Posted on 12/06/2013 12:08:06 PM PST by Utilizer
Surrounded by fire-worn trees and beautiful mountains lies the deserted town of Seneca — a historic miner’s retreat that has recently gone up for sale.
The town, which was surrounded by flames from the Chips Fire a little over a year ago, is an unincorporated community in Plumas County that was founded in 1851 after gold was discovered in the area. With dreams of riches, people flocked to the area and the town quickly grew to more than 1,000 residents. According to an engraved bronze plaque located inside the town, 500 of the residents were Chinese miners who earned 10 cents a day in rice to work in one of the mines.
For over a century, miners filled the nearby mines in search of gold nuggets, the largest of which, found in 1934, weighed 42 ounces and was worth $28,000.
-snip-
“It’s a very wild and remote place yet it’s still somewhat accessible to paved roads,” said Jeff Potter, the owner’s nephew. “I’d say it’s located on one of the scariest, highest, narrowest roads in the country. ...
“The northern access is more like 8 miles of very sketchy narrow dirt road — that’s the scary part.
-snip-
A sign that reads, “There’s nothing wrong with having nothing to say unless you insist on saying it,” remains unscathed over the bathroom entrance.
A dusty, but working piano sits untouched in the corner of the room, alluding to the cheerful times when miners came to relax after a long day’s work.
All of the memories stored in this little ghost town are now up for sale for the low price of $225,000. The sale includes the land, a bar and its liquor license, and three rustic old cabins in need of serious repair.
(Excerpt) Read more at plumasnews.com ...
Sounds like the issue is the road. The real cost is Road construction + $225,000 for the town + repairs for safety.
Sounds like the issue is the road. The real cost is Road construction + $225,000 for the town + repairs for safety.
Sounds really nice if it weren’t in Kalipornia
“Yes, it’s in California, but it is so far from the looney liberal SF Bay Area that it is almost its own separate state for all intents and purposes.”...
In that the town and all those grandious “treasurers” are still within the boundries of CKalifornia, I will suggest all who aspire to be a miner, avoid this “deal” at all costs. You can’t even use lead bullets there.
There are quite a few ranches close by that have tractors, and mini-dozers do not cost that much as vehicles go. Having worked on building horse, hiking, and running trails all on minimum wage through Central Cal, you would be surprised what can be accomplished with a bit of effort.
See My #1. I live not far from there. Stop thinking about the state and look at the area. Not everyone here is a gobstruck liberal. I frequent FR, after all, and they have not come for Me yet. *ducks*
*snicker* Mate, no one hereabouts cares what manner of bullet you use. Or how often you decide to target practice outside of town. And just as an aside, there are indeed miners working valid sites locally, some living entirely off of what they make in the summer throughout the winter, to begin again the next year if necessary. This IS “Gold Country”, after all.
The state is still the state. The area sounds awesome, unfortunately it is in Kalipornia subject to Kalipornia law, regulation and taxation.
Oh, and I did not post it for someone with mining asperations only to consider. Some of us truly want to go galt and live unfettered if possible.
I am not going to try to convince you. If you do not like it, do not make an offer. I can, however, assure you that in over a decade no one has ever decided to come this way to see if I am properly paying state taxes. Heck, I rarely see even a Forestry Service employee. Most I’ve ever seen are the CHP cars and SUVs on the roads.
I didn’t say I didn’t like the place. I was looking at the pictures, looks very nice.
Better to spend your $225k somewhere else.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-c1-ghost-town-20131204-dto,0,3270977.htmlstory#axzz2mjINdXKi
Any idea how many acres are for sale?
Just how big is this town? I may have overlooked it but I didn’t see anything about acreage.
I love it.
I also like the locals’ names, Tim TenBrink and Jerry Manpearl.
‘Over the time of his ownership, Tim TenBrink, 67, said the bar would regularly cater to more than a dozen miners at any given time during the day. TenBrink and his buddy Jerry Manpearl purchased the bar in 1975 after being served about 20 drinks from beloved barmaid Marie Sabin. TenBrink said within a couple years the $50,000 price tag was nearly covered due to the fact the miners “would drink like fish.”
It would be nice if someone could come in there and preserve the history of the place. But what will probably happen is that someone with lots of money will come in, bulldoze everything and make some kind of personal hideaway or retreat.
Shameful to employ minors and pay them ten cents a day in rice; no wonder....
Oh, wait a minute.
Never mind.
It is amazingly cheap to file a claim. Do not quote Me on this because the last time I looked into it was over ten years ago and that was primarily for referential purposes, but at the time it was around thirty-five dollars for a tiny spot on a little creek.
I lost interest in it other than for historical purposes (look up "Humbug Valley", for instance), but at the time I subscribed to a small publication called The Panning Times I believe, with the subscription allowing one to legally pan in certain locations owned by the organization where small amounts of gold were known to exist.
As I said, I am not interested in the mining / gold aspects at the moment. I am primarily looking for a place to live away from it all.
That already happened in a couple of places, but the remote location of this one makes it highly unlikely. Plus, whoever purchases it can simply refuse to sell to a developer. Not to mention that the ghost town has been there for how long now and no one has made an effort to “develop” it yet.
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