By Paisley Kirkpatrick
Grass Valley’s history is part of the colorful lore of the California Gold Rush. The first notations about the area are from the late 1840’s when a party of men searching for cattle came upon a “grassy valley”.
Grass Valley’s claim to historic fame is embedded in the vast amounts of gold discovered and extracted from its rich underground mines.
In more than 100 years of mining, the mines of Grass Valley made it the richest of all California gold mining towns.
In December 1848, President James K. Polk declared in a State of the Union address that large quantities of gold had been discovered in California. As word spread about the gold rush, prospectors flooded the foothills. The small settlement began looking like a village. Then in 1850, a settler by the name of George McKnight discovered gold in the quartz rock along Gold Hill and the real boom began.
By 1851, thousands of people were living in the bustling town now known as Grass Valley and in the nearby town of Nevada, (later renamed Nevada City when Nevada became a state).
Grass Valley suffered a disastrous fire in 1855, and Nevada City burned in 1863, but the towns quickly rebuilt and continued to grow.
My grandparents lived in Nevada City up until I was a junior in high school. I remember when I was in my teens my grandfather told us tales of the gold rush and what happened afterwards. One story that sticks in my mind is that when they tore old saloons down to put in a new highway, they found piles of gold dust that had seeped through the cracks in the wooden floors. If they'd only known way back during the days of the gold rush, the search for gold for some would have been more profitable.
The Empire, Northstar, Pennsylvania, Idaho-Maryland and Brunswick mines became known around the world, attracting hardworking miners and would-be millionaires. As the underground mines grew, skilled hard-rock miners from Cornwall and Ireland arrived. They settled into their new hometown of Grass Valley while mine owners and managers lived in nearby Nevada City. Over the next 100 years the mines extracted more than $400 million in gold, making Grass Valley California’s most prosperous mining town. Unfortunately, gold mining declined in the 1950’s and eventually all of the hard-rock mines were closed.
Both Grass Valley and Nevada City are on the national register of historic places and have multiple buildings on the national register.
The National Hotel in Nevada City
and the Holbrook
in Grass Valley are reminders of the grandeur of California gold rush hotels. The Golden Gate Saloon in the Holbrook is known as the oldest continuously operating saloon west of the Mississippi!
Information provided by Grass Valley’s Chamber of Commerce
In more than 100 years of mining, the mines of Grass Valley made it the richest of all California gold mining towns.
In December 1848, President James K. Polk declared in a State of the Union address that large quantities of gold had been discovered in California. As word spread about the gold rush, prospectors flooded the foothills. The small settlement began looking like a village. Then in 1850, a settler by the name of George McKnight discovered gold in the quartz rock along Gold Hill and the real boom began.
By 1851, thousands of people were living in the bustling town now known as Grass Valley and in the nearby town of Nevada, (later renamed Nevada City when Nevada became a state). 
Grass Valley suffered a disastrous fire in 1855, and Nevada City burned in 1863, but the towns quickly rebuilt and continued to grow.
My grandparents lived in Nevada City up until I was a junior in high school. I remember when I was in my teens my grandfather told us tales of the gold rush and what happened afterwards. One story that sticks in my mind is that when they tore old saloons down to put in a new highway, they found piles of gold dust that had seeped through the cracks in the wooden floors. If they'd only known way back during the days of the gold rush, the search for gold for some would have been more profitable.
The Empire, Northstar, Pennsylvania, Idaho-Maryland and Brunswick mines became known around the world, attracting hardworking miners and would-be millionaires. As the underground mines grew, skilled hard-rock miners from Cornwall and Ireland arrived. They settled into their new hometown of Grass Valley while mine owners and managers lived in nearby Nevada City. Over the next 100 years the mines extracted more than $400 million in gold, making Grass Valley California’s most prosperous mining town. Unfortunately, gold mining declined in the 1950’s and eventually all of the hard-rock mines were closed.
Both Grass Valley and Nevada City are on the national register of historic places and have multiple buildings on the national register.
The National Hotel in Nevada City 
and the Holbrook 
in Grass Valley are reminders of the grandeur of California gold rush hotels. The Golden Gate Saloon in the Holbrook is known as the oldest continuously operating saloon west of the Mississippi!
Information provided by Grass Valley’s Chamber of Commerce
