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Tuolumne County Timeline
1901-1950 |
Links to all timeframes for the
Tuolumne County Timelines
Earliest-1850
1851-1900
1951-Present |
1901 |
Harvard Gold Mining Co. expands the quartz hard
rock mining, with two shafts and 60-stamp mill driven by electric
power; was a major contribution to Jamestown economy |
1901 |
Standard Lumber Co. is incorporated; D. H.
Steinmetz becomes general manager; Thomas Bullock is president after
selling his interests in West Side Flume & Lumber Co. |
1903, Feb. |
Sugar Pine Railway incorporated by Standard
Lumber Co., Inc. Purchased by Pickering Lumber in 1921 along with
the renamed West Side Lumber Company in 1925
|
1903, Sept. 21 |
Tuolumne County High School starts; meets in
basement of Tuolumne County Courthouse, predecessor to Sonora H. S. |
1910s |
Tuolumne County commercial apples become an
important export; transported by Sierra Railway to other markets
|
1910 |
Me-Wuk Rancheria is established in Tuolumne area |
1913 |
Hetch Hetchy project authorized to supply water
and power to San Francisco; first O’Shaughnessy Dam completed in
1923, raised in 1938 |
1916 |
New Strawberry Dam completed and becomes resource
for public water and recreation. Renamed “Pinecrest” Dam. |
1919, May |
First movie (silent movie) filmed on the Sierra
Railway titled "Red Glove" |
1923-1924 |
Don Pedro Dam completed. |
1925 |
Moccasin power
house (Hetch Hetchy) completed. |
1927-1929 |
Melones Dam and power plant completed. |
1930s |
Great Depression hits. West Side Lumber sawmill &
logging operations shut down; Pickering Lumber Co. closes |
1934 |
West Side Lumber Co. reopens; limited operations |
1937
|
Pickering Lumber Co. and its railroads reopen
after federal reconstruction finance loan |
1938 |
Cavalero Gardens was purchased as a permanent
location for the 29th District Agricultural Association fair grounds |
1938, Aug. |

Sierra Railroad’s last regularly scheduled passenger train ends
service in Tuolumne County |
1942 |
U. S. enters WW2; 1942 federal government
suspends gold mining operations; some mines reopen on limited basis
in 1945
|
1945 |
Columbia State Historic Park formed
|
1950 |
Raising of Melones Dam completed |
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