Columbia is a former California Gold Rush boom town that lives on as a state-preserved historic park and a National Historic Landmark that preserves the original, gold-rush-town flavor of the town, once dubbed the "Gem of the Southern Mines." Founded in 1850 by Mexican gold miners, it is in Tuolumne County, California, United States. Although only about 2,000 people now live in this region near Sonora, California, at its height it was California's second-largest city. It was even considered briefly as a site for the state capitol of California. In 1854 the bulk of the town burned down and was re-built with brick and iron structures that survive to this day. Columbia's main street, part of the Columbia State Historic Park, is closed to automobile traffic but is open to horses and carriages, as well as pedestrians.
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The town's old Gold Rush-era business district has been preserved, with shops, restaurants and two hotels. Visitors have the chance
bring the cameras and to
photograph and time-travel to the 1850s, imagining life when gold miners rubbed shoulders with businessmen and the other residents in Columbia. Visitors can experience a bygone era watching proprietors in period clothing conduct business in the style of yesterday. There are opportunities to ride a 100 year-old stagecoach, pan for gold, or tour an active gold mine.
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