Subscribe to Steampunk Digest

Empire Mine State Historic Park

10791 E. Empire St, Grass Valley, CA 95945
Empire Cottage

Empire Cottage in the Empire Mine State Historic Park.

Photo credit: By JERRYE AND ROY KLOTZ MD (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Empire Mine State Historic Park is a state-protected mine and park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Grass Valley, California. Since 1975 California State Parks has administered and maintained the mine as a historic site. The mine is described as "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California." Between 1850 and its closure in 1956, the Empire Mine produced 5.8 million ounces of gold, extracted from 367 miles of underground passages.

On weekends from May through October, volunteers dressed in Edwardian clothing give living history tours of the Bourn Cottage, the 1890s country estate home of William Bourn, Jr., and the Mineyard, with demonstrations of mine operations. The park's museum contains a scale model of the underground workings of the Empire/Star mine complex, exhibits of ore samples from local mines, a recreated Assay Office and a collection of minerals.

The park is about 60 miles northeast of Sacramento.

This description includes material adapted from the Wikipedia article "Empire Mine State Historic Park", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. It has been edited for brevity and to conform with the style of this website. The edited description is distributed under the terms of the same Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 license.

Keep up with news in the world of steampunk. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter, Steampunk Digest, delivered to your inbox every Thursday. You’ll get it a day before it’s posted on the website.

Support The Steampunk Explorer!

Patreon: Make a monthly pledge of $1 or more. Includes premium content.

Tip Jar: You can tip the editor in any amount via PayPal.me.

CafePress: Buy T-shirts, buttons, or tote bags with our logo.