History
In 1850 George D. Roberts discovered gold in a quartz outcropping which became known as the Ophir Vein. As word spread that hard rock gold had been found in California, miners from the tin and copper mines of Cornwall, England, arrived to share their experience and expertise in hard rock mining. Particularly important was the Cornish contribution of a unique system of pumps, operated on steam, which emptied the depths of the mine of its constant water seepage. This enabled increased productivity and expansion underground. The Cornish provided the bulk of the labor force from the late 1870s until the mine’s closure eighty years later.
William Bowers Bourn II inherited the Empire Mine in 1887. With his financial backing and the mining knowledge of his younger cousin George Starr, the Empire Mine became famous for its mining technology, while the grounds became known for their gardens, residences, and social clubhouse. The noise was constant and could be heard from 3 miles (4.8 km) away.
In 1929, at the recommendation of Fred Searls of Nevada City, Newmont Mining Corp. purchased the Empire Mine from Bourn. Newmont also purchased the North Star Mine, resulting in Empire-Star Mines, Ltd. The business was managed by Fred Nobs and later by Jack Mann. By the 1950s inflation costs for gold mining were leaving the operation unprofitable. In 1956 a crippling miners' strike over falling wages ended operations. The mine was officially closed a year later on May 28, 1957 when the last water pumps were shut and removed. In its final year of operation in 1956, the Empire Mine had reached an incline depth of 11,007 ft (3,355 m).
In 1975 California State Parks purchased the Empire Mine property to create a state historic park. The state park now contains 853 acres (345 ha), including forested backcountry. Newmont Mining retained the mineral rights to the Empire Mine.
Read more about this topic: Empire Mine State Historic Park
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)
“America is the only nation in history which, miraculously, has gone directly from barbarism to degeneration without the usual interval of civilization.”
—Attributed to Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929)
“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)