Village Profile Home Page | About our Company | Sales Opportunities | Community eStore | vpmobile.us

Heart of Gold

The Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce celebrates 100 years of service to the community in this very special publication. We hope you enjoy the historic photos and the comparison to what is here today. Sonora was incorporated in 1851, and although the Chamber was not formerly organized at that time, you can be sure business people were getting together to discuss issues even in the middle of the gold rush.

“A place with a heart of gold.” If ever there was a location that can make and live up to those words, it is our beautiful Tuolumne County. From the Gold Rush days of the 1850s to present, from the original Mi-Wuk Indians and early gold rush settlers, you will not find anywhere with a bigger heart of gold.

Walking down the streets of our communities you see the remnants of the massive gold rush migration to California in the late 1840s. From the State Park of Columbia (a completely restored gold rush town), to the county seat of Sonora, to the historic State Park of Railtown 1890 in Jamestown, to the quaintness of Twain Harte and Groveland, you cannot escape the past. While basking in the history that prevails, just a short distance away is the modern, thriving business community. From large retailers to the Mom and Pop, there is hardly anything you can’t find to fill your every desire.

In Tuolumne City where the Mi-Wuk tribe of today lives on the Rancheria, a bustling casino has been constructed that has spurred economic well-being for the original stewards of our land. The casino’s new planned commercial development and new roads are all part of the improved Tuolumne City area where steam trains carrying logs from the forest once traveled.

Entertainment, once enjoyed by the early settlers in bars and burlesque-type tents, now provides cultural events, live theater, modern movie experiences and places of renown to eat and sleep.

Heart of gold? Just take time to enjoy the splendors of Yosemite and the Stanislaus National Forest. Take time to talk to locals about the weather, schools, business or where they live. Take time to relax. You will find this is an outstanding place to live and work.

I hope you enjoy this very special publication from the Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce and support all our advertisers and members who make this heart of gold possible.

And if you’re ever out walking along a stream or trickle of water and you see something sparkling, you may have come across some real gold. “Yes, Martha, there still is gold in them thar hills!”