Since I was born in Columbia in the Sierra foothills, I’ve returned there a number of times to soak in some of the history and get a deeper understanding of California’s Mother Lode.
Heading east of Modesto along Highway 49 my interest spikes as the low rolling hills fill my windshield in place of shopping malls, freeways, cloverleaf interchanges and factory yards.
Because of the surge of people caught up in the craze for California gold, the population of Columbia blew up and was founded as a boomtown in 1850 in Tuolumne County.
The California Gold Rush drew people in from around the world, including Australia, China, Chile, Mexico, as well as many European nations such as Ireland, Germany and France and eventually earned Columbia the title of the Gem of the Southern Mines.
Despite the onslaught of gold diggers, very few of them went home rich. Some of the greatest profits stemmed from business folks who sold supplies, food, equipment, and services to miners.
While many smaller towns around the state have maintained some aspects of their history—architecture, parks and important sites—overtourism and modern day developments can dilute the feeling of some of the state’s “Old Towns.”
But Columbia, nearby Sonora and a string of such foothill towns in the Sierra have made huge strides in trying to keep their histories preserved.
My dad taught at Columbia High School in the early 1950s and was a lifeguard at the campus pool during the summers for a short spell.
Our family lived in an older style house on State Street which still stands. It was on Facebook several years ago that I learned that my friends, Rory and Jim, who I met years ago at Bay Photo in Watsonville Square, had bought that very house. A couple years ago on a visit there, Rory and Jim kindly showed us around the first house I ever lived in. It’s truly a bizarre coincidence. Columbia is the center of Columbia State Historic Park, a place I’d certainly suggest for a taste of the 49ers and the land they swarmed into. We once stayed right in the center of town at the Columbia City Hotel Restaurant and What Cheer Saloon (22768 Main St., 209.396.1981). From the lace curtains and creaky wood floors, the place certainly opened the doors to a taste of its yesteryears.
