Historic Copperopolis |
Copperopolis is rich in its history of mining
and ranching. Still standing today
the wonderful old barn pictured below, is located
on Highway 4 just a few miles
from Main Street reminding us
of the rural beginnings of our
community.
  Some
of Copperopolis’ first buildings
were built in the 1860s from brick
hauled by horse and wagon from
Columbia. These bricks became
available after fire destroyed
several structures in Colombia.
Miners were finding gold in the
rubble beneath the charred floorboards
so rather than rebuild the miners
did what they did best, mined
their own businesses and homes.
Blackened bricks can still be
seen on the exterior walls of
the Old Church and Armory buildings.
Several brick structures remain
in Copperopolis. The largest was
once the Federal Armory and served
as headquarters for the 3rd California
Infantry soldiers and the Copperopolis
Union Guard, a military company
organized of volunteer miners
during the Civil War. The Armory
and Old Church buildings now belong
to the residents of Copperopolis
and are cared for by the Copperopolis
Community Center a group of community
volunteers dedicated to the preservation
of the buildings as well as the
history and historic artifacts
in Copperopolis. Next door visitors
will find the old Reed and Honigsberger
buildings originally built as
a mercantile store and office
for the Copper Consolidated Mining
Company. At the other end of town
the Old Church was built in 1866
and is one of the few remaining
examples of Gothic Revival brick
architecture still standing in
California. The original bell
can be heard announcing Sunday
Church services to this day. Charlie
“Sonny” and Rhoda
Stone on behalf of the Community
Center and the residents of Copperopolis
succeeded in placing the Old Church
and Armory on the National Register
of Historical Places and the California
Register of Historical Resources
December 30, 1997.
  This
little town in the southern Mother
Lode had its beginnings in 1860
when Hiram Hughes, looking for
silver found high-grade copper
on Gopher Mountain at Quail Hill.
Previously to that, Thomas McCarty
saw the same strange looking green
minerals stuck to his wagon wheels
in the mud, so when William Reed,
a miner from the copper rich mines
of Wisconsin, brought specimens
to McCarty’s “Log
Cabin” store on his way
to Stockton, McCarty knew just
where Reed made the find. At the
Log Cabin that day a mining engineer,
Dr. Allen Blatchly just happened
to be there and told him what
he had was copper. The next day
Reed, McCarty and Dr. Blatchly
went to the area where McCarty
and Reed had discovered copper.
Reed and McCarty staked a claim
two miles long and became partners.
This site was to become the famous
Union mine. This two mile area runs
parallel to Main Street and mine tailings and structural remnants
can still be seen today. Within
the two mile claim the Union, Keystone,
Consolidated, Empire and Calaveras
mines were located but it was
the copper rich Union mine that
gave employment to a great number
of miners, timber cutters and
teamsters and the beginning of
Copperopolis, originally named
‘Copper Canyon’ in
the first year. The Civil War
had just broken out, and the need
for copper was great. Copperopolis
became the crown jewel of the
copper region of Calaveras County
and was the second largest copper
producing district under northern
control during the Civil War.
 Copperopolis’ colorful history
includes none other than the infamous
outlaw, “Black Bart”
(Charles Boles, alias Charles Bolton).
“Black Bart” began
his career of robbing stagecoach’s
carrying strong boxes filled with
local gold nuggets, coins and
cash just four miles east of Main
Street. Dressed in an old linen
duster coat, two wheat bags over
his legs, a flour sack with eye
holes cut into it and a hat that
had a large point in the center
like a clown, he stood in the
middle of a stagecoach road pointing
a rifle at the oncoming coach.
There had never been a robbery
in California so naturally seeing
this weird character straight
ahead, the driver of the Sonora-Milton
express coach stopped. The date
was July 26, 1875 and what happened
next was the first stage coach
robbery in California’s
history, right here in our back
yard. After 28 robberies Black
Bart met his match November 3,
1883 when Jimmy Rolleri, a passenger
on the Nevada Stage Company stagecoach, carrying a Wells Fargo strongbox
hopped off to hunt for rabbits. When catching up to the coach
on the other side of the hill, Rolleri
interrupted Black Bart's robbery
with a blast from his hunting
rifle. In his haste to escape,
Bart dropped his silk handkerchief
with the laundry mark F.X.0.7.
Wells Fargo Agents and San Francisco
lawmen were able to trace the
laundry mark to the front door
of Charles Bolton where evidence
of previous robberies was found
and Bolton was arrested. He was sentenced
to six years in San Quentin and
after his release was never heard
from again. Jimmy Rolleri was
presented with a new rifle with
a brass plaque on the stock, which
read: “In appreciation for
Jimmy Rolleri’s participation
in the apprehension of Black Bart.”
Close by Copperopolis is a fictional
town invented by Bret Harte. He
set his story, "The Outcasts
of Poker Flat," in this valley
that was once known as O'Brynes
Ferry and that is now inundated
by Tulloch Dam. One of the first
housing developments around Lake
Tulloch is called Poker Flat and
holds meetings and community events
in their clubhouse aptly named,
“The Outcast Hall”.
|
 |
|
|
