Empire Mine State Historic Park is the site of one of the oldest, deepest, and richest gold mines in California. The park is in Grass Valley (4 miles from Nevada City). In operation for more than 100 years, the mine extracted 5.8 million ounces of gold before it closed in 1956. The park contains many of the mine’s buildings, the owner’s home and restored gardens, as well as the entrance to 367 miles of abandoned and flooded mine shafts.
I took this picture from the back of a vest worn by our volunteer tour guide:
As word spread that hard rock gold had been found in California, miners from the tin and copper mines of Cornwall, England, arrived to share their experience and expertise in hard rock mining. Particularly important was the Cornish contribution of the Cornish engine, operated on steam, which emptied the depths of the mine of its constant water seepage at a rate of 18,000 US gal per day. This enabled increased productivity and expansion underground. The Cornish miners provided the bulk of the labor force from the late 1870s until the mine’s closure eighty years later.
In 1897, William Bowers Bourn II commissioned famous San Francisco architect Willis Polk to design and construct the “Cottage”, with greenhouse, gardens, fountains and a reflecting pool, using waste rock from the mine. Between 1898 and 1905, a clubhouse with tennis courts, bowling alley and squash courts were built nearby.
wow your photos are so nice!
Well done!