The Past is Present in Coloma #1: Bell Store

Just a few old photos this morning of an old brick building in Coloma, California. It is known as "Robert Bell's Store".

I have always been fascinated by this old shell of a building. Can't you just imagine the lady in her sunbonnet carrying a basket of her purchases, perhaps some bright blue calico for a new dress, a bit of chambray to make a work shirt for the husband, and maybe some penny candies to treat the children when she gets home? This old Frasher's Real Photo Postcard above states "Remains of Robert Bell's Store, built about 1856". In this great old photo you can see out the back of the store into the woods beside the South Fork of the American River. Trees of Heaven grow rampant inside where there once were barrels of pickles, crocks of liquor, bins of nails and grain, perhaps a nice warm fire in a pot-bellied woodstove, and people gathered to wonder at the weather and watch the rising of the river during a big storm.

Bell's brick store sold general merchandise, feed and grain, and also served many years as the U. S. Post Office.

According to one old postcard, banners, signs and merchandise were displayed under the shake-covered porch that covered the fancy brick sidewalk.
In 1856 Coloma was swept by fire which destroyed most of the wooden buildings. The Bell store was one of the first buildings rebuilt after the fire.

Today, as you drive down Highway 49 into the State Park, the building still stands on your right just past the old schoolhouse. Take a drive and check it out one of these days.

A Visit to Coloma (40 Years Ago)

Good morning. Tina here. I am going to share with you some photos of one of my favorite places, Coloma, California. Gold was discovered there in 1848, and a gold rush started in 1949. If it hadn't been for Coloma, there wouldn't be any Gold Country Girls, so I am thankful for this wonderful town. All of the Gold Country Girls used to work in Coloma at one time.
In the years 2007 and 2008 there was a hot air balloon company which made trips over Coloma. They were closed down when neighbors complained. I always planned on taking one of their flights. When I was out watering in early morning, I could look down the river and see the brightly colored rainbow balloon. It was about the size of a dime since it was over a mile away. It looked like a lot of fun.

Apparently they had to land wherever they ended up, which was usually someones driveway. That was the problem with the neighbors, I believe. They never made it to my driveway, they would have been welcome. Maybe someday they will come back.

About 40 years ago my husband , a friend and I went to Coloma to check it out. Bill, obviously a child of the 60's, made sure he posed by the Keep Off sign. Since we weren't arrested, we continued on with our visit.

Coloma has changed a lot over the years since 1848. It has been built up, burned, was once the county seat of El Dorado County, and now is a state park, which very nearly closed this year due to the California State budget problems. Luckily for us, the powers that be realized if there was no Coloma, there might not even be a State of California.

This is Mount Murphy. A few years ago it burned. There is a house at the top but they escaped the flames. I have a lot of shots of the fire from our house. It was a few ridges off from us, thank goodness, and so I could watch without fear. It is a beautiful historic hillside which is covered with poppies in late winter. I will do a post on the poppies one of these days.

This is a photo of visitors to Coloma in 1948 for the centennial. They were getting special Coloma postmarks on their mail with special 1948 stamps. The Coloma post office still hand stamps at Christmas with a beautiful Christmas in Coloma postmark. A friend of ours always sends his Christmas Cards out with the hand stamp. This year it featured a Gold miner and donkey and snowflakes fashioned out of picks, square nails, horseshoes, etc.

Here I am in the park. There are beautiful picnic grounds with wonderful large grinding rocks. I have always enjoyed the hike from the picnic grounds up to the James Marshall Monument which overlooks the river where he discovered gold. Watch out for the poison oak though!

This is an old postcard showing the main street of Coloma, which is now Highway 49, when it was still dirt. Notice the old gent by the side of the road. I like to imagine he might be James Marshall.

The site where Sutter's Mill stood now has a rock monument. It sometimes is beside the river, sometimes in the river, since the river changes course every so often. Not as often now since they built the Chili Bar dam in the early 60's.

This is an old postcard showing Marshall's cabin, where he lived while working at the sawmill. Later he moved to Kelsey where I live, and lived in a cabin very similar, and about as dilapidated. He did not get rich from his discovery. But he did become famous.

Rafting is a very popular sport in Coloma. Hard to see in this photo how a raft would get through here. At the time this photo was taken, in 1970, rafting had not yet become a common recreational sport.

This is an old postcard showing one of the old Coloma bridges. If I drive to Coloma from my house I have to go across a great old one lane bridge (sharing it with tourists) before I can get to the little town.

This is the replica of the sawmill built by Sutter. It is just upriver from the actual site and built out of the river path so that people can walk around and on it. Marshall discovered the gold nuggets in the mill trace while working to cut lumber for Sutter to build his fort in Sacramento.

This is an old photograph of a bank and a store built and used by Chinese laborers. The Chinese were awesome workers in the Gold Country and an important part of early California history.

All through Coloma there are various plaques and monuments, old buildings, history abounds. It is fun to walk through and explore everywhere.

This is an old photo of the Bell Store, which still stands in Coloma. It is a wonderful old brick building. Trees of Heaven grow inside where merchandise used to be stacked.

This is my son at the picnic grounds in Coloma 1973. I have taken his daughters to the same place for picnics. It is a special piece of Gold Country heaven that I am happy to live close to. I hope you enjoyed our visit.

March Can't Decide If It's A Lion Or A Lamb

Good morning, Tina here.


Well, it has been March for a week now. We have had just about every kind of weather you can have in that week, except for sunbathing weather.


We've had thunder, lightning, hail, torrential rains, 40 mile plus winds, popcorn snow, dry snow, wet snow, those large snowflakes that almost cover the ground themselves, frosted fields, rainbows, and shiver-inducing layers of fog. Oh, and clear, crisp blue skies. All in the same week. I think Mother Nature is just about worn out.


We haven't had any disasters here on our property, but our near neighbors lost one of their beautiful oak trees in their sheep pasture. Our driveway runs by it, and it was one of my favorites because it had a big burl down fairly low on its trunk. It came down in January, and will remain as it is until the weather is less liquid and the ground firms up around it.

It always amazes me that a little ball of roots could have held that gigantic leafy canopy for years. You can see a small section of the burl below just to the right of the roots. Farewell silent giant.

Another loss close to home was the Bell Store in Coloma. It was literally gone with the wind. I am just sick about it. 

I guess this gives us a better view of Mount Murphy now, no bricks to block it from us. I wrote a post on this old store a few years back, lots of history there.

(Click here to go back and revisit that post, if you'd like.)

Enough about the disruption caused by our weather, I would sure enjoy some calm, serene, quiet layers of snow.

Below is an old real photo post card (RPPC) of snow in Columbia, which Heidi can tell you is near Sonora where she lives.

I can hear the squeak and feel the squish of the snow under my boots. I think to myself, if it snowed in Columbia. . .  I bet Placerville got some!

Yep, here we are, looking down Main Street toward the Raffles Hotel in the right corner. A bit busier than in Columbia on its snow day.

Well, here I am at the end of the post. I started with absolutely no ideas, and I guess I went here and there, rather like being blown about by the blustery March winds. Hope you held on to your hat!

Best Wishes to You, Tina... A look at Jac Turner, Artist

I received an email from a local gentleman recently who had purchased a Jac Turner print of Diamond Springs from a local thrift store and was interested in finding out a bit more information on him.  So I decided to write a post and share what I know.  I met Jac in 1991 at his gallery on Main Street, Placerville, when I worked nearby, just a few doors down.

I stopped in often after that, and made sure to purchase a calendar from him each year. I have the 1991, 1992 and 1993 calendars. A 1992 calendar with thirteen beautiful full color prints is now on sale on ebay for $150.00! I believe he only made three calendars, and I have them all, each signed with a florish by Jac himself as I waited: "Best Wishes to You, Tina".

As I glanced in his window which faced main street, one day in the fall of 1992, I saw a fresh watercolor painting he had just completed and pinned up on the wall, not yet matted or framed. It was of Main Street, and prominently displayed the City Hall buildings and the Superior Court. I worked at City Hall at the time, and had worked for twelve years at the Courthouse, so I was immediately drawn to the lovely colorful painting. I walked in and purchased it, leaving it there to be framed. He asked if he could include it in his 1993 calendar, and I gladly consented.

Showers on Main Street - 1992

Above is the calendar print of my original watercolor.

Jac moved to El Dorado County from the Santa Clara Valley in 1986, with his wife Valerie, who passed away in 1988. Valerie had encouraged Jac to paint and he proceeded to create with a colorful passion. He also illustrated a couple of large tomes by local historian George Peabody, "The Squaw Hollow Sensation" and "The Historical Perspective", with his quick and comical sketches.

Emmanuel Church of Coloma - October 1990

The print of the Emmanuel Church in Coloma, above, which is included in the 1991 calendar, is one which I bought as a framed and signed print from the Art Gallery in Georgetown several years ago. Gold Country Girls Lori and Tina (myself) were married there in a double wedding in 1980, so it holds special memories!

Bell Tower Plaza- 1989

Sportsman's Hall 1850 - July 1988

John William (Jac) Turner, a native Californian, was born in Fresno in 1916, and died in El Dorado County ten years ago on August 16, 2004. He worked on his high school newspaper and yearbooks, becoming a published artist early in his life. Jac served in the Navy in World War II, learning to carve while stationed in the Pacific Theater.  Later in the Santa Clara Valley he worked as a commercial artist and owned a cabinet shop. An original founder (1992) of the Gold Country Artists Gallery, located on Main Street in Placerville, he continued to paint until just a few years before his death.

The Fausel Ranch - 1989

Gutenberger Corners 1856 - June 1990

Georgetown Hotel 1859 -  painted 1990

Smith Flat House - October 1990

Downtown Diamond Springs - August 1988

D'Agostini's Pond - November 1992

Mosquito Bridge - September 1992

The Willow School - October 1992

American River Inn - September 1991

The above and the following eleven prints are from the 1992 calendar, along with Jac's colorful descriptions of each. This is the calendar for sale on ebay.

Old Town Auburn - September 1991

The Bayley House - September 1991

Boeger's Winery - July 1991



Downieville - September 1991

Downtown Placerville - April 1991

The Fausel House - September 1991

Fiddletown - 1990

Lower Main Street, Jackson - September 1990

Nevada City - September 1991

Pleasant Valley Hotel (Spencer House) - August 1991

Shingle Springs Mill - September 1991

(Actually, he was wrong about it not being a mill - they milled shingles by horsepower - but I won't hold it against him!)

Stonebraker's Place- Also known as Bryant's Retreat - October 1988

Our final print, with Jac's Best Wishes, to show Gold Country Sis Heidi that he made it to Sonora in September 1991 to paint the beautiful Episcopal church.

It is hard to believe it has been a decade since we lost this wonderful, colorful, prolific and friendly artist.  You are missed, Jac. Thank you for leaving such a delightful Gold Country Watercolor Legacy behind!


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