Snow Point was a historic mining town in Nevada County, California, on the San Juan Ridge about 2 miles east of Moores Flat and about 6 miles west of Graniteville. It was located at an elevation of 4321 ft just off present day German Bar Road about midway between that road's intersections with present day Moore's Flat Road and Hagerty Road.
Early history
Snow Point was founded in 1853.Lardner, W.B. and Brock, M.J. (1924) History of Placer and Nevada Counties California (hereafter Lardner), p.325. It owes its existence to its location at the point where the fabled Blue Lead bed of gold-bearing gravel crosses the Middle Yuba River from Sierra County and then heads in a south westerly direction down the San Juan Ridge to French Corral, California.Bean, Edwin F. (1867) History and Directory of Nevada County (hereafter Bean), pp. 22-3; Greenland, Powell (2001) Hydraulic Mining in California (hereafter Greenland), p. 40. It was "believed to be the most extensive and richest deposit of auriferous gravel in the United States, if not in the world."Sacramento Union, Feb. 18,1892.
Reports of mining at Snow Point begin in 1853. That year, Edwin McCabe, who later claimed to be the first white child born in Nevada County, was born in Snow Point.Sacramento Union, June 29, 1910. It appears that other white children were born before him. See Comstock, David and Ardis, Vital Statistics Nevada County California (2020), section on births. An electoral district was created there for the 1853 gubernatorial election.Nevada Journal, Aug. 12, 1853. In 1855, the town was described as follows: "Snow Point was never more lively than at present. New buildings are constantly going up, among which is one newly completed by our old friend J. M. Hunter, Esq., which is intended for a billiard saloon and would do credit even to Nevada, with all her improvements. There are also two stores, well filled; two hotels, with agreeable landlords and ladies and a fine bakery under way, in connection with H. Devendorff & Co.’s store."Nevada Journal, Dec 14, 1855.
Its heyday was in the 1850s. In addition to the businesses mentioned above, it had two sawmills.Churchill's burned in 1856. Nevada Journal, Aug 15, 1856; Bell's burned in 1889. Union, Mar. 5, 1889. In its long history, the Union has had different names, including the Grass Valley Union and the Morning Union. For simplicity's sake, it will be referred to here as the Union, regardless of its name at the time of the cited article. Its social life included balls, foot racesDaily Alta California, Aug. 15, 1857; Nevada Journal, July 9, 1858. and visiting minstrel shows.Nevada Democrat, Mar. 16, 1859. It was connected by stage to Nevada City, Downieville and Eureka (later Graniteville).Young America, Sept. 28, 1853; Marysville Daily Appeal, July 4, 1863. In the 1860s, the newspaper reports about the town peter out. By then, Moore's Flat had become the commercial and social center of that part of the Ridge. Snow Point never had a post office or a school, but Moore's Flat did. But mining continued to prosper. In 1882, one paper commented: "Moore's Flat would be a "dead town" were it not for the Snow Point mine."Union, Aug, 20, 1882.
Mining
Mining was king in Snow Point. In 1858, it declared itself to be the hub of Phoenix Hill Mining District and promulgated a set of mining laws.Nevada Journal, Oct. 22, 1858. Because of its location on the Blue Lead, all types of mining flourished. There were regular reports of large gold nuggets.E.g., Sacramento Union, Union July 1, 1880 (half dozen $200 nuggets found in one day); Daily Alta California, Nov. 14, 1880. There were a number of successful hydraulic gravel mines, such as Blackwell & Co and the Conger Bros. Hydraulic mining required lots of water. Initially water was scarce and seasonal, but that changed with the arrival of ditches, especially the Miners' Ditch in late 1855, later incorporated into the Eureka Lake Company's system of ditches.Nevada Journal, Dec 14, 1855; Hydraulic Press, Dec. 24, 1859.
There was successful hard rock or quartz mining, though quartz mining was initially hampered by a lack of local mills to crush the ore.Sacramento Union, April 21, 1866. In one day in 1855, 4 members of Walton & Co, took out $10,000 (~$ in ) in "clean gold" from a quartz vein.Daily Alta California, Feb. 2, 1855. From the famous Fellows quartz strike, $108,000 in gold was taken.Daily Alta California, May 19, 1866. And there was drift mining, especially where water was not conveniently available.Daily Alta California, Dec. 28, 1878; Union, Sept. 21, 1882 (powder explosion).
Contemporary reports all commented on the richness of the Snow Point mines. Around Snow Point, "the old river bed is rich in gold and has been, so far, comparatively untouched."Union, Jan 3, 1877. Another observed that around Snow Point is "the richest field of gravel in the world."Sacramento Union, Jan. 1, 1877.
After the 1884 Sawyer decision restricted much hydraulic mining, drift and quartz mining became even more important.Union, Aug. 31, 1890. One observer predicted in 1885, "that Moore's Flat and Snow Point will before long become important quartz mining camps."Union, April 4, 1885.
In the 20th century
While the town seems to have withered away,Lardner noted in 1924, that Snow Point had been without a store for 30 years. p. 325. mining continued well into the 20th century. The principal mines were the Snow Point mine and the Twin Sisters mine, both managed by George Hegarty, initially on behalf of Hearst family interests and later on behalf of other investors from the San Francisco Bay Area.Sacramento Union, Jan. 10, 1910, April 18, 1921; San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 7. 1927. There was a mining revival around 1950,Los Angeles Times, Nov. 6, 1950. but references to mining at Snow Point disappear after that. There is some scattered mining that continues. Presently there is no readily visible evidence of the town or its mines, except for some scarred land. '
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