No one knows when gold was first discovered in California. For the native Americans there were more important needs: food, water and shelter. The first Europeans who arrived also felt there were more important matters to deal with. It was 1848 when James Marshall made the discovery resulting in the California Gold Rush.
The town of Columbia, California was founded in 1850 and quickly became a major boom town. It was known as the “Gem of the Southern Mines.”
The town’s old Gold Rush-era business district has been preserved with shops, restaurants and two hotels.
Our first stop was the bakery where they make every single item from scratch, on the premises. The bakery also provides the baked goods for the Columbia Kate’s Teahouse.
The Columbia Museum is a good place to start. A small but interesting collection of artifacts of the Gold Rush days.
Many people that visit California are surprised to learn of the long history of the Chinese in this state. They (along with the many other immigrants) were irreplaceable in their role in building this country. Columbia is a good reminder of that.
From the display of artifacts:
Most of the Chinese who arrived in California were from the southern province of Guangdong (Canton) and worked for one of the Chinese 6 Companies, (officially known as the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association) which paid for their passage to California. Most of them were men and worked as placer miners with rockers, long toms (Hydraulic mining) or in the river dams. They were relegated to inferior mining areas, often reworking areas abandoned by American or European miners. They lived with few comforts on a limited diet of rice, dried fish and tea. Pork and chicken were considered luxuries. Their clothing was blue cotton shirts and trousers, similar to those worn in China.
In Columbia, the rules of the mining district did not allow Chinese miners to own claims. They did however own and operate many businesses. Some of those businesses included a Chinese boarding house, 4 mercantile houses, a Joss House, a barber shop, a theater and a gambling house. The most significant store was that of Ling Sing and Company, part of which still stands today north of the St Charles saloon. It is the only building left to remind us of the big part the Chinese played in California and Columbia’s history.
There are many different stores to explore along the Main Street. One of our favorites was the Columbia Candy Kitchen. A lot of the candy is made next door in their small candy factory/kitchen.
By 1852, there were 8 hotels, 4 banks, 17 general stores, 2 firehouses, 2 bookstores, 1 newspaper, 3 churches, and over 40 drinking/gambling establishments. And that’s why it was called the “Wild West”!!! These days, there is only one establishment in town that sells hard alcohol. The What Cheer Saloon!
There are quite a few activities you can take part in while visiting Columbia. Have you ever tried Frontier style bowling??? Wooden lanes, wooden pins, a self service ball return and bowling balls that resemble cannon balls. No holes for fingers and thumb. I recorded video using my new Insta360 OneX, check it out! We’re bowling!
There is also the opportunity to ride the Stage Coach pictured at the top! $8 to ride in the coach, $12 to ride Shotgun (sitting up top, next to the driver!), that’s where I’m sitting!!!
You can pan for Gold at the end of town! Using the same techniques the miners did! Will YOU strike it rich??? You already have, the experience this town provides is so authentic and relaxed, like visiting any other small town in the mountains. This one is “History comes alive!”.
And if your wondering about Accessibility, these buildings are historic so some of them may have a step and interiors are not the widest. ALL of the outdoor areas are accessible as you can see from this beautiful wheelchair accessible walk way down to the area where you can pan for gold.
I hope you enjoyed this little virtual tour of a fun bit of California’s history!! Columbia is just one of many small towns in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains. I’ll be introducing you to some of my favorites in this series…
Here are a couple of random photos that I found interesting…
Thinking about visiting Northern California? Follow my list on Maps: Gold Rush Columbia, Ca