Visit Date: February 29, 2021Sure, sometimes I complain about the drought and how it's effective this project. Take a look at the smoky images from my visit to French Corral. Not to mention the potential for like ALL of these buildings and structures to be impacted (i.e. burned) by the drought-stoked fires. There is one small benefit though and that's that I can travel to and photograph these sites just about anytime and not be interrupted by the weather. Take for example when I visited the I.O.O.F. Hall in Copperopolis, Calaveras County, on Leap Day, in 2021. No clouds or rain to ruin my day. [Note: I liked it better when it rain season was rainy in California.] You don't need a sharp eye to notice that these photos were taken at different angles. My goal for this project has been to taken the repeat photograph from the exact spot where the authors of the Division of Mines survey did in 1948. In this case, a new fence (new since 1949), a temporary building, and a CDF station that sits in front of the IOOF Hall made it impossible to actually get to the spot that I needed to. As you can at right when I did try to get the right angle, these obstacles came into play. I did however get a really great photograph of the back of this day care building. If your first thought was that this building must be a church, it's because you are a very observant person (and probably good looking too!). While the authors refer to the building as an Odd Fellows Hall, it was constructed in 1866 as the Congregation Church for Copperopolis. The 1860s were the heyday for Copperopolis. The town boomed during the Civil War when there was a need for copper for war efforts. Later the church was sold to the Odd Fellows in 1903, who used it as their hall until 1939, when the community took it over. It continues to be used to today as a community center. It was nice to be able to drive up and park right at the building. I had free range to explore the grounds and walk right up to the building. Thankfully it is in remarkably good condition, despite the passage of 150 years since Copperopolis's peak. It's weird though I did keep expecting church bells to toll throughout my visit.
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AuthorMy name is Jeff and I am on a hunt to find historic brick and stone structures along Highway 49. Archives
January 2022
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