Video Tour of Columbia California 1858
Access this site with an
iPhone, iPad, Android phone, BlackBerry Torch or other
touch-screen device.
Uses a map-based guide designed especially for a small screen and touch-screen user interface.
Same web address.
columbiaca.org
Uses a map-based guide designed especially for a small screen and touch-screen user interface.
Same web address.
columbiaca.org
Experience Columbia CA
Visiting downtown Columbia today is much like walking into a prosperous California Gold Rush mining town, circa 1857.
You can visit the Wells Fargo Express building, see its scales for weighing gold, and ride a horse-drawn stagecoach. You can visit the Matelot Gulch mining supply store, pan for gold, and climb around the marble rocks.
Columbia also has many events throughout the year. See the list of upcoming events at the far right column. You can also see videos of some past events by clicking on the "Videos" button above.
Above all, you can see historic buildings, with many including exhibits. Use the Map-Based Guide to explore downtown--its map with pop-up photos as you move the mouse allows you to take a virtual walk down the street.
You can see a live play at the Fallon Theatre. Currently playing is "Red, White, and Tuna".
You can take an aerial tour of Yosemite in a small plane from the Columbia Airport.
You can fish at the Springfield Trout Farm.
Columbia also has many restaurants where you can have breakfast, lunch, or dinner, from the historic Black Bart's Inn and City Hotel Restaurant to Mexican and family/Greek food outside the park.
You can also have beer and other alcoholic drinks or sarsparilla at the three saloons in Columbia.
Visiting downtown Columbia today is much like walking into a prosperous California Gold Rush mining town, circa 1857.
You can visit the Wells Fargo Express building, see its scales for weighing gold, and ride a horse-drawn stagecoach. You can visit the Matelot Gulch mining supply store, pan for gold, and climb around the marble rocks.
Columbia also has many events throughout the year. See the list of upcoming events at the far right column. You can also see videos of some past events by clicking on the "Videos" button above.
Above all, you can see historic buildings, with many including exhibits. Use the Map-Based Guide to explore downtown--its map with pop-up photos as you move the mouse allows you to take a virtual walk down the street.
You can see a live play at the Fallon Theatre. Currently playing is "Red, White, and Tuna".
You can take an aerial tour of Yosemite in a small plane from the Columbia Airport.
You can fish at the Springfield Trout Farm.
Columbia also has many restaurants where you can have breakfast, lunch, or dinner, from the historic Black Bart's Inn and City Hotel Restaurant to Mexican and family/Greek food outside the park.
You can also have beer and other alcoholic drinks or sarsparilla at the three saloons in Columbia.
History of Columbia CA
The town of Columbia began as the result of some clothes and blankets that had become wet. A party of miners led by a Maine physican named Thaddeus Hildreth had been prospecting without success in Calaveras County for a month. On their way back to Woods Crossing they spent the night camping. Overnight it rained, and the next morning, while waiting for their clothes and blankets to dry, one member of the party decided to pan in a nearby gulch. He found gold, and soon all five men in the party were finding substantial amounts of the yellow metal. The date was March 27, 1850, more than two years after the initial find at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento. Other miners, hearing of the discovery, soon arrived, and within a few months the area was a thriving tent city of more than a thousand miners. They named it "Columbia".
There were difficulties. Toward the end of the summer the creek dried up and there was no water to wash the gold from the gravel and dirt. Rains that winter allowed mining to resume, but it was a dry winter and the water again ran out. An initial effort to build a ditch to a nearby creek helped, but it was not until the ditch was extended, with wooden flumes, to the Stanislaus River that there was a reliable source of water. Once that happened, the town thrived. The gold was rich, and by the end of 1852 there were perhaps 5,000 people and one hundred and fifty businesses in the town. By 1857 it had 27 restaurants with some of the finest chefs from Europe.
Fires hit Columbia in July, 1854 and again in August, 1857, devastating the town, which intially had only wooden buildings. Each time Columbia was rebuilt, bigger and grander, with new buildings increasingly stone with iron shutters to protect against fire. The town also acquired two hand-pumper fire engines and built underground cisterns to store water for use against fire.
By the 1870s, the gold began to be played out, and the population of Columbia dwindled. In 1945, the California legislature created Columbia State Historic Park. Existing historic buildings were restored, and new replica buildings were constructed from old photos and plans, leading to the town you can see today.
What's Nearby
Columbia is near Sonora, Jamestown, and Murphys CA in the foothills and near the Hwy 108 route into the mountains to Twain Harte, Mi Wuk Village, and Pinecrest Lake.
The town of Columbia began as the result of some clothes and blankets that had become wet. A party of miners led by a Maine physican named Thaddeus Hildreth had been prospecting without success in Calaveras County for a month. On their way back to Woods Crossing they spent the night camping. Overnight it rained, and the next morning, while waiting for their clothes and blankets to dry, one member of the party decided to pan in a nearby gulch. He found gold, and soon all five men in the party were finding substantial amounts of the yellow metal. The date was March 27, 1850, more than two years after the initial find at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento. Other miners, hearing of the discovery, soon arrived, and within a few months the area was a thriving tent city of more than a thousand miners. They named it "Columbia".
There were difficulties. Toward the end of the summer the creek dried up and there was no water to wash the gold from the gravel and dirt. Rains that winter allowed mining to resume, but it was a dry winter and the water again ran out. An initial effort to build a ditch to a nearby creek helped, but it was not until the ditch was extended, with wooden flumes, to the Stanislaus River that there was a reliable source of water. Once that happened, the town thrived. The gold was rich, and by the end of 1852 there were perhaps 5,000 people and one hundred and fifty businesses in the town. By 1857 it had 27 restaurants with some of the finest chefs from Europe.
Fires hit Columbia in July, 1854 and again in August, 1857, devastating the town, which intially had only wooden buildings. Each time Columbia was rebuilt, bigger and grander, with new buildings increasingly stone with iron shutters to protect against fire. The town also acquired two hand-pumper fire engines and built underground cisterns to store water for use against fire.
By the 1870s, the gold began to be played out, and the population of Columbia dwindled. In 1945, the California legislature created Columbia State Historic Park. Existing historic buildings were restored, and new replica buildings were constructed from old photos and plans, leading to the town you can see today.
What's Nearby
Columbia is near Sonora, Jamestown, and Murphys CA in the foothills and near the Hwy 108 route into the mountains to Twain Harte, Mi Wuk Village, and Pinecrest Lake.
Events in Columbia
| January 5, 2013–December 28, 2013. Columbia Town Tours (Sat & Sun 11am). Every Saturday and Sunday at 11am you can enjoy an hour-long walking tour of the town led by a park staff member or... Details January 12, 2013–December 14, 2013. Columbia Gold Rush Days (2nd Sat 1-4pm). The 2nd Saturday of every month all year' round from 1-4pm! Exhibits, reenactments & activities. Park docents in period... Details May 25, 2013. Concert-Winds in the Sequoias – Calaveras Big Trees. Winds in the Sequoias featuring The Mother Lode Woodwind Quintet – Janet Telford, flute; Jane Buzzard, oboe; Hank... Details May 27, 2013. Columbia's Memorial Day Salute. Memorial Day Salute! The ceremonies are conducted by the Columbia Foot Dragoons and the Columbia Grenadine Belles.... Details May 30, 2013–June 2, 2013. Columbia SHP " Diggins" Tent Town. Columbia SHP will be presenting " Diggins 1852 ". Come experience life in the 1850's! Over 150 costumed volunteers will... Details May 30, 2013–June 2, 2013. Columbia Diggins 1852. Step back in time to the year 1852 and discover what life was like in a gold diggins encampment! Volunteers help... Details June 7, 2013. Sierra Foothills Dance Club. The dancers meet on the first Friday of each month at the Church of the 49ers. Lessons will be given at 7 pm, followed... Details June 8, 2013. Columbia's Sarsaparilla Roundup. Features free contests including mug slide, horseshoes, bottle cap fling, belching and more! And frosty cold... Details June 15, 2013–June 16, 2013. Father's Day Fly-In – Columbia Airport. The 47th Annual Father's Day Fly-in at Columbia Airport! Pancake breakfast, live music, airplane rides & more! A 1/2... Details June 17, 2013–June 21, 2013. Summer Arts Camp In Columbia SHP. Central Sierra Arts Council is now accepting applications for Summer Arts Camp for children 7-12, under the direction... Details June 22, 2013–June 23, 2013. CFMA Columbia Fire Muster. Columbia Fire Muster! Columbia Volunteer Fire Department at the Columbia Elementary School. Details June 28, 2013–August 18, 2013. "Oklahoma!". Rodgers and Hammerstein's first glorious collaboration created a new standard for musical theatre. Set in the Western... Details July 4, 2013. Fireworks at Ironstone Vineyards. Fireworks at the Vineyard Details July 4, 2013. "Fireworks on the Water" Lake Don Pedro. The "Fireworks on the Water", will be held on Thursday, July 4, 2013, at 9:30 p.m. The ½ hour show will take place on... Details July 4, 2013. Glorious 4th of July Celebration. An Easter Celebration including egg hunts and a Victorian Easter Parade. All events are free. Details July 27, 2013–July 28, 2013. Fire On The Mountain Art & Wine Festival In Twain Harte. 36th Annual Twain Harte Summer Arts & Wine Festival. A fun street festival with 100 artists, hot rod car show, live... Details September 6, 2013–September 29, 2013. "Don't Dress for Dinner". A philandering husband is hoping to entertain his mistress for the weekend, has arranged for a chef to furnish the... Details September 28, 2013. 30th Annual Poison Oak Show. This itchy plant is made into flower arrangements, jewelry, works of arts, and even a poison oak salad!! All entries... Details October 5, 2013. Fiddle and Bango Contest. (Yes, Bango - not Banjo!) Singers, songwriters and musicians perform for prizes. Details October 11, 2013–October 23, 2013. Mother Lode Art Association Annual Juried Art Show. Displays of works by local and regional artists. Free admission. Details October 12, 2013–October 13, 2013. Columbia Harvest Festifall. Columbia Harvest Festifall is not a typical arts and crafts fair. An educational fun-filled weekend used to demonstrate... Details October 25, 2013–November 24, 2013. "Harvey". Elwood P. Dowd is a cheerful and charming fellow with one character flaw: an unwavering friendship with a 6-foot-tall,... Details November 29, 2013–December 22, 2013. Candy Cane Making. Watch how they make Christmas Candy Canes at the Columbia Candy Kitchen every Saturday and Sunday. See how it was done... Details December 14, 2013–December 15, 2013. A Miner's Christmas. Costumed docents recreate the mining camp of the 1850s, as homesick miners roast chestnuts, drink hot cider and perform... Details December 21, 2013–December 22, 2013. A Miner's Christmas. Costumed docents recreate the mining camp of the 1850s, as homesick miners roast chestnuts, drink hot cider and perform... Details (Events are courtesy of the Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau) |