Part One.
Over this past weekend, Andy, Leggy, and I set out ghost-towning throughout Amador and Calaveras Counties. We took along Andy's trusty Philip Varney Book, "Ghost Towns Of Northern California". I think we ended up seeing 8 or 9 of them!
Many of these ghost towns were, naturally, mining and pioneer towns.
We came across several towns with (much to Allegra and Andy's chagrin) populations!!
They are very proud of their fiddles in fiddletown.
Everyone was so friendly in these towns of 100, or 200 people. I can't figure out if they were bored, suspicious of us strange city kids, or really nice. Maybe all three.
Some of the most interesting things were not in Varney's book. This house by Mokulmne (Moe-Kew-Lum-Nay) River was in shambles, abandoned to rot by the hiway. There were innumerable old barns barely standing in empty fields of dry grass.
The old buildings are in the middle of nowhere, and protected by barbed wire.
This mine in Jackson, CA, was close to the Argonaut mine, site of the worst mining disaster in California. In the Argonaut Mine, 47 miners were trapped in the fire almost a mile below ground. None survived.
This wheel helped haul hundreds of tons of mining debris over a large hill. It was almost entirely made of wood.
This wheel helped haul hundreds of tons of mining debris over a large hill. It was almost entirely made of wood.
The oldest surviving buildings were mostly made of natural stones as bricks. These were the only buildings not to have gone up in flames.
to be continued, Day two.
