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CALIFORNIA STATE MINING & MINERAL MUSEUM
Goin’ to See the Gold Nugget in Mariposa
During the gold rush
in California when enthusiastic hopefuls heard of nuggets of gold so
of you could barely hold ‘em in your fist,
which could just be picked up laying on the ground or in the clear cold
waters of the rivers, flocked over the Sierra foothills to try their
luck, there was an expression used to illustrate the fascination with
the unusual must be seen for oneself which drove many of the curious
to the gold fields, “Goin’ to see the elephant”. Well,
it was true that some giant gold nuggets were found in the veins of quartz
cutting through the schist and decaying granite hills of central California.
One of those can still be viewed inside its own vault at the California
State Mining Museum in Mariposa.
The Fricot
Nugget, weighing 13.8 pounds, is the largest mass of gold remaining
intact found during the gold rush era. A rare form of crystalline gold
once
part
of a larger
deposit of quartz, discovered in August of 1864 in the stream of the
middle fork of the American River. The nugget was never cut or melted,
but toured the world, displayed at the Paris Exhibiton in 1878. The Fricot
(pronounced free-co) Nugget was donated to the state museum in 1930 and
remains its most noted exhibit, tucked into a period safe inside a vaulted
display room.
The California
State Mining Museum is located at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds on
Highway
49 (see Touring
the 49er Highway), is more than
just a hunk of glistening gold. The museum is dedicated to informing
visitors of the importance of mining and minerals to California’s
history. The collection found in the museum was begun in 1880 with fascinating
and beautiful specimens of minerals found in the state, from the common
to the exotic, Fluorite, Topaz, Argonite, Amethyst and Benitoite, the
Official California State Gemstone.
The museum
collection has over 13,000 mineral examples with about 350 displayed
on a rotating basis, along
with original mining artifacts, historical documents, miniature models
of mines, mining Boomstowns, a replica Assayer's Office, Stamp Mill,
mining equipment, and a recreated wood frame supported Mining Tunnel
to present the history of mining operations through the state. The
museum shop sells jewelry, mineral specimens and assorted books on
rocks, minerals
and gold prospecting, with a schedule of activities for kids, like
the Junior Ranger program.
The
California State Mining & Mineral Museum in Mariposa is open
from Thursday to Sunday with an admission price of $4 for Adults, Children
under 12 are free. For more of the gold rush mining history, the nearby
Mariposa County History Museum has more real mining equipment on display
just down the road on the other side of town. Mariposa is on the
Highway 140 route to Yosemite National Park and the mining museum
is just to the south of the 140
and 49 Junction. The mining and mineral museum is a California Stae Park. © Bargain
Travel West
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Cal State Parks
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