Altaville

Angels Camp got the gold and Altaville got the ironwork. A foundry opened here in 1854 and cast most of the stamp mills and mining machinery for Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, which meant the town's business was other people's mines. It outlived them, running under four names into the twentieth century. The state registered the town as a landmark and never put a plaque on it. The bronze that does stand commemorates the foundry, and it names a different founder than the register does.

What the plaque says

ALTAVILLE FOUNDRY & MACHINE WORKS FOUNDED BY J. M. WOOSTER EST. 1854 IS THE SITE OF THE LONGEST RUNNING CONTINUOUSLY OPERATED FOUNDRY WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. ALL QUARTZ MACHINERY NEEDED FOR THE NUMEROUS MINES SURROUNDING THE ALTAVILLE, ANGELS CAMP AREA WAS CAST HERE. IT WAS PREVIOUSLY KNOWN AS ALTAVILLE FOUNDRY AND MACHINE WORKS, ANGELS IRON WORKS, CALAVERAS IRON & STEEL CO., AND LASTLY CALIFORNIA ELECTRIC STEEL CO. PREVIOUS OWNERS: D.D. DEMAREST & T.H. FULLEN 1860, LAWRENCE MONTE VERDA & DEMAREST FAMILY 1892, LAWRENCE MONTE VERDA FAMILY 1928. DEDICATED MAY 27, 1995 PRINCESS PARLOR NO. 84 N.D.G.W. ANGELS TOWNE CENTER

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 8.8 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• Prince-Garibardi Building — steps away
• Altaville Grammar School — 0.5 mi
• Angels Camp — 1.1 mi
• Angels Hotel — 1.1 mi