#389 Auburn Old Town #389
by William Lum
Title
#389 Auburn Old Town #389
Artist
William Lum
Medium
Painting - Watercolor
Description
This is my watercolor painting of a part of Auburn, California known to locals as Old Town. Gold was an important part of the creation of Old Town, a historic district in Auburn. Restored Old Town has houses and retail buildings from the middle of the 19th century. Claude Chana was the first to find gold in the Auburn area in May of 1848, about a quarter mile south of Old Town on the Auburn Ravine. Joe Woods and Tuck Warner came on the scene in late 1848 and found the extensive gold deposits at Rich Flat, near today’s Railhead Park. Gold was also found in Old Town in what was called the “plaza” where several ravines converged.
Merchants and hotelkeepers were quick to react to the influx of miners seeking shelter from the inclement weather. Several large public hotels were built. “‘They were built of logs and roofed with shakes…within each was a great fireplace, a bar, gambling tables, a kitchen and a boarding house.“ Auburn, although stripped of its surface gold within months, managed to hang on and avoid the boom and bust cycle of so many other gold camps in northern California due to its location and its position as county seat.
Casual gold-mining accessories, as well as American Indian and Chinese artifacts, can also be viewed by visitors at the Placer County Museum which is in the Superior Courthouse on top of the hill, seen in the upper right part of the painting.
This 15” X 22” watercolor painting was done on Fabriano Aristico, 140 lb, rough paper.
Uploaded
September 6th, 2019
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