Welcome to Nevada City
In the week since my botanical walkabout on our parcel of land off Crystal Wells Road, a Super Moon turned blood red over the Sierra foothills that border the Tahoe National Forest. Welcome to Nevada City, described locally as “the prettiest and most interesting of California Gold Rush towns.” Eager to put feet to pavement and explore the town’s past as well as present, Kit and I headed downtown to see what we could learn on foot.
After a quick stop at the Post Office on Coyote Street, we popped into the Chamber of Commerce where Stuart Baker was busy organizing brochures in the back storeroom. It was his first day on the job, but within minutes he began introducing us to this small, historically preserved town of 3,150. Before leaving, we exchanged contact information, had recommendations for a lunch spot, and had a tote filled with complimentary brochures and copies of “Destination”—a gorgeous glossy magazine promoting businesses in Nevada City and the nearby town of Grass Valley (population 12,820).
The Chamber is located on Main Street in one the oldest structures in town—the South Yuba Canal Building (1855). Harmony Books next door is in the historic Ott’s Assay Office (1857) where James J. Ott tested ore in 1859 that led to the Comstock Lode silver rush in Nevada. We soon got into a discussion of must-read books with Stuart who upon our recommendation is now reading Amor Towles’s A Gentleman in Moscow. I’d just ordered Daniel James Brown’s newest book, Facing the Mountain—the author’s first book since The Boys in the Boat. It is a powerful story of patriotic Japanese Americans who faced years of racial prejudice, deprivation, and mass internment during WW II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Stuart has been equally captured by Towle’s wonderful novel.
On Stuart’s recommendation, we walked a stretch of Commercial Street where numerous restaurants, pubs, cheese shops, and retail stores are located. The upper part of the street includes the historic Chinese Quarter where Chinese businesses operated in the 1850s-1870s. Where Commercial Street intersects Pine, we ducked into Toad Hall Book Shop—a magical space that features children’s books in an interior like an Alice in Wonderland rabbit warren. Across Commercial Street, J.J. Jacksons is a lovely specialty and gift shop where cards, books, and lovely tablecloths can be found.
Commercial Street lunch options included Sopa Thai Cuisine, One 11 Mexican Restaurant and Bar, Heartwood (with Vegan/vegetarian options), Ike’s Quarter Café (local meats, veg-grains, gluten-free, Cajun) and Three Forks Bakery & Brewing Co—a brewery, bakery, and restaurant featuring locally-sourced fresh seasonal food that Stuart highly recommended. Kit enjoyed a delicious sandwich on artisan bread and a glass of pale ale, and I had part of a small brick-oven baked pizza that we finished for dinner al fresco on our deck that night.
We’ve now been twice to what is fast becoming our favorite Friday evening, party-of-two, American comfort food restaurant—Bistro 221 on Broad Street. It’s located next to the historic National Exchange Hotel—the state’s oldest continuously operating hotel (just recently reopened after three years of extensive historic renovation). Inside, the bistro has space for intimate table settings, but we prefer sitting at one of their eight curbside tables socially distanced 6-feet apart and under umbrella awnings. Dogs of all sizes and shapes are provided with water bowls under tables in this famously pet-friendly town.
After the National Hotel reopened in early May, we perused the lobby and bar where I was fascinated by historic photographs of women that line the walls. I’ve since learned that there is a plaque in the National Hotel parking lot dedicated to the town’s one-time red-light district and its unique contribution to the Gold Rush. In the 1850s there were 10,000 people living in Nevada City where in an 1856 California election 2,082 votes were cast—exceeded only by Sacramento and San Francisco.
Keen on having the past remain always present, Nevada City’s historic district boasts 93 buildings, eight of which are on the National Register of Historic Places, and 18 others can be found around town where visitors enjoy exploring its narrow streets and century-old buildings. With the brochures we stocked up on at the Chamber of Commerce, we have material for walking tours, tree tours, Grass Valley’s historic downtown district, and Empire Mine State Historic Park—site of one of the largest, richest, and longest-operating (1850-1956) gold mines in California, producing more than eight billion dollars in gold by today’s standards.
And of course, we’ve already become members of the Nevada County Library, beautifully situated up a hill off Hwy 49 at the edge of the historic downtown. After getting our library cards we made our first purchases from their Friends of the Library collection and gazed out a looming arched window with a spectacular view of the pine forest where the library is nested. With our bag of gently used books in hand, we sat outside at a picnic table and enjoyed a coffee and slice of lemon cake that we’d bought earlier in town. Other than the wind soughing overhead, not a sound could be heard.
No question about it. I’m falling in love with this town.