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Local History - Nevada County, Grass Valley and Nevada City
The first residents to live in Nevada County were the Maidu Indians. They were a migratory tribe, traveling down to the Sacramento Valley and up to the High Sierras. They made beautiful baskets which held the acorns they used for food. The area was discovered in the 1840’s by settlers and prospectors who would often stop for a few days at Greenhorn Creek, near the present location of Nevada City. Their cattle would frequently stray and later be found about 3.5 miles west of their encampment in the “grassy valley.”
It is possible the earliest settlement in Nevada County was made in the summer of 1848 at a place called Rose's Corral which was located between the Anthony House and Bridgeport. In 1849, a group of immigrants from Boston settled by the side of Wolf Creek. When they built their cabins and a store; Boston Ravine was born. The main route through the area ran between Nevada City and Rough & Ready. The area that is now downtown Grass Valley and was about halfway between the two settlements, so in 1850, it came to be known as Centreville. Ultimately the three settlements became one town and adopted the name Grass Valley.
By 1851, thousands of people were living in the bustling town now known as Grass Valley and in the nearby town of Nevada, (later renamed Nevada City when Nevada became a state. In that same year Nevada County was organized by an act of the legislature in 1851. The Nevada County lines are said to have been drawn to resemble a gun pointing at Nevada because early residents were angry with the state of Nevada for copying their county's name. The Community of Rough and Ready actually seceded from the Union for about a month, because of a mining tax the government imposed.
Grass Valley's claim to historic fame is embedded in the vast amounts of gold discovered and extracted from its rich underground mines. In more than 100 years of mining, the mines of Grass Valley made it the richest of all California gold mining towns. The Empire (now a state park), Northstar, Pennsylvania, Idaho-Maryland and Brunswick mines became known around the world, attracting hardworking miners and would be millionaires. As the underground mines grew, skilled hard-rock miners from Cornwall and Ireland arrived. They settled into their new hometown of Grass Valley while mine owners and managers lived in nearby Nevada City. Over the next 100 years the mines extracted more than $400 million in gold, making Grass Valley California's most prosperous mining town. Unfortunately, gold mining declined in the 1950's and eventually all of the hard-rock mines were closed.
In 1985 the entire downtown area of Nevada City was registered as a national historic landmark. The historic district, including 93 buildings, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, eight individual buildings are listed on the register and the town also contains 18 state and local landmarks. There is even a plaque in the National Hotel parking lot which is dedicated to the ladies of the evening and their unique contributions to the Gold Rush. The plaque was placed by the fun-loving fraternity of E Clampus Vitus (locally known as the Clampers).
Today in Nevada County traces of the past can be found everywhere. A visit to Grass Valley will revive memories of the stories about Lola Montez, Lotta Crabtree, and John Rollin Ridge. Alonzo Delano (Old Block), relative of President Franklin Roosevelt, left his mark here. A former President, Herbert Hoover, once mined here. Interested tourists can still visit Grass Valley, Nevada City, The Empire Mine (recommended) and Rough & Ready (Republic for a month).
Also see: http://nevadacitylive.com/history.htm
Information for: Nevada City, Grass Valley, Alta Sierra, Rough & Ready, Penn Valley, Cedar Ridge, Peardale and Chicago Park, North San Juan, and all of Western Nevada County, featuring; Nevada County real estate, homes, land, lodging, dining, community resources, and history.