Alpha, California facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alpha
Former settlement
Alpha Location in California
Country	United States
State	California
County	Nevada County
Elevation	4,120 ft (1,260 m)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)

Alpha was a historic gold mining town in Nevada County, USA. It was located about 2 miles southeast of Washington, California and 15 miles northeast of Nevada City, California. The town sat at an elevation of 4120 feet (about 1256 meters). It was near the South Yuba River and Scotchman Creek.

Discovering Gold in Alpha

Miners first explored the Alpha area in 1850. The town officially began in 1852. This was when Charles Phelps and Mr. McVey found a lot of gold right where the town would be built. The town was supposedly first called "Hell-out-for-noon." But its name was soon changed to Alpha. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet.

The name Alpha was chosen because people believed it was the start of a very rich gold area. This gold channel stretched about a mile east. It ended in a town called Omega. Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet. People often called the area the "Alpha Diggings." It was known for its incredibly rich gold deposits. One newspaper said that miners in Alpha were doing as well as anyone else. Another year, the paper announced that Alpha had "one of the richest auriferous deposits" (gold deposits) around.

A Lively Gold Rush Town

Many miners quickly came to Alpha. The town was most active in the mid-1850s. During this time, it was known as "one of the liveliest mining towns" in the county. Several hundred people lived there. Alpha had at least two hotels, many saloons, and gambling houses. It also had a clothing store and a blacksmith shop. The town often hosted traveling shows and dances.

Alpha was also a place where people voted. Elections were usually held at the Alpha Hotel or Wixom's Hotel.

Getting Mail and Staying Connected

A post office opened in Alpha in 1855. Andrew J. Alston, who owned a sawmill, was the first postmaster. The post office closed in 1862. After that, residents had to go to Washington to get their mail.

Alpha also had a Masonic Lodge called Dibble No. 109, which started in 1856. There was also a Sons of Temperance center. The town was connected by stagecoach to Washington, with daily trips. It also had a stagecoach connection to Nevada City. In winter, snow could be very deep, sometimes 9 feet! Passengers often had to switch to horse-drawn sleighs for the last part of their trip. Alpha even had a telegraph line.

The town did not have a regular school for children. However, it did have a whistling school, a singing school, and a dancing school. There was no church building. But traveling ministers sometimes held services at the temperance hall.

Gold Mining Methods

People at the time agreed that Alpha was a very rich gold mining area. Sometimes, miners could earn $20 to $50 a day. An early challenge was not having enough water in the summer. This meant the town was busy in winter but almost empty in summer.

This problem slowly changed as ditches and canals were built. The Buckeye Ditch was first, bringing water from Scotchman Creek. Then came the Virginia Ditch and the Omega Ditch, which brought water from the South Yuba River. Finally, in January 1858, the South Yuba Canal arrived. This canal brought a large supply of water through many flumes and ditches.

With a steady water supply, hydraulic mining became popular. This method used powerful jets of water to wash away hillsides and find gold. However, the gold mines quickly became less productive. By the mid-1860s, only one mine was still working. Some mining continued in the 1870s and early 1880s. Many sites were worked by Chinese miners. They would sift through the leftover dirt and rocks to find gold that had been missed.

The End of Hydraulic Mining

At the same time, the Alpha Hydraulic Mining Company bought all the mining land around Alpha. They continued hydraulic mining. But this largely stopped after a court decision called Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company. This ruling made it illegal to dump mining waste into the South Yuba River or its smaller streams.

Lumber: Another Important Industry

Besides mining, lumbering was another key industry around Alpha. In the 1850s, there were at least three sawmills: McWorthey's, Skillman's, and Murdock's. Skillman's sawmill burned down in 1858. Murdock's mill also burned in 1859. It's not clear if they were rebuilt.

These sawmills gave Alpha a good supply of lumber for building homes. This meant that, unlike many gold rush towns, Alpha didn't have many canvas tents or temporary buildings. As one historian said, "board was cheaper than canvas." Later, the Towle Bros. built a narrow gauge railroad. This railroad ran from their base north of Alta to their sawmill south of Alpha. This was a big help for Alpha. Supplies could be brought by train from Alta instead of by wagon from Nevada City. Lumbering continued in the area well into the 1900s.

The Wixom Family and a Famous Singer

One important family in Alpha was Dr. William and Marie Wixom. Dr. William Wixom was a doctor. He was also elected as a justice of the peace for Washington Township. He ran the Wixom hotel and worked for the Langton Express Company. He was also a member of the Dibble Masonic lodge.

In 1859, their daughter Emma was born in Alpha. In the 1860s, Dr. Wixom and his family moved to Omega, then to Austin, Nevada. Emma became famous for her singing. People called her "the Alpha Nightingale." She later performed in Europe and America. She used the stage name Emma Nevada.

Why Alpha Became a Ghost Town

As the gold mines produced less and less, people started to leave Alpha. The town quickly became a ghost town. On November 6, 1863, a resident wrote in his diary that "only a few people left in Alpha." Many residents moved one mile east to Omega. Omega continued to thrive for many more years. The Masonic Lodge also moved to Omega. Other residents followed new gold discoveries in Nevada.

By 1864, only 19 people voted in the presidential election in Alpha. Slowly, empty buildings were taken apart. Their wood was used for firewood or to build new structures in Omega. By 1880, a historian noted that "Alpha is now worked out and abandoned." During its short time, it's estimated that $2 million in gold was found in the Alpha diggings. In 1924, a historian wrote that "Alpha and Omega have long since passed into oblivion." This means they are now just a memory of the busy towns they once were in the 1850s and 1860s.