Gold Hill (Nevada County, California)

Infobox_local1
name = Site of one of the first discoveries of quartz gold in California
chisl = yes


caption =
location= Jenkins Street and Hocking Avenue
Grass Valley, California
lat_degrees = 39
lat_minutes = 12
lat_seconds = 47
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 121
long_minutes = 4
long_seconds = 9
long_direction =W
locmapin = California
built =1850
architect=George Knight
architecture=
added =
designated_chisl_number = 297
governing_body =
refnum=

Gold Hill, in Grass Valley, California, was the site of one of the first discoveries of quartz gold [cite book |pages=p. 124 |title=Mining in the Pacific States of North America |last=Hittell |first=John Shertzer |year=1861 |publisher=J. Wiley |location=San Francisco |isbn= 0665167377 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Jj0DAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA124&lpg=PA124&dq=%22quartz+gold%22&source=web&ots=0Lm-GbYuaS&sig=e6ktUmPldNTQqURo49NarFwLOT0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=12&ct=result#PPA124,M1] in California. While quartz gold was also found in other areas of Nevada County, California during the same time, it is this find near Wolf Creek that led to quartz-mining frenzy and subsequent creation of the Gold Country quartz-mining industry. The location is honored as a California Historical Landmark.

George Knight (sometimes known as McKnight) was a California Gold Rush miner. In October 1850, he was on a Grass Valley hillside when he came across an outcropping of white quartz rock laced with yellow. He pounded the rock with a cast iron skillet and hammer, then washed out the gold. Searching for more gold in the same spot, he dug down into the outcropping and found a four inch gold vein. His find was announced by another miner, George Crandall (1825-1908), who ran down to Boston Ravine with the news.cite book |title=Eldorado : the California Gold Rush |last=Walker |first=Dale L. |coauthors= |year=2002 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=0312878338 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=2QprmFagCuMC&pg=RA1-PA255&lpg=RA1-PA255&dq=%22george+mcknight%22+quartz&source=web&ots=n01Z_UyIgi&sig=kOOfnu27j1TdqkjHjWEAEkG9VY8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result |pages=p. 255] cite news |first=Patricia L. |last=Minch |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The search for George Crandall |url=http://www.theunion.com/article/20080728/NEWS/671953860&parentprofile= |publisher="The Union" |date=2008-07-28 |accessdate=2008-08-18]

Knight named the location Gold Hill and his claim became the Gold Hill Mine. He and friends constructed a crude stamp mill made out of the local forest's pine tree logs and equiped it with metal boots. The contraption was propelled by Wolf Creek's rushing water.

By March 1851, there were 150 buildings in the area, including hotels, saloons, stores, and even the first school. [cite web |url=http://www.malakoff.com/goldcountry/grassval.htm |title=Town History |accessdate=2008-08-20 |publisher=] Before the end of the year, thousands of people had moved to Grass Valley and neighboring Nevada City, California. [cite web |url=http://www.grassvalleychamber.com/history.aspx |title=Mining |accessdate=2008-08-20 |publisher=grassvalleychamber.com]

While Gold Hill Mine produced $4,000,000 between 1850-1857, it "pinched out" by 1864 and closed. [cite web |url=http://www.ncgold.com/History/BecomingCA_Archive24.html |title=Empire Mine Evolves From Accident to Prominence |accessdate=2008-08-18 |last=Baumgart |first=Don |date=2002 |work= |publisher=ncgold.com]

A 1940 geological survey of the Gold Hill Quartz Mine reported the host rock to be Diabase and Granodiorite and the mineral list showed gold, pyrite, and quartz. [cite journal |url=http://www.mindat.org/loc-84145.html |title=Gold Hill Quartz Mine, Grass Valley, Nevada Co., California, USA |accessdate=2008-08-20 |last=Logan |volume=37 |issue=3, PL. 3 |first=C.A. |date=1941 |work=Mineral Resources of Nevada County, California |journal=Journal of Mines and Geology |publisher=Mindat.org]

Historical landmark

The site is honored as California Historical Landmark No. 297. The plaque, located on the southwest corner of Jenkins Street and Hocking Avenue in Grass Valley reads:

"This tablet commemorates the discovery of gold-bearing quartz and the beginning of quartz mining in California. The discovery was made on Gold Hill by George Knight in October 1850. The occurrence of gold-bearing quartz was undoubtedly noted here and elsewhere about the same time or even earlier, but this discovery created the great excitement that started the development of quartz mining into a great industry. The Gold Hill Mine is credited with a total production of $4,000,000 between 1850 and 1857." [cite web |url=http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21443 |title=NO. 297 SITE OF ONE OF THE FIRST DISCOVERIES OF QUARTZ GOLD IN CALIFORNIA |accessdate=2008-08-20 |publisher=ohp.parks.ca.gov]

References

External links

* [http://www.noehill.com/nevada_county_california/cal0297.asp Photo of landmark]
* [http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb796nb5bh/ Pencil drawing of the mine's entrance, ca. 1852]