Day 6 | Sunday, May 26

 This morning we got up at 6 am so we could make it to church at 7 am. When we got back home we decided to take a couple pics of our "Sunday best".

When we were done with mass we went home for some breakfast and then headed out to the Empire Mines in Grass Valley. According to their website the mine is "the site of the oldest, largest, and richest gold mine in California. From 1850 to its closing in 1956, it produced 5.8 million ounces of gold. This 5.8 million ounces of gold would fill a box 7 feet on each side."

 We explored the visitor center with its mini museum of rock samples and history of the mine.

A piece of Martian rock.

This is an accurate scale model of the mine built by the mine owners. One inch of model equals 80 feet. The gray and black pieces are simply the frame of the model and don't represent any part of the actual mine. The red, orange, and yellow pieces represent the richest mine tunnels and shafts. The green and blue pieces are less fertile areas of the mine. The striped pieces are tunnels that were built to connect different parts of the mines to each other. This model was jealously guarded and actually kept in a "secret room" (so called because it had blacked-out windows). Anything below "2 inches" on the model is now underwater in the actual mine.

If all the shafts and tunnels in the mine were connected and stretched out in a straight line, the line would be over 376 miles long and stretch from Grass Valley to Disneyland!

      Mr. William Bourn, Jr. (the owner of the mine from 1887-1929) built a beautiful cottage for his family to stay when them came from their home in San Francisco. The lush grounds are beautiful, filled with fountains, rose gardens and stone arches. The only hitch? The stamp mills, used to pulverize the mine's ore so the gold could be extracted, ran 24/7 creating a constant, deafening noise that could even be heard in the nearby village. 

     To combat this problem, Mr. Bourn had his architect (Mr. Willis Polk) build the cottage out of waste rock from the mines with walls that were 2 feet thick. A layer of felt was built into the air space between the stone walls and the inside redwood paneling. Thick leather backed curtains are hung throughout the house and the windows are leaded.

Even with all these features Mr. Bourn could only stand the noise for 2-4 weeks of the year. 

The absolutely gorgeous grounds...

The dining room

Our historical interpreters: Mr. William Bourn, Mrs. Libby Starr and Mr. George Starr

The cook, Ms. Katie Moriarty's, sitting room.

Cook Katie Moriarty explaining the wonderful amenities in her kitchen including, hot and cold running water, a "call box" or "enunciator" for room service, a telephone, and a Sears and Roebuck stove that cost an unbelievable $25! The home also had electricity that came from the mines.

Mr. Bourn also had a clubhouse built that held a bowling alley, billiards, and tennis.

The "New Rich Hill" mine shaft entrance.

Boiler room entrance.

Some of the stamp mills that crushed the ore and made all the noise.

The mineyard offices

The refinery where workers protected themselves from the blasting hot temperatures with asbestos lined suits  while playing with mercury... 

The machine shop complete with belt driven power.

The remains of the mine's headframe that carried miners, mules and tools into the mines, and ore out.

Although you can't tour the mine itself (yet, that is, click here to learn about their project to make the mine open to visitors) you can walk down a short flight of steps to view the mine's main shaft.

The now gated off shaft leading deep into the bowels of the mine. When the mine was closed in 1956 the shafts had reached over 11,000 feet down into the ground!

Michaela was getting claustrophobic just looking at it! 

A "man skip" used to haul the Cornish mine workers deep underground. The skip traveled at 600 feet a minute. Ore skips traveled at 1,200 feet a minute.

The mine also had its own blacksmith shop. The blacksmith working there today made each of us our very own "prairie diamond ring" made out of a horse shoe nail! Supposedly pioneers out west who wanted to get hitched would have the local blacksmith make them a ring in his shop. They were really cute!

For lunch we ate at a cute bistro in Grass Valley.

Yes, I'm eating a cheese burger plain. What are you looking at?

Then we browsed at a street fair.

We actually made it home before dark for once! :)

-Michaela and Emily