Gold Country Museums

Gold Country Museums

AMADOR COUNTY Fiddletown Chew Kee Store Museum Main St., Fiddletown
The Chew Kee Museum appears much today as it did during the last century when Dr. Yee ran his herbal store in this structure. The shelves are lined with bottles and containers of potions, leaves, barks, weeds, flowers, herbs and the other items the doctor used to create his cures. The bedroom walls are covered with old newspapers used as wallpaper, dating back to the 1870's. The kitchen has its old stove and various other cooking utensils, and the store's counters are still intact. A very interesting look at a nineteenth century Chinese store.
Jackson
Amador County Museum 225 Church St., Jackson, CA 95642	209/223-6386
Housed in one of Jackson's oldest homes, built in 1859 by Armstead C. Brown, the museum offers some fifteen exhibit rooms, including Indians of North America, Quilts and Sewing, a Vintage School Room and others depicting the lifestyles of the early settlers. Scale models of the North Star Mine stamp mill, the Kennedy Mine Tailing Wheel No.2, and the Kennedy Mine headframe are also on display.
Plymouth
Shenandoah Valley Museum 14430 Shenandoah Rd., Plymouth, CA Mail: 12300 Steiner Rd, Plymouth, CA 95669	209/245-6554
A museum about early farm history and winemaking that is part of a California Historical Landmark. Housed in one of California's oldest wineries.
CALAVERAS COUNTY Angels Camp
Angels Camp Museum 753 South Main St. Angels Camp, CA 95222	209/736-2963
Many items of interest from the early days of Angels Camp are on display in and about the Angels Camp Museum. An old overshot water wheel is located on the museum grounds, as well as numerous other pieces of mining machinery. Another part of the complex is the Carriage Museum which houses an impressive display of historic carriages, photos, and mining equipment.
Murphys
Old-Timers Museum 470 Main St., Murphys, CA 95247	209/728-1160

San Andreas
Calaveras County Museum & Archives 30 North Main St., San Andreas, CA 95249	209/754-6513
The Calaveras County Museum complex includes a series of displays of pioneer nineteenth century life in the Mother Lode. Exhibits include the geology of the Gold Country, artifacts of the Miwok Indians, early mining items, photographs, and the jail cell where Black Bart was held to await trial for stagecoach robbery.
EL DORADO COUNTY Coloma
Gold Discovery Museum Visitor Center POBox 265 - 310 Back St., Coloma, CA 95613	916/622-3470
The museum offers information, exhibits, and artifacts relating to the gold discovery and the California Gold Rush. Located about the grounds are numerous mining exhibits containing examples of the different kinds of equipment used by the forty-niners.
Placerville
El Dorado County Historical Museum 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667	916/621-5865
Located on the El Dorado County Fairgrounds, the museum contains exhibits relating to life before the Gold Rush with the Miwok, Maidu, and the Washoe Indians, mining displays featuring items from the Gold Rush, a country store, buggies, buckboards, and an old Diamond & Caldor Shay steam engine used for hauling flat cars.

Fountain & Tallman Soda Factory Museum 524 Main St., Placerville, CA 95667	916/626-0773

MARIPOSA COUNTY Coulterville
Northern Mariposa County History Center Hwys 49 & 132 in Coulterville	209/878-3015

Mariposa
Mariposa County Museum & History Center POBox 606 - 12th & Jessie Sts., Mariposa, CA 95338	209/966-2924
In addition to the excellent museum, which includes original documents, artifacts and art work depicting the people and life in Mariposa County from the migration of its first inhabitants through the Indian and Spanish periods to the events of the Gold Rush, the museum grounds contain mining exhibits, an Indian Village, the old Mariposa Gazette Building, wagons, stages, and buggies from the old days.

California State Mining & Mineral Museum Mariposa County Fairgrounds, Hwy 49 POBox 1192, Mariposa, CA 95338	209/742-7625
Exhibits include the fabulous collection of gems, minerals and rocks assembled by the California State Department of Conservation, an authentic replica of a gold mining tunnel, a reproduction of a mining assay office and a working model of a stamp mill.

NEVADA COUNTY Grass Valley
Northstar Mining Museum Allison Ranch Rd., Grass Valley, CA 95945	916/273-4255
Designated Historic Landmark #843, the Northstar Mining Museum houses a large display of mining equipment and artifacts from the 1880's, such as a cornish pump, a stamp mill and the world's largest Pelton Wheel, built by A.D. Foote in 1895.

Grass Valley Museum Old Mt. St. Mary's Academy 410 S Church St. Grass Valley, CA 95945	916/272-4407 916/272-4725

Nevada City
Firehouse Museum No. 1 214 Main St., Nevada City, CA 95959	916/265-5468
Searls Historical Library 214 Church St., Nevada City, CA 95959	916/265-5910

North Bloomfield
North Bloomfield Museum Located in Cummins Hall Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park, 23579 N. Blomfield Rd., Nevada City, CA 95959	916/265-2740
Sharing one of the historic buildings in North Bloomfield with the Ranger's office, the museum offers a look at the history of hydraulic mining in the region through displays and a video presentation. In addition, many historic artifacts, documents, and photos from North Bloomfield's mining days are on display.

PLACER COUNTY Auburn
Bernhard Museum Complex 291 Auburn-Folsom Rd, Auburn, CA 95603	916/889-4156
The complex includes the Bernhard Residence, built in 1851, a stone Winery building circa 1874, a Wine Processing building circa 1881, and a reconstructed Carriage Barn. Tours of the residence reflect the typical life of a nineteenth century farm family.

Placer County Museum 101 Maple St., Auburn, CA 95603	916/889-6500
Located on the first floor of the Placer County Courthouse, museum highlights include a holographic image of an early miner, a restored Sheriff's Office, and a Native American habitat complete with a light and sound presentation.

Gold Country Museum 1273 High St. Gold Country Fairgrounds	916/889-4134
The Gold Country Museum features exhibits on the Gold Rush and the history of gold mining.

Dutch Flat
Golden Drift Museum 32820 Main St. Dutch Flat, CA 96714	916/389-2126
Exhibits focus primarily on the region's rich heritage concerning the boom days of hydraulic mining, the rise of the county's timber industry, and the birth of the transcontinental railroad.

Foresthill
Forest Hill Divide Museum 24601 Harrison St., Foresthill, CA 95631	916/367-3988
The Forest Hill Divide Museum is located a few miles east of Auburn, in an area rich in mining history. Early mining camps in the area had such colorful names as Deadwood, Bath, and Last Chance. The museum features exhibits on mining and on the history of the area.

SIERRA COUNTY
A four-page brochure on the Historical Museums of Sierra County may be obtained by calling the Sierra County Chamber of Commerce at: (800) 200-4949 Alleghany
Alleghany Mining Museum POBox 907, Alleghany, CA 96910	916/287-3330
Located in the old Alleghany Supply Company building, the Alleghany Mining Museum offers visitors the unique opportunity to actually explore a working underground gold mine, the famous Original Sixteen to One Mine. Still under development, the museum is working on a 3-D scale model of the mine, along with other mining related exhibits.

Downieville
Downieville Museum POBox 484 Downieville, CA 95936
Located in a historic Gold Rush building, the Downieville Museum contains a number of informative collections that depict life in this area from the Gold Rush days to the present. Mining tools, Indian artifacts, household articles, and lodge regalia are all well represented.

Forest City
Forest City Historical Association Museum Located in the Dance Hall Forest City, CA	916/287-3413
The museum contains artifacts from the barber shop, saloon and billiard hall that once occupied the first floor of the historic Dance Hall. Also on display are mining implements, a Pelton wheel, gold scales, and other items from the everyday life of a 19th-century mining camp.

Loyalton
Loyalton Museum Loyalton Community Hall Loyalton, CA	916/993-6754
Among the displays in this small museum are 19th-Century clothing and housewares, wooden skis, handmade farm implements, Indian artifacts, and a logging steam engine.

Sierra City
Sierra County Historical Park & Museum POBox 260, Sierra City, CA 96125 Hwy 49, 1 mile east of Sierra City	916/862-1310
Located on the site of the Kentucky Mine, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Sierra County Historical Park includes an excellent museum featuring documents, photographs, and artifacts concerning the life and times of early day Sierra County. The grounds include a working stamp mill, mine tunnel, blacksmith shop and trestle from the mine to the stamp mill.

STANISLAUS COUNTY Knights Ferry
Knights Ferry Visitor Center Near the Covered Bridge, Knights Ferry

TUOLUMNE COUNTY Columbia
William Cavalier Museum Main St., Columbia, CA
Located in the old Knapp brick store, the Cavalier museum hold an interesting array of items from Columbia's past. Mineral specimens, photos, books, lithographs, coins, tokens, guns and many other relics from the mining days are carefully displayed for visitors to enjoy.

Sonora
Tuolumne County Museum & History Center POBox 299, 158 West Bradford Ave., Sonora, CA 95370	209/532-1317
Exhibits include the Tuolumne County Gold Collection, an extensive collection of vintage firearms and paraphernalia, photos and artifacts from the early days of Tuolumne County. Books on local history and limited edition reprints of old lithographs are available for purchase.