History of Jackson, California
Jackson was born early in the Gold Rush when miners began working the area near Marshall's discovery site. In 1848, Col. Alden Jackson and his party set up camp near a spring in the center of town. For years, Jackson was known as a "Mother Lode Mecca."
Pits and small shafts were used in the 1850's, but after placers ran out in the 1860's, hard rock mining was king. The downtown area of Jackson was almost totally destroyed by fire in August, 1862. Many downtown buildings date from the 1862-63 reconstruction.
Jackson became the county seat of Amador (meaning "love of gold"), the last mine closed in 1943 due to World War II, but commerce and history keep the City strong.
As the need for more facilities developed around the turn of the 20th century, construction of the brick structure, now referred to as the "old hospital" was sparked. It had 40 beds and was located up the hill almost adjacent to the present facility. It currently houses the Amador County District Attorney's Office.
Jackson Gate, on the north fork of Jackson Creek, takes its name from a fissure in a reef of rock that crosses the creek. In 1850 about 500 miners worked here and the first mining ditch in the county was dug here; its water sold for $1 per inch.
The Kennedy Gold Mine is named for Andrew Kennedy, an Irish immigrant, who reportedly discovered a quartz outcropping in the late 1850's near what is now Highway 49. The Kennedy Mining Company was formed in 1860 when he and three partners began digging shafts near today's mine property entrance.
Walk up well-marked trails to get a close look at the huge tailing wheels erected in 1913 to carry vast gravels up and over the hills into a settling pond. Only two of the original wheels are still standing, one on each side of the road.
The others lie in ruins, victims of the elements and age. Picnic areas and restrooms are available. The mine operated sporadically until it closed in 1878. In 1886 fifteen people invested $97,600 to reopen the mine under the corporate entity of the Kennedy Mining and Milling Company.
In 1898 the company began sinking a new shaft 1950 feet east of the original shafts. This East Shaft would eventually reach a vertical depth of 5912 feet, the deepest vertical depth gold mine in North America at the time. In 1928 a surface fire burned all the structures except the Mine Office and the Stamp Mill. All other buildings and foundations were built after 1928. The company operated the mine until 1942 when the U.S. Government closed gold mines because of the war effort.
At the time of its closing, the mine had produced some $34.3 million (some dispute this number) when gold was valued at $20.67 and $35.00 per ounce. The company paid its stockholders $5.8 million between 1886 and 1937. Over 95% of these dividends were paid at $20.67 per ounce.