110 



GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 



[Bull. 141 



FIG. 47. D. O. Mills buildin g , Columbia, HABS 1573-2. 



COLUMBIA 



FIG. 48. Wells Furjjo Express buildinjr, Columbia HAHS 174-2. 



The town of Columbia, once called "The Gem of the Southern 

 Mines, ' ' is one of the architectural showplaces of the Mother Lode 

 country. It was never abandoned ; consequently the buildings never fell 

 into complete disrepair ; nor has it experienced the growth which led, 

 in other towns, to false fronts and stucco covering. Almost all of its 

 permanent buildings are made of brick, a reflection of the excellent 

 brick-making lateritic clays available locally. Two brickyards (in oper- 

 ation in 1854) were located on the old Dambacher Ranch in Matelot 

 Gulch, two miles north of Columbia. The extensive, marble-like, lime- 

 stone outcrops seen in this region seem not to have been exploited for 

 local building material although marble was quarried here and shipped 

 to Sail Francisco as early as 1854. 



Columbia's first brick building, completed in 1853, was torn down 

 in 1866 and the bricks were sold in Sonora. Other brick buildings, were 

 demolished in the 'sixties in order to mine the gravels under them, 

 and the bricks resold in the nearby boom town of Copperopolis. Most 

 of the historic buildings in Columbia are signed. Among them are the 

 D. 0. Mills Building erected in 1855 (Fig. 47), the Wells Fargo Express 

 Office built in 1858 (Fig. 48), the Gold Nugget Saloon built in 1857, the 

 Hildenbrand Building (now the N. S. G. W. Hall) erected 1855, the 

 Levi Block built in 1854, and the Pioneer Saloon (Fig. 49), the Sun 

 Tun Sing Company Building, St. Anne's Church, completed in 1856 

 (Fig. 50), the Masonic Hall built in 1854, the Odd Fellows Hall (Fig. 

 51) and the Springfield Brewery (Fig. 52). The cast iron grill work 

 on the Express Building was made in New York. 



Most of Columbia's brick structures postdate the great fire of 1854, 

 which occurred only 4 years after the town was founded. Columbia, now 

 a State Park, has numerous attractions in the form of exhibits of histori- 

 cal relics which the Mother Lode traveler may inspect. 



Nine miles east of Columbia is French Camp, first settled by 

 Frenchmen, where the Maisson Store, built in 1851 with lower walls 

 made of schist, may be seen. 



SHAWS FLAT 



In the flat, lying between Sonora and Columbia, there were three 

 Gold Rush settlements, Shaws Flat, Squabbletown, and Springfield. 

 Among the interesting remnants to be seen in this area are the ruins of 

 the two lime kilns (Fig. 53) which were used in the reduction of the local 

 limestone to lime. These kilns date from 1852. The pitted limestone bed- 

 rock was extremely rich placer ground. The red lateritic earth was good 

 for brick making, and some of the Sonora and Columbia bricks were 

 molded and fired here in the early 'fifties. 



At the site of the once populous town of Springfield is the well 

 preserved remnant of a two story brick building, built in 1854, which has 

 variously served as a church and an armory. 



