 |
| Landmark #852 | Nevada County | Visited: May 12, 2012 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | A plaque within Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: This was a major hydraulic gold-mining operation in California. It boasted a vast system of canals and flumes, its 7,800-foot drainage tunnel was termed a feat of engineering skill. It was the principal defendant in an anti-debris lawsuit settled in 1884 by Judge Lorenzo Sawyer’s famous decision, which created control that virtually ended hydraulic mining in California.
OTHER TIDBITS: The placer mines here at Humbug Creek produced a lot of waste runoff, which clogged rivers and flooded a lot of other towns nearby. However, these towns relied on the mines for prosperity, so they mostly just kept building levees higher and higher to keep out the floodwaters! This all came to a head in 1875 when the levees burst around Marysville and flooded the town in a giant bowl of toxic water! Nine years of disputes later, Judge Lorenzo Sawyer decided in the case of Woodruff vs. The North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company to put a permanent injunction on dumping mining waste into the Yuba River! Since larger mines could not turn a profit without this easy means of disposal, the Sawyer Decision drove many mines into bankruptcy and many mining towns into history! This landmark is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
|
| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park 16 mi E of State Hwy 49 on Tyler Foote Crossing Rd Plaque located in park diggins overlook 28 mi N of Nevada City ANNOTATIONS: 23579 North Bloomfield Road From Los Angeles: ~466mi (750km) — 7.8hrs |
| When should I go? | The park is open every day from sunrise to sunset, while the museum is open weekends from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM! |
