Empire Mine

(photo courtesy of: http://www.pashnit.com/roads/cal/Empire.htm)

My Great Grandma Hutchins lives in a town named Grass Valley California, Grass Valley is an old mining town which is situtated around many mines, one of which is Empire Mine.
The Empire Mine is the site of the oldest, largest, and richest gold mine in California. From 1850 to its closing in 1956, it produced 5.8 million ounces of gold.This 5.8 million ounces of gold would fill a box 7 feet on each side. It is estimated that this represented only 20% of the available gold...80% remains.
Grandma took us up to the Empire mine and we were able to walk around the old buildings, shops, and even the old mansion located on site.



We toured inside the old buildings and even went down into an old mine shaft.



Grandma even though her age is getting up there, you would never know, she walks so fast sometimes it's hard to keep up with her! It was fun to go and explore such an important historic sight!