest church, Emmanuel Episcopal, organized in 1855, had some Cornish members from its inception.54 The Cornish community loved to celebrate, often organizing balls, suppers, concerts and parades. Love of choral music was brought by the Cornish miners and Grass Valley boasted the famous Carol Choir, which sang at Christmas. By the 1890s there were many civic associations in Grass Valley, including the Sons of St. George, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Ancient Order of Foresters, all founded in England. In 1868, according to newspapers of the time, 358 Grass Valley residents were naturalized, 131 of whom were from England.55 Edmund Kinyon, who came to Grass Valley before 1914, recorded that “fully three-fourths of the people were of Cornish birth or descent.” 56 The steady stream of emigrants from Cornwall continued until 1954, when, with the closing of the Empire Mine, gold mining ceased at Grass Valley. As noted earlier, another important cultural group that became synonymous with Grass Valley were the Overseas Chinese, many of which were still working the placer mines in and around the community. As a general rule, Chinese did not participate in Grass Valley’s quartz mining operations. Germans also made up a small percentage of Grass Valley’s population in the 1860s, followed by French, Italians, Canadians, and only a few Mexicans. Even so, Grass Valley’s population was dominated largely by Anglo-European males, most of which were born in Ireland or Great Britain. Their values, traditions, prejudices, and talents were reflected in both the cities social composition, but also its politics and religion. Certainly politics played a role in social and community life in both Grass Valley and Nevada City. During the Civil War the communities were divided, Grass Valley was split between the pro-Democrat, whereas, Nevada City generally voted Republican. While much of the politicizing in both towns was generally peaceful, sporadic incidents of violence did occur, evidenced by a group of

51 A.L. Rowse. The Cousin Jacks: The Cornish in America. New York: Scribner’s Sons, 1969, p. 246. 52 Ewart, 1998, p. 25. 53 Ewart, 1998, p. 30. 54 Ewart, 1998, pp. 137-138. 55 Ewart, 1998, p. 35; Another notable Cornish citizen of Grass was Thomas Hodge who owned the City Brewery on Mill Street. The brewery, which was built in 1861, stood on Mill Street next to the stone Hodge residence, until it burned in a fire in 2010. 56 Edmund Kinyon. “Cornish Migration to Grass Valley.” Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin. Vol. 3, No. 6, October 1950, p. 3.

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Nevada City Unionists invading a Grass Valley saloon, singing Republican songs and nearly creating a riot.57 The 1850s witnessed a variety of entertainment provided by local celebrities, some residents of Grass Valley, including the illustrious Lola Montez. In 1855, The Grass Valley Telegraph described the “diva”:

Lola is no ordinary woman. She is possessed of an original mind, one decidedly intellectual and highly cultivated. She delights in change and excitement, and is bound to create a sensation wherever she goes. Her name and fame is world-wide. That she has her faults, none can deny. She is far from being a proper exemplar, to be held up as a pattern for others, yet that she has many good qualities and possesses in an eminent degree the generosities and sympathies of her sex, can be well attested by many in Grass Valley who have been the recipients of her kindness. We wish her no ill, but trust she may return a better, wiser and happier woman.58

Figure 11: Lola Montez, from a painting by F.K. Stieler, 1847 (courtesy Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley).

Lola Montez settled in Grass Valley in the early 1850s and occupied a house built at the corner of Mill and Walsh Streets in 1852. The residence was eventually demolished in 1975 and a replica rebuilt in later years, which now serves as the Chamber of Commerce office. The replica utilized the illustration of the Montez home from an 1853 sketch. Montez is known best for her sensationalized dances, including the “Spider Dance,” a wild tarantella complete with imitation spiders sewn on her costume. In 1855, Montez left Grass Valley and returned to San Francisco and the theater. In 1861 she died in poverty in New York City at the age of 42.59 On the heels of Grass Valley’s most famous “diva” came Lotta Crabtree, who lived in the early 1850s at 238 Mill Street in Grass Valley.60 Lotta’s mother Mary Ann, reportedly took young Lotta on tours of the mining camps, where the little girl, dressed in a

57 Mann, 1982, p. 93. 58 Grass Valley Telegraph, June 6, 1855, quoted on page 147 of Edmund Kinyon. “The Northern Mines.” Grass Valley-Nevada City, 1949. 59 Robert M. Wyckoff. Walking Tours and Twice-Told Tales of Grass Valley. Nevada City, California: Nevada City Publishing Company, 1979. pp. 28-29. 60 While the Crabtree family home still exists at 238 Mill Street, it has been extensively altered.

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green pixy costume, sang and danced Irish songs and jigs. Lotta had a welcome audience in Grass Valley in the early 1850s with its large Irish population and became a childhood sensation. Lotta graced the American stage for some 50 years and is said to be the first American entertainer to become a millionaire. Upon her passing in Boston in 1924 at the age of 77, she willed the bulk of her fortune to charity.61

Figure 12: Lola Montez House, 248 Mill Street, Grass Valley, circa 1930s.

Historic American Buildings Survey, recorded by Louis Sanchez Call, Oakland, California, HABS CAL, 29-GRAVA, 4-1 (courtesy Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.)

The original house was demolished in 1975 and recreated in the late 1970s. The replica house is currently occupied by the Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce.

During the late 1850s through the 1860s, family-oriented neighborhoods developed in Grass Valley, respectively to the east and west of the principal business district. Many of Grass Valley’s more prosperous merchants had built homes along W. Main Street, and along Church and School Streets. But, unlike Nevada City, the residences were tucked into the hillsides and many were not as visible or distinctive. Generally, miners and mine engineers, such as Andre Chavanne and the Watt brothers, lived closer to the gold mining operations. On the other hand, less prominent merchants still resided in the upper floors or rear of their stores, while others boarded in local hotels.62 In 1860, only 7 percent of the laboring male population in Grass Valley were married or living with a woman, as compared to 13 percent in Nevada City. Society at the time regarded marriage as an indicator of success and class status. Marriage also encouraged property ownership among miners, again a sign of relative success. Social clubs sprang forth, such as the Grass Valley Club, organized in 1860 and limited to 24 members, composed of all quartz investors who met twice yearly for dining and conversation. Woman began to play a more active role in social life in Grass Valley, with churches providing meeting places for various social gatherings and events.63 61 Wyckoff, 1979, p. 27. 62 Mann, 1982, pp. 96-97. 63 Mann, 1982, p. 102.

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Figure 13: Lotta Crabtree 1876, California Theater (courtesy Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley) During the 1860s in Grass Valley and Nevada City, women provided services to the bourgeoning number of miners according to well-defined gender roles. Many women, including those married to merchants in the city, regularly took in boarders. In general women’s wages were greatly disproportionate as compared to male workers. Working as servants, seamstresses, and milliners, most of these women earned a meager wage. Rent money from boarders generally went to pay the mortgage, or was used to improve the dwelling house and purchase foodstuffs. In 1860, approximately 17 percent of the women were prostitutes and 9 percent were servants.64 The houses of prostitution appear to have been interspersed throughout Grass Valley, and prostitution remained a part of the community, albeit not well publicized, through the 1940s.

During the 1860s the Chinese populations of Grass Valley and Nevada City increased, as did each community’s respective “Chinatowns.” Chinese new years were particularly noisy as firecrackers rattled the night air in both towns. Chinese were, however, often falsely accused of crimes and received much harsher sentences from the local courts than did whites committing the same offenses. When the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869, many of the Chinese laborers made their way back to the gold camps, including Grass Valley and Nevada City. According to Chalmers, “a Chinatown consisting of two rows of clapboard houses sprang up between Bank, Stewart, Auburn, and Bennett Streets.”65 Interaction between Chinese and whites helped ease tension between the two cultural groups and the Chinese provided cheap labor as domestic servants. Chinese merchants owned and operated laundries, gambling houses, brothels, and served the community as herbal specialists. In the 1860s, 84 percent of Grass Valley’s Black population lived in or near Chinatown. Blacks participated in local churches, politics, and celebrated commemorative events, such as Emancipation Day. Blacks generally lived in small cabins in groups of two to five young single men and worked as unskilled laborers. Black women worked as seamstresses or washwomen. The few Black children were excluded from local schools. Despite the segregation in both towns, Blacks interacted with whites and on occasions worked alongside or lodged with whites.66 64 Mann, 1982, p. 108. 65 Chalmers, 2006, p. 46. 66 Mann, 1982, pp. 119-120; Pat Jones. “Nevada County’s Black Pioneers.” Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. 39, No. 3, July 1985.

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Throughout its first few decades of existence, Grass Valley, like its neighbor Nevada City, extolled its virtues and vicissitudes through regular editorials in local newspapers. The newspaper publishing business during the first few decades following the California gold rush was at times ruthless, but critical to disseminating information to its readers. The Grass Valley Union, which debuted on October 28, 1864, witnessed changes in its ownership virtually every year. The politics of the day certainly influenced the tenor of each newspaper, but production costs and salaries often far exceeded revenues. Fortunately, the Grass Valley Union survived the trials and tribulations of the newspaper business and continues to operate in the city.

In 1865, Grass Valley’s population was estimated to be over 6,000 inhabitants. In that year the community reportedly had seven churches, nine schools, several fraternal and religious societies, two newspapers, eight hotels, a fire department, and numerous stores and commercial establishments. In 1866, the Grass Valley City Charter was amended and approved by an act of the legislature giving more power to the Trustees.67 Figure 14 is particularly intriguing because it depicts the transition of Grass Valley’s southeast Townsite neighborhoods in 1866 from industrial to residential.

Figure 14: View of Grass Valley from Cemetery Hill, circa 1866. Lawrence and Houseworth Photographers (courtesy Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley). The buildings in the foreground in Figure 14 appear to represent steam powered lumber mills and cabins for workers. The current alignment of SR 49/20 cuts through much of what is seen in the foreground of the photograph. Main Street is visible in the upper right portion of the photograph. In 1868, the New York Times wrote that “Grass Valley was the most representative mining town of California, and contains the most successfully worked, the most inexhaustible, and the most valuable gold quartz mines upon the Pacific coast.”68 Of particular importance is the report filed by J. Ross Browne in 1867 for the United States Treasury Department. Browne was one of the most knowledgeable of the government mineral inspectors in the United States, and traveled widely

67 Anonymous. “Chronology of Events of Grass Valley Beginnings,” p. 14. Derived from Michel Janicot. The Formative Years. Draft Edition, April 1988; W.F. Prisk. Nevada County Mining Review, August 1, 1895; and J.E. Poingdestre, compiler. Grass Valley and Vicinity, 1895. 68 New York Times, December 15, 1868.

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examining mineral claims throughout the Western United States.69 Browne provides the following description of the Grass Valley mining district in 1867:

The quartz veins of Grass Valley district are not generally large. Two feet probably a full average thickness, while some of the most productive, and those which have given from the first a high reputation to the region, have not averaged over a foot, or possibly eighteen inches in thickness. There are some exceedingly rich veins, which will hardly average four inches in thickness, and which have been worked at a profit.70

Titus Fey Cronise in The Natural Wealth of California (1868) provided the following description of Grass Valley’s mineral wealth:

. . . in both El Dorado and Placer counties many valuable veins of quartz, with numerous examples of successful mining and milling operations, there are here no such clusters of productive claims as are found at Grass Valley, or instances of long continued and marked success as is furnished by the Amador, the Sierra Buttes and various other mines in the more northerly counties; wherefore, it can be thought no disparagement to the many excellent mines within their limits that so little has been said of them in a review so salient.

As at Grass Valley, operations in quartz mining were first inaugurated, so have they since been conducted here with greater steadfastness, energy and general success than at any other point on this coast. In what has been done here we have an epitomized history of the business – of its vicissitudes, good fortunes and reverses in California.

It is still problematic whether the greater productiveness of the mines of Grass Valley is due more to the large amount of well directed labor and the amplitude of the means employed in their development, or to their inherent and absolute superiority.

Labor on the lodes at Grass Valley, begun in 1850, has been continued without interruption since. Passing over the earlier years of the business, which even in this favored locality were full of disaster, we find that the yield of the quartz mines has for a number of years past been at the rate of about $3,200,000 per annum, which, there being a little upwards of 2,000 men employed in the mines and mills there, would give an average yearly production of $1,600 for each workman. The total gold production for the last fifteen years is estimated at about $30,000,000; a single lode, that running through Massachusetts prior to 1865, yielded $5,000,000 worth of

69 J. Ross Browne. Report of J. Ross Browne on the Mineral Resources of the States and Territories West of the Rocky Mountains. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1868. Later Rossiter W. Raymond assumed J. Ross Browne’s position and continued to record the various mineral discoveries and operations in the Western United States through the 1870s for the Treasury Department. 70 Browne, 1868, pp. 113-114.

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gold. There are twenty-three quartz mills in this district, carrying an aggregate of a little over two hundred and eighty stamps, and having a capacity to reduce nearly one hundred thousand tons of ore annually. Twenty of these mills are propelled by steam, and three by water, the whole having cost about $500,000. The lodes here are narrow, none of them exceeding seven feet, and many being less than one foot wide. But they are distinguished for the uniformly high grade ores they carry, the latter averaging between $30 and $35 per ton. They contain a large percentage of sulphurets, which contributes with the narrowness of the veins to render the average cost of extraction and reduction high – about $15 per ton.71

In July 1869, J.F. Nesmith provided the following report on mining activities and mines in Grass Valley:

Return of the Production of Gold in the Grass Valley Mining District, Nevada County, California, for the year ending July 1, 1869, reported by J.F. Nesmith 72

Mill Owners Mine Total Product Eureka Eureka Mining Company Eureka $574,963.99 Empire Empire Mining Company Empire 348,673.34 Idaho Idaho Mining Company Idaho 250,087.22 North Star North Star Gold Mining Company North Star 330,000.00 Union Hill Union Hill Mining Company Union Hill 75,568.92 Wisconsin Wisconsin Mining Company Wisconsin 17,581.50 Hartery E. McLaughlin & Co. Hartery 19,439.70 Perrin’s Joseph Perrin & Co. Slate Ledge 32,011.26 McCauley’s McCauley & Co. Ben. Franklin 12,118.00 Gold Hill E. Pratt & Co. Seven-thirty 11,261.00 Gold Hill Buckland & Co. Bowery 3,698.00 Larimer’s Higgins & Larimer Higgins 20,800.00

71 Titus Fey Cronise. The Natural Wealth of California. San Francisco: H.H. Bancroft & Company, 1868, pp. 579-581. 72 Rossiter W. Raymond. Mines and Mining of the Rocky Mountains, the Inland Basin, and the Pacific Slope, comprising Treatises on Mining Law, Mineral Deposits, Machinery, and Metallurgical Processes. New York: J.B. Ford & Company, 1871, p. 51.

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Figure 15: Rocky Bar Quartz Mill, Grass Valley, circa 1866. Lawrence & Houseworth Photograph (courtesy Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley). The mines of Grass Valley certainly received a great deal of attention in the late 1860s and 1870s. As noted above, the value of the mines, particularly the Eureka, Empire, Idaho, and North Star, were certainly of consequence to investors. Besides the expense of underground mining and the labor required to extract gold from quartz deposits beneath the ground, there was reluctance to support miners’ unions. According to Historian Mark Wyman, in the Grass Valley dispute in the spring of 1869, the Empire Mine reopened with forty unskilled and often cumbersome miners, “most

Americans,” while the Cornish miners remained on strike.73 Figure 15 depicts the Rocky Bar Quartz Mill in circa 1866. Note the large mill and massive tailings pile in the distance and nearby residential houses. While labor unrest occurred periodically in Grass Valley’s quartz mines, new technologies were introduced as quickly as they were developed. For example in 1869 the Eureka Mine installed its first miner’s cage, an apparatus held in place by guides along the shaft walls that provided a stable, flat surface for miners to stand on. Prior to the use of cages, most mines were entered through ladders or buckets. Yet, in 1869, even though dynamite had been invented and proven safer and more efficient then black powder or giant powder, miners stuck with the black powder, perhaps to dismiss the use of Chinese laborers who had become proficient at the use of dynamite.74 High-grading was always a concern among Western mine owners, including those in Grass Valley. As Wyman describes:

In Grass Valley a miner was noticed with a rag tied around his boot . . . . He took off the rag and threw it out the window. Before he could retrieve it, however, a company man investigated and found it contained a specimen [gold] worth $60. Other Grass Valley miners swallowed rich specimens to hide them from inspectors, and one miner needed a surgical operation because of his intimate approach to removing rich ore from the premises.75

73 Wyman, 1979, p. 58. 74 Wyman, 1979, p. 29, 95. 75 Wyman, 1979, p. 77.

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D. Merchants, Mining, and Town Development (1870s-1880s) In 1870, Grass Valley was again reincorporated, and in 1872 a formal “townsite” was created for Grass Valley, acknowledged in a hand-drawn map platting the community and delineating property boundaries (refer to Figure 1). The present City of Grass Valley was incorporated on March 13, 1893. The 1870s witnessed a period of expansion in the quartz mines, and increased commerce and trade in the city, however, calamities such as fire, plagued the town through much of the late nineteenth century. On July 15, 1873, Grass Valley witnessed another fire that reportedly originated among wood buildings at the corner of Church and Main Streets, opposite the Holbrooke House. The loss totaled $14,000. On September 17, 1877, a fire destroyed much of the Chinese community. Although the Hook and Ladder Company was organized in 1858, and a water works had been built in 1866, its ability to fight fires was hampered by numerous homes and businesses built of highly combustible materials, particularly wood shake or shingle roofs.76 The merchant class of Grass Valley during the 1870s was principally divided among those from the British Isles and Jews who immigrated to California from Germany during the gold rush. Census figures for 1870 suggest that 75 percent of the population of Grass Valley was foreign-born.77 Most of the Jewish merchants in Grass Valley owned or operated dry good businesses, and most integrated well into the larger society of Grass Valley, participating in local lodges, such as the Masons, Odd Fellows, and Fire Protective Associations. The Pioneer Jewish Cemetery, which dates to 1856, is located on Blossom Way and Second Street. On October 1860, Garizim Lodge No. 43 of B’Nai B’rith was chartered in Grass Valley. The lodge in 1896 had its own cemetery. Jewish merchants in Grass Valley during the latter half of the nineteenth century included Samuel Hirsch, Simon Novitzky, J. Cohn & Brothers, and Jacob Heyman.78 Jews also established merchandizing establishments in other Mother Lode communities and many had ties to San Francisco and New York merchants (refer to Appendix D: Grass Valley Merchants, McKinney’s Pacific Coast Directory, 1887). The Chinese remained an important part of Grass Valley’s ethnic population through the 1870s and 1880s, many coming to the town after the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad. Having left their home villages in the Pearl River Delta, Chinese booked passage in Canton or Hong Kong for San Francisco. Many were advanced money or payment for passage and carried debt or peonage to Chinese businesses operating in the United States and overseas. As they reached San Francisco, the Chinese were directed up the Sacramento River to Sacramento or on to Marysville. Working their way up into the foothills and along the rivers and creeks they reached areas where Chinese camps were already in place. As early as the mid-1850s Chinatown in Grass Valley was located at “Humbug Flat” backing Wolf Creek, adjoining Bank Street with the commercial district facing both sides of China Street.

76 William Frederick Prisk Jr., comp. Pictorial History of Nevada County, California. Grass Valley: Grass Valley Daily Morning Union, 1895, p. 15. 77 Wyman, 1979, p. 42. 78 Michel Janicot. “The Jewish Cemetery of Grass Valley, California.” Western States Jewish History, Vol. XX, No. 4, July 1988.

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Figure 16: Grass Valley Chinatown, 1891 (Illustrated by Ron Wadluke, 1993).

The Chinese operated several stores along E. Main Street, but like the later fire in 1870, a fire in 1860 destroyed Chinese shops along lower Main Street. From the early 1860s, John Tinloy, who had many land holdings, mining and gardening leases in Grass Valley, provided his fellow countrymen with advice, council and employment. In 1868, Yoeng Wo Company built a Joss House or temple as a place of worship, which was overseen by Dr. Wa Kee. Between 1875 and 1876 about 300 Chinese were recruited to help construct the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad.79 In other cases, Grass Valley Chinese worked as cooks, domestic laborers, brick makers, firewood cutters, fruit packers, gardeners and handymen, while others peddled products door to door. By the 1880s the Chinese section of town included restaurants, stores, doctors, cobblers, laundries, a gambling house, a fortune teller, and reportedly 40 to 50 cabins. The Chinese in Nevada County were a significant part of the population from 1860 to 1880 (13% to 14%) and were extremely important to Grass Valley’s economic and cultural life until after 1882. At that time, federal legislation stopped immigration of Chinese workers. Notwithstanding the commerce that the Chinese community brought to Grass Valley, advertising, such as the one published in the 1895 Business Directory of Grass Valley and Nevada City, boldly declared “No Chinese Employed” when referring to accommodations, such as Grass Valley’s popular Union Hotel.80 Even after 1882, however, the Chinese continued to play an important role in the city’s history and some descendants of the original Chinese pioneer families are still living in Grass Valley today.

79 Donald Beesley. “The Chinese and the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad.” Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. 40, No. 4, October 1986. 80 Nevada County Directory for 1895, p. 2. Copy on file at the City of Grass Valley, Historic Records Files, Grass Valley, California.

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Perhaps one of the most consequential events during the 1870s in Grass Valley was the construction of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad (NCNGR). An important part of the area’s infrastructure and primary source of transporting goods and people, the NCNGR remained in operation from 1876 to 1942. The desire for a railroad through Nevada County likely dates to the 1860s, when various routes of the Central Pacific Railroad were being considered by railroad magnates and politicians. A representative of the Central Pacific Railroad reportedly came to Grass Valley each year to recruit Chinese workers to help complete the railroad over the summit. Prior to 1876 transportation in and out of Grass Valley was by wagons, stages, and mule teams. Serious consideration of a railroad through Nevada County commenced in 1874. A committee of six, three from Grass Valley and three from Nevada City, were appointed to draft a bill on the proposed railroad to be presented to the California Legislature. On the 20th of March 1874, Governor Newton Booth signed the railroad bill and soon after a joint stock company was formed. Articles of incorporation were filed and seven directors were appointed, including John C. and Edward Coleman, William Watt, and James M. Lakenan of Grass Valley and R.W. Tully, Niles Searls, and Thaddeus W. Sigourney of Nevada City. The directors were well-known throughout Nevada County, the Coleman brothers owning gold mines, including the Idaho.81 In 1875 work began on surveying the proposed route of the new railroad. John F. Kidder, an engineer with 20 years of experience, was at the helm. By March 2, 1875, 200 men were at work grading the railroad between Colfax and the Bear River. Unlike the mines, many Chinese laborers were employed on building the NCNGR. By mid-March, approximately 500 Chinese and 100 white workers were employed near the Turton & Knox camp headquarters. While injuries to workers were relatively frequent, work progressed forward and by the end of December 1875 the tracks had passed through the Town Talk tunnel, and by January 1876 the tracks had been laid just south of the newly built Grass Valley depot.82 Grass Valley’s transportation system remained inadequate until the creation of the NCNGR in the 1870s. The effect of the newly built railroad was immediate. Lots surrounding the railroad depot increased in value and rental houses were hastily built. John Kidder constructed himself an elegant Victorian home near the depot. In May 1876 the railroad reached Nevada City to cheering crowds. The Sawyer Decision of 1884, which virtually shut-down hydraulic gold mining operations around Nevada City, particularly North Bloomfield, hurt the railroad financially, but the railroad continued operating, in later years under the supervision of John Kidder. Although the placer gold mines had diminished, Grass Valley’s gold quartz mining remained strong, and much of the bullion was transported aboard the NCNGR. Between 1901 and 1924 the Nevada County Traction Company transported passengers between Grass Valley and Nevada City. In Grass Valley the Streetcars followed Mill Street from Boston Ravine, veering into East Main Street to Hills Flat and up the old Nevada City Highway to Glenbrook, where car barns and the powerhouse were located. Fares were 20 cents between cities and 5 cents in town.83

81 Juanita Kennedy Browne. A Tale of Two Cities and a Train: History of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad 1874-1942. Nevada County Historical Society: Nevada City, 1987. 82 Browne, 1987, pp. 10-16. 83 Chalmers, 2006, p. 98-99.

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Figure 17: Birds Eye View of Grass Valley 1871 (courtesy Bancroft Library, Berkeley)

Figure 17 is a relatively accurate rendition of Grass Valley in 1871. The illustration is important in many ways, but in particular it depicts the emergence of the community’s agricultural industry, principally orchard crops, such as apples and plums. The main concentration of early-day orchards was south of Auburn Street and Wolf Creek. Orchards can also be seen dotting the hills surrounding the 1872 Townsite, and even intermixed with the rear yards of townsite residences. The development of an agricultural industry marked a change in the community, as its economic base became more diversified. E. Formation of Modern-Day Grass Valley (1890s-1910s) As the population of Grass Valley expanded to include more women and young children, the desire for education of the city’s youth became more acute. The first school house in Grass Valley was reportedly opened by Miss Rosa Farrington in a miner’s cabin measuring roughly 12’ x 15’. Another private school followed and the first public school was opened in Grass Valley in 1853. The first public high school was built in 1867.

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Figure 18: View of Grass Valley, circa 1890s. Columbus School is on the far right. D. Fricot Photographer (courtesy Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley).

By the late 1870s through the 1880s, education gained importance in Grass Valley society. By 1876, when the Board of Education was organized, there were eight additional school buildings erected in the Grass Valley School District. The Board consisted of seven school directors elected in 1876, consisting of Edward Coleman, William K. Spencer, William Campbell, W.C. Jones, Samuel Terrill, James M. Lakenan, and M. Byrne, Jr. In 1887, bonds were sold to erect a new high school, which was not built until the early 1890s along Auburn Street. Other early-day schools included Winchester Hill, Pike Flat, Eureka, and Boston Ravine.84 Columbus School, visible in Figure 18, was built in the 1890s and was an excellent example of Queen Anne architecture applied to educational buildings. The four-story wood-frame school included a large corner tower and a complex set of gable roofs.

84 Grass Valley “Daily Tidings,” September 8, 1892.

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Figure 19: View of Mount St. Mary’s Academy School, 1934 (courtesy Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley).

Equally important to social stability was the role that religious institutions and benevolent societies played in Grass Valley in the late nineteenth century. By the mid-1890s, Grass Valley had four churches, the Methodist Episcopal (Rev. J.P. Macaulay, pastor), the Congregational (Rev. L.J. Garver, pastor), St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic (Father Lynch), and Emanuel Episcopal (Rev. E. Van Deerlin). Grass Valley also had over thirty-three secret and benevolent societies, perhaps due in part to the community’s large Irish and Cornish populations. The societies included Madison Lodge; Grass Valley Chapter No. 18; R.A.M.; Aurora Chapter; O.E.S.; Olympic Lodge; Olympic Temple No. 10; Mountain Division; Weimer Tribe No. 34; Ceanotha Council; Grass Valley Lodge, No. 51; Court Pride of Grass Valley; Grass Valley Conclave, No. 49; Liberty Circle, No. 102; Quartz Parlor, No. 58; Victorian Lodge, No. 289; Sons of St. George; Court Pride of Grass Valley; A.O.F.; Friendship Circle C.O.F. of A.O.F.; Grass Valley Lodge No. 12; I.O.O.F.; Golden Star Lodge, No. 165; Union Encampment, No. 11 I.O.O.F; Esther Rebekah Degree Lodge, No. 9 I.O.O.F., Grass Valley Typographical Union, No. 282; Miners Union; Sylvania Lodge, No. 12 I.O.G.T., Washington Temple of Honor, No. 1; Alpha Lodge, No. 1954; Knights of Honor, Young Men’s Institute, No. 29; Young Ladies’ Institute No. 5; Grass Valley Grange, No. 256; Woman’s Christian Temperance Union; Ladies’ Relief Society; Valley Council No. 254; American Legion of Honor; Grass Valley Council, No. 115; Order Chosen Friends.85 Improvement of the city’s basic utilities was also important to the development of Grass Valley. In the 1890s gas lighting was being replaced with electric lighting furnished by the Grass Valley Gas and Electric Company. There were three volunteer fire companies and the city’s water works were supplied with a steady supply of water via the South Canal and Water Company, with reservoirs on Alta Hill.

85 Nevada County Business Directory 1895, pp. 27-28.

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Figure 20: Map illustrating Grass Valley’s expansion to the south during the 1890s from the original 1872 Townsite (Copy on file, City of Grass Valley).

Local newspapers included the Daily Tidings and Foothill Weekly Tidings, the Evening Telegraph, and the Morning and Weekly Union. Besides daily stages, transportation was provided via the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad, which linked Grass Valley with Colfax, where connection was made with the Southern Pacific Railroad.86 In 1891, the Grass Valley Union newspaper reported that there were 6,502 whites living in Grass Valley as compared to 3,738 whites in Nevada City, together with 35 Blacks in Grass Valley as compared to 51 Blacks in Nevada City. The totals confirm the expanding population of Grass Valley during this period and the rather stagnant population of Nevada City, largely due to the closure of the large hydraulic gold mines. The growth of Grass Valley during this period is largely attributed to the booming business of gold quartz mining, demand for laborers, and a rising merchant class in the community. Figure 20 illustrates how the original 1872 Townsite expanded to the south during the 1890s. 86 Prisk, Jr. 1895, p. 17.

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An important part of many gold rush era mining communities were its photographers. Fortunately, Grass Valley had its share of photographers, beginning in the 1850s with daguerreotype and ambrotype studios, followed by studios providing stereoviews, carte-de-visites, and cabinet cards by the 1870s. Many traveling photographers passed through the Mother Lode towns taking photographs from their mobile studios aboard wagons, while others took up permanent residence. Some of the early photographers in Grass Valley include Cobb’s Celebrated Photographic Gallery on Mill Street near Neal Street, 1867; Flanders & Vance, Church Street, opposite Hamilton Hall, late 1860s, produced “Flander’s Patent Enameled Cards” on Mill Street, 1868; Samuel Stillman Blaisdell, “Heliographic Artist” on Mill Street, 1871-1872; R.A. Kendall, 33 Mill Street, 1874; Abell’s Art Gallery and Studio, on Church Street and Mill Street near Main in 1875; David Cobb, Tuttle & Johnson, “Heliographic Artists” on Mill Street, 1875; Hiram Hamilton Frye, partner in Frye Brothers, 6½ Mill Street, 1877; and Kendall & Clinch, Eureka Gallery on Mill Street, 1885-1893, to name just a few.87

Figure 21: View down Main Street, 1895 (courtesy Jim Johnson, Chalmers Image of America: Grass Valley) During the 1890s, with changes occurring within the state’s economy and culture, Grass Valley struggled with its identity as a gold rush mining camp. For the most part, Grass Valley clung to old values and its aging population identified with the past. The city’s infrastructure consisted largely of wood-frame and brick buildings, many hastily constructed during the 1850s through the 1860s. The mines paid

steady wages and Grass Valley’s merchants prospered selling a variety of goods and services. The Nevada County Business Directory for 1895 reveals the important relationship the county had with its mines, which were described and displayed in numerous advertisements. The directory also revealed the predominance of Anglo-Europeans, particularly those of Irish, Cornish, or English descent, serving in the major political offices of the city and county government. For example, in 1895 the city staff of Grass Valley consisted of William George, Mayor; W.D. Harris, Clerk; F.E. Dennen, Marshall and Chief of Police; Charles H. Mills, Superintendent of Streets and Water Collector; Thomas Angove, Assessor; W.E. Parsons, Treasurer; A. Burrows, City

87 Carl Mautz. Biographies of Western Photographers: A Reference Guide to Photographers Working in the 19th Century American West. Nevada City, CA: Carl Mautz Publishing, 1997. Pages 75-158.

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Attorney; A. Powell, Fire Marshall and Chief Engineer; Samuel Dille, Health Officer; and P. H. Paynter and John Tyrrell, Justices of the Peace. The Grass Valley Fire Department included Arthur Powell, Fire Marshall and Chief; John Kinsman, First Assistant Engineer; John Hocking, Second Assistant Engineer; and John Buckett, Foreman; Sam Blight, Foreman; and A. Abram, Foreman.88

Figure 22: Empire Mine, circa 1900. 2100’ below surface at an underground station (courtesy of the California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology) By the late 1890s Grass Valley’s gold quartz mining industry had become more sophisticated, employing the most technologically advanced mining equipment to access, collect, and process the gold bearing quartz. The Empire Mine was the largest, richest mining operation in Grass Valley. The underground workings sunk shafts to 7,000 feet below the earth surface, reaching a vertical depth of 3,500 feet.

The claim began when George Roberts discovered the Ophir vein on Ophir Hill in 1850, not long after the initial discovery of gold bearing quartz on Gold Hill. The mine nearly ceased operations in 1878, when engineers declared that all visible ore had been exhausted. The mine resumed operations, was acquired by the William B. Bourn Jr., who constructed an elaborate house designed by Julia Morgan near the mine, and succeeded in producing millions of dollars worth of gold ore until its closing in 1956. The Empire and other underground mines, such as the North Star, were particularly significant to the community of Grass Valley following the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression. The mines provided employment during the 1930s Depression, stabilizing the economic plight of the community, and encouraging new growth in the community.89 The 1890s also ushered in a wave of construction in Grass Valley that included the demolition of older housing stock and the construction of newer, larger homes with more modern conveniences, as well as infilling lots. In 1896, Grass Valley once again witnessed another devastating fire. In this instance almost the entire block bounded by Mill, Neal, Auburn, and Bank Streets was destroyed or damaged, including numerous buildings on the West side of Mill Street. The fire was believed to have occurred under the floor of the opera house and was “of incendiary origin.” Most of the damage occurred to wood-frame buildings, extending to the rear of the opera house, and severely damaging three homes between Bank and Neal Street.90

88 Nevada County Business Directory, 1895, p. 18. 89 The Union’s Gold Country. “Mines played an important part,” April 22, 1975; For a detailed description of Grass Valley’s mining district refer to William B. Clark. Gold Districts of California. Bulletin 173. California Division of Mines and Geology, Sacramento, California. 1970, pp. 53-60. 90 City of Grass Valley, Historic Files; Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Grass Valley, California, September 1896.

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Figure 23: 1890s view of Grass Valley. Looking to the east from S. School Street towards Columbus School in the far background. D. Fricot, photographer (courtesy Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley.

Figure 23 illustrates the relatively uniform rows of houses in the 1890s along the upper south end of town looking to the east towards the Columbus School in the distance. Note the numerous narrow front-gable cottages with front verandas, alongside grandeur two-story Italianate or Queen Anne style homes. Interspersed among the residences are several false-front buildings used for commercial purposes. In 1898, the Grass Valley Union, remarked that “the building record for the year 1898 is probably not surpassed by any in its history, unless it be in the number of structures erected in the some single year in the 50’s … the residences constructed during 1898 have been of a higher grade than those built in early days … the contract prices ranged between $650 and $2,500.” 91 91 Grass Valley Union. “A Building Review-Unusual Activity in this Respect in Grass Valley-Over 80 Residences Constructed in the Season of 1898, at a Cost of Some $100,000.” December 1898, p. 23.

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Approximately 80 residences were built in 1898. The following is a list of tracts and houses by owner and contractors:92 Tract Contractor Client Kidder M. Hooker M. Hooker Kidder J. Heffner C.D. Snyder Kidder A.D. Stafford A.D. Stafford Weissbein Crider, Wilson & Co. J.F. Trebilcox Weissbein A.D. Stafford P.F. Peterson Weissbein F.M. Conkle Joseph Cota Weissbein Doughead J. Geronimo Boston Ravine W.C.D. Body J. Kennedy Boston Ravine W.C.D. Body Wm. Keyes Hills Flat Geach & Son Mrs. Findley Hills Flat Geach & Son John Allen Hills Flat C. Hooker T.P. Brown Hills Flat C. Hooker Chas. Hooker Hills Flat Crider & Co. W.T. Rule Hills Flat George Fox H.A. Fairbanks Hills Flat George Fox Wm. Nicholl Hills Flat George Fox W.H. George (store) Washington Street Hill A.D. Stafford George Wetteran Washington Street Hill W. Williams Wm. Williams Main Street W. Williams Western Hotel (rebuilt) Main Street Crider & Co. H.C. Zapf Main Street A.D. Stafford Wirt Main Street Pollard Mrs. A.F. Morgan Main Street A.D. Stafford Mrs. A.F. Morgan Conaway Avenue C. Hooker E. Roberts Conaway Avenue Champion & Quick R. Quick Conaway Avenue C. Hooker Mrs. Thomas Race Street S.H. Dille M. Provine Race Street Champion George Hertle Race Street Hooker Brothers Wm. Shackleton Race Street A.D. Stafford Morris Lynch Empire Street Geach & Son C.E. Clinch Empire Street W. Coleman J. Riley Lincoln Street Crider & Co. Mrs. Bennett Lincoln Street Alex Bunney Henry Bunney Lincoln Street Hooker Bros. Wm. Foote Winchester Hill George Fox Mrs. Sims Winchester Hill M. Hooker Mrs. Hall Winchester Hill M. Hooker J. Quinn Winchester Hill King & George Wm. Faull Approximately twelve of the aforementioned properties were constructed for the purposes of renting, according to the Grass Valley Union.93 The demand for rental units was acute during the 1890s with an influx of Cornish miners steadily arriving in the city.

92 Grass Valley Union, December 1898, p. 23. 93 Grass Valley Union, December 1898, p. 23.

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Figure 24: J. Dibble front yard and garden area. Formally D. Fricot House, possibly W. Main Street, Grass Valley, circa 1890s. (courtesy Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley)

Figure 24 is interesting in that it reveals the importance of designed landscapes and horticulture among the citizens of Grass Valley during the late nineteenth century. In this photograph of D. Fricot’s residence, believed to be along W. Main Street, a well designed front yard is presented that includes a centrally located fountain, gravel path, and ornamental shrubs, including pampas grass, fruit trees, and neat hedgerows. The home’s front yard, like its neighbors, is framed by a white picket fence with an entry flanked by large posts with decorative caps. In this circa 1890s photograph, poles aligning the street suggest electricity was available to the households. In December 1898, the Grass Valley Union reported that J. H. Coughlin’s new residence had just been completed. Coughlin worked as ticket agent for the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Company. The house is described as located on Kidder Street, near the depot set upon a solid foundation of granite with walls three feet high and eighteen inches thick. A cement pavement fronted the property and the same walkway extended to the front door that opened into a “commodious hall” from which “stairs of artistic appearance lead to the upper story.” In the hall was Lincustra wainscoting (resembling embossed leather), followed by a parlor, dining room, and handsome mantle. It is interesting to note that the interior treatment included a shellac or natural varnish applied to the millwork, rather than paint, which was commonly used in homes built in previous years.94 The newspaper also vividly described the new home of W. G. Lord, located in the Kidder Tract facing Bennett Street. According to the article, the architectural plans were rendered by

94 Grass Valley Union. December 1898, p. 20.

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R.J.F. Mill, but were modified by Lord. The spacious three-story home included double parlors, stained glass, a servant’s quarters, and a bathroom with a porcelain tub and “patent” water closet. It is apparent that this home was equipped with a septic system, rather than an outdoor privy.95

Figure 25: View of the Fletcher House, Grass Valley (courtesy Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley)

Not only was the housing stock improving in Grass Valley, but also its infrastructure, including transportation. Improvements that affected all Grass Valley residents during the early 1900s included street widening and paving (gravel surface), new sidewalks, improved sewage disposal, the conversion from gas to electricity, and telephone service. With improvements to the community’s infrastructure came new schools. By 1910 Grass Valley had a population of 6,572 inhabitants, and supported a variety of public and private schools, including Columbus at the corner of South Auburn near Neal; Bell Hill near School Street and Dalton; Lincoln near School and Neal; Grant at Winchester near Neal; Washington at Washington near Richardson; Watt at Empire near Mill; North Star; and Grass Valley Business College at Auburn near the corner of Neal. The Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce was thriving, with Thomas Ingram as president and C.H. Barker as secretary. Binkleman’s Grass Valley Brewery was still active along North Auburn Street, and the W.C. Jones Memorial Hospital, located in a grand Queen Anne Victorian, played an important part in the community’s health care system.96 Just outside of town, Gilmore Field was named after Lyman Gilmore, who reportedly first flew a power glider a year and a half before the Wright brothers made their flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in December 1903. Gilmore Field, later renamed Grass Valley Airport, is reported to be the oldest commercial airfield in the United States.97 95 Grass Valley Union, December 1898, p. 20. 96 Grass Valley and Nevada City Business Directory, 1910. 97 Thomas W. Osborn. The Union: Centennial Business Directory for Grass Valley and Nevada City, 1948, p. 15.

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Figure 26: Welcome sign flanking both sides of the entrance to Main Street to celebrate California’s 50th Anniversary, 1900. A similar marquee was placed at the entrance to Mill Street (Jim Johnson Photo, Images of American: Grass Valley). By the second decade of the twentieth century, Grass Valley’s mines were active, most of its citizens were employed, and commerce was brisk. The Grass Valley and Nevada City Business Directory for 1910 reveals a great deal about each community. While Grass Valley’s population had grown to the largest numbers since its founding in the early 1850s, Nevada City’s population had declined to 3,280. More than one-tenth of the population of both cities was engaged directly in mining, with total wages exceeding $120,000 monthly, a large sum for the time. The Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce and Nevada City Improvement Association actively promoted their business communities.

The number of gold quartz mines in the “Grass Valley District” totaled over 250, although a number were inactive. In 1910 Grass Valley had four churches, including the First Congregational at 211 Church Street; Emmanuel Episcopal at 245 Church Street; First Methodist Episcopal at 230 S. Church Street; and St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic at 235 Chapel. Grass Valley schools had a total enrollment of 834 students. The city had five hospitals or asylums, including St. Patrick’s Boys Orphanage; St. Vincent’s Girls Orphanage, Mt. St. Mary’s Convent Church; W.C. Jones Memorial Hospital; and Grass Valley Sanitarium. The principal businesses in Grass Valley in 1910 included the Buffalo Café (126-128 W. Main Street), Carson’s Toggery (202 W. Main at Mill), Citizens Bank, Clinch Mercantile Company (115 Mill Street), Daily Evening Tidings (211 W. Main Street), William Freeman Bakery (304 W. Main), William T. George Paints and Wallpaper (113 Mill Street), Grass Valley Brewery (216 N. Auburn), Grass Valley Hardware Co. (114 Mill Street), Harry Green Confectionery (145 Mill Street), Clarence Jenkin Books, Stationery and Phonographs (112 W. Main Street), John G. Loutzenheiser Drugs and Toilet Articles (102 Main Street), James Manning Druggist (148 Mill Street), Edward Moe Junk and Pawnbroker (137 S. Church Street), Morning Union newspaper (157 Mill Street), Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Company (Bennett corner of Bank), Pacific Gas & Electric Company (143 Mill Street), Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. (114 Main Street), Thomas Phillips Drugs and Toilet Articles (126 Mill Street), William Sampson Stationery (120 Mill Street), William Temby Candy Manufacturer and Phonographs (120 W. Main Street), Union Lumber Company (205

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E. Main Street), Richard Vincent Fuel and Feed (221 E. Main Street), Watt & Company Wholesale and Retail Grocers (116 Main Street), and Western Hotel (E. Main Street).98

Grass Valley continued to grow through the 1910s, although growth was temporarily interrupted with the advent of World War I. Automobiles now plied the city’s roadways, once dedicated almost solely to wagons and stages. Gas lights gave way to electricity and the city began slowly to improve sanitation and sewer systems. Private homeownership increased and new construction was at its peak. There were several early attempts to establish a library in Grass Valley. The first was in 1860, followed by another in 1869, but neither survived. The Emmanuel Episcopal Church was established in Grass Valley in 1858, but it wasn't until 1901 that the non-denominational Emmanuel Church Library opened to provide library services. A decade later, the city became the library's governing body. It requested a Carnegie grant in 1914 and received $15,000 the following year. The chosen building site, at 207 Mill Street, near the intersection of Mill and Neal Street, had been the birthplace and early home of philosopher Josiah Royce. In 2005, the library, now a branch of the county library system, was renamed to honor Royce, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

F. The Roaring 20s and the Great Depression (1920s-1930s) Unlike the 1850s and 1860s, when Grass Valley was a melting pot for a wide variety of ethnic cultures, after the turn of the century, the city’s population became more homogeneous with Anglo-Europeans being the predominant group. Immigrants from Cornwall still came to Grass Valley to work the mines, but increasingly sought work elsewhere, such as Arizona where copper mining had become an important industry.

Figure 27: Chinese Joss House, Grass Valley, circa 1920s. Wally Hagaman Photograph (Images of America: Grass Valley)

Although in much smaller numbers, the Chinese remained in Grass Valley through the 1920s and 1930s, performing a variety of economic functions, including working for local families as cooks, domestic workers, brick makers, firewood cutters, fruit packers, gardeners, and handymen. Many Chinese peddled produce door to door or from their wagons. The Chinese, however, were still largely excluded from Grass Valley’s quartz mines. During the 1930s Chinese owned a handful of businesses, including clothing stores, groceries, restaurants, laundries and dry goods stores in the downtown on Mill and Church Streets. But, because of the decline in placer mining during the late nineteenth century, most Chinese in the area left for employment in the larger Chinese communities,

98 Grass Valley and Nevada City Business Directory. 1910, pp. 12-45.

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such as San Francisco’s Chinatown. After World War II, the last vestige of Grass Valley Chinatown was allowed to decay and much of it was purchased by the NCNGR and developed as a warehouse and transfer station. Eventually, the remainder was bulldozed to make way for the Golden Center Freeway in the 1960s. Today, only a few of the objects that were preserved from the Hou Wong Temple remain and are located in the Firehouse Museum in Nevada City. During the gold rush, pioneering efforts were made by Grass Valley citizens to supply food and fiber for the miners, but it was not until after 1900 that agricultural flourished in Nevada County. While Grass Valley was never a center for agriculture as compared to other areas, particularly western Placer County, beginning in the 1860s in-town gardens produced a wide variety of produce, with the excess sold locally. Because agriculture was dependent upon a steady supply of water, the Nevada Irrigation District formed in 1923 provided water to the citizens of the community. By the 1920s, Bartlett pears and apples were the principal products grown in the orchards that dotted the community. The pear blight of the 1950s decimated the industry, creating economic hardship for many of the community agriculturalists. Grass Valley’s mining industry was fortunate to endure the upturns and downturns associated with national and regional economic crisis. Because the quartz mines provided steady labor, the demand for housing in Grass Valley increased throughout the late nineteenth and first three decades of the twentieth century. As not everyone could afford the high-style Victorian houses dotting the city, more modest housing was constructed, with much of that housing in “bungalow” or “cottage” styles of architecture being presented in numerous plan books published after 1900. In 1906, Fred T. Hodgson published his popular book entitled Practical Bungalows and Cottages for Town and Country: Prospective Views and Floor Plans of Two Hundred Low and Medium Priced Houses and Bungalows.99 There were of course many other similar books, including those published by local wood manufacturers, promoting their industry. Together, architects and builders could pick and choose from a variety of styles, order the plans, and cost estimate materials at local lumber dealerships. It was also common for builders to “augment” the plan book designs by adding or deleting spaces as desired by the owners. If a new “bungalow” was unaffordable, then Grass Valley residents often chose to remodel their older Victorian residence, giving the house a “makeover” that generally included new windows, siding, doors, and perhaps a different porch design. Additions to homes were common after 1900, as residents desired to enlarge existing houses by adding rooms, in some cases to provide space for tenants or boarders. By the 1920s a number of the large Victorian residences in Grass Valley had been converted to boarding houses, many occupied by laborers in the mines. Ironically, there was little mention of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 in Grass Valley newspapers. Grass Valley was somewhat insulated from the economic panic, largely because the gold mines remained in operation and their working capital was invested in gold, which in 1934 nearly doubled, fixing the price of gold at $35 an ounce and spurring a large migration to Grass Valley, as gold mining became profitable during the Great Depression. The largest active mines in Grass Valley during the 1930s were the Empire, the Idaho-Maryland, and the North Star. By World War II, gold mining had been classified as a non-essential industry and activity was drastically reduced. Yet,

99 Fred T. Hodgson. P Practical Bungalows and Cottages for Town and Country: Prospective Views and Floor Plans of Two Hundred Low and Medium Priced Houses and Bungalows. Chicago: Frederick J. Drake & Company, 1906.

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mining continued through the mid-1950s as the chief industry of the area, until an unfavorable cost to profit ratio and labor issues caused the mines to close. Figure 28: As-Built Highway Map 1934, illustrating the spatial relationship of buildings and structures along E. Main Street near its intersection with Murphy Street. Note the similarity of building shapes, sizes, and placement along Main Street. The City’s sewer line is also illustrated as running parallel with the creek and intersecting homes by numerous creek crossings. While other Mother Lode towns declined during the 1930s, as a whole Grass Valley weathered the Great Depression remarkably well. Where saloons and dry goods stores once flourished, new businesses emerged, including antique shops, army and navy stores, automobile sales and repair shops, banks, beauty salons, grocers, and gas stations.

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Figure 29: View of Mill Street 1930s. Note the large marquee for the “STRAND” (Chalmers 2006:107)

G. Post World War II Years (1940s-1950s) World War II slowed development in Grass Valley, particularly after the closure of the gold mines. By the late 1940s the community began to grow again, albeit slowly. Agriculture provided some degree of income for Grass Valley residents, but with the closure of the mines, the community experienced a prolonged period of economic stagnation. Tourism had not as yet emerged as an important industry, and logging, while important, could not sustain the community in hard times. Access was still by a two-lane, rather circuitous highway from Auburn, but in the late 1960s the Golden Center Freeway was constructed through the heart of Grass Valley, a welcome event by many, but not without serious long-term consequences for the community, now divided east to west. The impetus for recognizing the achievements of California 49ers was carried out through the efforts of organizations such as E. Clampus Vitus, formed in the 1930s, or Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West. Monuments to the area’s mining industry began to appear and the State of California began to take an interest in expanding its park system to the Mother Lode region. To commemorate the discovery of gold quartz on November 28, 1850, a hand-carved granite marker was placed at the location of George McKnight’s gold discovery site, located on Jenkins Street at Hocking Avenue.

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Figure 30: View of Mill Street, looking towards the Del Oro Theater, 1940s (Chalmers 2006:123).

By the 1940s specialty stores were being slowly replaced by chain stores or franchises, such as the Purity Grocery Store, located at 216 Mill Street. Improved transportation meant easier access to gold country mining towns, and consequently auto courts and motor lodges were built to address the needs of the tourists who sought different, more modern overnight lodging than the older hotels that dotted the Mother Lode region. In Grass Valley there was the Grass Valley Auto Court (626 S. Auburn Street), Jewett’s Cottage Court (S. Auburn Street), and Sierra Motel & Apartments (818 W. Main Street). Ironically, Grass Valley in 1948 looked much the same as it did at the turn of the century, with the exception of a handful of more modern buildings widely scattered throughout the original 1872 Townsite, such as the Del Oro Theater. While many of Grass Valley’s notable early-day buildings still survived in the late-1940s, the uses of many of those buildings had dramatically changed. Automobile garages and gas stations filled the spaces of empty lots or converted buildings. There was the G & H Auto Painting (s. Auburn Street), Grass Valley Auto Parts (121 E. Main Street), Motor Supply Company (110 E. Main Street), Western Auto Supply (110 Pine Street), Franks Auto Top Shop (604 Mill Street), and Boston Ravine Auto Wreckers (625 Mill Street). The Lola Montez home was still standing, although in poor condition. Several antique stores could be found in the 1940s selling “gold rush era” artifacts from the bygone days, and Army and Navy Stores popped-up after World War II selling obsolete items from the war years.100

100 The Union. Gold Centennial Business and Professional Directory for the Twin Cities, Grass Valley-Nevada City, 1948.

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Figure 31: 1945 Map of the City of Grass Valley & Vicinity (Grass Valley Map and Blueprint Company, February 1945, revised 1946).

The diversity of shops and businesses remained constant after World War II. The 1948 Union Centennial Business Directory for Grass Valley and Nevada City reveals the popularity of “beer parlors” in Grass Valley, including Bunce’s Place (142 Mill Street), Club Café (202 Main Street), Joe’s Place (153 Mill Street), and the New Deal Café (108 W. Main Street). Grass Valley had its share of general contractors in the 1940s, including H.J. Crawford, Gallino & Kohler Dorville, Louie Droivold, William E. Frye, Ed. R. Hewston, Paul Jenks, George Knack Sr., George S. Latin, Dell Riebe, Fred Strang, and Grady Campbell. The Brete Harte Dairy and the McDonald Dairy each supplied fresh milk products to Grass Valley residents. It is also interesting to note that under “Mining” the 1948 directory lists the Idaho-Maryland Mines Corporation and Tonopah Divide

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Mining Company, along with mining equipment and supplies at the Hotmill 122 Broad Street, and the Miner’s Foundary & Manufacturing Company on the north corner of Spring Street. 101 With the closure of most of the gold quartz mines after World War II, the nostalgia for the “old days” when the mines were the largest employers still ran deep in the sentiment of Grass Valley residents. To commemorate the “gold rush” and the days of the mining boom, Grass Valley businesses often applied a name reminiscent of those halcyon days, such as “Gold Pan Liquor Store,” “The Gold Bowl” (bowling alley), “Gold Center Club,” “Gold Nugget Inn,” “Bret Harte Dairy,” “Golden Rule Store,” “Bret Harte Inn,” “49er Broadcasting,” “Success Café,” “Greenhorn Rock and Sand Company,” and “Boston Ravine Service & Garage.” 102

Figure 32: Illustration of Grass Valley, California 1948 (The Union. Gold Centennial Business and Professional Directory for the Twin Cities, Grass Valley-Nevada City, 1948).

With many of the earliest of Grass Valley pioneers either aged or deceased, the community was in a period of transition following World War II. Young men who had served in the armed forces were returning to the community, some remaining, but many others moving on in search of better paying jobs. By the 1950s tourism gained momentum and the “Mother Lode” region became a popular destination point for residents from the Sacramento Valley and San Francisco Bay Area. Both Grass Valley and Nevada City retained a certain charm that was lacking in other gold rush era towns, although many of their buildings had been demolished or were falling into disrepair, due to a lack of interest in spending the monies necessary for restoration.

101 The Union, 1948. 102 The Union, 1948.

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In 1956 the era of quartz gold mining in Grass Valley came to an end when the Empire, the area’s largest mine and greatest producer, shut down its pump. Within several years all the machinery, tools, and equipment from the Empire and other nearby mines was being scrapped or auctioned off. According to records, an estimated 5,800,000 ounces of gold were extracted from 367 miles of underground passage, before the mine closed. In 1975, the Empire properties were purchased by the State of California for the sum of $1,250,000 and converted to a park, consisting of 784 acres, with approximately 750 acres of forested backcountry.103 By the late 1950s, as this country emerged after World War II, while old traditions remained, new challenges had to be confronted by a new generation in Grass Valley. The city’s infrastructure drastically required modernization, and, with the close of the mining industry, a revised vision for the city was needed. During the 1960s the construction of the Golden Center freeway opened Grass Valley to the outside world and propelled growth. Yet, whatever benefits the city received through improved transportation, the loss of numerous historic buildings and structures had a lasting effect on the community. The freeway also divided the city literally in half and visually altered the historic setting of the valley for which the city was named. In conjunction with transportation projects like the Golden Center Freeway, Grass Valley continued on a steady course of growth, as residential development spread to the west and north, creating new centers of commerce and providing homes for families desiring to live in the community. The old commercial downtown witnessed several iterations of change associated with street widening projects and remodeling of building facades to express the “modern” ideals of the post-World War II era. Yet, the old buildings and structures persevere, often hidden by layers of stucco or plaster, and while the city continues to grow, the challenge of improving its infrastructure while preserving the historic structures continues to this day. III. IMPORTANT THEMES IN THE HISTORY OF GRASS VALLEY The history of Grass Valley encompasses over 158 years, reflecting in large part the historical development of many gold mining communities throughout California’s Mother Lode region. Specific historic themes, however, have direct relevance to the development of Grass Valley and are reflected in the community’s built environment resources within the original 1872 Townsite, including:

Mining Infrastructure Commerce/Trade Socio-Cultural Traditions Religion Education Residential Housing Landscape Architecture

103 Wyckoff, 1979, p. 4.; Nevada County Gold Website. “History: Empire Mine State Park.” www.ncgold.com. Accessed October 2008.

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While each of these themes stands alone on its own merits and is reflected in the community’s historic context, the themes are linked to one another as the community of Grass Valley evolved from a fledgling mining camp to an important center of commerce and trade. Each of these themes is reflected in a number of ways in the physical environment of the community. A. Mining Mining remains one of the most important themes in Grass Valley. The history of the community and its citizens is associated with the quartz mines that developed in and around Grass Valley and provided employment directly or indirectly to the majority of its population through World War II. Unfortunately, with the exception of the Empire Mine, which was acquired as part of the California State Park system in the 1970s, and lies outside Grass Valley’s historic townsite, above-ground physical remains of gold quartz mines and mills have largely disappeared. Not discounting the myriad of underground tunnels, stopes, and shafts in the townsite, the character of the town itself is the best visual indicator of the importance mining had on the community’s economy and cultural history. B. Infrastructure The theme of infrastructure relates to Grass Valley’s roads, bridges, street lighting, and sewer and water delivery system. Grass Valley evolved from a hastily built group of log structures to a commercial city with classically designed brick buildings, gridded streets, sidewalks, and eventually water, sewer, and other utilities, such as gas and electricity, necessary for a civilized and successful community to co-exist. This modernization of the community’s infrastructure was often-times slow, with competing resource needs taking precedent. Incorporation in the 1870s laid the groundwork for the establishment of a city government and the initiation of laws and regulations that created a civilized society and one that had family values reflected in its churches, schools, and social organizations. C. Commerce/Trade The theme of commerce and trade is visually apparent throughout much of Grass Valley in the form of commercial buildings and structures dating from the early 1850s through the 1940s. Much of Main and Mill Streets exhibit architectural designs reminiscent of gold rush era architecture. Using brick as a fire-proof material, the downtown of Grass Valley emerged as a center of commerce and its commercial buildings reflect its wealth, status, and importance in Nevada County. The diversity of architectural styles exhibited by its commercial buildings also points to the fact that the community evolved over time, and new construction was carried out expressing the architectural designs popular during that period in time, such as Classical Revival and later Art Deco. D. Socio-Cultural The theme of socio-cultural is apparent in Grass Valley’s Masonic and fraternal buildings, together with meeting halls, hospitals, asylums, and other locations where both ethnic and non-ethnic populations resided or interacted. The community’s residential neighborhoods reflect the economic status of particular cultural groups, whether they be mine superintendents, merchants, or day-laborers in the mines.

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E. Religion Religious buildings were an important aspect to Grass Valley’s history, particularly those aligning Church Street, including chapels, churches, cemeteries, secular schools, and other buildings used for various religious purposes. F. Education The theme of education is represented in Grass Valley’s various schools that have survived through the years and have produced many of the city’s leading citizens. Streets bore the name of educational edifices, such as School Street. G. Residential Housing The theme of residential housing has the greatest physical representation in Grass Valley, characterized by distinct neighborhoods and patterns of development and construction. The city’s residential built environment represents a continuum or evolution of the social and cultural character of the community. The various styles of residential homes throughout the city also reflect popular tastes and values that evolved along with the city’s other built environment resources. H. Landscape Architecture The city’s variety of built environment features reflects both vernacular and designed landscapes. Historic maps and photographs clearly document the desire of the community during the 1860s to restore the area’s natural setting, largely lost when the area was logged over in the 1850s. With literally a clean slate, Grass Valley’s citizens planted native non-native species throughout the community for shade, privacy and aesthetics, defined lots through erecting rows of picket fences, and designed yards to reflect the growing enthusiasm in America during the nineteenth century for horticulture, including flower and vegetable gardens. The soils of Grass Valley were particularly conducive to growing timber, but also for cultivation, which evolved from the 1870s into widely scattered orchards producing a variety of fruit.

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IV. REFERENCES Record Repositories and Institutions Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley California State Archives, Sacramento California State Library, History Room, Sacramento California Historical Society, San Francisco City of Grass Valley, Historic Records Doris Foley Historical Research Library, Nevada City Nevada County Historical Society, Nevada City Searls Library, Nevada City Secondary Sources Anonymous. “Chronology of Events of Grass Valley Beginnings,” p. 14. Derived from Michel Janicot. The Formative Years. Draft Edition, April 1988; W.F. Prisk. Nevada County Mining Review, August 1, 1895; and J.E. Poingdestre, compiler. Grass Valley and Vicinity, 1895 Bean, Edwin F. Bean’s History and Directory of Nevada County. Nevada City: Daily Gazette Book and Job Office, 1867. Beesley, Donald. “The Chinese and the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad.” Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. 40, No. 4, October 1986. Browne, Juanita Kennedy. A Tale of Two Cities and a Train: History of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad 1874-1942. Nevada County Historical Society: Nevada City, 1987. Browne, J. Ross. Report of J. Ross Browne on the Mineral Resources of the States and Territories West of the Rocky Mountains. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1868. Butler, Samuel. “A Historic Sketch of Grass Valley.” In Davis A. and Ardis Comstock. 1895 Pictorial History of Nevada County California: A Reissue of “Nevada County Mining Review” compiled by William Frederick Prisk Jr. and the Staff of the Grass Valley Daily Morning Union and “Grass Valley and Vicinity” compiled by J. E. Poingdestgre with an Historical Sketch by Samuel Butler. Grass Valley: Comstock Bonanza Press. 2000. California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology. California Gold Mines: A Sesquicentennial Photograph Collection, 1998. Canfield, Chauncey de Leon, ed. Diary of a Forty-Niner. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1920. Chalmers, Claudine. Images of America: Grass Valley. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing. 2006. City of Grass Valley Historical Commission. Heritage Homes of Grass Valley: A Catalog of Award - Winning Homes, 1997-2006. City of Grass Valley Historical Commission. 2008.

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Clark, William B. Gold Districts of California. Bulletin 173. California Division of Mines and Geology, Sacramento, California. 1970. Comstock, David A. and Ardis H. Comstock. 1895 Pictorial History of Nevada County, California. . . . Grass Valley: Comstock Bonanza Press. 2000. Cronise, Titus Fey. The Natural Wealth of California. San Francisco: H.H. Bancroft & Company. 1868. pp. 579-581. Daily Morning Union, pub. “No. 1 Souvenir Programme for the aid of St. Patrick’s Church, Grass Valley, Nevada County, California, October 17, 1907.” Grass Valley: Daily Morning Union newspaper. Davis, Harold P. Gold Rush Days in Nevada City. Nevada City: Berliner & McGinnis. 1948. Delano, Alonzo. Life on the Plains and Among the Diggings: Being Scenes and Adventures Along the Overland Trail to California. Time-Life Books: New York, 1854, reprint 1981. Delano, Alonzo. Pen-Knife Sketches; or, Chips of the Old Block. San Francisco: Grabhorn Press. 1934. Ewart, Shirley. Highly Respectable Families: The Cornish of Grass Valley, California 1854-1954. Grass Valley: Comstock Bonanza Press. 1998. Gottfried, Herbert and Jan Jennings. American Vernacular Design 1870-1940. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press. 1988. Grass Valley and Nevada City Business Directory. 1910. Grass Valley Union. Gold Centennial Business and Professional Directory for the Twin Cities, Grass Valley-Nevada City, 1948. Gudde, Erwin G. California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1969. Hodgson, Fred T. P Practical Bungalows and Cottages for Town and Country: Prospective Views and Floor Plans of Two Hundred Low and Medium Priced Houses and Bungalows. Chicago: Frederick J. Drake & Company, 1906. Janicot, Michel. “Grass Valley: The Formative Years of Civic Government, 1849-1865, A Historical Perspective.” Manuscript. 1988. Janicot, Michel. “The Jewish Cemetery of Grass Valley, California.” Western States Jewish History, Vol. XX, No. 4, July 1988. Jones, Pat. “Nevada County’s Black Pioneers.” Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. 39, No. 3, July 1985.

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Kinyon, Edmund. “Cornish Migration to Grass Valley.” Nevada County Historical Society Bulletin. Vol. 3, No. 6, October 1950. Lardner, W.B. and M.J. Brock. History of Placer and Nevada Counties. Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1924. Littlejohn, Hugh W. Nisenan Geography. Berkeley: University of California. 1928. McAlester, Virginia and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1984. Mann, Ralph. After the Gold Rush: Society in Grass Valley and Nevada City, California 1849-1870. Stanford: Stanford University Press. 1982. Mautz, Carl. Biographies of Western Photographers: A Reference Guide to Photographers Working in the 19th Century American West. Nevada City, CA: Carl Mautz Publishing, 1997 Morley, Jim and Doris Foley. Gold Cities: Grass Valley and Nevada City. Howell-North Books: Berkeley, 1965. Nevada County Directory for 1895. Copy on file at the City of Grass Valley, Historic Records Files, Grass Valley, California. Nevada County Gold Website “History: Empire Mine State Park.” www.ncgold.com. Accessed October 2008. Prisk, William Frederick, Jr. comp. 1895 Pictorial History of Nevada County, California. Grass Valley: Grass Valley Daily Morning Union, 1895. Riddell, Frances. “Maidu and Konkow.” in Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 8. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 1978. Raymond, Rossiter W. Mines and Mining of the Rocky Mountains, the Inland Basin, and the Pacific Slope, comprising Treatises on Mining Law, Mineral Deposits, Machinery, and Metallurgical Processes. New York: J.B. Ford & Company, 1871 Rowse, A.L. The Cousin Jacks: The Cornish in America. New York: Scribner’s Sons. 1969. Shepperson, William S. British Immigrants to North America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. 1957. Taylor, Bayard. At Home and Abroad: A Sketch-Book of Life, Scenery, and Men. Second Series. New York: G.P. Putnam. 1865. Waldsmith, Gwynn. Heritage Homes of Grass Valley: A Catalog of Award-Winning Homes, 1997-2006. Grass Valley Historical Commission, 2008. Wells, Harry L. History of Nevada County, California. Oakland: Thompson & West, 1880.

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Wyckoff, Robert M. Walking Tours and Twice-Told Tales of Grass Valley. Nevada City, California: Nevada City Publishing Company. 1979. Wyman, Mark. Hard-Rock Epic. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1979. Primary Records and Maps As-Built Highway Map, 1934. City of Grass Valley Historical Records, Grass Valley, California. City of Grass Valley. Miscellaneous Notes. City of Grass Valley Historical Records, Grass Valley, California. Grass Valley Daily Tidings. Newspaper. Grass Valley, California. 1892. Grass Valley Telegraph. Newspaper. Grass Valley, California. 1854-1855. Grass Valley Townsite Map, 1872. City of Grass Valley Historical Records, Grass Valley, California. Grass Valley Union. Newspaper. Grass Valley, California. 1898. Grass Valley Union. “The Union’s Gold Country: Mines played an important part.” April 22, 1975.

Map of the City of Grass Valley & Vicinity, 1945. Grass Valley Map and Blueprint Company, February 1945, revised 1946. New York Times. Newspaper. New York, New York. 1868. Sanborn Map Company. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of the City of Grass Valley. Pellham, New York.

White, Lyle L. Nevada City, California typescript map. n.d.