Copperopolis

Calaveras is a gold county and this is its copper town. W. K. Reed and Thomas McCarty found copper here in 1860, the Union needed it, and by 1863 the population was over ten thousand. Copper reached fifty-five cents a pound during the war and fell to nineteen when it ended; six mines were still working in 1866 and none lasted. The ore came back for both world wars. Two plaques tell it at very different lengths.

What the plaque says

COPPEROPOLIS STATE REGISTERED LANDMARK No. 296 COPPER DISCOVERED HERE BY W. K. REED AND THOMAS McCARTY IN 1860. MINES UTILIZED DURING THE CIVIL WAR AND THE FIRST AND SECOND WORLD WARS. DURING CIVIL WAR PERIOD WAS PRINCIPAL COPPER PRODUCING SECTION OF UNITED STATES. MARKER PLACED BY CALIFORNIA CENTENNIALS COMMISSION. BASE FURNISHED BY COPPEROPOLIS COMMUNITY CENTER DEDICATED MAY 30, 1949 The Town Of COPPEROPOLIS WITH THE DISCOVERY OF COPPER ORE IN 1860 BY THOMAS McCARTY AND WILLIAM K. REED, THE TOWN OF COPPEROPOLIS SPRANG INTO EXISTENCE AND SOON BECAME THE LARGEST PRODUCER OF COPPER IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. THE POPULATION OF COPPEROPOLIS GREW TO EXCEED 10,000 BY 1863. THE UNION MINE WAS THE LARGEST PRODUCING MINE IN THE AREA, WORKING THREE SHAFTS AND HUNDREDS OF MEN ON THE PAYROLL. DURING THE NATIONS THREE RECENT WARS, THE CIVIL WAR, WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II, MUCH OF THE COPPER ORE THAT WAS SO VITAL TO THE IMPLEMENTS OF WAR WAS SUPPLIED BY THIS AREA. DURING THE CIVIL WAR THE PRICE OF COPPER REACHED AN ALL TIME HIGH OF 55 CENTS A POUND, FALLING TO 19 CENTS WHEN THE WAR DREW TO A CLOSE. ALTHOUGH SIX MINES WERE OPERATING IN 1866, THEY DID NOT HOLD OUT FOR LONG, FOR THE GRADE OF ORE HAD ALSO FALLEN. FROM 1861 UNTIL 1976, THE CAMP HAS PRODUCED ABOUT 72,500,000 POUNDS OF COPPER VALUED AT THE TIME AT $12,100,000.00 1960 MARKED THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DISCOVERY OF COPPER WHICH ALSO MARKED THE BEGINNING OF MINING ASBESTOS FOR THIS UNIQUE LITTLE "NEARLY GHOST" TOWN OF COPPEROPOLIS. DEDICATED BY MUTUCA CHAPTER 1849 E CLAMPUS VITUS June 17, 2000 (6005) CREDO QUIA ABSURDUM

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 14 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• O'Byrne Ferry — 6.7 mi
• Robinson's Ferry — 7.6 mi
• Carson Hill — 8.0 mi
• Archie Stevenot — 8.0 mi