 Gold Country |  Malakoff Home |
The I.O.O.F. Hall dates from the early 1850’s and was originally two separate, one-story
buildings; a close look will reveal where the two butt together. Both stores were built of
dressed schist slabs set in lime mortar. Schist was plentiful in the area and proved to be an
excellent building material. Lime; however, was scarce and had to be shipped in from a quarry
near Sonora. This was an excellent method of construction, utilized by many of the Gold Rush era
buildings that still remain in the Southern Mines. The five large iron doors are set in perfectly
squared brick frames. The second story was added in 1924 and is reached by a covered outdoor
stairway.The east half of the lower story was built circa 1852 and housed Kent and Grant’s Mercantile.
The slightly smaller west half was built in 1854 for Michael Gilbert who operated a grocery
store. Both buildings survived the fire of 1863. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the Odd
Fellows original building and shortly after the fire they purchased Grant’s store for a meeting
hall. Gilbert’s store was obtained sometime during the 1880’s.
Gold Country | Malakoff Home |