This area of California has towns started during the gold rush which started in 1849 and is dotted with many abadon gold mines. As a matter of fact the famed Sutters Mill, which started the rush, is 8 miles north Placerville.The Museum, which is next to the county fair grounds, has many artifacts from this California County from the Native America baskets to covered wagon Studabarkers, gold mining equipment and old county stores. Very well presented with the long ago life in the county and the various eras which makes this area very interesting.
Afterwards I drove north on Bedford Ave to the former gold mine of Gold Bug Mine. There is a self guided tour of the mine with audio device which tells you of the various aspect of the mine at different location along the 352 feet long mine or drift. The give you a helmut as the low ceiling would allow you to hit your head on the sharp rocks.
The audio device played at 13 stations along the mine explaining how the mine was made, how the gold ore was removed and the geology of the mountain. Lots of dripping water inside the mine and nice an cool.
Part of the mine tour was also a visit to The Stamp Mill where an old Joshua Hendy Stamp Mill was perserved in its original location. Funny thing is I use to work at Northrup Grumman in Sunnyvale, the original site of the Joshua Hendy Ironworks, even worked in the original building. What a small world. The mill was used to crush the gold ore in a continuous manner using a cam and muliple piston crusher. In the Mill there is a working scale model of the Stamp Mill. The docent turned the model on and it was very noisy, can't image what the sound was like when the full scale mill was working. Docent said that the people of Placerville can hear it even at night, that if the mill broke, the silence would wake the folks up. The Cornwall Mineral Collection with specimens from all over the world is on display in the building.
Had a great time seeing the history of this part of America and California, a very nice day to learn this history.
More photos can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=62622&id=1507778102&l=424f10f53d
Going into the mine
The Stamp Mill
Working Scale Model of a Stamp Mill
Entrance to the Museum
Inside the Museum
The original Stamp Mill
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