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
| April 20, 2012–May 27, 2012. Fallon House Theatre "Ring of Fire" Johnny Cash. 87 Details May 19, 2012. Columbia Presbyterian Church of the 49ers "Pet Blessing". The Columbia Presbyterian Church of the 49ers will hold its second annual Pet Blessing at 10am May 19th on the lawn -... Details May 20, 2012. Rosemary's Roses – Rose Day in Columbia. Rose Day in Columbia State Historic Park, 10am to 4pm. Two rose walks viewing the park roses. Fred Boutin of Tuolumne... Details May 25, 2012–September 7, 2012. Groveland Hotel – 2012 Yosemite Courtyard Cabaret Summer Concerts Series. May 25 Joni Morris Patsy Cline Tribute $19 June 16 Paperback Writer Beatle’s Tribute $33 July 27 Life in the Fast... Details May 28, 2012. Columbia – Memorial Day Salute. Memorial Day Salute in Columbia, services start at 11am in the Columbia Cemetery. The ceremonies are conducted by the... Details May 31, 2012–June 3, 2012. Columbia State Historic Park " Diggins 1852″. During the early days of the California Gold Rush, tent and shanty towns sprung up overnight. Saloons, boarding houses,... Details June 4, 2012–June 17, 2012. Rosemary's Roses – Open Garden. Open Garden - 10am to 4pm. $5 per person. People are encouraged to bring their cameras to take pictures of the roses... Details June 16, 2012–June 17, 2012. Father's Day Fly In – Columbia's 46th Annual. Antique, military and experimental aircraft. Airplane & helicopter rides, plus much more.. Details June 17, 2012. Columbia State Park – Custom, Classic & Antique Car Show. Columbia Cruise CAR SHOW! Custom, Classic and Antique Cars. $20 Entry Fee, includes T-Shirt. All Makes, Models... Details June 29, 2012–August 19, 2012. Fallon House Theatre – "Carousel". 79 Details June 29, 2012–August 19, 2012. Sierra Repertory Theatre "Carousel". Sierra Repertory Theatre's 2012 Season: "Carousel" will be performed at the Fallon Hotel in Columbia. Details October 2, 2012–October 21, 2012. Rosemary's Roses – Fall Open Garden. From October 2nd through the 21st, Rosemary's Roses will have a Fall open garden. Details October 14, 2012. Bach Festival – Master of Class for Vocalists. Sunday 1-3pm. Local vocalists will have the opportunity to sing for Master Teacher and International soloist Robin... Details October 21, 2012. The Bach Festival Locals Concert. Sunday @ 3pm, at the Church of the Forty-Niners in Columbia. Outstanding local musicians will be featured in concert... Details October 26, 2012–December 22, 2012. Sierra Repertory Theatre "Cinderella". Details November 16, 2012–December 16, 2012. Sierra Repertory Theatre "Every Christmas Story Ever Told". Sierra Repertory Theatre's 2012 Season: "Every Christmas Story Ever Told, And Then Some!, to be performed at the Fallon... Details (Events are courtesy of the Tuolumne County Visitors Bureau) |