Tucked away in the Eastern Sierras of California, Bodie is a gold-mining ghost town preserved in a state of arrested decay. Yet, in its hey day, Bodie hosted one of the richest gold strikes in California with a peak population of nearly 10,000 people. Gold and silver extracted from the Bodie Hills totaled in the millions.
At the southern tip of the Great Smoky Mountains is a rich copper deposit with a history of conflict and innovation to out-do that of the Malakoff Diggins. The Burra Burra Copper mine and its contemporaries are commemorated in the Ducktown Basin Museum.
In a quiet corner of the Smithsonian American History Museum, in a small case in the shipping transportation section, next to a few coins from the 1800s, is a small fleck of gold under a magnifying glass. One would have expected any gold samples to be part of the extensive gold collection held by the Smithsonian…
Placer county is one of many local governments in the California foothills that was born out of the mass population influx and wealth of the California Gold Rush. The land that became Auburn, within Placer County, was first settled in May 1848 and became a transportation hub for neighboring gold mining operations. Even today, there are over…
The red and gold leaves still cling to the trees around Empire Mine as Cornish carolers serenade swarming crowds for “Holidays at Empire Mine.” From 11AM to 4PM on November 29th and 30th, the mine grounds outside of Grass Valley are open and engaging with period costumes, live music, and food vendors. Costumed maids distribute cookies…
