La Grange - California
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 40° 44.318 W 122° 59.765
10T E 500330 N 4509743
History sign at the La Grange viewpoint on Hwy. 299.
Waymark Code: WMG2Q5
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 01/04/2013
Views: 1
History sign at the La Grange viewpoint on Hwy. 299 west of Weaverville, California. Text of Sign:
LA GRANGE: The Town
Situated due south across the mine pit from this point, the town of La Grange provided living quarters for the mine employees and their families. At its peak, the town comprised a men’s boarding house, cottages for married families, a storehouse, a public school and various outbuildings. When the mine closed in 1918, some of the buildings were dismantled and reconstructed elsewhere. One of these old buildings is now a private residence and can still be seen today in the Douglas City area.
The forced closure of hydraulic mines throughout the Sierra Nevada region during the late nineteenth century caused some of California’s best engineering and mining talent to resettle in the Trinity River area.
The talents of these individuals, combined with the proven abilities of local engineers, miners and French engineers brought in by the La Grange Mining Company created what was at its peak output the world’s largest operating hydraulic gold mine.
The story of California’s hydraulic gold-mining experience has been told in fiction in the 1938 Warner Bros. motion picture “Gold is Where You Find It.” Many residents of the Weaverville, La Grange and Junction CIty area appeared as extras in the film during the on location shooting that took place at and near the mine. The world premiere of the movie in Weaverville was a major event in the town’s history.
Group that erected the marker: CalTrans
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Hwy. 299
Weaverville, California United States
96093
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