Sutter Creek Community Benefit Foundation – Gallery

MINING!

Before settlement as a town, Sutter Creek’s claim to fame was as a timber source for John Sutter, beginning in 1846. After gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill in 1848, Sutter spent time placer mining along Sutter Creek. Gold bearing quartz was discovered in 1851 opening the Union Mine which became the Lincoln Mine. Hard rock quartz mining became the mainstay of the area’s economy until the federal government closed gold mines in 1942. Local Sutter Creek mines included the Wildman, Mahoney, Union-Lincoln, Emmerson, Old Eureka, South Eureka, and the famous Central Eureka.