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Lake City, Nevada County, California

October 27, 2023

Lake City is an unincorporated community in Nevada County, California. It lies at an elevation of 3300 ft. about 10 miles northeast of Nevada City as the crow flies, and about three miles southeast of North Columbia, and three miles southwest of North Bloomfield. It is located at the junction of modern day North Bloomfield, Back Bone and Lake City Roads. It was an important mining and transportation center in the second half of the 19th century.

Lake City
Unincorporated community
Lake City
Location of Lake City in California
Coordinates: 39°21′31″N 120°56′30″W / 39.35861°N 120.94167°W / 39.35861; -120.94167
Country United States
State California
CountyNevada
Elevation
[1]
3,386 ft (1,032 m)
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code
95959
Area code530

Early history edit

Lake City was founded in 1853 when Israel Joiner built a cabin there.[2] Two years later, a group known as the Dutch Hill Company began mining there. In 1855, the Bell brothers built a hotel, and for a while the town was known as Bell's Ranch. In 1857, the Irwin ditch, which brought water from Poorman's Creek about twelve miles away, reached town, and it began to boom as a center for hydraulic mining.[3] Many of the early residents were French, and French culture and language were common.[4] In 1858, the Eureka Lake Co., which had taken over the Irwin ditch, laid out a town, anchored by its district office. Inspired by a reservoir or "lake" the Company had built, it was named Lake City.[5] Politically, it was part of Bloomfield Township.[6] That same year, the Lake City Hotel, also called the French Hotel, opened, with a restaurant and a saloon. In 1862, a third hotel, the Bordas, opened next to the French Hotel.[7] In addition to the hotels, the town had several stores, a tailor shop, and a saw mill, which burned down in 1871.[8] The town also had a canvas hose factory[9] and a number of homes.[10] Lake City had its own school and election districts. A Catholic church was consecrated in 1872.[11] The population at its heyday was estimated at about 300.[12] By 1880, the town had been reduced to one hotel, one store, one saloon, a blacksmith shop, a livery stable and several homes.[13] The 1880 census counted 93 residents.[14]

Prominent residents edit

Henry Arnold took over the Bell Brothers hotel, which burned down in 1859. He rebuilt the hotel, now called Arnold House, and held several prominent balls there.[15] He also experimented with planting fruit trees on his ranch, managing to produce very large apples.[16] At times, Lake City was referred to as Arnold's Ranch.[17]

Julius Poquillon, a prominent miner and engineer on the Ridge, opened the Lake City Hotel, complete with French restaurant, in 1858. Reportedly, he sold memberships in the Lake City Yacht Club.[18]

In 1860, Poquillon sold his hotel to Marius Dominique and Henrietta Bremond, who renamed it Bremond House, and operated it until it burned in 1872. The family continued to operate a hotel in nearby North Bloomfield.[19]

In 1866, P. A. Paine, a native of Painesville, Ohio,[20] bought 300 acres in Lake City and took over the Bell Brothers/Arnold hotel.[21] Mr. Paine continued the successful apple orchard, once producing a pound and a half pippin.[22]

Francis M. Pridgeon for many years was the elected member of the county Board of Supervisors for District 3, which included much of the Ridge. In endorsing his reelection, a newspaper observed: "Pridgeon has been one of the best supervisors this county has ever had or ever will have."[23] His wife Elizabeth operated the hotel, which they took over from Mr. Paine.

William and Bridget Waldron owned the town's general store and stable and had a number of other prominent positions.[24]

Fires edit

As with many mining communities, fire was a constant threat, and Lake City experienced several major ones. In 1859, the Bell Brothers hotel burned down. In 1868, fire destroyed the Lake House hotel, and several other buildings.[25] In 1869, the school and blacksmith shop burned down.[26] In 1872, fire destroyed the Bremond House hotel, and several other buildings. Arson was suspected.[27] In 1873, a fire "threatened the destruction of the town" but it escaped that fate.[28]

School and election districts edit

Lake City had its own school district and schoolhouse and its own election district.[29] The schoolhouse burned down in 1869.[30] In 1873, the "new" schoolhouse was described as being in "poor" condition, needing to be replaced "as soon as fortune favors." The school then had 32 pupils and 1 teacher.[31] It had 43 students in 1880 but by 1888, the number had fallen to 20. In 1894, the school district was declared lapsed and students had to go to North Bloomfield.[32]

In 1865, the Board of Supervisors established an election district at Lake City.[33] Voting was liveliest in local elections. In the 1873 county election, 61 people voted.[34] By contrast, 16 total votes were cast in the 1880 presidential election.[35] In 1892, 14 voted in a local election, and soon the Supervisors abolished the Lake City election district. Residents had to vote in North Bloomfield.[36]

Mining edit

The area was considered part of the North Bloomfield mining district, which was located on auriferous gravel beds which ran down the San Juan Ridge, and often branched out. One rich branch ran from N. Columbia through Lake City and on towards Red Dog and You Bet.[37] Hydraulic mining took off with the arrival of ditch water. The principal ditch was the Eureka, which brought water from dams in the high Sierra, and channelled it to Lake City through the Irwin ditch. Principal mines were the North Star, McDonald, I XL and Ballarat.[38] Following the 1884 Sawyer decision, which prohibited discharging mining debris into the Yuba River or its tributaries, hydraulic mining rapidly declined.[39] Soon thereafter, it was estimated that 130,000,000 yards of auriferous gravel remained to be mined.[40]

In the early part of the 20th century, there were efforts to revive hydraulic mining but most efforts were directed to drifting, or quartz mining.[41] Prominent were Mr. F. M. Phelps,[42] the El Oro Mines Company[43] and the Paine Brothers.[44] These efforts do not appear to have succeeded.

Transportation edit

Taking advantage of its strategic location at the junction of the principal roads between Nevada City and many of the mining communities on the San Juan Ridge, and later on one of the roads to the Henness Pass and the Nevada mines, Lake City was an important transportation stop for travelers and teamsters.[45] For many years, the road to Nevada City was a toll road owned by Edwards and Manchester.[46] Toll roads were usually well maintained. Had the Central Pacific Railroad determined to run the Transcontinental Railroad through the Henness Pass, the planned route would have gone through Lake City.[47]

Built in 1855, the Bell Brothers hotel continued for many years, operated in turn by Henry Arnold, P.A. Paine, Elizabeth Pridgeon, and Frank Kropp. Mr. Kropp ran it for many years into the 20th century, attracting visitors with a 13 rattle "monster" rattlesnake on display.[48] In 1858, the Lake City Hotel opened. It soon became Bremond House. There is mention of a third hotel, the Bordas, open in the 1860s.[49]

Lake City was a stop on the Gregory & English stage and pony express line between Nevada City and Graniteville, on the Summit City (Meadow Lake) Stage Line from Grass Valley[50] and on Dornin's Express Line between North San Juan and North Bloomfield.[51]

It was also connected to the Ridge Telephone Company's long distance telephone line.[52]

Today edit

The town declined as hydraulic mining declined, especially after the 1884 Sawyer decision. In 1886, a local newspaper reported that "Lake City, like nearly all the hydraulic mining towns in this county, looks much like a deserted village."[53] Over the last century, mining has gradually been replaced by ranching and horticulture.[54] In 1939, an observer reported that: “A picture of decay is LAKE CITY, ... where two or three decrepit houses and a forlorn hotel (1855), its balcony sagging drunkenly, huddle by the grassy depression in the pasture which was once the "lake.”[55] Today, it is a very rural outpost with a few ranches and residences and a vineyard planted about 30 years ago. There are no commercial establishments, and no readily visible remains of its historic past.

References edit

  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lake City, Nevada County, California
  2. ^ Thompson, Thomas H. and West, Albert A. (1970 ed.) History of Nevada County -1880, p. 59.
  3. ^ Thompson and West, p. 59; Bean, Edwin F. (1867) History and Directory of Nevada County, p. 68; Selverston, Mark (2016) The French of Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park (hereafter French), p. 8.
  4. ^ French, pp. 1, 8-9.
  5. ^ Thompson and West, p. 59; Bean, p. 396.
  6. ^ Thompson and West, p. 58.
  7. ^ French, pp. 8-9, 19.
  8. ^ Union, July 21, 1871. In its long history, the Union has had different names, including the Grass Valley Union and the Morning Union. For simplicity's sake, it will be referred to here as the Union, regardless of its name at the time of the cited article.
  9. ^ French, p. 16.
  10. ^ Thompson and West, p. 59.
  11. ^ Union, June 16, 1872.
  12. ^ Massey, P., Wilson, J., Titus, A. (2006) California Trails Northern Sierra Region, #25.
  13. ^ Thompson and West, pp. 59.
  14. ^ Union, July 21, 1881.
  15. ^ Comstock, David, Lives of Nevada County Pioneers, Henry Arnold.
  16. ^ Morning Transcript, Oct. 24, 1860; Nevada Gazette, Sept. 4, 1865.
  17. ^ French, p. 8.
  18. ^ An illustration on p. 168 in Thompson and West depicts a small sailing vessel on the "lake" behind Paine's hotel. The references to a yacht club may be more lore than fact. See French, p. 63; Union, Feb. 24, 2007.
  19. ^ French, p. 25.
  20. ^ Assertions that Lake City was once call Painesville, or that it had a post office, are mistaken. See ie, Janicot, Michel (1994) A History of Nevada County Post Offices, pp. 30-31. When Mr. Paine moved to Nevada County, he settled in the Rough and Ready area near the Zinc House. A post office called Painesville was established in that community in 1864. Not long after Mr. Paine moved to Lake City, that post office closed. Nevada Transcript, March 2, 1864; Dec. 12, 1866. USPS Post Office listings viewed Jan. 26, 2020 at https://webpmt.usps.gov/pmt003.cfm[permanent dead link]. The USPS has no record of a post office in Lake City.
  21. ^ Thompson and West, p. 226.
  22. ^ Union, Oct. 15, 1870.
  23. ^ Union, Sept. 26, 1894.
  24. ^ Union, June 27, 1872.
  25. ^ Grass Valley National, June 27, 1868.
  26. ^ Union, June 26, 1869.
  27. ^ Union, Nov. 19, 1872.
  28. ^ Union, Sept. 12, 1873.
  29. ^ Thompson and West, pp. 143, 146.
  30. ^ Union, June 26, 1869
  31. ^ Union, Oct. 29, 1873.
  32. ^ Union, July 17, 1894.
  33. ^ Nevada Gazette, Sept. 1, 1865.
  34. ^ Union, April 14, 1873.
  35. ^ Union, Nov. 10, 1880.
  36. ^ Union, July 22, 1892.
  37. ^ Thompson and West, p. 59.
  38. ^ Thompson and West, pp.183-184.
  39. ^ The Sawyer decision is reported as Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co., 18 F. 753 (CCD Cal. 1884).
  40. ^ Lindgren, Waldemar (1911) The Tertiary Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California, p. 139.
  41. ^ Union, Nov. 13, 1915; April 16, 1915; March 2, 1916.
  42. ^ Union, Oct. 5, 1913; Aug. 15, 1916.
  43. ^ Union, Jan. 6, 1915.
  44. ^ Union, June 5, 1913; Oct. 5, 1913: Nov. 15, 1913.
  45. ^ Bean, p. 396.
  46. ^ Union, Aug. 24, 1874.
  47. ^ First Annual Report And Theodore D. Judah's Chief Engineer's Report, Central Pacific Railroad, 1863, viewed online Jan. 26, 2020 at http://cprr.org/Museum/Judah_Report_1863.html#Judah_1863
  48. ^ Union, Aug. 1, 1913.
  49. ^ French, p. 19. This may be the hotel, called the Lake House, that burned down in 1868. Grass Valley National, June 27, 1868.
  50. ^ Union, June 5, 1866.
  51. ^ Bean, pp. 182, 339.
  52. ^ Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_long-distance_telephone_line
  53. ^ Union, June 1, 1886, quoting the San Juan Times.
  54. ^ Union, Aug. 15, 1913.
  55. ^ Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration of Northern California (1939) California: A Guide to the Golden State, p. 480.

External links edit

  • Photo, 1954

October 27, 2023
lake, city, nevada, county, california, lake, city, unincorporated, community, nevada, county, california, lies, elevation, 3300, about, miles, northeast, nevada, city, crow, flies, about, three, miles, southeast, north, columbia, three, miles, southwest, nort. Lake City is an unincorporated community in Nevada County California It lies at an elevation of 3300 ft about 10 miles northeast of Nevada City as the crow flies and about three miles southeast of North Columbia and three miles southwest of North Bloomfield It is located at the junction of modern day North Bloomfield Back Bone and Lake City Roads It was an important mining and transportation center in the second half of the 19th century Lake CityUnincorporated communityLake CityLocation of Lake City in CaliforniaCoordinates 39 21 31 N 120 56 30 W 39 35861 N 120 94167 W 39 35861 120 94167Country United StatesState CaliforniaCountyNevadaElevation 1 3 386 ft 1 032 m Time zoneUTC 8 Pacific PST Summer DST UTC 7 PDT ZIP code95959Area code530 Contents 1 Early history 2 Prominent residents 3 Fires 4 School and election districts 5 Mining 6 Transportation 7 Today 8 References 9 External linksEarly history editLake City was founded in 1853 when Israel Joiner built a cabin there 2 Two years later a group known as the Dutch Hill Company began mining there In 1855 the Bell brothers built a hotel and for a while the town was known as Bell s Ranch In 1857 the Irwin ditch which brought water from Poorman s Creek about twelve miles away reached town and it began to boom as a center for hydraulic mining 3 Many of the early residents were French and French culture and language were common 4 In 1858 the Eureka Lake Co which had taken over the Irwin ditch laid out a town anchored by its district office Inspired by a reservoir or lake the Company had built it was named Lake City 5 Politically it was part of Bloomfield Township 6 That same year the Lake City Hotel also called the French Hotel opened with a restaurant and a saloon In 1862 a third hotel the Bordas opened next to the French Hotel 7 In addition to the hotels the town had several stores a tailor shop and a saw mill which burned down in 1871 8 The town also had a canvas hose factory 9 and a number of homes 10 Lake City had its own school and election districts A Catholic church was consecrated in 1872 11 The population at its heyday was estimated at about 300 12 By 1880 the town had been reduced to one hotel one store one saloon a blacksmith shop a livery stable and several homes 13 The 1880 census counted 93 residents 14 Prominent residents editHenry Arnold took over the Bell Brothers hotel which burned down in 1859 He rebuilt the hotel now called Arnold House and held several prominent balls there 15 He also experimented with planting fruit trees on his ranch managing to produce very large apples 16 At times Lake City was referred to as Arnold s Ranch 17 Julius Poquillon a prominent miner and engineer on the Ridge opened the Lake City Hotel complete with French restaurant in 1858 Reportedly he sold memberships in the Lake City Yacht Club 18 In 1860 Poquillon sold his hotel to Marius Dominique and Henrietta Bremond who renamed it Bremond House and operated it until it burned in 1872 The family continued to operate a hotel in nearby North Bloomfield 19 In 1866 P A Paine a native of Painesville Ohio 20 bought 300 acres in Lake City and took over the Bell Brothers Arnold hotel 21 Mr Paine continued the successful apple orchard once producing a pound and a half pippin 22 Francis M Pridgeon for many years was the elected member of the county Board of Supervisors for District 3 which included much of the Ridge In endorsing his reelection a newspaper observed Pridgeon has been one of the best supervisors this county has ever had or ever will have 23 His wife Elizabeth operated the hotel which they took over from Mr Paine William and Bridget Waldron owned the town s general store and stable and had a number of other prominent positions 24 Fires editAs with many mining communities fire was a constant threat and Lake City experienced several major ones In 1859 the Bell Brothers hotel burned down In 1868 fire destroyed the Lake House hotel and several other buildings 25 In 1869 the school and blacksmith shop burned down 26 In 1872 fire destroyed the Bremond House hotel and several other buildings Arson was suspected 27 In 1873 a fire threatened the destruction of the town but it escaped that fate 28 School and election districts editLake City had its own school district and schoolhouse and its own election district 29 The schoolhouse burned down in 1869 30 In 1873 the new schoolhouse was described as being in poor condition needing to be replaced as soon as fortune favors The school then had 32 pupils and 1 teacher 31 It had 43 students in 1880 but by 1888 the number had fallen to 20 In 1894 the school district was declared lapsed and students had to go to North Bloomfield 32 In 1865 the Board of Supervisors established an election district at Lake City 33 Voting was liveliest in local elections In the 1873 county election 61 people voted 34 By contrast 16 total votes were cast in the 1880 presidential election 35 In 1892 14 voted in a local election and soon the Supervisors abolished the Lake City election district Residents had to vote in North Bloomfield 36 Mining editThe area was considered part of the North Bloomfield mining district which was located on auriferous gravel beds which ran down the San Juan Ridge and often branched out One rich branch ran from N Columbia through Lake City and on towards Red Dog and You Bet 37 Hydraulic mining took off with the arrival of ditch water The principal ditch was the Eureka which brought water from dams in the high Sierra and channelled it to Lake City through the Irwin ditch Principal mines were the North Star McDonald I XL and Ballarat 38 Following the 1884 Sawyer decision which prohibited discharging mining debris into the Yuba River or its tributaries hydraulic mining rapidly declined 39 Soon thereafter it was estimated that 130 000 000 yards of auriferous gravel remained to be mined 40 In the early part of the 20th century there were efforts to revive hydraulic mining but most efforts were directed to drifting or quartz mining 41 Prominent were Mr F M Phelps 42 the El Oro Mines Company 43 and the Paine Brothers 44 These efforts do not appear to have succeeded Transportation editTaking advantage of its strategic location at the junction of the principal roads between Nevada City and many of the mining communities on the San Juan Ridge and later on one of the roads to the Henness Pass and the Nevada mines Lake City was an important transportation stop for travelers and teamsters 45 For many years the road to Nevada City was a toll road owned by Edwards and Manchester 46 Toll roads were usually well maintained Had the Central Pacific Railroad determined to run the Transcontinental Railroad through the Henness Pass the planned route would have gone through Lake City 47 Built in 1855 the Bell Brothers hotel continued for many years operated in turn by Henry Arnold P A Paine Elizabeth Pridgeon and Frank Kropp Mr Kropp ran it for many years into the 20th century attracting visitors with a 13 rattle monster rattlesnake on display 48 In 1858 the Lake City Hotel opened It soon became Bremond House There is mention of a third hotel the Bordas open in the 1860s 49 Lake City was a stop on the Gregory amp English stage and pony express line between Nevada City and Graniteville on the Summit City Meadow Lake Stage Line from Grass Valley 50 and on Dornin s Express Line between North San Juan and North Bloomfield 51 It was also connected to the Ridge Telephone Company s long distance telephone line 52 Today editThe town declined as hydraulic mining declined especially after the 1884 Sawyer decision In 1886 a local newspaper reported that Lake City like nearly all the hydraulic mining towns in this county looks much like a deserted village 53 Over the last century mining has gradually been replaced by ranching and horticulture 54 In 1939 an observer reported that A picture of decay is LAKE CITY where two or three decrepit houses and a forlorn hotel 1855 its balcony sagging drunkenly huddle by the grassy depression in the pasture which was once the lake 55 Today it is a very rural outpost with a few ranches and residences and a vineyard planted about 30 years ago There are no commercial establishments and no readily visible remains of its historic past References edit U S Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System Lake City Nevada County California Thompson Thomas H and West Albert A 1970 ed History of Nevada County 1880 p 59 Thompson and West p 59 Bean Edwin F 1867 History and Directory of Nevada County p 68 Selverston Mark 2016 The French of Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park hereafter French p 8 French pp 1 8 9 Thompson and West p 59 Bean p 396 Thompson and West p 58 French pp 8 9 19 Union July 21 1871 In its long history the Union has had different names including the Grass Valley Union and the Morning Union For simplicity s sake it will be referred to here as the Union regardless of its name at the time of the cited article French p 16 Thompson and West p 59 Union June 16 1872 Massey P Wilson J Titus A 2006 California Trails Northern Sierra Region 25 Thompson and West pp 59 Union July 21 1881 Comstock David Lives of Nevada County Pioneers Henry Arnold Morning Transcript Oct 24 1860 Nevada Gazette Sept 4 1865 French p 8 An illustration on p 168 in Thompson and West depicts a small sailing vessel on the lake behind Paine s hotel The references to a yacht club may be more lore than fact See French p 63 Union Feb 24 2007 French p 25 Assertions that Lake City was once call Painesville or that it had a post office are mistaken See ie Janicot Michel 1994 A History of Nevada County Post Offices pp 30 31 When Mr Paine moved to Nevada County he settled in the Rough and Ready area near the Zinc House A post office called Painesville was established in that community in 1864 Not long after Mr Paine moved to Lake City that post office closed Nevada Transcript March 2 1864 Dec 12 1866 USPS Post Office listings viewed Jan 26 2020 at https webpmt usps gov pmt003 cfm permanent dead link The USPS has no record of a post office in Lake City Thompson and West p 226 Union Oct 15 1870 Union Sept 26 1894 Union June 27 1872 Grass Valley National June 27 1868 Union June 26 1869 Union Nov 19 1872 Union Sept 12 1873 Thompson and West pp 143 146 Union June 26 1869 Union Oct 29 1873 Union July 17 1894 Nevada Gazette Sept 1 1865 Union April 14 1873 Union Nov 10 1880 Union July 22 1892 Thompson and West p 59 Thompson and West pp 183 184 The Sawyer decision is reported as Woodruff v North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co 18 F 753 CCD Cal 1884 Lindgren Waldemar 1911 The Tertiary Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California p 139 Union Nov 13 1915 April 16 1915 March 2 1916 Union Oct 5 1913 Aug 15 1916 Union Jan 6 1915 Union June 5 1913 Oct 5 1913 Nov 15 1913 Bean p 396 Union Aug 24 1874 First Annual Report And Theodore D Judah s Chief Engineer s Report Central Pacific Railroad 1863 viewed online Jan 26 2020 at http cprr org Museum Judah Report 1863 html Judah 1863 Union Aug 1 1913 French p 19 This may be the hotel called the Lake House that burned down in 1868 Grass Valley National June 27 1868 Union June 5 1866 Bean pp 182 339 Wikipedia https en wikipedia org wiki First long distance telephone line Union June 1 1886 quoting the San Juan Times Union Aug 15 1913 Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration of Northern California 1939 California A Guide to the Golden State p 480 External links editPhoto 1954 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Lake City Nevada County California amp oldid 1167292698, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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