Visit Date: July 5, 2021
In my attempt to find and record these old stone buildings along Highway 49, I get to travel the Gold Country. I'm often shocked at how many spectacular buildings still exist. I’m especially impressed with how many of the Gold Rush towns are still charming and awe-inspiring. Some of their main streets are a step back in time (Visit Murphys if you want to see what I mean). One of the most popular towns to visit along Highway 49 is Sutter Creek in Amador County. The town is a haven for antiquing. Knowing that, I cannot understand how the authors of the Highway 49 study photographed 3 buildings for the Sutter Creek entry and not one of them was from the charming core of the town. Instead, we get two buildings in the foothills to the east and the Botto Granary, just south of Sutter Creek, which is documented here.
I shouldn't be too harsh on the Botto Granary building. It's not the building's fault that there are much nicer, sturdier, and still in use structures less than a mile away, lining the main street in Sutter Creek. Maybe in 1948 it was an excellent representative of Gold Rush architecture, more so than those buildings. I'll give the Division of Mines survey authors’ credit though, once again they sought out and photographed a former bar, which seems to be a theme for the buildings they recorded.
In the 1948 survey the building was described as: "Across the highway from the Central Eureka mine on the crest of Sutter Hill is the Botto Granary built in 1869. It is of dressed field stone (andesite breccia) obtained in the property. With its iron doors and plastered interior, it stands as an excellent example of the enduring architecture of the Mother Lode." So apparently, I'm not much of an architectural historian. I was rather unimpressed with the granary. However, note the iron doors below. I guess they are pretty nice(?)
This site visit unfortunately did caused me to violate my one cardinal rule: Stay off of private property. The entry in the guidebook had two images, the one at the top of this post and the one at left showing detail work of the stone construction. I tried to re-photograph this but I wasn't able to find the pattern shown on the front of the building. Can you? Please let me know if you can find it in the image below.
Because I couldn't find this pattern of stones in the front of the building, I assumed it had to be in the back. To check this out I had to walk onto the porch of the house next door. The house is beautiful and looks exactly like a B&B, including a welcome sign on the wrap around porch. Long story short, the angry dogs barking inside the house were mad at the guy just outside of their private residence, which is definitely not a B&B. It kinda ended like "Oops. Sorry about that. Didn't mean to trespass. But do you mind if I look around back? What's that? Of sure, I'll leave now. Have a great day."
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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
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