The North Star Mine and Powerhouse are located on Lafayette Hill a short distance south of

Grass Valley A grass valley (also vega and valle) is a meadow located within a forested and relatively small drainage basin such as a headwater. Grass valleys are common in North America, where they are created and maintained principally by the work of b ...

in the U.S. state of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It was the second largest producer of gold during California's Gold Rush. In 1898, the largest Pelton wheel for its time was built for the mine. The North Star Mine Company also owned locations on Weimar Hill, adjoining and south of the North Star Mine. It shut down during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

after its consolidation with the

Empire Mine Empire Mine State Historic Park is a state-protected mine and park in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Grass Valley, California, U.S. The Empire Mine is on the National Register of Historic Places, a federal Historic District, and a California Hist ...

Geography

The mine is located by Wolf Creek, on Auburn Road, west of the Empire Mine. It is approximately in size and situated in a southerly direction, the north boundary of the North Star being at an average distance of southerly from the Irish-American Mine. Within the surface boundaries of the North Star, there is a ledge of rock known as the "North Star Ledge", its top or apex wholly within the surface boundaries.

History

The French Lead, or North Star vein, was discovered in the Fall of 1851 by the Lavance Brothers, who with nine other Frenchmen, formed the Helvetia and Lafayette Gold Mining Company. In 1858, the sheriff sold the company to Edward McLaughlin to settle an $8,000 judgement. In Feb. 1860, it was purchased for $15,000 by the owners of the North Star Group, which became the North Star Quartz Mining Co. in 1861. The North Star Gold Mining co. was incorporated in 1867. The mine shut down in 1875 after reaching a depth of 1,200 feet. The North Star Mining Co. was incorporated in May 1884, by

William Bowers Bourn II William Bowers Bourn II (31 May 1857 – 5 July 1936) was an American entrepreneur and socialite. Bourn ran and controlled the Empire Mine and the San Francisco Gas Company, he was an investor in Spring Valley Water Company, and he led a merger to ...

, and the mine was reopened.McQuiston, F.W., 1986, Gold: The Saga of the Empire Mine, 1850-1956, Grass Valley:Empire Mine Park Association, Johnston, W.D., 1940, The Gold Quartz Veins of Grass Valley, California, USGS Professional Paper 194, Washington:US Government Printing Office Bourn sold the North Star to

James Duncan Hague James Duncan Hague (18361908) was an American mining engineer, mineralogist, and geologist. Early years Hague was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to the Rev. William Hague and Mary Bowditch Moriarty. North Star House, 1907

In 1895,

Arthur De Wint Foote Arthur De Wint Foote (1849–1933) was an American civil engineer and mining engineer who impacted the development of the American West with his innovative engineering works and entrepreneurial ventures. In Northern California in the late 189 ...

settled in Grass Valley, having been hired to design and construct an electric-generating plant for the mine. At the mine's powerhouse, he installed the largest operating Pelton water wheel to that date; it was the largest

tangent In geometry, the tangent line (or simply tangent) to a plane curve at a given point is the straight line that "just touches" the curve at that point. Leibniz defined it as the line through a pair of infinitely close points on the curve. More ...

ial

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buckets ...

in the world. The powerhouse is a designated

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 ...

. In 1901, the North Star "Central" vertical shaft reached the North Star vein at 1630 feet. In 1905, Julia Morgan designed a mansion for Foote and his wife, the illustrator and writer

Mary Hallock Foote Mary Hallock Foote (1847–1938) was an American author and illustrator. She is best known for her illustrated short stories and novels portraying life in the mining communities of the turn-of-the-century American West. Biography Overview Mar ...

; the North Star House was listed on the

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 v ...

in 2011. In 1911, with his partners, Foote purchased the Tightner Mine in

Alleghany, California Alleghany is a small census-designated place in Sierra County, California, Sierra County, California, United States in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada. It is situated in the Gold Country and continues to be a significant locale for gold min ...

. Two years later, in 1913, he designed and built

Foote's Crossing Road Foote's Crossing Road (CA 613) originates in North Columbia, California and winds through the Tahoe National Forest to connect with the community of Alleghany, California. It is a Registered Historic Place. The high bridge crossing at the Middle ...

along the Middle Yuba River to improve transportation between the two mines; the road became a

landmark. Foote's son, Arthur Burling Foote, who started at the North Star as an assistant, went on to become the mine's manager after his father's retirement in 1913. In 1918, the North Star brought suit against the Empire Mine for underground encroachment upon its claim, but the boundaries were resolved, and the matter never went to trial. In 1927, the Central shaft reached a depth of 3700 feet (8600 level). By 1928, the North Star's total output value was approximately $33 million. The following year,

Newmont Mining Corporation Newmont Corporation is a gold mining company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, United States. It is the world's largest gold mining corporation. Incorporated in 1921, it owns gold mines in Nevada, Colorado, Ontario, Quebec, Mexico, the Domin ...

purchased the Empire Mine and the North Star Mine, consolidating them to become Empire-Star Mines, Ltd. The Empire-Star was forced to shut down by the U.S. War Production Board during World War II. After the war, a shortage of skilled miners forced the suspension of operations in the deeper portions of the mine by 1951. Mining operations were suspended on 5 July 1956, due to a local labor union strike.

Miners

Superintendents and administrators of the mine included William H. Rodda (later of the Norambagua Mine),

John C. Coleman John Crisp Coleman (August 9, 1823 – March 23, 1919) was a California mining, railroad, and public utility magnate, and served in the California State Senate. He was the first President of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad, President of t ...

, his brother, Edward Coleman, and

. Its early owners were all miners such J. C. Coleman, E. Colman, W. H. Rodda, Josiah Rodda, John Rodda, William Kitto, William Hosken, William H. Thomas, James Dods and John Harper. The mine and mill employed over seventy men. Three-quarters of them had emigrated here from

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

where they had worked in the depressed tin mines. These Cornish miners introduced the Cornish pump and the Cornish pastie to the area.

Operations

The North Star vein has an east and west course, with a dip of about twenty-three degrees to the north. This mine was opened by an incline shaft sunk on the course of the vein to a depth of nearly . The lowest perpendicular depth attained was approximately . It was opened by seven levels. The vein varied in thickness from a few inches to , with an average of about . The explorations in the fifth level extended about east of the shaft. The total known extent was estimated at . The lower level was driven east of the shaft. Above the three lower levels, the ground was virgin to surface, and little was extracted from the two next to the bottom. The ore was raised by tram wagons on the incline, with a wire rope. The vein was enclosed in greenstone. A vertical hoisting and ventilation shaft was sunk east of the incline. This shaft was set to cut the mine on the level of the fourth gallery. The shoots of ore in this ground had an easterly pitch. The ore had a gradually increasing tenor of gold. The North Star Mine Company owned upon the course of the lode. Between 1861-1865, the net returns were approximately $500,000, about one-fourth of which was expended in permanent improvements on the property. These included the drain tunnel, half a mile long, which was the most considerable item, and a new mill of sixteen stamps. About $375,000 of the net savings were returned to the owners in dividends, obtained from the use of a six stamp mill during 1862-63, which was subsequently enlarged. The returns for the year 1866 were $315,000, derived from the crushing of 6,000 tons of ore. The ores of this mine are considerably sulphuretted, but the value of the sulphurets in gold was much less than in the nearby Eureka Mine. The North Star did not possess chlorination works, but dressed their tailings by hand rockers for sale. The ores showed free gold, often in very fine masses, implanted in quartz, which resembles that of the nearby Rocky Bar Mine and Massachusetts Hill Mine. The sixteen stamp mill, erected in 1866, had a capacity of crushing about two tons to the stamp daily. The water in this mine was light, a supply for the use of the amalgamation works being derived from a neighboring ditch company. This circumstance, as well as the low angle of the dip of the vein, favored very greatly the economy of development of the North Star to a great depth.

Powerhouse

When the mining operations expanded subsequent to the California Gold Rush, the powerhouse was added. In 1895, it became the site of the largest

ial

in the world. In 1878, Lester Pelton of Camptonville brought a strange machine to the

Miners Foundry The Miners Foundry (previously Nevada Foundry; Nevada Iron Foundry and Machine Shop, George Allan's Foundry and Machine Works, American Victorian Museum, Miners Foundry and Supply Company; currently Miners Foundry Cultural Center) is located at 32 ...

in nearby Nevada City. The Pelton wheel, about the size of a car tire and referred to as "Wheel One", was put on display for mine owners. It used cups on a wheel to draw water and harness power. Running out of trees to burn, the North Star decided to switch to hydraulic power, and

designed the wheel which drove four new

compressor A compressor is a mechanical device that increases the pressure of a gas by reducing its volume. An air compressor is a specific type of gas compressor. Compressors are similar to pumps: both increase the pressure on a fluid and both can transp ...

s that delivered of

air pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The Standard atmosphere (unit), standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equival ...

for to the mine's central shaft. For his ingenuity, Foote was made the North Star's superintendent. The powerhouse has been turned into the North Star Mine and Powerhouse & Pelton Wheel Museum. The New Verde Mining Company donated an acre of land and the remains of the old power house. The wheel was saved from the scrap heap by a Grass Valley resident who raised $2,000 to purchase the wheel and donated it to the Historical Society. The powerhouse is also a designated California Historical Landmark. Its plaque's inscription reads:

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.

Gallery

File:North Star Mine Map.jpg, North Star Mine Map File:North Star Mine Cross Section.jpg, North Star Mine Cross Section File:North Star Geologic Cross Section.jpg, North Star Mine Geologic Cross Section

References

* ''This article includes text incorporated from N. Shiverick's "Facts and statistics relating to the Edmonton gold mine, Grass Valley, Nevada County, California (1866)", a publication now in the public domain.'' * ''This article includes text incorporated from Benjamin Silliman's "Notes on the quartz mines of the Grass Valley district (1867)", a publication now in the public domain.''

External links

U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library
photos from the North Star Mine

Excerpt from: Gold Districts of California, by W.B. Clark, 1970
The Northstar Mine Powerhouse & Pelton Wheel Museum
- Nevada County Historical Society
Photo Gallery, The North Star Mine and Powerhouse

Landmark plaque's photo
* The North Star Mining Company and Associated Records. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. * Ernest Howe Papers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{California history California Gold Rush History of Nevada County, California Gold mines in California Former mines in the United States Underground mines in the United States Museums in Nevada County, California Mining museums in California California Historical Landmarks