We were going to start the day at the Tuolumne County
Historical Museum but parking near the museum and then the 9am traffic put a
quick end to a longer visit in Sonora. All we have is a picture of Sonora in our rear view
mirror.
Columbia State Historic Park could have been an
all-day affair, although I'm glad we were early in the season and in the middle
of the week. Many of the original buildings now include period appropriate
businesses operating as concessionaires. The bakery had wonderful cinnamon
rolls – just saying…
The fir floor boards to the left of the bowling alley
were at least 18 inches wide.
As was true of
many of these towns, the successful businesses built with brick and used iron
shutters to withstand the fires that seemed to sweep through town on a regular
basis.
One hotel featured fancy brickwork and iron balcony
railing
while the other featured an ornate lobby as seen
through a window.
Throughout town, even most of the hardware
and nails appear original.
The curves and grades were for the most part kinder
and gentler than the previous day. We even had this opportunity to take a picture!
As we entered Calaveras County, we started looking
for Mark Twain's frogs
and found them in Murphys, another town dating to the
gold rush
where many of the original buildings were built of
rough stone. This town was full of wine tasting emporiums representing the
local wineries.
A number of the buildings in Mokelumne Hill were
different yet, built by Italian stonemasons using local cut limestone.
I especially appreciated the keystone work forming
the lintels over most windows and doors.
Home for the night was Jackson – a place that Verizon
apparently has not yet discovered. The folks from Bentonville were our hosts.
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