COLUMBIA CALIFORNIA STATE HISTORIC PARK
Also known as Columbia Historic District, Columbia State Historic Park is a National Historic Landmark District that preserves historic downtown Columbia, in Tuolumne County, a gateway destination to Yosemite National Park and Stanislaus National Forest.
Between the years 1850-1870, over one billion dollars of gold was mined here, putting Columbia on the map as the “Gem of the Southern Mines”. For a while it prospered as the second largest city in California. Columbia became a State Historic Park in 1945, and today it is recognized as the state’s best preserved Gold Rush town.
History truly comes to life here with volunteer docents dressed up in 1850-1870 period clothing and strolling around the town, gold panning opportunities, live performances at the historic Fallon House Theatre, a working blacksmith shop, museum, a candle and soap-making shop, carriage rides in a stagecoach that is over 100 years old, street musicians, historic buildings, saloons, restaurants, and shops, and the two-story brick school house and cemetery. You can also see the house that Grace Kelly ‘lived in’ during the filming of High Noon. From the Victorian Easter Egg Hunt to Gold Rush Days and the Las Posadas Nativity Procession, there are all kinds of events, parades and festivals held throughout the year.
Columbia State Historic Park is located at 11255 Jackson Street Columbia CA, 95310. For more information call (209) 588-9128 or visit www.parks.ca.gov/Columbia.
