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MAIDEN'S GRAVE - It is said that in 1850 a young
girl, Rachel Melton, native of was accompanying her parents on a
journey West via covered wagon train when she became violently ill.
Camp was made and every effort was made to cure her, as she was the
joy of the party, but she passed away and was buried on this spot.
Location: On State Hwy 88 (P.M. 61.3), 10.5 mi W of Kirkwood
VOLCANO - The spot was discovered in 1848 by Colonel
Stevenson's men, who mined Soldiers Gulch in 1849. By 1853 the flats
and gulches swarmed with men who named them picturesquely. Hydraulic
operations, begun in 1855, brought thousands of fortune seekers to
form a town of 17 hotels, a library, a theater, and courts of quick
justice. During the Civil War, Volcano's gold served the Union - Volcano Blues smuggled the cannon 'Old Abe' in
by hearse to quell rebels.
Location: Intersection of Main and Consolation Sts, Volcano
LANCHA PLANA - Lancha Plana (Flat Boat) was well settled by
1850 due to the hydraulic mining operations in the extensive gravel
beds along the Mokelumne River. The Amador Dispatch newspaper was born here in 1856. Poverty Bar,Camp Opra, Copper Center,
and Put's Bar were 'suburbs' of the larger town.
Location: North shore of Camanche Reservoir, 1 mi W of County Line
Bridge on Lancha Plana Buena Vista Rd, 6.0 mi S of Buena Vista
DRYTOWN - Founded in 1848, this is the oldest town and first in which gold was discovered in Amador County. Its venerable town hall and
other picturesque structures remain. The town was not 'dry,' as the
name implies-it once contained 26 saloons.
Location: On State Hwy 49 (P.M. 13. 7), 0.2 mi N of Drytown
PIONEER HALL - The Order of Native Daughters of the Golden
West was organized on these premises, the site of the Pioneer Hall,
on September 11, 1886.
Location: 113 Main St, Jackson
OLETA (OLD FIDDLETOWN) - Settled by Missourians in 1849,
Fiddletown was a trading center for American, Loafer, and French
Flats, Lone Hill, and other rich mining camps. Called Fiddletown
because residents "were always fiddling," the settlement became
Oleta in 1878 but the original name was later restored. Bret Harte
added to the community's fame in An Episode of Fiddletown.
Location: South side of street from Dr. Yee's Chinese Herb Shop,
Fiddletown
MIDDLE BAR - Site of gold rush town on the Mokelumne River,
now inundated by Pardee Reservoir at certain times of the year.
Location: 2.8 mi S of State Hwy 49 (P.M. 2.5) on Middle Bar Rd at
Mokelumne River, 4.5 mi S of Jackson
CLINTON - Clinton was the center of a placer mining
community during the 1850s and of quartz mining as late as the
1880s. This town once decided Amador County elections as its votes were always counted last.
Location: Intersection of E Clinton
and Clinton Rd, 1.0 mi SE of State Hwy 88, 3.2 mi SW of Pine Grove
IRISHTOWN - This was an important stopping place for
emigrants on their way to the southern mines. The first white settlers on this spot found it a 'city of wigwams,' and hundreds of
mortars in the rocks testify that this was a favorite Indian camping
ground.
Location: On State Hwy 88 (P.M. 20.8) at Pine Grove Wieland Rd, 2.2 mi SW of Pine Grove
BUTTE STORE - This is the only
structure remaining of Butte City, prosperous mining town of the 1850s. As early as 1854 Xavier Benoist was conducting a
store and bakery in this building. Later Ginocchio had a merchandise business here.
Location: On State Hwy 49 (P.M. 1.4), 2.6 mi S of Jackson
KIRKWOOD - Resort, stage station, and post office were originally built by Zack
Kirkwood in 1864. When Alpine County was formed from Amador County, the division left the barn and milkhouse in Alpine, while the Alpine-El Dorado line
went directly through the barroom of the inn.
Location: On State Hwy88 (P.M. 71.8), Kirkwood
BIG BAR - The Mokelumne River was mined at this
point in 1848. Established in 1849, the Whale Boat Ferry operated
until the first bridge was built, about 1852.
Location: On State Hwy 49 (P.M. 0.0) at county line, 4.0 mi S of
Jackson
JACKSON GATE - Jackson Gate,
on the north fork of Jackson Creek, takes its name from
a fissure in a reef of rock that crosses the creek. In 1850 about
500 miners worked here and the first mining ditch in the county was
dug here - its water sold for $1 per inch.
Location: On N Main St,
1.3 mi NE of Jackson
SUTTER
CREEK - This town was named after John A. Sutter, who came to the
region in 1846, and was the first to mine the locality in 1848.
There was little activity at Sutter Creek until 1851, when quartz
gold was discovered. In 1932 the Central Eureka mine, discovered in 1869, had reached the
2,300-foot level. By 1939, it was the best-paying mine at Sutter
Creek.
Location: Veteran's Memorial Hall, Main and Badger Sts, Sutter Creek
PLYMOUTH TRADING POST - This building, constructed entirely of brick, was built by
Joe Williams in 1857. In 1873 the many small mines of the area were
combined to become Plymouth Consolidated, and this building became
the new company's office and commissary.
Location: On Main St,
between Mill and Mineral Sts, next to Wells Fargo Bank, Plymouth
THE COMMUNITYMETHODIST CHURCH OF IONE - The cornerstone was laid in 1862 and the church,
constructed of locally fired brick, was completed in 1866. Dedicated
as the Ione City Centenary Church and later popularly known as the Cathedral of the Mother Lode, this
church was the first to serve the people in the area.
Location: 150 W Marlette, Ione Listed on the National Register of
Historic Places: NPS-77000287
OLD EMIGRANT ROAD - Here
the Old Emigrant Road began a long loop around the Silver Lake basin, reaching an
elevation of 9,640 feet at one place. This difficult portion of the
road was used by thousands of vehicles from 1848 to 1863, when it
was superseded by a route approximating the present highway.
Location: On State Hwy 88 (P.M. 63.1) at Mud
Lake Rd, 8. 7 mi W of Kirkwood
SITE OF FIRST AMATEUR ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY OF RECORD IN CALIFORNIA - On the knoll behind this marker George
Madeira built the first amateur astronomical observatory of record in California. It was there
that he discovered the Great Comet of 1861 with a three-inch
refractor telescope.
Location: Volcano
AGOSTINI WINERY - D'Agostini Winery was started
in 1856 by Adam Uhlinger, a Swiss immigrant. The original wine
cellar, with walls made from rock quarried from nearby hills,
hand-hewn beams, and oak casks, is part of the present winery - some
of its original vines are still in production.
Location: On Plymouth-Shenandoah Rd, 7.2 mi NE of
Plymouth
ARGONAUT AND KENNEDY MINES - Argonaut Mine, discovered 1850,
and Kennedy Mine, discovered 1856, played dramatic roles in the
economic development of California, producing $105,268,760 in gold.
Kennedy Mine has a vertical shaft of 5,912 feet, the deepest in the United States. The Argonaut was the
scene of the Mother Lode's most tragic mine disaster-on August 27,
1922, 48 miners were trapped in a fire at the 3,500-foot level - few
survived. Both mines closed in 1942.
Location: W roadside rest, State Hwy 49 (P.M. 5.6), 1.6 mi N of Jackson
D. STEWART CO. STORE - This general merchandise store built
by Daniel Stewart in 1856 was the first building erected in lone
Valley from nearby Muletown brick. Once known as 'Bed-Bug' and
'Freeze Out,' Ione was an important supply center on the main road
to the Mother Lode and Southern Mines.
Location: 18 E Main St, lone
SITE OF JACKSON'S PIONEER JEWISH SYNAGOGUE - On September 18, 1857, Congregation B'nai
Israel of Jackson dedicated on this site the first synagogue in the
Mother Lode. High holy day worship continued until 1869 when the
larger Masonic Hall was used to accommodate the congregation. The
wooden structure then served as a schoolhouse until 1888. Relocated
onto a nearby lot, it became a private dwelling, and was razed in
1948.
Location: SE corner of Church and Main Sts, Jackson
PRESTON CASTLE - The 'Castle,' built in 1890-1894, is the most significant example of
Romanesque Revival architecture in the Mother Lode. It was built to
house the Preston School of Industry, established by the State
Legislature as a progressive action toward rehabilitating, rather
than simply imprisoning, juvenile offenders. Doors of the 120-room
'Castle' closed in 1960 after new facilities were completed.
Location: School of Industry, Waterman Rd - plaque
located 0.9 miles N of site on State Hwy 104 (P.M. 4.3), 1 mi N of
lone
Listed on the National Register of Historic
Places: NPS-75000422
CALIFORNIA NATIVE AMERICAN CEREMONIAL ROUNDHOUSES
(THEMATIC), CHAW SE' ROUNDHOUSE - In a village, the roundhouse
served as the center of ceremonial and social life. Constructed in
1974, the Chaw se' roundhouse continues this tradition. With its
door facing the east, towards the rising sun, four large oaks are
the focal point of this sixty-foot-in-diameter structure. Today
ceremonial roundhouses are the most significant architectural
manifestation of the continuing Mistook spiritual heritage.
Location: Chaw Se Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park., 14881
Pine Grove/Volcano Rd, Pine Grove
KNIGHT FOUNDRY - Knight Foundry was established in 1873 to
supply heavy equipment and repair facilities to the gold mines and
timber industry of the Mother Lode. Samuel N. Knight developed a
high speed, cast iron water wheel which was a forerunner of the
Pelton Wheel design. Knight Wheels were used in some of the first
hydroelectric plants in California, Utah, and Oregon. This site is the last water powered
foundry and machine shop in California. A 42-inch Knight Wheel drives
the main line shaft, with smaller water motors powering other
machines.
Location: 81 Eureka St, Sutter Creek
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places: NPS-75000423