Nesbitt and Company, Printer, circa 1850. Image above: Sailing card for the Clipper ship California, heading for the California Gold Rush, G.F. By 1945, the state legislature would agree. After the turn of the century, Columbia was mentioned as a possible inclusion into the state park system, even getting Frederick Law Olmstead to speak on its behalf in 1928. By 1860, the population had dwindled from six thousand to five hundred. It included eight hotels, four banks, and three churches. By 1852, there were one hundred and fifty structures in town. But that did little to deter the miners who came in droves. It was a difficult place to mine, with little water available, eventually needing a sixty mile aqueduct to be built by 1858. Within weeks, several thousand miners had come to Hildreth's Diggings, later known as American Camp, even later as Columbia. Thaddeus and George Hildreth, set camp and found gold. Yosemite is seventy-nine miles southwest. For those on a gold rush tour, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, Sutter's Mill, is located eighty-two miles north off Highway 49 as well. So what else is there to do near Columbia State Park? Well, just to your west are the thousands of acres of Stanislaus National Forest. Gold Rush Days are held every second Saturday afternoon. Town tours are year round on weekends and daily from June 15 to Labor Day. Interpretation and programs are run by the Friends of Columbia State Park. Columbia Museum is usually open from 10:00 a.m. Most businesses there are open from 10:00 a.m. Quartz Mountain Stage Coach Ride - $7 Adults (13+), Youth/Seniors $6, 2 and under, Free.
#CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH TOWN FREE#
Also there's a gold mining tour at the Hidden Treasure Gold Mine.Ĭolumbia State Park - Free to enter. Other Businesses - Saloons galore, blacksmith shops, and places to shop for other items. Hotels - There are two vintage Victorian era hotels in the park, which you can stay at, the City Hotel and the Fallon Hotel. Stage Coach Rides - Take a ride on the Quartz Mountain Stage Line.įallon Theater - Opened in 1860, the Sierra Repertory Theatre currently puts on a variety of shows for you to watch there. From Stockton, it's sixty-six miles east.Ĭolumbia State Park Museum (Knapp Building) - Learn the history of the town and mines that made them prosperous. From Sacramento, it's ninety-two miles southeast. Street address is 11255 Jackson Street, Columbia, CA, 95310. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons.Ĭolumbia State Park is located three miles north of Sonora, California off Route 49. Photo above: Main street of Columbia State Park, 2007. There's two hundred and seventy-three acres to explore with no auto traffic allowed on the park streets, original structures from one hundred and fifty years ago, and plenty of places to eat, even picnic areas if you've brought your own.Īnd the folks here, proprietors and interpreters, really take the 1850's seriously. Today, over five hundred thousand people visit Columbia State Park each year, well beyond the attendance of many National Park historic sites, yet it's not well known outside the central California area. It was known as the Gem of the Southern Mines with a quartz bearing gold area one mile wide. And unlike many gold rush towns that just went away when the gold dried up, Columbia has always been inhabited. Over a billion dollars worth of gold was taken from these mines between 18.
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