The Historical Society is honoring Amador County's 158th birthday on June 17 with an event at the Amador County Museum. We invite you and your friends to come and participate in what we are hoping will become an annual event with Mining Model tours, Museum ground tours, and more. There will be a short General Meeting with a vote on our amended By-Laws and a few special speakers. Our BBQ is being prepared by Phil Giurlani and Teresa's Place and will include a New York steak sandwich, salads, corn on the cob and birthday cake. Tickets are $15 each with proceeds benefiting the Society's Museum Fund. Our event will begin at 2pm. We hope to see you there! Tickets can be purchased at Teresa's Place, the ACHS Office, or the JBCA Office in Jackson.

You may also purchase tickets using Pay Pal at our new ACHS website which is hosted at amadorgold.net. For more information, call (209)223-3076 or (209)257-1485

ACHS OFFICE MOVING TO 148 MAIN ST.

The Society is moving its office to JBCA at 148 Main St, Suite A. Pat Crew, president of JBCA, has welcomed us to share their office and we are looking forward to working with them to keep the doors open more for all of us.

TRAIN DEPOT RELOCATION PROJECT

The Union Pacific Railroad has Graciously extended the Land lease for the Historic Ione City Railroad Depot. This will allow time for the City to relocate the Depot to City Property that Is Adjacent to the Railroad Tracks.

This is a momentous occasion that was only made possible through the hard efforts of the Ione City Staff, Jeff Butzlaff, James Maynard the City Attorney, Members of the Amador County Historical Society and the Generous Financing and support from Rich Hoffman CEO of the Jackson Rancheria Casino and the Jackson Band of Miwuk Tribal Council That allowed funding to save this structure.

The Union Pacific Railroad has been generous in the donation of the Depot and the use of its property. Today marks the true beginning of the project to save the Depot for the future. Everyone is looking forward to the new home adding more excitement to the rail corridor and new interest in the rich history of Ione and Amador County.

ACHS & AMADORGOLD JOIN RESOURCES

If you should, at any time, find information that is either incorrect or lacking in clarity, and you possess documents to show this, please contact us and we will make every effort to promptly make corrections. Our mission is to provide historical data that is both factually correct and documented to the best of our ability. We want our website visitors to rely with confidence on the data that we are attempting to build. Over time, this site will expand to include more and more of the rich history of the people and places of Amador County.

Be sure to check out our new website as we have added many more features and resources for your reading pleasure.

MINE MODEL EXHIBIT

Take a trip back in time to the 1920s through the magic of large scale working replicas of the Kennedy mine. The three models demonstrate the functions of the head frame hoisting equipment, the stamping mill and the famous Kennedy Mine Tailing Wheels.

Robert Pope built these replica Mining Models over 5 years to exact scale with the originals. Mr. Pope's father was the master mechanic Eldridge Post, who was a member of a crew who built the Kennedy Wheels, circa 1913-1914. The three models crafted by Robert Pope were sold to the county in 1972 for $4,500.

This exhibit is located at 225 Church Street in Jackson next to the Amador County Museum. Currently, the Mining Model is Open Saturdays - 10:30 to 1pm. Tours are 11am and Noon. Admission is $2.00 Adults; $1.00 children under 10

2012 ANNUAL RAIL FAIR

This annual speeder festival and overall general display of railroad memorabilia has come to a close. Featuring the jointly owned*Amador Central Railroad in all of its grandeur, volunteer speeder owner/operators provided seats for the public to witness, first hand, the attractions of the speeder hobby and the passion of the speeder operators. The scope and depth of the Rail Fair included many vendors, displays, and the excitement of seeing vintage “maintenance of way” (MOW) rail cars coming around the bend into the Ione rail yard. Three runs on Saturday and a last run on Sunday were coordinated by EC (in training) Chuck Ratto under the tutelage of PRO EC, Steve Paluso.

One passenger commented "This is the best $25. 00 I've spent since I don't know when". The Ione Fire Chief rode on Saturday’s "Twilight Run". He said that he would have paid four times the ticket price to do this again. A vendor was heard to say "This is a great family festival - something for everyone." Saturday’s late afternoon rain stopped just before the "Twilight Run" which was particularly beautiful. Mike Cozad took photos that show the beauty of the clouds and the sunset as the consist rode into the night. It was, truly, a "Kodak Moment" as the speeders wound through the many curves, meadows and steep-sided cuts of the Sierra Foothills. See here.

The numbers of visitors has not been calculated as of this writing; however, it seems that the Ione Rail Fair saw about 2000 people. A particular thanks to Rich Corbell and his "Daisy" for standing in for the Skagit which was unavailable for this event. A new band of reenactment robbers from Sacramento did an impressive job of making a lot of noise as they robbed the Daisy on each of its shortened trips. Our thanks go as well to the Native Sons of the Golden West who also played their dastardly parts very well.

*Co-owners are: Amador Historical Society (ACHS) and Recreational Railroad Coalition Historical Society (RRCHS)

SECRETARY'S REPORT FOR APRIL-MAY

The ACHS Board has been very busy in spite of several members dealing with serious health issues and out of state commitments. Uppermost has been the work to achieve a final status for the Lease/Management agreement between the Society and the County for the Museum. Phil Giurlani has taken over as Museum Committee Chair and is working hard to get to a place where work can commence on the museum. Additionally, we have been working to make the By-Laws more cohesive and consistent in order to present them to the membership on June 17 for approval. Because of health Dave Butow has stepped down from his duties and Phil has been appointed as Vice President of ACHS.

The fundraising committee decided to hold a BBQ at the museum on June 17 to honor the County’s birthday and is hoping to make this an annual event. We also have a committee working to build a window for the County Fair that will feature some of our pioneers and their historic homes and barns for the theme “Barn in America.” Thornton Consolo has been assisting Ione to save the old train depot, and Ed Arata is working with the Kennedy to save artifacts from the Argonaut Mine to be displayed in various appropriate spots around the county. Ed is also working with the Ledger Dispatch to produce a facsimile of the 1897 Special Mining Edition which will be available shortly for Ledger subscribers as well as for donation to the Society. In April, the Mining Model was the Treasure Trail location for ACHS and was a big success and Georgia Fox is giving tours for school children by appointment as well as tours on Saturday. Finally, ACHS now has a new website with amadorgold.net where we will archive old issues of “The Amadorian” and other information and where inquiries can be made. The Board has high hopes that through the combined efforts of Amador Gold and ACHS, the website will eventually become a repository of historical information for people interested in doing research of all kinds on the county and its rich history.