Welcome to California’s best-preserved Gold Rush town

For a city that’s about 2.2 square miles, there’s much to see and do in Nevada City — better known as California’s best-preserved Gold Rush town.   

Located about 150 miles northeast of San Francisco, Nevada City stands as an unparalleled depiction of a bygone era with an abundance of old structures, quaint watering holes and plaques that illustrate the town’s cultural significance as well as a scandalous past. 

For Bay Area locals, the tiny historic city happens to be one of the best weekend getaways.

Last month, I took the nearly four-hour drive to explore the former Gold Rush town, which I only learned about recently. Friends and colleagues beamed excitedly when they learned of my upcoming travel plans, which made the anticipation for the trip all the more thrilling.

The road to Nevada City took me down California state Route 49, which passes by other historic mining towns, including Auburn and Grass Valley. After exiting the highway and making a final left turn on Broad Street, I arrived at the enchanting city, feeling as if I teleported from the present day back to the mid-1800s.

Among Nevada City’s most prominent landmarks is the National Exchange Hotel, which first opened in 1856 and is considered the state’s oldest continuously run hotel. In 2021, the storied lodging reopened after a massive restoration project that cost millions of dollars and three years to complete. Like most of the structures around the town, the hotel stayed true to its roots.

Kate Snyder, the hotel’s general manager, told SFGATE that many of the hotel’s original furniture and light fixtures remained inside the National Exchange Hotel after the remodel. Vintage radiators, which were previously found within room accommodations, are now located in the hotel’s popular downstairs bar.

Not long after my arrival, my companion and I headed to the National Exchange Hotel bar for a round of drinks. The bar fostered a moody atmosphere. Touches of old-world charm were spotted at every corner, from the antique liquor cabinet behind the bar to the elaborate bronze tin ceiling above our heads. Black-and-white portraits of Gold Rush-era women lined the beautiful walls decorated in delicate leaf-print wallpaper, which helped pull the look together. The cocktail menu wasn’t any less impressive. After placing an order for “The Storyteller” — a blend of brandy and allspice dram — I took a sip as lively chatter filled the room.

Many guests come up from San Francisco, Sacramento or Reno, she added. With that in mind, the crowd at the hotel bar was a diverse group of young hipsters and older folks coming together to celebrate antiquity with a modern touch within the handsomely detailed bar. If the drinks alone hadn’t won me over, a jazz band that showed up around early evening certainly did.

In the late 1840s, Nevada City boomed when miners discovered fragments of gold along Deer Creek. As word got out, the town’s population swelled to more than 10,000 inhabitants by the early 1850s. It opened the door to a mixed crowd of miners hoping for overnight success and a rowdy bunch of gamblers. Nights of debauchery would continue at nearby brothels, which were tucked away behind the National Exchange Hotel on Spring Street.

Nevada City certainly had a reputation, but it was also at the heart of progress. It famously hosted Mark Twain at the Nevada Theatre during his 1866 lecture tour. The National Exchange Hotel is the focal point of the town among the bank, post office and even city governing offices. According to the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce, PG&E’s first office was located at the National Exchange Hotel.

“I think people don’t realize a lot of history happened here,” Cathy Wilcox-Barnes, director of the Firehouse No. 1 Museum in Nevada City, told SFGATE. “It was one of the largest towns in California and was under consideration to be the state capital at one point.”

The town had to rebuild itself after suffering three major fires before 1863. Many of the existing downtown structures — including the National Exchange Hotel, which also sustained great damage — were rebuilt in 1864. Today, many of those original buildings from 1864 continue to stand.  

Wilcox-Barnes, a longtime resident, shared that Nevada City made a huge push for preservation when the freeway was up for realignment in the late 1960s. By then, many of the historic downtown buildings were already in shambles. When dozens of buildings were torn down to make way for the freeway, concerned locals came together to preserve what was left. In 1968, Nevada City passed a historical district ordinance that helped protect the remaining structures from further demolition by requiring city approval for any major updates that needed building permits.

The Downtown Betterment Project in 1972 aided the final push in preservation and ushered in a new era of excitement for locals who began to take pride in the town’s antique buildings. By the early 1970s, overhead wires were removed from downtown to make way for gas lamps. Business owners were also ordered to toss out their bright neon signs for simpler signage closer to those from the Gold Rush era.

“It just made the difference night and day,” Wilcox-Barnes said. “Protecting our past is what allowed the city to survive into the future.” 

Back at the National Exchange Hotel, I sipped the remainder of my cocktail before heading out for a bite to eat. My companion and I wandered over to Three Forks Bakery and Brewing Co., which was just a short stroll to Commercial Street. 

It was a busy evening at the restaurant, and tables were packed with hungry patrons and chatty couples. With the restaurant known for its selection of wood-fired pizzas for $20 or less, we decided to take a seat that directly faced the oven to see the action firsthand. Before I knew it, a waiter dropped off our piping hot salami pizza and a house salad. The restaurant also featured a variety of sandwiches, small plates, pastries, and more, but based on the number of pizzas we saw come out of the oven, it’s clear that the pies were the crowd-pleaser. 

Commercial Street was much quieter than its flashier counterpart on Broad Street, but it still had several bars, restaurants and shops in the corridor. Art is a huge part of Nevada City, Wilcox-Barnes said, which was evident throughout the businesses around town. Nearby Heartwood Eatery had massive oil paintings hanging on the walls of the charming cafe. Directly across the way was the decades-old watering hole Crazy Horse Saloon & Grill, which is known for hosting local bands. 

More music awaited us at Golden Era, a bar and lounge on Broad Street, where a live band energized the crowd with upbeat country hits.

The bar had an even more impressive bronze tin ceiling than the one at the National Exchange Hotel bar. Soft yellow light enhanced the ornate ceiling, giving off the appearance of gold. At the center of the bar, older couples periodically showed off their best dance moves while onlookers gleefully watched. After ordering a smoky mezcal cocktail, my companion and I decided it was our turn to hit the dance floor, my incapability of coordination notwithstanding. We soaked up a few more country tunes before heading back to the National Exchange Hotel, where we caught the last 30-minute act of the jazz band from earlier and then headed to bed. 

Standard rooms at the National Exchange Hotel are small but enough room for a party of two. Our bedroom was minimally decorated with a framed sketch of a pensive woman from the 1800s, a large mirror, and a vintage radio on a side table. According to the front desk, every hotel room has antique headboards that offer an old-timey look. Our bed had a pink, plush headboard that complemented the white-and-green floral wallpaper on the wall. Since the hotel received a makeover, it features a modern bathroom with glass doors and pleasant-smelling toiletries. 

The next morning, Nevada City was overcast and drizzly, but it didn’t stop us from grabbing brunch at the National Exchange Hotel’s snazzy Lola restaurant. I ordered a filling egg scramble with earthy maitake mushrooms as the rain picked up outside. Armed with umbrellas, we decided to explore the town’s local gems. 

Nevada City is also chock-full of historical markers and relics from its former mining days. Among them was a hydraulic gold mining gate valve from the 1880s, which was used to help control water flow to the mines. 

Near the Chamber of Commerce office, we spotted a large contraption with a wheel and gadgets that was used to crush gold at the Fortuna Gold Mine near town. In the 1970s, the town received a “Ladies of the Evening” plaque to commemorate Gold Rush era sex workers who had been “unacknowledged” and yet “made an essential contribution to the settlement of the West.” Visitors can spot the plaque in the National Exchange Hotel guest parking lot, adjacent to Spring Street where former brothels thrived.

California Gold Rush towns are having a moment and, as I learned with Nevada City, it’s easy to see why. Even if you’re not a history buff, Nevada City is unique and captivating enough to merit a weekend trip. Its selection of local businesses like Brothers Art & Antiques, Lobos Del Mar and Earth Central are filled with treasures that will charm even the toughest crowd. 

Nevada City shouldn’t be seen as frozen in time, Wilcox-Barnes said, but rather a town that’s worked hard to maintain its character and unique identity. Remnants of gold might be gone, but as far as I’m concerned, a trip to Nevada City was hitting the jackpot.