Page 706 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

704  C ALIFORNIA

The Gold Country in 1956. Mining equipment and
artifacts can be seen in the
Located at the heart of California, the Gold Country was once park and in the museum.
a real-life El Dorado, where a thick vein of gold sat waiting to
be discovered. Once home of the Miwok and Maidu peoples, E Northstar Mine Power house &
Pelton Wheel Museum
the Gold Rush turned this quiet region into a lawless jamboree 10933 Alison Ranch Rd. Tel (530) 273-
of gold miners from all over the world. But the boom went bust 4255. Open May–Oct: 11am–5pm
by 1860. A few years later, the area saw another short-lived Tue–Sun.
boom, when the transcontinental railroad was constructed E Empire Mine Historic
through the Sierra Nevada Mountains by low-paid laborers, State Park
many of whom were Chinese. 10791 E Empire St. Tel (530) 273-
8522. Open daily. Closed Jan 1,
Thanksgiving, Dec 25. & 7 8
n Grass Valley
* 9,000. @ n 248 Mill St, m Marshall Gold
(530) 273-4667, (800) 655-4667.
Open 11am–3pm Sat–Mon, Discovery State
10am–5pm Tue–Fri. Park
∑ grassvalleychamber.com
Tel (530) 622-3470. @ from
One of the largest and busiest Placerville. Open 8am–sunset daily.
gold-mining towns, Grass Valley Closed Jan 1, Thanksgiving, Dec 25.
employed workers from the tin & 7 8 ∑ parks.ca.gov
mines of Cornwall in England.
It was their expertise that This peaceful park protects the
enabled local mines to stay site where gold was first
in business long after the discovered in 1848. James
others had fallen quiet. Marshall spotted shiny flakes in
At the entrance to the the water channel of a saw-
Northstar Mine mill he and other workers
Powerhouse & were building for the
Firehouse #1 Museum, a Nevada City Pelton Wheel Swiss entrepreneur
landmark Museum are the John Sutter in
giant Pelton wheel Coloma. Gold miners
b Nevada City that increased soon took over
production in A nugget of gold set inside Sutter’s land, leaving
* 2,855. @ @ n 132 Main St,
(530) 265-2692, (800) 655-6569, underground quartz crystal him penniless. Within
9am–5pm Mon–Fri, 11am–4pm Sat. mines. Also on a year, Coloma had
∑ nevadacitychamber.com view are a stamp mill and turned into a thriving city but
a Cornish pump. then declined, with news of
Located at the northern end of Grass Valley also served the richer deposits elsewhere.
the Mother Lode gold fields, this nearby Empire Mine, the A replica of Sutter’s Mill
picturesque city deserves its state’s richest and longest stands on the original site. The
reputation as the “Queen of the surviving gold mine. Now a park’s Gold Country Museum
Northern Mines.” But the once- state park, the mine had features Native American arti-
thriving city faded into oblivion recovered almost six million facts, films, and other exhibits
after the Gold Rush subsided. ounces of gold when it closed on the discovery of gold.
It was resurrected as a tourist
destination a century later with
galleries, restaurants, and inns
re-creating Gold Rush themes.
The town boasts one of the
region’s most-photographed
façades in the Firehouse #1
Museum, with its dainty
balconies and white cupola. It
is now a local history museum.
Other historic buildings include
the Nevada Theater, a perfor-
mance venue since 1865, and
the National Hotel. One of
California’s oldest hotels, it first
opened in the mid-1850s. Reconstructed Sutter’s Mill, Marshall Gold Discovery State Park
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp710–12 and pp713–15

704-705_EW_USA.indd 704 11/2/16 2:50 PM
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.7)
Date 1st October 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm