Historical Marker · No. 465
Site of Brownsville
Murphys, Calaveras County · California
Erected by the California State Park Commission, with the monument base erected by Chispa Parlor No. 139 N.S.G.W. and Ruby Parlor No. 46 N.D.G.W., 1953
Water was the thing being rationed. The Brownsville district let each miner hold one wet claim and one dry one, neither over a hundred and fifty square feet, which split the ground by whether it had water on it rather than by how much of it there was. The camp worked Pennsylvania Gulch through the 1850s and 1860s and is gone; the bronze says site. It is named for Alfred Brown, a rancher rather than a miner.
What the plaque says
SITE OF BROWNSVILLE A THRIVING MINING CAMP ON RICH PENNSYLVANIA GULCH IN THE 1850'S AND 1860'S. NAMED FOR ALFRED BROWN, FORMER OWNER OF TABLE MOUNTAIN RANCH. LAWS OF THE BROWNSVILLE MINING DISTRICT PROVIDED THAT EACH MINER COULD OWN ONE WET AND ONE DRY CLAIM, NOT TO EXCEED 150 SQUARE FEET. HISTORICAL LANDMARK NO. 465 CALIFORNIA STATE PARK COMMISSION MONUMENT BASE ERECTED BY CHISPA PARLOR NO. 139 OF NSGW AND RUBY PARLOR NO. 46 OF NDGW DEDICATED JULY 19 1953
Where it stands
38.12867, -120.44195 · Directions
Worth the stop nearby
- Columbia State Historic Park — 5.9 miThe Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.
More markers nearby
- Douglas Flat — 1.1 mi
- Murphys — 1.2 mi
- Mitchler Hotel — 1.4 mi
- Peter L. Traver Building — 1.4 mi