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GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 



[Bull. 141 



for building stone as early as 1851, has withstood the test of time with 

 distinction. Labor costs and disinterest in erecting hewn stone buildings 

 have contributed to the abandonment of the tuff quarries, but they 

 remain today as potential sources of easily worked and attractive struc- 

 tural stone. 



Acknowledgments 



Throughout the course of our study we have been aided by advice 

 and technical information from Dr. Olaf P. Jenkins, Chief, State Divi- 

 sion of Mines. His thorough acquaintance with the Sierran Gold Belt 

 geology, towns, history, and people has proved invaluable to us. Mr. 

 Oliver Bowen, State Division of Mines, accompanied us over most of 

 the area surveyed, and his pleasant companionship and technical advice 

 on geological matters were of very great aid. Everywhere we found the 

 local residents anxious to assist us in identifying old stone buildings. 

 As a result of the persistent questioning to which they cheerfully sub- 

 mitted, we secured information on a number of buildings which were 

 hitherto unrecorded or incorrectly described in the historical literature. 

 We enjoyed and appreciate the opportunity to have become acquainted 

 with the people of the Gold Rush country because they are interested 

 in their heritage and were willing to accept outsiders who professed a 

 similar interest. Dr. Aubrey Neasham of the National Park Service, with 

 whom both present authors collaborated in the 1947 excavation of the Sut- 

 ter Sawmill, made available to us the manuscript file and photographs 

 of the Historic American Building Survey. In the photographs shown 

 here some are identified as HABS (Historic American Building Survey), 

 and the appended number is the negative number in the HABS file. 

 Credit for each picture so listed is hereby acknowledged to Dr. Neasham, 

 the National Park Service, and the Historic American Building Survey. 

 The symbol DMBS refers to the reconnaissance reported in this paper 

 and known as the Division of Mines Building Survey. The number fol- 

 lowing the survey initials refers to the negative number. All film nega- 

 tives of DMBS pictures used in the present report are on file in the 

 library of the State Division of Mines, Ferry Building, San Francisco. 

 A large number of printed books have been consulted in the effort to 

 determine the names of builders and dates of erection of the stone struc- 

 tures described below. On the last page of this report we list those printed 

 works which may be of particular interest to the Mother Lode traveler. 



UTILIZATION OF FIREPROOF BUILDING MATERIALS 



The stone, brick, and adobe architecture of the Mother Lode region 

 arose chiefly in response to the danger and the disaster of fire. The first 

 settlements of the gold seekers were unplanned congested hodgepodges 

 of canvas and frame shelters. Open flame fires were necessary for heat, 

 cooking, and illumination and even a minor accident could initiate a 

 conflagration. A fire, once started, could scarcely ever be checked and 

 the devastation of entire towns occurred time after time. An incomplete 

 list reveals that Sohora was burned in 1849, in 1852, and in 1853 ; Nevada 

 City in 1851, 1856, 1858 and 1863 ; San Andreas in 1856 and 1863 ; and 

 Columbia was partially destroyed by fire in 1854, 1857 and 1861. Dis- 

 astrous fires also are reported for Grass Valley in 1855, Downieville in 

 1852, Placerville in 1856, Mokelumne Hill in 1854, Drytown in 1857, 

 Jamestown in 1855, Georgetown in 1852, and Calaveritas and Campo 

 Seco in 1858. 



The miners strove to protect their property in various ways. Every 

 town had its volunteer fire department and some of the larger towns 

 had several fire companies. Elaborate fire fighting equipment was 

 imported (some of the hoses were to serve later in the first hydraulic 

 mining enterprises) and streets were required by ordinance to be wide 

 enough to serve as fire lanes. But the primary danger still lay in the 

 combustibility of building materials and the answer was found in the 

 exploitation of architectural materials which are seldom used in other 

 regions where ample stands of good timber are immediately at hand. 

 Buildings designed for permanence were constructed of stone or brick 

 or occasionally of adobe. Heavy raftered roofs were covered with metal 

 and on top of this a thick layer of sand was deposited. Doors and windows 

 were fitted with the distinctive sheet-iron shutters designed so that they 

 could be closed in an emergency to protect the combustible interior 

 furnishings. These efforts were on the whole successful, as indicated 

 by the number of such buildings which have survived the various con- 

 flagrations. 



The necessity for fireproof construction was not the only feature 

 which determined the choice of architectural materials. The varied cul- 

 tural background of the argonauts was a factor here as well as in styles. 

 Many of the miners from Mexico as well as those Californians who had 

 already been here for a generation were accustomed to building with 



