Horse team carrying sand for the construction of the Mountain Quarries Railroad

The Mountain Quarries Bridge and railroad were built in 1912 to bring limestone from the quarry to nearby Auburn. The construction that took place when animals worked alongside early 20th Century machines documented with this photo.

This photo looks like a mixed "pack train" of horses and mules. They are hauling sand for making concrete with teamster Charles Ray (on the lead horse). I counted 14 horses/mules, three men, and a dog, which can be seen in the close-up below.

A horse-mule pack train near Auburn and the Mountain Quarries Bridge, 1910. Photo from: Placer County Museums.

This spot looks familiar as we have hiked the Mountain Quarries Trail before. The concrete foundations seen in the photo are for a railroad trestle crossing, but not the Mountain Quarries Bridge. There are 17 places along the old railbed where they built trestles over canyons and sides of hills. We will try and take a photo of this spot next time we hike the trail.

Map of the area. Click to see a closer view.

A summertime day in Auburn, 1916.

We were looking down Railroad Street from the Freeman Hotel, Auburn. To the left, we see a Livery, Feed, and Auto Service, which was a logical choice for the livery as the new automobile made its appearance. The horse and buggy were doomed and best to transition while the transcontinental highway passed in front. Railroad Street in 1916 was the Lincoln Highway, bringing people and autos from the rest of the country as far as New York.

There is a bar just further down, which, according to the sign out front, sold beer for 5 cents, and beyond the bar is the Peerless Cleaners and Dyers. Better enjoy that beer, as prohibition will begin in just a couple of years, 1919. Not a lot of traffic on what appears to be a summer day, as the trees a fully leafed out. It looks like the water wagon may have passed by recently, keeping that nicely graded roadbed from becoming dust.

Interesting to note that people still used horses and wagons in 1916, as the first three vehicles we see are buggies. I do think we can see a couple of auto’s further down the road.

World War I is raging in Europe, and many of the hometown boys are off fighting. When the soldiers that survived return, everything will change as we transition from one era to another, the roaring 20’s!

The children of Long Valley School, Placer County, 1890

This photo from the Placer County Museums is full of personalities who once inhabited Long Valley, with a population of around 60. We see kids from the school enjoying their lunch around the school well. The teacher, looking very professorial, is enjoying a drink of that cool Long Valley water.

The fun is taking a closer look at the photo and the kids. You’ve got the older boys looking mischievous at the right while numerous younger kids look like they will burst out laughing at any moment. Be sure to check out the old-school lunch/water buckets.

One resident of Long Valley, born in 1893, was Clark Ashton Smith, writer and artist most famous for his fantasy writing along the vein of H. P. Lovecraft. You can read more about Smith here.

Long Valley was located on the Auburn Sacramento Road, a mile or so south of Auburn. Leaving Long Valley heading south on Rattlesnake Bar Road, you would have crossed the old Rattlesnake Bar Bridge, which we have written about before. Long Valley School still stands at the corner of Auburn Folsom Road and Rattlesnake Bar Road and is used as a community hall.

I’ve posted a map, The Georgetown Divide in 1873, and marked where the town was. To see the complete map go here.

1873 Map showing Long Valley and the Rattlesnake Bar Bridge site, Click map for closer view.

1895 Citrus Colony Cricket Team, Rocklin, California

Moses Andrews of Auburn started Placer County’s citrus industry when he planted a seedling citrus tree in 1871. The region was well suited to citrus. It was below the extreme cold of the mountains but high enough in the foothills to ripen earlier than other citrus regions in California, giving these fruits a head start for shipping back east by rail. This was the beginning of the Penryn/Loomis/Rocklin citrus industry.

Joel Parker Whitney was a local citrus and grape grower who had traveled to Europe and had an affinity for English country life. He decided to build a colony for people who shared his love of that life. The Citrus Colony was born. Twelve wealthy families arrived from England and built homes, a clubhouse, tennis courts, and even a cricket field.

'Pictured above is the Citrus colony’s 1895 cricket team, which was unbeaten in the State of California. They were also the 1898 champions of the state.

Eventually, the fruit prices started to drop as the depression of the 1890s worsened, and the colonists’ lack of farming experience began to take its toll. Eventually, some colonists headed back to England while others ended their farming careers for other ventures. The Colony went bankrupt in 1905.

More information about Placer County’s Citrus Colony can be found here.

Aerial view Auburn at the turn of the century

We are looking west above Auburn, California, at the turn of the 20th Century. While automobiles existed, they were not common at this time, and the main mode of transportation was the horse and wagon. The canyon we see at right is known as Auburn Ravine and today is buried under Interstate 80. With that in mind, we can see the original location of the Auburn Volunteer Fire Department building, with stripes, on the far right. That building was saved and now sits at its new location.

At far left we can see the old post office building and the small gazebo building that held a drinking fountain. At the top of the hill, sit’s the white Snowden House.

In the above Google Earth photo, we can see the modern-day view of the same location. The stripped firehouse building now sits in the new location. Interstate 80 dominates the right side of the view. The Snowden House still stands at the top of the hill. The railroad trestle crossing the interstate was built by Southern Pacific in 1909 and therefore does not show up in the earlier photo.

Central Square, Auburn, California

It looks like a very cold, but still day in Auburn. The trees have lost their leaves, and the lady walking at left is dressed warmly. This was known as Central Square as it is half -way between Old Town and the Railroad Station on Lincoln Way. Lets’s take a close look and see what we can see.

Here we can see the lady under the awnings looking into a window. Notice all the tie posts for horses and wagons — an advertisement for boots on the sign.

Here we are looking at the Opera House, with a confectionery bottom floor left. A billboard is advertising something, but I can’t read it, while a horse and carriage are waiting.

Here we can read the writing on the wall. Wholesale Liquor sales are agents for the famous “Buffalo Brewing Co, and Union Ice Co. Auburn Bottling Works.” A grocer to the right of that, and far-right a sign for a Dentist named Ward.

A couple of people waiting on the corner for a friend, a carriage at left on the go, and George Leanard, Tailor. A typical day in Auburn sometime around the turn of the 19th century.

Looking north on Lincoln Way

The above photo shows Lincoln Way in Auburn, looking north towards High Street. I guessing the date to be the early 1930s. There is a Lincoln Highway “L” on the telephone at left.

Here we see the same scene as the photo above, but a decade or so later. There is more traffic, and there is now a crosswalk with a “Stop for Pedestrians” sign. We can see some of the older cars that might have been in the first photo still tooling around.

Auburn Ski Club at Cisco Grove.

This photo shows the Auburn Ski Club building in Cisco Grove, approximately the 1930s. There is a toboggan last in line, waiting for its owner to return. Another group is milling around the front, and the ubiquitous Coca-Cola sign hangs in the doorway. I cannot see the snow shed over the railroad tracks on the mountainside, so I was wondering if this is facing north? Most photos are from the 1930s.

Now that the formalities have been taken care of, it’s time to ski! We see people skiing “this way and that” in the above photo. I’m not sure if the rope tows or jig-back are available yet, so many of these folks may be “cross-country skiing.”

In the above photo we see the unusual and likely first “ski lift” in California, The “Jig-Back”. It’s all metal and you rode backwards to you wouldn’t be thrown out when it started! It still sits, rusted, near the railroad tracks on the side of the mountain.

This is what amounted to skiing before the “Jig-Back” and tow ropes were installed. You ski jumped from here. Don’t be afraid, it looks farther than it really is.

Here we see a man taking flight from the ski jump at Cisco Grove. It doesn’t look so far from this angle.

The jump from a different angle. This gentleman has figured out how to do it with excellent form.

There were competitions. Here we see a lady receiving a trophy for some event. Everyone seems pleased with the result! Can someone identify the people or events in this photograph?

Photographs from: Placer County Museums and Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler collection.

Auburn old town, no more

A beautiful photograph of a part of the old town that no longer exists. The building straight ahead is the firehouse, which had to be moved to save it from the construction of Interstate 80. All the other buildings in this photo are gone!

The above close-up shows the Herald Newspaper building. The sign “Herald” now sits behind the gas station.

Close up of the left side of the photo, showing the highway 40 shield, which dates this to after 1928.

All photos from:

Auburn railroad crossing gets a new addition

The bridge is newer, but there has been a railroad over-crossing at El Dorado Road and Highway 49/193 in Auburn since 1905! Monica and I spent part of Tuesday painting the Lincoln Highway "L" on both ends of the span. The California Chapter of The Lincoln Highway Association (CLHA) uses signs and these stencils to mark the path of the old road, just as it would have been done from 1914 to 1928.

Monica stands in front of the recently completed “L” at the east side of the under-pass.

The CLHA has recently painted other railroads over-crossings, including the 1910 Newcastle tunnel on Old State Highway, two crossings in Applegate, one each at Heather Glen, Weimar, Secret Town, and the South Yuba Bridge at Cisco Grove, and finally one at Donner Summit. The Stenciled "L's" goes along with our Historic Lincoln Highway signs you will notice along the old road. Be sure to check them out when you drive by.

The same over-crossing, looking west. The Wagon is headed up Lincoln Way.

Middle support facing east.

The following picture shows the same underpass but looking north from the west side.

“DANGER SLOWDOWN TOOT. TOOT.”

Where is the driver?

How can you find and follow the Lincoln Highway? Besides the signs and stencils the Lincoln Highway Association publishes a Google interactive map showing the route accross the country. Just keep zooming in until your at the area your interested in. Map can be found here.