t

	First Phone Line MINING IN NEVADA COUNTY   EXPLORE FURTHER Becoming California, stories from California Gold Rush History In l877 there was a need for the miners to communicate with the dams upstream that controlled the release of water for hydraulic mining. The Milton Mining company wanted to talk to the controllers sixty miles away. The Ridge Telephone Line was strung from French Corral near Nevada City, to Milton, in neighboring Sierra County. In Milton the line was connected to the Western Union Telegraph Company line which was connected to the rest of the United States. The Ridge line was hung on trees and poles that connected twenty-two stations. The phone line was a private line but if someone wanted to use it a toll of $.50 cents for twenty words was collected. In order to reach the sixty mile distance there was a booster station built at Malakoff Mine. A homemade battery was made from six quart jars held together and filled with mixtures of manganese, sal ammonia, blue stone, and zinc. The booster allowed the phone line to continue for the full sixty miles. After l884 when hydraulic mining was ordered closed the federal inspectors would arrive from Marysville to check the mines. The phone lines were used to signal the arrival of the strangers. They would relay orders to stop the hydraulic mining before the inspectors would arrive in the diggins. In nearby Downieville, the miners were notified of strangers in town by hanging out a pair of stuffed overalls on the Saint Charles Hotel flag pole. The phone line operated for twenty years and became known as the first long distance telephone line in the world. Today it is a California historical landmark that is located in French Corral, near Nevada City, California. Hydraulic Mining
	HOME || RESOURCES || GLOSSARY || COMPUTER LEARNING FOUNDATION