Columbia

Tuolumne County · Columbia State Historic Park · location approximate

Columbia, the "Gem of the Southern Mines," became a town of 4,000 to 5,000 in the 1850's following the discovery of gold here by the Hildreth party March 27, 1850. Gold shipments, estimated at $87,000,000, declined rapidly after 1858, but Columbia never became a ghost town! Columbia State Historic Park was created in 1945 to preserve its historic buildings and sites.

1971 register text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native people; the state's landmark listings still carry most of this wording, and the California Office of Historic Preservation maintains the program's current texts.

Many of these plaques have since been recast or their texts revised. The California Historical Landmarks program and its current texts are maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation. California Office of Historic Preservation ↗

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Marker data: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Historical Landmarks (1971)

More markers nearby

See your own family's places through time.

Start with your family tree