Site Visit: February 29, 2020In the late 1990s I was the County Archivist in one of the Gold Rush counties. We didn't get a lot of researchers so I was able to spend a lot of my time going through the records myself. While indexing the court records from the 1850s I conceived a brilliant idea for a TV show. I'd use the stories from the court cases as the basis for the storylines for my show. Sort of like Erle Stanley Gardner did with Perry Mason, only set in the Gold Rush with an honest-as-the-day-is-long, handsome sheriff solving the crimes, often with the help of his neighbor, the attractive and sharp as a tack schoolmarm who are both secretly smitten for each other. (If we can get to picked up for a season 4, we'll even get to see them hook up!) If I had to pick a location to set the show in it would be the quaint Calaveritas in Calaveras County, where I went to see the historic adobe house on Main Street. Calveritas sits in a beautiful small valley, about 4 miles to the east of the county seat San Andreas. Running just south of town is the previously very prosperous Calaveritas Creek. At one time it was a booming mining town with as many as 2000 people from all over the world. The town bustled with Americans, Chinese, French, Mexican/Sonorans, Italians, and other Europeans. It must have been remarkable to see. If given the chance, go visit. Especially in early spring when the grass is green, and the air is still crisp. What makes it nice is that the town is not directly on Highway 49, so it has a slow (in a good way) feel. There are only a few historic buildings left in Calaveritas, including the adobe house. Although I swear it looks more like it was a barn than anything. I'm pleased that the adobe brinks are being protected with the wood siding. However I would have loved to have seen it as the 1948 Division of Mines building survey did when they traveled there. They described the structure as having been built in 1850 and still having the original lime plaster to protect it. They also noted that "just beside this adobe are the remnants of two other buildings whose basement walls, four feet high....(E)ach has an arched doorway." Seeing these relics was nearly as gratifying as the adobe. The best-preserved buildings in Calaveritas are at the north end of town. These buildings, the Costa Store and Cuneo house, seem to beam with pride at having conquered the ages. It must be a testament to their owners through the years that they are both in such good condition. The Costa Store, in particular, provides an excellent view of how well the adobe bricks have held up over the years. Calaveritas never recovered from a fire in August 1858 that destroyed nearly all of the town. Maybe we are even lucky to have just these buildings, based on how ominous the early accounts were. Before the fire though, the town knew how to have a good time. You can tell because they even had a dance school. At one point it had 60 men signed up for lessons. No word however on the number of women. They probably needed to know how to dance with all of the balls and parties that were held in the town. They used just about any occasion to hold a ball including the 4th of July and even the inauguration of a new president. I'm sure I could have even crafted a story for my show from the dance school and balls.
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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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