Sonora, CA
A plaque explaining the source of the name Copperopolis. Copper was discovered in the area in 1860. And since the Civil War would begin the following year, the Union Mine was one of the primary sources for copper. [Click once or twice to enlarge.]
Two brick buildings: on the right, an armory which was allegedly established in 1854 and a store specializing in olives, hot sauce, etc.
During World War II, with a Japanese blockade of copper exports from SE Asia, the War Department re-opened some of the copper mines in Copperopolis. My Great Uncle George C. Lemmon was not only the superintendent [of the former Union Mine?] but also postmaster. His 2d or 3d wife ran a diner/cafe in the same building.
The woman manning the cash register at the McCarty Store said that the smallest portion of the building to the far left in this photo was the Post Office; the rest was a cafe, store, and [,today,] a gas station.
One of the more ornate combined grave markers at the Copperopolis Cemetery.
When I asked the woman if there were still McCarty descendants in the area, she said there were. That's confirmed by the three headstones in this photo. [Click 1 or 2 times to zoom in.]
One of the older pair of gravestones in the Copperopolis Cemetery: Balthasar & Emilie Engel. Presumably the fences around burial plots were to keep feeding cattle out, for you know what happens when cattle munch on grass -- they do "what comes naturally." In other words, they desecrate.
The old bridge and road over Turnback Creek just to the west of the RR tracks.
And since reflectors were not quite a reflective as today's materials, road signs often contained a lot of them.
A look at the west end of the old Turnback Creek bridge from the new bridge.
A barely-visible plaque, at least when traveling east since it under some overhanging oaks and on a turn, describing the Westside Flume & Lumber Company. (Some of the trees need to be trimmed, if not removed, for I drove by this plaque at least 7 or 8 times this year without noticing it.)
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Links:
- Wikipedia article on Copperopolis
- Extensive history of Copperopolis including Black Bart and O'Brynes Covered Bridge
- Sierra Logging Museum article on Westside Lumber Company
W 9 Nov Actual Route: N.F. Tuolumne River - Sonora - Copperopolis - Woodward Reservoir CG
W 9 Nov Actual Route: N.F. Tuolumne River - Sonora - Woodward Reservoir CG
Th 10 Nov Actual Route: Woodward Resv - Oakdale - Copperopolis - Oakdale - Woodward Reservoir
F 11 Nov Actual Route: Woodward Resv - Oakdale - Sonora - N.F. Tuolumne River
Sa 12 Nov Actual Route: N.F. Tuolumne River - Sonora - N.F. Tuolumne River
Su 13 Nov Actual Route: N.F. Tuolumne River - Sonora - Oakdale - Manteca - Lathrop - Dos Reis County Park
M 14 Nov Actual Route: Dos Reis County Park - Stockton - French Camp - Woodward Resv
T 15 Nov Actual Route: Woodward Resv - Oakdale - Sonora - N.F. Tuolumne River
W 16 Nov Actual Route: N.F. Tuolumne Riv - Sonora - N.F. Tuolumne River
Th 17 Nov Route: N.F. Tuolumne Riv - Twain Harte - Sonora - Oakdale - Woodward Reservoir
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Finding Campgrounds:
- RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
- Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
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