The great California Gold Rush kicked off the entire saga of western mining. Employees are charged nominal rentals, and furnished light and water.' Hammonton is a village of 600 population, and containing 55 buildings, including dwellings, boarding houses, store, post office, repair shops and offices, all built and owned by the company. 1905Īccording to a 1911 report by the Engineering and Mining Journal, 'The field office of Yuba Consolidated Goldfields is at Hammonton George J. The extensive piles of gravel have become increasingly important as sources of aggregate.ĭredge crew at Hammonton, California ca. More than a billion cubic yards of gold-bearing gravels were dredged. On Octothe last dredge was shut down, thus ending a major industry that had existed for nearly 70 years.

However, operations have been gradually curtailed in 1967 only two dredges were operating. The estimated total output from dredging was estimated in 1964 at 4.8 million ounces.

The district was dredged almost continuously from 1903 to 1968 and was the principal source of gold in California for some time. 20 was one of the largest gold dredges in existence. This concern perfected large-scale bucket-line dredging here into one of the most efficient methods for mining placer gold. In 1905 his interests were taken over by Yuba Consolidated Gold Fields, which had just been organized. Bucket-line dredging began in the district in 1903 under the direction of W. However, this soon ceased because the river level was raised by a large influx of hydraulic mine tailings. The river and streams here were first worked during the gold rush by small-scale placer methods. The 1976 publication Gold Districts of California describes the history of the district: The dredging that occurred in this area was the most extensive in the United States. While this town is not well-known, it is notable as one of the top ten gold producing districts in America (data compiled in the 1960s).

Hammonton was center of the dredging industry in the Yuba Goldfields. Current Population: None in original town

Small scale bucket line dredge