County Histories

Nevada County

 by J. E. Taylor.

“From a county formerly given over almost entirely to mining, lumbering and their allied industries, Nevada County has leaped within the last five years into prominence as a horticultural and agricultural county.  Being of the foothills, its claims were at first considered rather presumptuous, but repeated successes at the California State Fair, apple carnivals and land shows have proved conclusively that it has the product to back up every claim made.

“The county is the natural home of the Bartlett pear, that delicious food product which takes rank with the oranges, the peach and the cantaloupe as an universal shipper.  Like the orange, the Bartlett has its favorite belts, comparatively small and restricted, outside of which it does not attain its fullest perfection.  The proven Bartlett belt of Northern California includes a large portion of the area of Nevada County.  It is grown there both with and without irrigation with practically equal success as to financial returns.  Large areas adapted to its culture are still unreclaimed from their timbered state and may be had at a low first-cost price.

“The county has a remarkable variety of climate and elevation, its length of 80 miles stretching from Sacramento valley, with an elevation of 500 feet to the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, with an elevation of 6000 feet, and on to the Nevada State line.  Since the earliest settlements it has been a producer of the things which go to increase the sum of the world’s wealth.  Since 1848 its stream of virgin gold has never ceased to flow until it now aggregates over three hundred million dollars.  Quartz mines discovered in the early fifties are still producing, an almost unheard of circumstance in gold mining.  During the year 1913 the quartz mines of the Grass Valley and Nevada City districts yielded, according to records kept by the government, $2,918,733, thus placing the county in the lead of all California counties as a gold producer.

“Since these mines are all large corporate concerns, involving vast capital, the small investor may conclude that they are of no concern to him.  It should be remembered, however, that in order to produce the nearly three million dollars in gold the services of over 1500 men were constantly required, their wages aggregating in excess of $125,000 monthly.  This army of men connected directly and indirectly with the mines, forms an insistent consuming population.

“Aside from the big mines of the Grass Valley and Nevada City districts, there are scores of smaller mines now producing, or which have produced, and within the county there is still a fertile field for the prospector and the small mining investor.  The Rough and Ready, Washington, Graniteville and the great San Juan Ridge section, famous for yields of gold in the old hydraulicing (sic) days, are open ranges for men skilled in the search for precious metals.

“Passing into the ‘upper country,’ varied industries present themselves, the most notable being the power, water and lumbering enterprises.  Three large power companies operate there and at one point, Lake Spaulding, one of the largest dams in America, has been constructed for the development of electric energy, which finds its market at points hundreds of miles distant.  At Hobart Mills, in the extreme east end, large lumber mills are maintained, while at Floriston are found immense factories for the manufacture of paper from wood pulp.  At Truckee, a town of 1700 population, the southern Pacific Railway carries on divisional activities.  It is also the center of a large tourist section and abounds in excellent hunting and fishing. 

“Special mention has been made of the Bartlett pear, but from this it should not be inferred that the soil of Nevada County is not equally well adapted to the production of other fruits.  The list includes about everything which grows on trees outside of tropical regions – apples, peaches, plums, cherries, prunes, quinces, walnuts, almonds, and of the vine, grapes in great variety.  Of the small fruits, there is an equally long list.

“But here is the wonder of Nevada County – the lower portion is well within the famous citrus fruit belt of Northern California.  To harvest oranges and olives coincident with ice, is indeed, strange, but it takes place within this small civil division every year.  The culture of oranges and olives, too, is not merely a garden fad.  In the lower end of the county there are several fine groves of citrus fruits and the number are rapidly increasing.  Oranges grown there are pronounced perfect by experts from Los Angeles.  Orange and olive lands, unreclaimed, can still be purchased at prices extremely low.

“The citrus fruit area of Nevada County has been estimated at 100,000 acres, a small region as compared with the deciduous area, which extends through the foothills well into the mountains.  It is here that, perhaps, the greatest opportunities lie for the homeseeker.  These lands are cheap, irrigation is optional and it is possible for an industrious family to live comfortably while an orchard tract is being reclaims from its timbered state and brought into bearing.  Bearing orchards also are for sale at prices well within the reach of the ordinary investor.

“In order to help the homeseeker and develop the resources of the county as rapidly as possibly, a cannery has been established at Grass Valley.  During the season of 1914, this institution paid out about $12,000 for fruits and vegetables and $6,000 in wages.  The cannery is owned by the farmers and businessmen of the county.

“Two years ago a party of farm experts from the State University Farm selected land in this county for the establishment of a model farm, it being determined after wide search that conditions of soil, climate and altitude here were most nearly suited to the enterprise which they hoped to develop.

“In social features, Nevada County compares favorably with other counties of the State – schools, churches, libraries, railway facilities, good roads, mail delivery and telephones.

“Of the cities, Nevada City and Grass Valley, connected by electric railway, are the largest.  Nevada City is the seat of government.  Chambers of Commerce in each, together with the Nevada County development Committee, are engaged in the work of developing latent resources.”