The Memorial Day weekend provided us with an opportunity to go explore the historic town of Columbia in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. About 140 miles east of San Francisco. This is gold country, or at least it was gold country after James W. Marshall discovered gold on January 24, 1848. The news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California. The gold rush was rather short lived, though, and by 1855, the rush was essentially over. Columbia was one of the boom towns that arose from the gold rush and the historic park can give you a sense of the history of the region.
We were in town for a family get together, a shower to celebrate the anticipated birth of our first grand child. The old part of town is now a State Historic Park, with shops that sell everything from candy to leather goods and boots. You can also ride a stage coach or pan for gold.
There were about a dozen of us that explored the town, touring the old school, built in 1860, and exploring the shops and curiosities of the state historic park.
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