Weaver

Columbia, California

Located in the heart of the California Mother Lode, Columbia State Historic Park is a living gold rush town featuring the largest single collection of existing gold rush-era structures in the state. Visiting Columbia is like traveling back in time to the sights, smells, and sounds of a nineteenth century mining town—merchants dressed in 1850′s attire, a whiff of coal smoke from the blacksmith shop, and the rumble of a stagecoach pulling into town!

Columbia began in 1850, during the California Gold Rush and soon boomed into a thriving town with a busy commercial district, once the second largest city in California. Today, the mid-19th Century shops and buildings are preserved for 21st Century visitors to see.

That doesn't mean that Columbia is a sterile museum, though. Many of the shops house modern enterprises selling hand-made candies, souvenirs and other items. More than half a dozen restaurants, cafes and saloons serve a wide array of food and drink. Visitors can even stay in the old Columbia Hotel (which is said to be haunted).