A Walk in Nevada City
Every language has words that describe outings on foot. Along a gravel path, one may stroll, saunter, amble, wander, meander, ramble, dawdle, promenade, walk, go for a walk, take a walk, potter, roam, traipse, stretch one’s legs, get some exercise, get some air, take the air. A stroll in a British park could be described as a mosey, tootle, pootle, bimble, constitutional, or perambulation. In Spanish it is un paseo. In French, a stroller who appears to amble without purpose but is secretly attuned to the history of the streets he walks is a flâneur or boulevardier. For two geographers newly resident in Nevada City, many definitions have become a regular part of our lives.
Recently, Kit and I set out on a morning walk in Nevada City’s historic district. It began with a stop for coffee to get ourselves fueled and ready for whatever discoveries might come our way. Java Johns housed in the 1875 Hartung Building fit the bill perfectly. While our café lattes were brewed and frothed, a bagel slathered in cream cheese and an apple muffin warmed, we observed that the small establishment had a table by the window for anyone needing internet connection. There were four stools at the counter, a few tables for indoor diners, and three outdoor umbrella tables on the street. Customers were an eclectic mix of office and construction workers, tourists, and one local street entertainer living out loud and on the edge.
We opted to social distance at an outdoor table while we ate, which allowed us to take in the wide scope of historic architecture up and down Broad Street. As the morning came alive with strollers airing their dogs, fast-walkers on mobile phones, and the occasional tourist in search of an early breakfast, we mapped out a plan for “seeing” the town through geographic lenses. What remains of Nevada City from its beginnings as a thriving mining camp in 1849? What can be learned by stopping to read the historic plaques displayed on brick and wooden building façades? What had the B&B with stained glass windows once been, located next door to the Historic Nevada City Methodist Church dedicated in 1864? We speculated it had been the parson’s residence and made a mental note to find out later.
During a detour down Commercial Street through the old Chinese Quarter, we discovered a memorial “honoring the Chinese pioneers of Nevada City whose footprints remain forever embedded in the Sierra landscape.” Nearby we photographed a collection of 19th century steel mining equipment as street art; a quiet residential garden with a tin goose and stone rabbit tucked amongst irises, hostas and ferns; an offering of free books perched on a stone wall; and a bronze figurine of a pot-bellied, “Laughing Buddha” signifying health, happiness and prosperity.
Arriving back on Broad Street, we crossed to the other side to investigate a convenience store and discovered that it had a surprisingly cosmopolitan collection of wines and beverages, most likely for the local tourist trade at hotels, motels, and B&Bs within walking distance of the downtown. The Pakistani owner was engaged the entire time we were there in what we guessed was a conversation with family half a world away. Descending Broad Street down Bridge St. to Spring St. we gained a sense of the scale of the historic brick Nevada Theater where Mark Twain once performed. A radio tower adorns the 89.5 KVMR radio station that features world music where Bridge intersects Spring Street. A vast renovated high wall of corrugated tin connects the theater and radio station—part of the Bridge Street Project completed in 2015. The project is helping both KVMR and the Nevada Theater to continue to fulfill their missions of bringing people together to celebrate performing and visual arts and give voice to the community through discourse and action.
That morning, Spring Street allowed us a quiet mosey past the Nevada City Winery set back from an old, corrugated automobile garage repair shop that now has grapevines growing up trellises on its side. Tucked in next to a renovated 19th century home that is now houses Mountain Pastimes Fun & Games Shop, an art deco structure that looks like a snub-nosed ship with a satellite dish on its flat roof announced its own transformation as we made our way on foot to South Pine. The Pine Street Bridge at Hallidie Crossing offered an opportunity to walk the narrow 1903 three-hinge steel arch bridge reconstructed in 1996 over a lovely creek spilling over boulders surrounded by tall pines and firs.
By now, it was time for another coffee shop stop, this time at Roots Café where we had a lovely conversation with a couple who were reading while enjoying a morning coffee and chocolate éclair. They raised their kids in Nevada City and welcomed us to this town for which they have a deep affection. Inside the café, we discovered walls filled with local art. I was captured by a painting of cat eyes over an archway that followed me around the room. When I asked about the artist, Michelle Frazer spun out like a ballet dancer from behind the coffee and deli counter and struck a pose under the painting.
Back on Broad Street, our first foray into a commercial shop was at The Fur Traders where I immediately spotted a magnificent handmade floor-length faux fur coat hanging from the shop’s high rafters. Before long I was wearing the coat, Kit had donned a wide-brimmed hat, and we were striking an American Gothic pose in the middle of the store’s amazing shoe department. Reader, I did not buy the great coat, and Kit swapped the big hat for a more sensible railroad cap that he now wears everywhere we go. I will go back to this fine store to find winter boots, but that day, our mission was to see, photograph, speculate, and keep trekking.
The final stop had us back on Broad just above Java Johns for a conversation at The Magic Carpet with Peter Cohen and Carolien van Straten. Their collection of oriental rugs includes handmade and dyed rugs made by Afghan rugmakers now struggling to keep their craft alive under Taliban rule. But that is a story I will save for another day.