Grass Valley is one of those charming old gold mining towns in the Sierra foothills about a three hour drive from the Bay area. It is full of era architecture (some call it Victorian) and has lots of B&Bs and boutique motels. It has a population of 13,000 today and nearby Nevada City has about 3,500, a lot of them retirees. It has an abundance of mining era structures, museums, parks and artifacts. The weather is hot in summer and generally pleasant in the spring and fall.
The Empire Mine State Park in Grass Valley is built around the great underground gold mine of that name that operated from the 1860s to WWII. The Bourn family owned the mine for most of it’s life and employed primarily Cornish to mine it in the earlier years. Grass Valley also has the extensive Northstar mining museum. The Northstar was one of the area’s other big gold mines and the Pelton Wheels which were used to provide power to the early mines, along with Cornish beam engines on display are some of the best I have seen. The Holbrooke Hotel, once owned by Myles O’Connor, is an impressive old structure downtown.
Although the original St Patricks’s church was built in the 1850s, the present church dates to the 1950s; the old parish cemetery on Rough and Ready Hwy is worth a visit. It is full of the headstones of Irish miners, nuns and priests from the gold mining era. The nearby hamlets of Rough and Ready and Smartsville have some interesting sites. James O’Brien’s house is still there on O’Brien Rd in Smartsville and his grave is nearby in Immaculate Conception Cemetery off McGanney Ln. A drive or hike down near the Yuba river gives a sense of the hydraulic mining terrain O’Brien worked. The Yuba was thoroughly worked by dredges after the Sawyer decision.
A better sense of the hydraulic mining can be seen at the Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park, north of Nevada City. The Malakoff area was the biggest hydraulic mining area in the district and the monitors, remains of the flumes and the extent of environmental damage done by hydraulic mining are eye-opening. The Catholic church there (still standing but boarded up) was called St Colmcille’s. However, Malakoff is a difficult drive from Nevada City, the park does not appear to be staffed, it is not well signposted and not well maintained. (This appears to be an ongoing problem with California State Parks).
The villages of Downieville and Sierra City are a bit further north on CA Hwy 49 and the drive there up the North Yuba River offers some spectacular views. Both villages have plenty of 19th century structures, mining themed Museums and lots of charm. They have smaller (but very pleasant) motels . The area is a big hiking and mountain bike destination.
Pelton Wheel at Northstar Museum
Irish Hunting Lodge at Empire Mine Sate Park
