#52Ancestors52Weeks...Week 28...Trains....150 Years of Family History on The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railway. Woooo Woooo!

    Engine Number 5, an 1875 Baldwin steam locomotive that was

part of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railway from 1899-1940.

Photograph taken at the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railway Museum's Second Sunday Steam-Up on  June 9, 2024 by AliA.

      This week's theme is Trains...Family on my maternal side has connections to the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railway which span around 150 years or so and continue to this day! 

   

 Map of Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad

from Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad by Gerald M. Best Howell-North Books-Berkeley California 1965 Page 12.

    The Narrow Gauge Railroad ran between Nevada City, California and Colfax, California from 1876 to 1943.  It provided service between Nevada City and Grass Valley, as well as service to the station in Colfax which was a stop on the Central and then  Southern Pacific railway going east to west across the country.  The little railway provided passenger services, as well as freight, lumber and produce shipment services to the communities it served along its 22.64 mile route. It also began providing transportation for  Sunday School Picnics and Miners Picnics, where many a Cornish pasty was eaten! 

   Riding on the Narrow Gauge Railroad began with the Hurd family living in Virginia City, Nevada and the Burrows family living in Grass Valley, California.  The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, and passed through Reno, Nevada on its way to Sacramento, California.  Passenger service of the Virginia and Truckee  Railroad from Virginia City to Reno  began in late 1871.  The Hurds were in Virginia City by 1875 and their eldest daughter Elizabeth Jane Hurd Burrows was married to Alexander Burrows and living in Grass Valley.  If the families wanted to visit coming from Virginia City, it was just a small matter (!) of taking the V & T to Reno and then transferring to the Central Pacific line which took them over Donner Pass to Colfax.  From Colfax, they could then ride the Narrow Gauge line to Grass Valley.  The distance traveled was about 100 miles. It must have seemed like a modern revelation to be able to see family so far away in such a short time! Although, I'm sure the trip took the better part of a day or longer.  The train trip these days from Reno to Colfax is a short and relaxing three hours.  The drive from Reno on I-80 to Grass Valley takes an hour and a half to two hours depending on weather, traffic and never ending road construction.  Sometimes riding the train is still the way to go! Plus, it is still an affordable way to travel at around $30 one way. 

 From The Morning Union October 13, 1881.  Mrs. Burrows (my great great grandmother) and her children rode the train to Virginia City to visit her mother, Harriet Hurd as well as her sisters and brother who still lived there.  By this date Elizabeth Jane had 4 children; the youngest was just 9 months old.  My great grandmother hadn't been born yet. 

From The Morning Union, August 23, 1882

Harriet Hurd rode the train over the mountains to visit her daughter, Mrs. Burrows.  Trips and visitors were always hot topics in the newspapers of the day. 

   Also from The Morning Union, September 10, 1893: 

"Mrs. A. Burrows left for Virginia City about midnight of Friday, being summoned on account of the serious illness of her mother, Mrs. Hurd."  No doubt Elizabeth Jane rode the train.  Sadly, Harriet Hurd died that night on the other side of the Sierra Nevada mountains at the age of 59.  The train wasn't fast enough.  

    

Engine No. 5 at the Carson City Nevada Great Western Steam Up July 2, 2022. Photograph taken by PattiA. 

   Nevada County  Narrow Gauge Railroad Engine No. 5 was built in 1885 for the Carson Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company in Carson City, Nevada. It was named "The Tahoe".  In 1899 it was purchased for the NCNGR and renumbered the No. 5; it began service between Grass Valley and Colfax and was certainly one of the several  locomotives that transported family members at one time or another. 

This picture was found in the King Album, and may have been taken at a Sunday School Picnic or other function in the woods.  I would put the date at around 1900 when the Kings were living in Grass Valley.  My great grandmother Emma King is seated on the right, second from the front.  There may be George relatives in this picture also.  Cornish scones, clotted cream,  jam and tea were on the menu! 

 

There were cars just for picnic baskets, which needed to be dropped off the evening before. Was that car packed with ice and straw?  I hope so!

    No doubt we had relatives attend these picnics, riding the train to Chicago Park.  The Kings and Hayes were members of the Methodist Church, and the Burrows and Hansens were members of the Episcopal Church.  These picnics were a community tradition and were annual affairs. It must have been exciting to have the  train ride and picnic to look forward to every year. 

    Special picnic trains also took passengers on Fourth of July excursions;  moonlight excursions, and special event trains continued for many years. The little train even brought the circus until 1893 when the circus train derailed causing two deaths.  The circus played in Colfax or Sacramento from then on.  I don't know of any relatives that saw the circus, but it would have been possible! 

 In my post of January 14, 2021 (Her Patriotism Unbounded) I shared the story of  how my great grandmother Vere Burrows took the train to Colfax in 1903 to meet Teddy Roosevelt (and she shook his hand!).  

   My great grandmother took the President's Special to Colfax where she shook the hand of Teddy Roosevelt.  She paid 50 cents for the roundtrip ride. 

Vere Burrows is in this picture somewhere!  This was a wonderful opportunity for community members to meet the President in person, and the train brought them there. 

From Nevada County Narrow Gauge by Gerald M. Best

Howell-North Books, Berkeley, California 1965.  Page 84.

   Vere Burrows also rode the little train from Grass Valley to Colfax in 1904 very early in the morning.   She and her new husband, John Hansen, caught the Southern Pacific main line in Colfax to go the coast for their honeymoon!

   

  

    Enlargement of the original newspaper article

The Daily Morning Union July 3, 1904

     By 1940 No. 5 was relegated to helper service, having survived a fire in which its cab and running boards were burned off.  The tender still shows signs of the fire by the notable wavy pattern in its sheet metal.  The Nevada County Narrow Gauge ceased operations in 1943.  The automobile and better roads made travel to the main line faster and more convenient. 

     The No. 5 (the "Tahoe") was rebuilt and  sold to Hollywood where it starred in the movie "The Spoilers" in 1942, and appeared in over 100 movies and T.V. series. It returned to Nevada County in 2018 where the boiler was restored.  It  can be found at the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Museum where it now operates. The No. 1 (The "Glenbrook") can now be found at the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City.  Locomotives No. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9  were all eventually scrapped. 

  We  love to celebrate our Narrow Gauge Railroad history by supporting and visiting our local museums who have done such a wonderful job preserving the historical locomotives and continue to run them for the next generations.  What a treat! We also support and ride the steam train in Virginia City, but that's a  story for another day. 

 Our Grandson was invited to sit in the cab of the Tahoe No. 5! 

July 2, 2022 Carson City Nevada Great Western Steam Up

Photograph taken by PattiA. 

 Our grandson in front of No. 5, a piece of his history! 

July 2, 2022 at the Carson City Nevada Great Western Steam Up

Photograph by PattiA.

  

On October 5, 2023, I had the opportunity to take the train back home from the Colfax Depot.  I did not get to ride the train from Grass Valley to Colfax as my ancestors did, (we drove), but riding the train over the Sierra Nevada mountains to Reno was a wonderful experience.  I think my ride may have been smoother than theirs!

Photograph by PattiA.

 Photograph by PattiA. 

 My view out the back window of the Amtrak car.  We were coming into Reno in the late afternoon.  This could have been a Maynard Dixon painting.  Photograph by PattiA. 

 Our son, grandson and granddaughter at the NCNGRR Museum in Nevada City, California. Photograph taken June 9th, 2024.  The No. 5 was back home in Nevada City. 

Our daughter-in-law, grandson and granddaughter in front of the Tahoe No. 5.  Photograph taken June 9th, 2024.  

 Exploring Mill Street, Grass Valley, with Grandma Boothby.  Time for some ice cream after all the history lessons!

Photograph taken by AliA.  June 9, 2024. 

References:

Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum

https://ncngrrmuseum.org/

Nevada County Narrow Gauge by Gerald M. Best Howell-North Books Berkeley, Ca. 1965 (in our family collection). 

Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_County_Narrow_Gauge_Railroad

#52Ancestors52Weeks...Week 16 Theme...Steps....The King Family Enjoys Watermelon on the Front Steps

 

 

   This family photograph is from the King Album.  It shows my great grandmother (seated with her dog Spot), her mother and father behind her to the right and an unknown couple sitting on the left.   They are enjoying watermelon!  

Date: Probably around 1904-5.  Location unknown. Photographer unknown, but possibly Lester Hayes. 

Emma King, around the age of 15 or 16 (middle), Anna Levers King (in rocking chair) and Charles King (with the bowler hat). 

  Same house...Spot has taken the rocking chair for the rest of the afternoon.

  

Mothers, Daughters and Granddaughters.....Anna Lever King, Emma King Hayes and Margaret Elizabeth Hayes in 1918.

   In honor of Mother's Day this year I thought I would share these sweet pictures from the King/Hayes Album.

  The picture on the left is of Anna Levers King (my great great grandmother) and my grandmother, Margaret Elizabeth Hayes, born on November 7th, 1917. The picture on the right is of Emma King Hayes (my great grandmother) and my grandmother.  These pictures were taken in San Francisco, probably by my great grandfather Lester Hayes.  My grandmother must have been around 6 months old, so this picture was taken in the late spring of 1918.  She was the last of the three girls born to Emma and Lester in San Francisco. 

  Let's keep it going!  Emma King Hayes Van Duzer on the left (my great grandmother.."Nana"), my grandmother Margaret Hayes Hansen (Betty) on the right, Margaret Hansen Boothby seated (my mother) and then there's me!  Picture taken in the summer of 1962. 

   Happy Mother's Day!

Views of a Trip to Cliff House....Updated!

   What a difference a week makes.....

  If you have read previous posts relating to San Francisco, you know how much I love to use social media to connect with other people interested in the history of the area.  It has helped tremendously with my genealogy research, and has even brought about exciting connections (August 15, 2021 The Jackson Street House).

   Last week I posted a picture of Emma King (my great grandmother) and her father Charles J. King taking a walk on Ocean Beach with Cliff House in the far distance. It was one of three pictures from the King Album that were taken at this location and was probably taken around 1903-1905. After posting, I thought that the above picture would be a good one to share on social media, also. 

   I shared this picture on the FaceBook group San Francisco History to the 1920's to specifically point out the detail of the  Lurline Pier in the middle ground, as I thought the history of the pipeline was interesting and that not many people would know about it.  The post received almost 600 likes and lots of interesting comments.  One member soberly commented that her great grandfather, a grocer on Sutter Street, drowned off the Olympic Pier (the other name for the Lurline Pier) after one of his regular weekly swims in 1907.  It seems he would go out for two to three hours every Friday afternoon and was considered one of the best swimmers in the area. He sadly did not make it back on that day.  Others commented that they too had family pictures taken around the same location. Others had memories of getting splinters from the pier (it was taken down in 1967) or of swimming in one of the several salt water pools the pipeline delivered water to in town.  But the biggest surprise of all was when I got a private message from Gary S.    .........

  In my last post I recommended going to the website cliffhouseproject.com for more  in-depth information on Cliff House history.  Well, as it turns out, Gary is the creator of the website!  He said he loved the photo and asked if I would  consider letting him include the photograph on his website. So, after several back and forth emails and sharing of information, the King Album with the three pictures is now a part of the website.  He was very interested in the middle picture...as he has been trying to figure out what the stand/pavilion to the left of the picture was there for.  This picture was one of the few that he had seen of an up close view.   He said that he works with about a dozen local San Francisco historians and said they love to "deep dive" into photographs like these.  They still don't know what was going on at the pavilion! 

  Here is the full link to the website and to the King Album, which is now a shared part of collective San Francisco history, thanks to social media. 

                                              http://www.cliffhouseproject.com/albums/KingAlbum/album.htm

*********************

  

    And, I have more information on this picture as well.  After conversations with Mom (Margaret) and her dive into the trunk that holds some of the original glass plates that belonged to Lester F. Hayes, we determined that he did indeed take the picture.  To me it initially looked like a souvenir photograph that had been tinted as were so many postcards and pictures taken at the time. But, he had etched his name "L. Hayes" on the glass negative and then probably developed and tinted it on his own.  He was an aspiring photographer and had a studio on 22nd Street.   Either Nana or Granna added the colored pencil details later on.  That makes this picture even more special. 

  I also updated last week's post and with the help of my daughter added the YouTube video from 1903 taken on Ocean Beach. You are now one click away from being on the same beach as Emma and Charles at around the same time.  The video can also be found under "films" on the Cliff House Project website. 

   

The next big project is to get all the glass negatives scanned and reproduced. There are a few earthquake pictures that will be interesting to explore, as well as several of Nana (Emma) that I have not seen before.  Saving family history is a family effort, but well worth it! Thank you all. 

Relationship Reference:  Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby->Margaret Elizabeth Hayes Hansen->Emma King Hayes Van Duzer->Charles and Ann King

Friday's Featured Photograph (s) The King Album......Views of A Trip To Cliff House

   This is a tinted picture of the famous Cliff House in San Francisco.  It is in the King Family Album, and is one of three pictures in the album taken of the landmark.  The pictures can be dated to some time before September 7th, 1907, as the structure burned down on that date after having survived the 1906 San Francisco Great Earthquake and Fire.  

    This picture was printed on a heavier card stock than the rest of the photographs in the album and very well could have been a souvenir photograph that was tinted.   It is 10" by 6 1/2".  If you look closely, you can see hints of yellow, blue and pink on the horizon and in the sky, done in colored pencil by someone at a later date.  Perhaps Emma, or maybe her mother Anna made the pencil additions while remembering the visit to Cliff House.  An intriguing mystery! 

The same photograph, enlarged to show the detail of the building and cliff. You can see the pencil additions to the sky. They do not detract from the photograph, but add another layer to the story. 

 

The entrance to the Cliff House.  It looks like you could perhaps purchase souvenirs at the shaded booth on the left.  

 

An enlarged view of the same photograph.  The house was a beautiful structure, built after the first Cliff House burned down in 1894.  This is Cliff House number 2, rebuilt by Adolph Sutro for the grand sum of $75,000.  It was fashioned after a French Chateau. It burned down in the span of two hours. 

  

  I have shared this picture previously, but I will share it again, as it was taken at the same time as the above picture. You can see the Lurline or Olympic Pier in the background.  The pier  was built to protect the intake pipe that provided sea water to the Lurline Baths on Bush and Larkin streets.  Members of the public could rent a bathing suit and swim in either heated or cold pools for 30 cents.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurline_Baths).

   This must have been a lovely excursion to the seaside, with a long walk down Ocean  Beach. Perhaps it was taken on a Sunday afternoon.  The day looks bright and sunny.  My Great Grandmother, Emma King, is on the left with her father Charles J. King on the right. This picture certainly gives us a sense of place and time.  It is wonderful that we can still go back and revisit this trip to the seaside by opening the album and turning the pages. 

   I would date this excursion at around 1903-04.  Emma looks like she might be around 15-16 years of age, and Charles is wearing a bowler hat typically seen around this time. The King family had previously been living in Grass Valley, California, and had moved to San Francisco around these dates.   They were living on Golden Gate Avenue at the time of the earthquake in 1906. 

Below is a YouTube video entitled Panorama of Ocean Beach and Cliff House (1903) H. J. Miles.  If you look closely in the beginning of the video, you can see windmills in the background.  And lots of bowler hats!

 For more information on Cliff House history, please take a look at https://cliffhouse.com/history/

Relationship Reference:  Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby->Margaret Elizabeth Hayes Hansen->Emma Lavinia King Hayes Van Duzer->Charles J. King

Friday's Featured Photo(s).......... The King Album: Views of Emma Lavinia King and a Mystery Girl Riding in a Buggy

Original photograph from the King Album.

 

    Welcome Family and Friends to 2022!  

  Today I am sharing this photograph of my Great Grandmother Emma Lavinia King Hayes Van Duzer  (b. 1888 St. Austell, Cornwall  d. 1974 Grass Valley, California).  It is from the King  Family Album.  Date and location are unknown, but the picture was probably taken either right before or after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and somewhere in the Bay Area.   Emma is on the right, an unknown girl is on her left.  This picture may have been taken by Lester Hayes, who later married Emma in 1908. 

Above photograph, enlarged and enhanced for more detail.  I would love to know why these faces are so sour! 

    I have posted this photograph before (July 11, 2021); the young woman on the left looks like the same girl from the top photograph.  She may have been a very close friend or a relative.  Her name and relationship to my Great Grandmother remain a mystery!  Their smiles are playful and beautiful in this photograph, which may have been taken a few years before the above picture.  From the King Album.

   The next three photographs are a series of pictures taken of a young woman, who I believe is the same young lady in the buggy with Emma.  They may have been taken by Lester  Franklin Hayes.  He had a photography studio at 3818 22nd Street in San Francisco after 1906.  

From the King Album.  She may be the same girl riding in the buggy with Emma. What do you think? 

Same young girl with hat. From the King Album.  I shared this picture in a previous post on July 24, 2021.  I believe my Great Grandmother made this hat.  The Edwardian blouse and skirt are stunning, and were most likely hand made also. 

The same young woman.  From the King Album.  She is a mystery. 

  I will continue to post photographs from this album in the future.   It is a treasure trove of family history! 

Relationship Reference:  Me->Margaret Hansen Boothby->Margaret Elizabeth Hayes Hansen->Emma Lavinia King Hayes Van Duzer