Big Bar (Amador County, California)

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Big Bar
Mokelumne River 0001.jpg
Big Bar gold mines were on the Mokelumne River
Location Big Bar Road, Amador County, Jackson, California
Coordinates 38°18′43″N120°43′12″W / 38.311860°N 120.719930°W / 38.311860; -120.719930
Reference no.41
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Location of Big Bar in California
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Big Bar (Amador County, California) (the United States)
Panning for gold on the Mokelumne River Panning on the Mokelumne.jpg
Panning for gold on the Mokelumne River

The Big Bar, also called Upper Bar, is a gold mine in Jackson, California, United States. The mine opened in 1848 along the Mokelumne River and is registered as California Historical Landmark #41. [1] [2] [3]

The jackpot mine sprung up a town quickly for the prospectors and those who served them. An old inn is all that remains of the town. A Whaleboat ferry ran across the river from 1848 until 1852 when a new bridge was built by Soher & Parrish. A newer bridge is at the spot of the original bridge. In 1856, Dr. L. Soher opened a toll road, now called the Old Toll Road, from the city of Mokelumne Hill to the bridge. A 1862 flood washed away the Soher' bridge, so he opened a new ferry, till a new bridge was built. North of the site is the city of Butte City, Butte Store is a California Historical Landmark No. 39. The Big Bar site today is the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Big Bar Launch Facility, on the Mokelumne River Whitewater Trail. While the Historical listing is in Amador County, the Big Bar site is also in Calaveras County across the river. [4] [5]

See also

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Amador County is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the Sierra Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,474. The county seat is Jackson. Amador County, located within California's Gold Country, is known as "The Heart of the Mother Lode". There is a substantial viticultural industry in the county.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson, California</span> City in California, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mokelumne Hill, California</span> Census designated place in California, United States

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The Electra Fire was a wildfire that burned northeast of Mokelumne Hill in Amador and Calaveras Counties, California that started on July 4, 2022. The wildfire burned a total of 4,478 acres (1,812 ha) and was fully contained on July 28, 2022.

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The Plymouth Trading Post is a brick building in Plymouth, California in Amador County, United States. The brick building was built in 1857 by hand by Joe Williams in 1857, to be his Trading Post. The Trading Post closed and the building became the headquarters of Plymouth Consolidated Mine in 1873. Plymouth Consolidated Mine was formed when a number of small mines combined. The building was the Plymouth Consolidated Mine main office and its commissary. Plymouth Trading Post is registered as California Historical Landmark #41, starting August 30, 1950. The Trading Post served the town and nearby Plymouth Mine. The building survived the 1877 that burned down much of the town. The brick walls foundations are 30 inches thick. The floor support beams are 12x12 inches of wood. Joe Williams "dug" the basement with dynamite to remove the shale rock below the building. There were hitching posts ring on the side of the building. Plymouth Consolidated Mine's Pacific shaft, was the deepest hard rock shaft at 4,450 feet by 1925 working the Plymouth gold vain. The main haul of gold was between 1883 and 1889, when it operated 160 stamps that crushed 400 tons of quartz ore a day. The Plymouth Consolidated Mine mined over $13,500,000 dollars of gold and closed in 1947. Some of the mines that Consolidated in 1883 were: Plymouth, Empire, and Amador Pacific mining companies. The mines were all located in the northern part of Mother Lode Gold Belt of the Sierra Nevada foothills at an elevation of 332 feet. After consolidation, the company had 126.3 acres of land that included: the Plymouth, Southerland, Oaks, Pacific, Simpson, Aden, Reese, Phoenix East claims, the Phoenix mill site, and interests in the Reese and Woolford, Indiana, Rising Star, Conville, and Beta claims. The first gold in the area was found in 1852. The Plymouth Consolidated Mine was idle from 1892 to 1911.

References

  1. "Big Bar". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  2. "Big Bar (No. 41 California Historical Landmark) | Sierra Nevada Geotourism". sierranevadageotourism.org.
  3. "Big Bar". Calaveras Heritage Council.
  4. Big Bar Launch Facility ca.gov
  5. "Big Bar Whitewater Launch area now open below the Highway 49 bridge over Mokelumne River". tspntv.com.