The Home of

Lotta Crabtree Charlotte Mignon "Lotta" Crabtree (November 7, 1847 – September 25, 1924), also known mononymously as Lotta, was an American actress, entertainer, comedian, and philanthropist. Crabtree was born in New York City and raised in the gold mining ...

is located in downtown

Grass Valley, California Grass Valley is a city in Nevada County, California, United States. Situated at roughly in elevation in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, this northern Gold Country city is by car from Sacramento, from Sacramento ...

at 238 Mill Street.

History

Lotta's father, John Crabtree, arrived to Grass Valley in the early 1850s as part of the California Gold Rush. Lotta and her mother joined him in 1853. The Crabtrees,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

, ran their home as a boarding house for the miners, many of whom were Cornish. Lotta, then age six, caught the attention of her neighbor, the internationally acclaimed singer and dancer

Lola Montez Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (17 February 1821 – 17 January 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez (), was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig ...

, whose home (later, a historical landmark) was on the same street. Lotta moved away in 1856, later becoming a wealthy and beloved American entertainer of the late 19th century.

Landmark

This Nevada County building is honored as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

No. 293, registered on 15 August 1938. The plaque's inscription states:

Home of Lotta Crabtree

Lotta Crabtree was born in New York in 1847. In 1852-3 the gold fever brought her family to California. Several months after arriving in San Francisco, Mrs. Crabtree and Lotta went to Grass Valley and with Mr. Crabtree started a boarding house for miners. It was here that Lotta met Lola Montez, who taught her to sing and dance. In Scales, Plumas County, Lotta made her first public appearance, which led to a successful career on stage here and abroad.

The house is also listed in a database of women's history sites created by the Women's Progress Commemorative Commission. In the database, the house is incorrectly identified as being listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. The house does not appear in the National Park Service's NRIS system or in th
NRHP.COM private site echoing NRIS data

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Home Of Lotta Crabtree History of Nevada County, California California Historical Landmarks Houses in Nevada County, California Grass Valley, California

History

Landmark

See also

References