| South Yuba Canal Office | |
|---|---|
 The former South Yuba Canal Office in 2020 | |
| Location | 134 Main Street Nevada City, California, USA |
| Built | 1855 [1] |
| Governing body | Nevada City Chamber of Commerce |
| Designated | May 16, 1970 |
| Reference no. | 832 |
The South Yuba Canal Office was the headquarters for the largest network of water flumes and ditches in California. [2] It is located at 134 Main Street, Nevada City, California, USA.
Built in 1855, it was originally known as the Potter Building. A two-story brick structure, [3] it was fitted with iron doors and shutters, plus a filigree balcony railing. [4]
The space was first used as a drug store. From 1857 to 1880, it functioned as the South Yuba Canal Office. [5] The Nevada City Chamber of Commerce is the building's current occupant. [6] It is the oldest business building in Nevada City. [7]
The South Yuba Canal Water Company that was run from this office was the first incorporated to supply water for hydraulic mining. Originally named in 1854 as the Rock Creek, Deer Creek, and South Yuba Canal Company as a consolidation of three rival ditch companies, [4] the name was shortened in 1870 to the South Yuba Canal Company. [6] Charles Marsh was the chief engineer and, it seems, one of the principals of the Rock Creek, Deer Creek, and South Yuba Canal Company (and was known as the "Father of Ditches"). The company built and operated flumes, reservoirs, and water ditches that carried water to connecting water systems that supplied hundreds of hydraulic mines in the area. In 1882, the company built a dam at Lake Fordyce to trap snowmelt and runoff for release in the dry season. [8] The company later entered the utility business, and in 1905, [8] its holdings went on to become a part of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company's hydroelectric system. [4] [9]
The company's original ditch was put into use in 1850. The South Yuba Canal is now part of the public lands of the Tahoe National Forest. [10] The South Yuba Canal System is used for delivering domestic and agricultural water to Nevada City and its neighbor Grass Valley. The water also generates electricity in Northern California. It is approximately 18 mi (29 km) in length. Crossing private and National Forest lands, the canal is bordered by conifers and hardwoods. [10]
The building is honored as the California Historical Landmark No. 832. The plaque's inscription reads: [5]
SOUTH YUBA CANAL OFFICE
Headquarters for the largest network of water flumes and ditches in the state. The South Yuba Canal Water Company was the first incorporated to supply water for hydraulic mining. The original ditch was in use in May 1850, and this company office was in use from 1857 to 1880. The holdings later became part of the vast PG&E hydroelectric system...California Registered Historical Landmark No. 832..Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission and the California Heritage Council, May 16, 1970.
The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about 73 miles (117 km) long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over 210 miles (340 km). The main stem Feather River begins in Lake Oroville, where its four long tributary forks join—the South Fork, Middle Fork, North Fork, and West Branch Feather Rivers. These and other tributaries drain part of the northern Sierra Nevada, and the extreme southern Cascades, as well as a small portion of the Sacramento Valley. The total drainage basin is about 6,200 square miles (16,000 km2), with approximately 3,604 square miles (9,330 km2) above Lake Oroville.
The Yuba River is a tributary of the Feather River in the Sierra Nevada and eastern Sacramento Valley, in the U.S. state of California. The main stem of the river is about 40 miles (64 km) long, and its headwaters are split into three major forks. The Yuba River proper is formed at the North Yuba and Middle Yuba rivers' confluence, with the South Yuba joining a short distance downstream. Measured to the head of the North Yuba River, the Yuba River is just over 100 miles (160 km) long.
You Bet is a small unincorporated community in Nevada County, California. You Bet is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills, 7 miles (11.3 km) east of Grass Valley and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) northeast of Chicago Park.
French Corral is an unincorporated community approximately five miles west of California State Highway 49 in Nevada County, California, United States.
The Bear River is a tributary of the Feather River in the Sierra Nevada, winding through four California counties: Yuba, Sutter, Placer, and Nevada. About 73 miles (117 km) long, the river flows generally southwest through the Sierra then west through the Central Valley, draining a narrow, rugged watershed of 295 square miles (760 km2).
Timbuctoo is an unincorporated community in Yuba County, California. It lies northwest of Smartsville, at an elevation of 397 feet.
Graniteville is a small, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in Nevada County, California, United States. The town sits on the San Juan ridge separating the Middle and South Forks of the Yuba River, approximately 26 miles (42 km) northeast of Nevada City. The elevation of Graniteville is 4,977 feet (1,517 m) above sea level. As of the 2010 census, Graniteville had a population of 11.
The North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company of North Bloomfield, California, was established in 1866 and operated a hydraulic gold-mining operation at the Malakoff Mine subsequent to the California Gold Rush. In its day, no other company's operations matched North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company in size or expense. The company operated until 1910. In the years prior, its profits and procedures had been reduced due to the landmark ruling of Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company.
Moore's Flat was a historic mining town located on the San Juan Ridge about 19 miles northeast of Nevada City, California and about 5 miles northeast of North Bloomfield, California. The town was about 1 mile south of the Middle Yuba at an elevation of about 4200 ft. On either side of it, lay the mining towns of Orleans Flat and Woolsey's Flat, each about I mile apart. All three were settled around 1851 and their histories frequently intertwine. Collectively, they are sometimes referred to as "The Flats." All three were part of Eureka Township.
Woolsey Flat or Woolsey's Flat was a historic mining town located on the San Juan Ridge, located about 17 miles northeast of Nevada City and about 3 miles northeast of North Bloomfield. The town was about 1 mile south of the Middle Yuba at an elevation of about 4200 ft. To the east lay the mining towns of Moore's Flat and Orleans Flat, each about I mile apart. All three were settled in 1851 and their histories frequently intertwine. Collectively, they are sometimes referred to as "The Flats. All three were part of Eureka Township.
Alpha was a gold mining town in Nevada County, located about 2 miles southeast of the town of Washington, California and about 15 miles northeast of Nevada City, California. It lay at an elevation of 4120 feet, about 2 miles below the South Yuba River and just west of Scotchman Creek.
Blue Tent is a historic 19th century gold mining community located about six miles northeast of Nevada City, California.
Little York is the name of one of the first gold mining towns established in Nevada County, California as well as the name of the township in which it was situated. The town was located on the Lowell Ridge between Steephollow Creek and the Bear River, about 13 miles east of Nevada City, California and about 1 mile southwest of Dutch Flat, California at an elevation of about 2800 feet.
Red Dog was a California gold rush mining town located in the Gold Country in south-central Nevada County, California, United States, 6 mi (9.7 km) northeast of Chicago Park. Red Dog Hill, a mine and campsite, was founded by three men all under the age of 22, and was named by their youngest, a 15-year-old prospector. As mining operations grew, the campsite became a settlement, and then a town with a population of 2,000 residents, before it was eventually abandoned. Still considered important today, Red Dog Townsite is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Mooney Flat was an important mining and transportation hub in western Nevada County, California, just east of the Yuba County line. It was situated on modern Mooney Flat Road, about 1 mile north of modern Highway 20, at an elevation of about 800 ft.
Sebastopol was a historic mining community located on the San Juan Ridge, about 13 miles north of Nevada City. It lay midway between Sweetland and North San Juan, around the intersection of modern Sweetland and School Roads, at an elevation of about 2000 feet.
The Nevada City Downtown Historic District is a 16-acre (6.5 ha) historic district in Nevada City within the U.S. state of California. Located in Nevada County, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It dates from 1917, with examples of Moderne and Italianate architecture. The period of significance is 1856–1917. The historic district covers the downtown section roughly bounded by Spring, Bridge, Commercial, York, Washington, Coyote, and Main Streets. It includes 70 contributing buildings including the National Hotel, which is separately listed on the National Register. Several historical buildings have received California Historical Landmark status, and have been preserved.
The Independence Trail is located approximately 7 miles from downtown Nevada City within the South Yuba River State Park in the Sierra Nevada foothills within Nevada County, in Northern California. The trail is the former Excelsior Ditch, which was found and repaired by John Olmsted and a large group of local volunteers. It is notable for being the first ADA approved wheelchair nature trail. It topped the list of "favorite trails for 2013" in The Sacramento Bee newspaper.
The Yuba–Bear Hydroelectric Project is a complex hydroelectric scheme in the northern Sierra Nevada in California, tapping the upper Yuba River and Bear River drainage basins. The project area encompasses approximately 400 square miles (1,000 km2) in Nevada, Placer, and Sierra Counties. Owned by the Nevada Irrigation District, it consists of 16 storage dams plus numerous diversion and regulating dams, and four generating stations producing 425 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year. The Yuba–Bear Hydroelectric Project consists of the Bowman development, Dutch Flat No. 2 development, Chicago Park development, and Rollins development.
Ormonde was a gold mining community located about 3 1/2 miles east of the town of Washington on present day Maybert Road on the north side of the South Yuba River. The Ormonde townsite is best accessed with a four-wheel drive vehicle with good clearance.