Middle Bar is a former

mining town A mining community, also known as a mining town or a mining camp, is a community that houses miners. Mining communities are usually created around a mine or a quarry. Historic mining communities Australia * Ballarat, Victoria * Bendigo, ...

on the Mokelumne River in

Amador County, California Amador County () is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California, in the Sierra Nevada. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 40,474. The county seat is Jackson, California, Jackson. Ama ...

. It is a California Historical Landmark.

History

Middle Bar was founded in 1850 by English

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

s during the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

. A mine in the area produced gold quartz. In 1851, the Middle Bar Bridge was built over the Mokelumne River to handle the large amount of gold seekers coming through the area. The following years, 1852, a flood washed the bridge away. Another bridge was built with claims stating it was high enough it would not get washed away. It was finished in November, 1852, and cost $25,000 (~$ in ) to build. It stood for approximately ten years until another flood dislocated the bridge. After the first gold rush, the area experienced a second round of increased population in the 1920s during a smaller mining rush. Eventually, the homes of Middle Bar were purchased by the East Bay Municipal Utility District. The company had built the

Pardee Dam Pardee Dam is a -high structure across the Mokelumne River which marks the boundary between Amador and Calaveras Counties, located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada approximately northeast of Stockton. History Construction of the Pardee ...

, six miles away.

Present day

In the present day a truss bridge built by the Clinton Bridge and Iron Works bearing the date 1912 crosses the Mokelumne River at the town site, connecting the river banks in Amador County and Calaveras County, California.

References

{{Coord, 38.2976, -120.75, display=title Former settlements in Amador County, California Mining communities of the California Gold Rush Mokelumne River California Historical Landmarks Ghost towns in California Populated places established in 1850 1850 establishments in California

History

Present day

See also

References