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The City of Meadow Lake "Summitt City"

Let's start off with some history of the area, in the summer of 1853 Yuba Water Company sends a crew of workers to the upper North fork of the Yuba river to erect a dam, for water for the miners and towns in the lower valley. This formed Meadow Lake, as we know it today! The measurement of this granite dam was 1150 feet long with a height of 42 feet. Workers never bothered to look for gold in the area, as it was known that no gold existed in granite

In the 1860 era, a fellow by the name of Henry H. Hartley, being a loner, making him well suited for this area, built a trapper cabin on the windward side of the hill by Meadow Lake. The first winter taught him this was not the right place, as the snow drifted against the cabin covering it completely so he constructed a tunnel to the door and raised the chimney, again the snow fell, covering it again, so he added more to both, again it was covered, so, again he added length to both. As told twenty-five year later! As the tale goes, by the time winter was over the tunnel to the door was 1200 feet long and the chimney was so tall that he needed a clear day to see the top!

Needless to say that summer he relocated the cabin to the other side of the hill, were, it remained for years to come. Henry made his living trapping and selling his well-cured pelts, as well as goods; he himself made from the many fur scraps. He made many trips to Cisco station for supplies and trade of furs.

In his many travels, in 1863 he located a red out cropping, which streaked the granite out cropping, taking a couple of rocks he beat some small yellow gold flakes out. When he returned from the valley in August, he brought two fellows with him, John Simons and Henry Feutel, and prospecting began in earnest.

In September they staked off 2000 feet each of two parallel ledges some seventy feet apart named Union 1 & Union 2 a mile south of Meadow Lake, and started working these claims, mining had began in the Excelsior district.

In the spring of 1865 word of gold loaded ledges spread. Starting an in pour of gold seekers/miners, with these people come a need to build. Summit City began its growth!

Charley Parker, J.A. Brumsey, A.C. Alex Wright, laid out a orderly city with eighty foot streets with right angle intersecting cross streets, A, B, C, streets one way, first, second, third intersecting them. "They left a 300-foot square by the shore of Meadow Lake for a Plaza." All with sixty-foot frontages and ninety foot deep with sixteen-foot alleyways running between the long way lots.

Other cites sprung up around the area, Richport, Wrightman's camp, Lakeville, with hundreds a day pouring in, the canvas and wood building when up. High demands for short supply of lumber was being filled at near by sawmills and hauled in at great expense. 

Soon a population of four thousand people lived in Summit City. A charter was in order, to start a city, as a city in Amador county was also listed with the same name, a name change to Meadow Lake, came about, and a charter was granted in 1864. With a Mayor, Sheriff, Weight master, Title manager, the city began. A paper was soon up and running, Meadow Lake Morning Sun, stores, barber shop, pawn shop, hurdy-gurdy establishments (rent a lady dance halls) not whore houses.

Winter came with a vengeance, in the Plaza stood a flagpole twenty-five foot tall, the first snow covered the pole, with many more snowfalls to come, the winter of 1864/1865 was to be recorded as normal snow fall. It was soon easier to dig tunnels from building to building as to try and shovel walk ways, this was to be an annual chore in years following, for those staying.

With reports of great gold ledges in the area, people poured in the next couple of years, as the ledges didn't produce as reported, they soon left, poorer then coming, high priced land and building, soon, were give away priced, as the town slowly reduced in population. Many made a living but couldn't handle the hard winters, with travel down to skiing, and at times even had crew's shoveling road-way of snow, so transportation in and out was available, even this didn't encourage people to stay.

The gold was here, how to separate it from the other metals and minerals were the real problem, with the gold here. Many method's were tried, with out, much luck and the hard metals won, more then it lost, keeping the gold within it. Some of the more successful mines were the Excelsior, and the Carlisle both located on the trail from Meadow Lake to Cisco Grove.

As with many mining cities Meadow Lake is added to the list of once was towns, but we are here gathering it many treasures annually, with fellowship and fun of four wheeling.

Perhaps this will enlighten you on how and when this area was affected by gold.