Sutter Creek – Historic Sites & Tours

Sutter Creek Visitor Center

A must stop while in Sutter Creek is the Visitor Center. There you will find historic photos, artifacts, information on just about everything and welcoming and smiling docents that will be happy to answer your questions.

Located at 71A Main Street in Sutter Creek. Open 7days, 11am – 4pm (hours may vary) (209) 267-1344

Knight Foundry

Sutter Creek’s Historic, Industrial Crown Jewel. The Knight Foundry, set in the heart of Sutter Creek, California, is America’s last water-powered foundry and machine shop. Established in 1873 by Samuel Knight, this extraordinary facility includes the unique historic equipment and machinery, still in place in its original context, just as it was during its Gold Rush-era heyday.

Knight Foundry is nationally recognized as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark and a California Registered Historical Landmark. The Foundry is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was named by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as one of America’s eleven most endangered historic places.

Visit Knight Foundry: Join us for our Demonstration Day on the 2nd Saturday of every month, or the Self-Guided Walking Tour on the 4th Saturday.

Every month on Demonstration Day we fire up the antique blacksmithing forge, demonstrate the magnificent and still-intact machinery, and show visitors the ancient arts of pattern making and sand casting. You can tour at your own pace, meeting and talking with expert docents throughout the complex. All demonstrations are included in the ticket price.

Our new Self-Guided Walking Tour is an innovative, interactive new way to see the Foundry. As on Demonstration Days, docents will be on hand to run the machinery and talk with you during your visit.

  • Knight Foundry opens at 10 a.m. and tickets are sold up to 3 p.m. on the 2nd Saturday and at 2 p.m. on the 4th Saturday.
  • All tickets are sold at the door.
  • No reservations are necessary.
  • Admission is $15 for adults 18 and older, $5 for students age 5-17, free for children under 5 and Knight Foundry Alliance members.

Classes at the Foundry
If you’re interested in joining the mailing list for future Foundry classes, including Blacksmithing, Pattern Making, and Introduction to Sand Casting, please contact Knight Foundry.

Private Tours
Your family, group, or organization can arrange a private tour of Knight Foundry

Can’t make it to the foundry? Visit our online Gift Shop.

See you at the Foundry! 81 Eureka Street, Sutter Creek, California 95685

More info: https://knightfoundry.com

 

Gold Mine Trail Sutter Creek

All Amador mines including the Central Eureka Mine were closed in 1942. The Central Eureka reopened in 1947 and continued strong until its August, 1958 closure. The City of Sutter Creek received the 17-acre site as a gift from private owners, and walking trails will be established around the preserved headframe and stamp mill. The brochure has a map and descriptions of each Amador County Gold Mine.

» Download the map and brochure here.

Historical Walking Map of Sutter Creek
Sutter Creek is Amador County’s most walkable town. Come and explore on foot!

Historic Kennedy Gold Mine Surface Tours
The Kennedy Mine, located near Jackson California, is famous for being one of the deepest gold mines in the world (at 5912 feet), demonstrates how gold changed an entire way of life in California.the Kennedy Gold Mine produced approximately $34,280,000 in gold according to the CA Dept. of Conservation.

One of the tallest head frames in existence today can be seen at the Kennedy Mine. The mine also had one of the largest stamp mills in the Mother Lode, moving tailings by means of huge wooden wheels, some of which are still standing.

The Kennedy Mine, is open every Saturday, Sunday and Holiday from 10 AM to 3:30 PM, March through October. FREE Admission. Guided tours are available at 10:15 AM, 12:15 PM and 2:15 PM. Guided Tour tickets are: $12.00 for ages 13 to adult, $6.00 for youngsters 6 through 12, and free to those under 6.

Historic Sutter Creek Cemetery Tour

You are welcome to visit this and other pioneer burial grounds for historical study, genealogical research or a peaceful walk.

Preston Castle

In 1890, the 230 acre parcel of land where the Preston Castle stands was purchased from the Ione Coal & Iron Company for $30 per acre with 100 acres donated. The land was purchased to house the Preston School of Industry, established by the State Legislature as a progressive action toward rehabilitating, rather than simply imprisoning, juvenile offenders. The Preston School of Industry remained open until 1960 when new facilities for the school were completed. The building remained vacant and fading into disrepair until September 10, 2001 when The Preston Castle Foundation received a fifty-year lease for the property. The Preston Castle has also been named a California State Historical Landmark (#867) and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NPS-75000422). The Preston Castle Foundation received ownership of the Preston Castle and surrounding 12.91 acres on November 7, 2014.

Public tours are available most Saturdays, April 6 to August 31. Guided tours are led by a trained docent, who will guide you through the Castle. They are scheduled for 1:00 pm, 1:30 pm, and 2:00 pm., limited to 3 groups of 16 guests each. They will last about 60-70 minutes and tickets may be purchased in advance online: http://www.prestoncastle.com/.

Monteverde Store Museum

The Monteverde Store Museum, which opened as a country store in 1896, still displays all the paraphernalia of the past on its shelves. Dry goods, hardware, bulk products, apparel, patterns, even penny candy were on hand for local shoppers. It is preserved as it was in 1971 when the last owner closed the doors for a few days and never reopened.

OPEN!

Saturdays from 12-2pm

Located in the heart of the California Gold Country and right on the 49’er Gold Rush Trail is an excellent example of a perfectly preserved General Store from the mid 1800’s. The picturesque Monteverde Store is a wonderful historical location and gives you a perfect glimpse into how things were in the wild west. This particular building, with all its history and significance to the people of Sutter Creek and their ancestors, is definitely a must see while in the Sierra Nevada Foothills.Monteverde Store Museum

Don’t forget to visit the small office next door and see the history of Sutter Creek hand painted on the walls, by local artist Rand Hugget. This amazing mural, that covers the entire room, will walk you through the progression of how Sutter Creek came to be.

The Monteverde Store was opened by John Monteverde and his son John, as a country store in 1896 and still displays all paraphernalia of the past on its shelves. Dry goods, hardware, bulk products, apparel, patterns, even penny candy were on hand for local shoppers. Well preserved, it is now a museum.

Over its counters and from the shed (now the home of the Sutter Creek Visitors Center Office), the Monteverde family sold all manner and description of merchandise. Their emporium also served as a meeting place for the housewives of the period. The existing old ledgers, written in spidery script, attest to the good and bad times that befell the citizens of Sutter Creek.

The store was pretty much as you see it today. Dry goods on the west wall and hardware in the back behind the original cast iron pot belly stove. Groceries were on the east wall and the elevated office was in the rear. Each sale was entered into the day book, totals made at the end of the month, and John bill handed to the customer.

Over the years, the Monteverde store changed little from its early days. Brown paper bags and rolls of wrapping paper are still in place. An intricately carved and highly polished oak icebox is built into one wall, flanked by shelves stocked with clothing, books of wallpaper samples, cartons of hosiery and sewing goods. Across the room are the shelves of food. Some containers are still full and we don’t exactly know what is in the mason jars.

About the Monteverde Family:

John Monteverde, Sr. was a native of Genoa, Italy who came to America in 1860. After arriving in San Francisco, he decided to cast his lot in the Mother Lode country and came to Sutter Creek in 1861. He became an American citizen on August 25, 1872.

He worked in the gold mines for many years and later became a stone mason. Mr. Monteverde built many of the stone and cement walks around homes and on Main Street in Sutter Creek. John (unknown – 1918) and Rosa (1851-1943) had seven children: four boys: John (1873-1959) , James (Unknown – 1920), Joseph and Louis (1882-1961), and three girls: Mary (1879- 1972), Kathryn “Kate” (1885-1956), and Rose (1889-1978). The children were born and grew up in Sutter Creek. They graduated from Sutter Creek Grammer School, which is a National Historical landmark. There were no high schools in Amador County at that time.

After their father died on August 19, 1918, and due to her mother’s failing health, operating the store fell to Mary. Meanwhile, Rose worked as a bookkeeper and secretary for the Central Eureka Mine until it closed in 1954.

After the Eureka mine closed, Rose began helping Mary run the family business. The sisters closed the store on October 27,1971. They put a hand-written sign in the window that stated “This store will be closed for a few days.” This sign remained in the store window for over twenty years. After Mary’s death on August 23, 1972, Rose was very despondent and alone. She lived until April 11, 1978. The city kept the store closed for many years before reopening it in 1992 as a museum.

You can still see the original antique items still on the shelves. Preserved forever. Call in advance for a volunteer docent-led exploration of the store and the history of the Monteverde Family.

sutter creek miners bend park

 
MINERS’ BEND PARK

The Sutter Creek Community Benefit Foundation transformed one of Sutter Creek’s parking lots into an amazing historical display of Gold Mining history. Artifacts from the Argonaut Mine and the Sutter Gold Mine have been donated to show visitors and residents the rich Sutter Creek Gold Mining history. Along with the mining artifacts, the new passive park has informative plaques for the artifacts, picnic benches, trees, and “Chinese” rock walls lining the park, which are historic for the area.

More info: https://suttercreekfoundation.org

sutter creek historic schoolhouse

 
HISTORIC SUTTER CREEK SCHOOLHOUSE

The schoolhouse is rich in Gold Rush history. The original Sutter Creek School, built in 1856, burned to the ground in 1870. The building you see today, a thirty-five by fifty-five foot, two-story brick schoolhouse was built in 1870 by a community funded project of $10,000. Some 200 to 300 children from as far away as Plymouth and Latrobe attended the school each year. In 1896 the school district raised $5,000 in bonds to add the wings in the rear of the building. The school remained open until the early 1960s. The schoolhouse is now on lease to the City of Sutter Creek. It is now in need of renovation, and when completed, it will house a community museum, Sutter Creek archives, and will be available to the public for meetings, events, and other activities.

More info: https://suttercreekfoundation.org