COUNTY
PIONEERS
H I S T O R Y
Mr. & Mrs. Felix Gillet
A private nurse, ELIZABETH WATSON was
When barber turned horticulturist
FELIX GILLET bought a barren rocky hill
near Nevada City, his friends thought him
crazy. Undaunted, he cleared, tilled and
hauled water by hand from a well he had
hand dug. He brought nursery stock from
his native France including walnut varieties.
His garden flourished, and he distributed
rare varieties of nut trees up and down the
pacific coast. Not as well-known as fellow
horticulturist Luther Burbank, Gillet had a
great impact on agriculture and is considered to be the father of Northern
California’s walnut industry.
WILLIAM LOUTZENHEISER took over the
Grass Valley drug store in 1855, and about
the same time built a brick building (now
Foothill Flowers) to house the business. A
loan at 2% interest a month enabled him
to stock his shelves. But, had he known the
value of the dirt taken from his cellar
during construction, he would not have
needed a loan. It was said the dirt was so
rich in gold, it was sold to Chinese miners
on Wolf Creek by the man hired to
remove it. The hauler and the Chinese
made a considerable sum from the
transaction, which took place without
Loutzenheiser’s knowledge.
asked by a group of doctors to operate a
hospital for them. It was 1910, and her
reply may have shocked them. “I’ll run it
on my own.” She then founded the
Nevada County Sanatorium on Coyote
Street in Nevada City. Miss Watson and her
staff treated maimed miners, those suffering from miner’s consumption, workmen
kicked by
horses, burn
victims and
townsfolk
caught in
epidemics.
Over 3,000
babies were
born in the
hospital, and
women even
traveled
from other
California
towns
because they
Nurse Elizabeth Watson
heard a baby
could be born in a clean hospital in safety.
Each baby was given a silver dollar by
Miss Watson. The hospital served the community for 36 years.
In 1860, SAMUEL BALDWIN and his son
were busy building a 40 ton schooner in
North San Juan to run on the Sacramento
River. It was 36 feet long, 15 feet wide and
5 ½ feet deep. The Nevada Journal wrote
this was “probably the first attempt at ship
building in the mountains of California and
may inaugurate a new and profitable
branch of business in this region.”
From time to time, residents of Nevada
City would see four pall bearers carrying a
coffin through the streets containing
ALEXANDER HUNT who was very much
alive. A printer for the Nevada Transcript
newspaper, he had purchased the finest
coffin he could afford. Not only did he use
it for transportation, he slept in it.
One of the first to open a brewery in western Nevada County was E. WEISS who had
learned brewing in Strasbourg. He arrived
in Sacramento in July 1950, walked to
Nevada City and built a house and brewery.
By 1879, the area had 50 breweries producing 500,000 gallons of beer.
CHARLES BROCKINGTON had his greatest
mining success after age 55 when he gave
in to his wife and agreed they could stay in
Grass Valley rather than move to San
Francisco. He founded the Golden Center
Mine, located at today’s South Auburn and
Neal Streets. Under his six year leadership
which ended in 1918, the mine netted $15
million. Specimen or jewelry quality
nuggets were found particularly in a ledge
which ran down Mill Street. There were
many stories of high grading (stealing) the
mine’s rich ore. One miner is said to have
faked a
rupture
and carried
out choice
nuggets in
a truss he
wore.
Charles
Brockington
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