Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1891-07-21
A DEAD CITY.
The History Of a California Mush-
room Town.
Once tho Scene of Bustle and Business,
but Now a Dreary and Deserted
Spot-Its Rise and
Fall.

Spot-Its Rise and
Fall.
The city of Meadow Lake was once
known to everybody. To all, however,
it is now a mere memory, this deserted
city up in the Businesses of Sierra coun-
ty, but a recent visitor to it's moss
grown streets has written to the Sierra
vile Mirror description of the place
that will be of interest to many.
Meadow Lake was originally a sink
hole about seventy-five feet deep and
was about fourteen feet in diameter.
A large dam was erected below it in
1851. the water was held back and thus
| the lake was formed. While building
the dam the worl7rnen discovered that
much Of the rock contained deposits of
pure galena, and thinking they had
''strucl1 it rich were not slow in MAX
ing the discovery known. About the
same time Harry Hartly, while trap
ping, discovered what was afterward
known as the Excelsior mine. In the
| wear 1865 the excitement commenced
and every other man met was going to
| Summit City, as it was then called.
| Snow was shoveled off the ground as
soon as practicable and the work of
| building was commenced. In a few
| months city arose and every availa-
| BILE foot of ground was put into play.
| The streets were necessarily narrow,
ind many who could not waste their
precious time building substantial
| dwelling houses lived in tents. Six
hotels were built, besides several res
| taurants, churches and theater fol-
| lowed. A two-story stone store was
| erected by Smith & Perkins. The odd
fellows met in hall of their own. A
| furniture factory was established.
At this time the population of the
| town had reached about four thousand
and was rapidly increasing. Quartz
mills were in operation and blasts were
| going off in thirty or forty tunnels and
| shafts ali the time, making a constant
roar. Several small mining companies
were obliged to give up the fight as not
a cent had been taken out and thou
sands put in. Still no one was dis
couraged, and to all doubling ears was
| sounded: Excelsior; wait till the Ex-
celsior cleans up" and nothing more
was heard from morning till night but
| the booming of blasts and the cries of:
Excelsior! Hurrah for the Excelsior"
| At this mine the stamps were crushing
ore all day, all night and every day in
the week, grunting, grooming to work
out the precious metal.
| The road winds around the lake, the
| ruins of houses become more frequent
| until you emerge from the timber, and
the city lies before you. AS we ride
| down the main street our horses step
| on board or we speak and our voices
| are echoed back by the old wooden
| buildings with harsh, metallic ring.
! Near the center of the town stands a
tall flagstaff, bent with storm and
winds. Sign-poles were still standing
in front of many of the buildings, and
| open doors reveal the contents or empti-
ness of them. On every hand lay ruins
of hundreds of frame buildings, with
| here and there whole blocks of build
ings which have been destroyed by fire.
A very large building, built on
granite rock, and seeming to be in a
condition that will stand many more Sc
we're snowfalls, attracts the eye. 1t
was known in the days of it's erection as
Jeffreys' livery stable. Three stories
| high, with the stable on the second
| floor, containing twenty stalls, it is
larger than any building of the kind in
this valley at the present time. At the
back of each stall is a beautifully carved
and turned post, which still retains its
beauty and symmetry, as on the day it
was placed in position. Every detail
shows that no expense was spared
A few yards from the building is a
mass of quarried stone on which num-
Der of iron doors and shutters lie in
| endless confusion. This is all that re-
mains of the stone store of Smith &
Perkins. Houses without a window
pane broken gave hint that the hunter
and small boy do not inhabit this local
ity. On a hill overlooking the town
stand three houses comparatively in
| good condition. The central one is
highly ornamented-indeed it may be
called gaudy. This house was pur-
chased some twenty years ago for
twenty-five dollars. However, it
proved poor investment. Under the
floor of an old shanty we discovered
tank about half full of quicksilver, left
there by some miner who was in too
much of hurry to leave town to take
il with him.
| A careful count revealed the fact that
forty-three houses were standing. 1t is
a pitiful sight, this city on which mil
lions of dollars were expended.
The Excelsior cleaned up, and the
news was carried to the waiting, anx-
ious crowd that the run was unsuccess-
full and that the attempt would not be
repeated. In an almost unbelievably
short time the town was deserted; al
most q panic resulted. Houses were
left with the contents exposed to the
storms of an approaching winter; stores
with their shelves packed with mer-
chandise remained undisturbed until
later, when they were robbed and
burned by enterprising citizens of
neighboring localities.
| Seven Millions of BuEfaloes.
"Gather up the fragments that nothing