“In the days of old, in the days of gold, in the days of ‘49”
California State Highway 49, the “Mother Lode Highway,” can truly take you back to the days of ’49. The road connects gold rush mining camps, ghost towns and historic sites from Oakhurst in the south, to Sierra City in the north. It’s three hundred miles of beautiful country along the foothills of the Sierra Mountains. Twisting mountain roads, sheer granite walls, precipitous drops to swiftly moving rivers. Old buildings, gold mines, forgotten cemeteries. Let’s go see what we can find.
James W. Kerrick arrived here in 1853, coming over the Emigrant Trail with nine covered wagons. He built and operated the Crimea House, a combination restaurant, saloon, boarding house, and stable. It was an important stop for freighters and travelers from the San Joaquin and Bay regions who were heading into the Southern Mines. The buildings were destroyed by fire on October 8 of 1949.
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