California State Capitol

I visited the Governor's Mansion SHP.

Next, I saw the California State Capitol.

The building is in downtown Sacramento.

It has a museum and also conducts public tours.



The surrounding gardens have several war memorials.



Vietnam.



A few liberty bells.



The Civil War.



They were decorating the Christmas Tree.



The rotunda.



Tour introduction.



The California State Assembly room.



The California State Assembly room.



The California State Senate room.



The California State Senate room.



The apse.



The original Governor's Office.



The tour ends with displays on California's 58 counties.

Governor's Mansion State Historic Park

Sacramento is the California state capitol.

I took a tour of the Governor's Mansion.

The mansion is no longer occupied.

The Reagan family last called it home.



A guided tour overviews both building and governorship of California.



A scale model shows what the original house looked like.



The mansion's last four first ladies:



The dining room accommodated fourteen.



Upstairs bedrooms:



The attic housed a ballroom for 19th century entertaining.



The servants quarters:



The kitchen:



The tour ended here.



The house was occupied for over 90 years.


Governor's Mansion State Historic Park in Sacramento is well worth your visit.

Folsom Prison Museum

I went to jail.

Of my own volition.

Folsom State Prison is famous.

The live album At Folsom Prison was recorded here by Johnny Cash.



His 1968 concerts for prisoners helped ease their "Folsom Prison Blues".



As well as turn Cash's career around after years of drug abuse.

Their hoots and hollers only add to the character of this bestselling album.

Folsom Prison Blues (Live) - J...

The Folsom Prison Museum contains some memorabilia.

A short video provides a glimpse into life at "Old Folsom".



"...That lonesome whistle...



Blow my blues away."

Folsom Powerhouse SHP

I left the Folsom History Museum.

I took a short walk down the hill to the American River.

I reached Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park.

The park preserves and interprets this turn of the century hydroelectric plant.



The powerhouse presided over a period of modernization in Sacramento Valley.



Rivers such as the American were tamed.



I headed back to the Mystery Machine.



Next stop: prison.

Folsom History Museum

I left Auburn.

The rain cleared as I descended the  foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

I crossed into Sacramento County and the city of Folsom.



Folsom has a historic downtown with several things to see.



The Folsom History Museum is a good place to start.



Starting with the Maidu, several ethnic groups have thrived in California.



The Pony Express exhibit is one of the most complete I've seen.



This saddlebag is where mail was placed.

Agricultural exhibits.



Christmas dioramas.

Auburn

I left Marshall Gold Discovery SHP.

I crossed into Placer County and the town of Auburn.

My Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Guidebook told of a free Gold Museum.




However the Mountain Mandarin Festival was charging an entrance fee.

Skipped it.



Headed for Folsom...

Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park

Seasonal closure is a bitch.

I hugged the California coast all summer long.

I hit Crater Lake National Park, Oregon hours before snow closed its roads.



The trade-off was driving Historic Rt. 49 through the central Sierras in late fall.


While the foliage was pretty, some "Gold Trail" destinations were closed.



Continuing north on Hwy 49 I reached Coloma, CA.


James W. Marshall discovered gold in 1848 on the South Fork of the American River.



Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park preserves, recreates, and interprets Sutter's Mill.



As well as other historic buildings that sprang up in boom town Coloma.



Another Miwok village.


An interpretive trail leads through the park.


To a memorial.



James Marshall (as well as John Sutter) died penniless.



Their discovery set off the California Gold Rush.



The greatest mass emigration in the Western Hemisphere.



Soon their claims were jumped by a plethora of fortune seekers.



Marshall should have kept it a secret.


Continued to work Sutter's Mill.



Buy small rich parcels of land.



Secure water rights up and down the American River.


Maybe start a commercial services and industrial supplies company ala Wells Fargo.

Amador County Museum

I continued north on Hwy 49.

I drove clear across three counties!

Visiting three county museums...

I hit the town of Jackson in Amador County.

Jackson - June Carter Cash, Jo...

But the Amador County Museum was closed for restorations...

Shoulda called ahead!



I went back to the Mystery Machine and planned my next move.

I didn't have much luck the next morning.

The El Dorado County Museum was also closed.

These smaller museums tend to be closed seasonally.

Calaveras County Museum

I left Columbia State Historic Park.

I drove north on historic Hwy 49 through Tuolumne County.

Then crossed into Calaveras County.

The county seat is San Andreas.



My only stop was the Calaveras County Museum.

A great place to learn about outlaw Black Bart.



Bart robbed many Wells Fargo stagecoaches before being caught.

Upstairs are dioramas, including a bark Miwok house.



It's fun just wandering around...

Columbia State Historic Park (3)

Saloons and spittoons.

Chicken coops.

The tour rapped up.

There's only so much a person can take!



We went over to the museum.



And underneath it too, LOL!



I walked over to the old brick schoolhouse.



Leaving Tuolumne County, I headed north into Calaveras County.



Historic Hwy 49 is a pretty drive through rolling hills.


Full of rich local history and family fun.

Columbia State Historic Park (2)

I took a ranger led tour at Columbia State Historic Park.

The park preserves several Gold Rush era buildings.

Many are privately owned and run as tourist shops.

Some are operated by the parks dept.



A few like the Tibbits House were actually moved from other locations.



Citizen No. 1--people-pulled & people-powered fire engine!


Next stop the Wilson Store.



I've always found industrial age commerce fascinating.



Apparently fire was a serious problem in boom shanty towns.

Columbia State Historic Park (1)

Most Californians think their state has no seasons.

Especially lacking fall foliage.

It's there. Not on the coast or deserts though...

Columbia State Historic Park interprets
the California Gold Rush.

It provides a living glimpse into the past.



When the central Sierra Nevada Mountains bustled with mining and prospectors.



Businesses like Wells Fargo soon followed.



That's where the really money was made:

Tuolumne County Museum

I finished the Mist Trail at dusk.

Yosemite Valley was getting it's first winter snow.

A few inches were just starting to stick. (I had no chains.)


I hightailed it out of Yosemite National Park.


The next morning I hit the Tuolumne County Museum.



This history center details the Gold Rush in the Sierras.



The museum is located in the county seat: Sonora.



This building used to be the Tuolumne County Jail.


Derelict, it was declared a public nuisance and converted to a museum.