North Columbia

Placer mining began here during the early days of the Gold Rush, Which resulted in a number of miners moving into the area to work the gravels of an ancient river channel. The Tisdale brothers are reported among the early miners, working the area as early as 1853. The camp which grew up here was originally named Columbia, after nearby Columbia Hill; the “North” was added to distinguish it from Columbia in Tuolumne County when the post office was established on May 29 of 1860. Even with the name change, the place was still referred to as Columbia Hill, or “The Hill” for many years.
When the miners found that they had built their camp right on top of some of the richest diggings of the channel, the town was moved to its present location. This enabled hydraulic operations to commence working the gravels, which they did on a large scale from the middle 1850’s until the practice was outlawed in 1884. There was also considerable lode mining in the area, the most prominent being the Delhi Mine which yielded approximately $1 million in gold from the 1860’s thought the 1890’s. The district was later placer mined on a small scale by Chinese miners, from around 1890 to the early 1900’s. The total output of the placers in this area are estimated at $3 million.

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