The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-10-03
a DEAD CITY.
The History of a California Mush-
room Town.
Unco tho Scoao OF Hustle and Bus,ness,
But Now n Dreary and Deserted
Spot-Its RIso and
EaI

The city of Meadow Lake was once
known to'everybody. To all, however,
1t is now mere memory, thistleserfed
cSty up ia the businesses of Sierra coun-
ty, but n recent visitor to it's moss
grown streets has written to the Sierra
vile Mirror n description of the place
that will be of interest to many.
Meadow Lake was originally sink
hole about seventy-fire 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
tho lake was formed. While building
the dam tho worlInen discovered that
much of the rock contained deposits of
pure galena, and thinking they had
's'struclS it rich" were not SLOW in maxi
ing the discovery known. About the
same time Harry Hartly, whilo trap
ping, discovered what was aftcrward
known as the Excelsior mine. In the
year 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. IA q few
months n city arose and every availa-
BILE foot OF ground was put into play.
The streets were necessarily narrow,
and 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 theatcr fol-
lowed. n two-story stone store was
erected by Smith sc Perkins. The odd
eli. 4.
furniture factory was established.
i 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 all the time, making 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
couragcd, and to all doubling cars 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 sfIurrah 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 tho old wooden
buildings with n harsh, metallic ring.
Near the center of the town stands
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, aid seeming to be in
condition that will stand many more Sc
we're snowfalls, attracts the eye 1t
was known in the days of its 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 beautifully carved
and turned post, which still retains it's
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
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 window
pane broken gave hint that the hunter
and small boy do not inhabit this local
ity. On 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 a poor investment. Under the
floor of an old shanty we discovered q
tank about half full of quicksilver, left
there by some miner who was in too
much of bTrsry TO. leave town to take
Il with him., on.
: a careful count revealed the fact that
forty-thrcc houses were standing. It is
n pitiful sight, this city on which mill
lions of dollars were expended.
The Excelsior cleaned up, and the
news was carried to the waiting, anx-
ious crowd that the run was unsucccss-
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 tho
storms of an approaching winter; stores