North Star Mine and Powerhouse facts for kids
| Location | |
|---|---|
 North Star Gold Mine
Location in California
|
|
| Location | South end of Mill Street at Allison Ranch Road, on Lafayette Hill |
| State | California |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 39°11′39″N 121°04′35″W / 39.194167°N 121.076389°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Gold |
| History | |
| Opened | 1851 |
| Closed | 1956 |
| Owner | |
| Company | City of Grass Valley |
The North Star Mine and Powerhouse was a very important gold mine in California. It was located near Grass Valley. This mine was the second biggest gold producer during the exciting California Gold Rush. It was also home to the largest Pelton wheel of its time, built in 1898. The mine eventually closed during World War II.
Contents
Where is the North Star Mine?
The North Star Mine is located near Wolf Creek. It is about one mile west of the famous Empire Mine. The mine property covers about 65 acres. Inside the mine's area, there is a special rock formation called the "North Star Ledge." This ledge was a key source of gold.
History of the Mine
How the Mine Started
The "French Lead" or North Star gold vein was found in 1851. It was discovered by the Lavance Brothers and nine other Frenchmen. They formed the Helvetia and Lafayette Gold Mining Company. Later, in 1858, the company was sold to Edward McLaughlin.
In 1860, a group called the North Star Group bought the mine. They officially became the North Star Quartz Mining Co. in 1861. Then, in 1867, the North Star Gold Mining Co. was created. The mine closed in 1875 after digging down 1,200 feet.
Reopening and Growth
The mine reopened in 1884 when William Bowers Bourn II started the North Star Mining Co. Bourn sold the mine to James Duncan Hague in 1887. Hague then created the North Star Mines Co. in 1889. This new company bought other mines nearby, like Gold Hill and New York Hill.
In 1855, a state geologist said that the Lafayette Hill ledge was one of the best places for quartz mining in California. In the 1860s, it was thought that the mine had at least 30,000 tons of gold ore. This amount was worth about $900,000!
Challenges and Deep Mining
There were many gold mines in the Grass Valley area, about 95 of them. They competed fiercely, so mines often opened, closed, and reopened. A big challenge was finding enough power to get the gold out. Many mines, including North Star, used wood to power their steam engines. This meant they needed a lot of wood from the surrounding forests. The North Star Mine became the deepest mine in the Grass Valley area. It reached a vertical depth of 4,000 feet.
In 1895, Arthur De Wint Foote came to Grass Valley. He was hired to build a power plant for the mine that would make electricity. He installed the largest Pelton wheel of its time in the mine's powerhouse. This was the biggest water wheel of its kind in the world! The powerhouse is now a special California Historical Landmark.
In 1901, the main shaft of the North Star mine, called the "Central" shaft, reached the gold vein at 1,630 feet deep. In 1905, a famous architect named Julia Morgan designed a beautiful house for Arthur Foote and his wife, Mary Hallock Foote. This house, called the North Star House, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.
Later Years and Closure
In 1911, the North Star Mines Company bought another mine called the Champion-Providence Mine. Arthur Foote also bought the Tightner Mine with his partners. To make it easier to move things between the mines, Foote designed and built Foote's Crossing Road in 1913. This road also became a National Register of Historic Places landmark.
Arthur Foote's son, Arthur Burling Foote, became the mine's manager after his father retired in 1913. In 1918, the North Star Mine had a disagreement with the Empire Mine about their underground boundaries. However, they sorted it out without going to court. By 1928, the North Star Mine had produced about $33 million worth of gold.
In 1929, the Newmont Mining Corporation bought both the Empire Mine and the North Star Mine. They combined them into one company called Empire-Star Mines, Ltd. During World War II, the U.S. government made the Empire-Star mine close down. After the war, there weren't enough skilled miners. This made it hard to keep digging in the deepest parts of the mine. Mining stopped completely on July 5, 1956, because of a workers' strike.
The Miners
Many people helped run the North Star Mine. Some of the important leaders were William H. Rodda, John C. Coleman, his brother Edward Coleman, and Arthur De Wint Foote. Many of the early owners were also miners themselves.
The mine and its processing plant employed over seventy men. A large number of these workers, about three-quarters, came from Cornwall, England. They had worked in tin mines there, but those mines were struggling. These Cornish miners brought new ideas to California, like the Cornish pump for removing water from mines. They also introduced the delicious Cornish pasty to the area!
How Gold Was Mined
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The North Star gold vein ran east and west, sloping down to the north. Miners dug an angled shaft following the vein down almost 700 feet. The deepest point reached straight down was about 300 feet. The mine had seven different levels, or floors. The gold vein was usually about 2 feet thick, but it could be as thin as a few inches or as thick as 4-5 feet.
Miners used small carts called tram wagons to bring the gold ore up the angled shaft with a wire rope. The gold was found in a type of rock called greenstone. A separate vertical shaft was dug for hoisting and ventilation. This shaft was 800 feet east of the main incline.
Between 1861 and 1865, the mine made about $500,000. A quarter of this money was used to improve the mine. This included building a half-mile-long drain tunnel and a new mill with sixteen stamps. A stamp mill crushes the ore to get the gold out. The mine's ore had a lot of sulfur, but the gold in the sulfur was less than in other nearby mines. The North Star Mine did not have special plants to process the sulfur. Instead, they used hand rockers to separate the gold from the crushed rock. The gold often appeared as fine pieces in quartz rock.
The sixteen-stamp mill, built in 1866, could crush about two tons of ore per stamp each day. The mine didn't have much water inside it, which was good. Water for processing the gold came from a nearby ditch company. This, along with the gentle slope of the gold vein, made it easier and cheaper to dig very deep at the North Star Mine.
The Powerhouse and Pelton Wheel Museum
The Amazing Pelton Wheel
As the gold mining operations grew after the California Gold Rush, the mine needed more power. That's why the powerhouse was built. In 1895, it became home to the largest tangential water wheel in the world.
In 1878, a man named Lester Pelton brought a new invention to the Miners Foundry in Nevada City. It was called the Pelton wheel. This wheel, about the size of a car tire, had special cups that used water to create power. Since the North Star Mine was running out of trees to burn for power, they decided to switch to water power.
Arthur De Wint Foote designed a huge 30-foot (9-meter) Pelton wheel for the mine. This giant wheel powered four new air compressors. These compressors sent 90 pounds (41 kg) of air pressure down 2,000 feet (610 meters) to the mine's central shaft. Because of his clever design, Foote became the superintendent of the North Star Mine.
Visiting the Museum
Today, the powerhouse has been turned into the North Star Mine and Powerhouse & Pelton Wheel Museum. The New Verde Mining Company gave one acre of land and the old powerhouse remains to the museum. A local resident saved the huge Pelton wheel from being scrapped. They raised $2,000 to buy it and then gave it to the Historical Society. Now, the wheel still turns, helped by an electric motor.
The powerhouse is also a designated California Historical Landmark. A plaque there explains its importance:
NORTH STAR MINE POWERHOUSE
The North Star Powerhouse, built by A. D. Foote in 1895, was the first complete plant of its kind. Compressed air, generated by Pelton water wheels, furnished power for the entire mine operation. The 30-foot Pelton wheel was the largest in the world, and was in continuous use for over 30 years.
Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Nevada County Historical Society 15 May 1971.
Images for kids
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North Star Mine Map
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North Star Mine Cross Section
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North Star Mine Geologic Cross Section
See also
- Empire Mine
- California Historical Landmarks in Nevada County
