Remembering Tuolumne…

By Joseph Celentano,
TCMM Historical Research Committee
May 2002

Carters' original business district was centered along Chestnut and Bay Avenues from Oak Street to Carter Street. A number of commercial buildings extended north on Carter Street. The original townsite map listed a "Plaza and Railroad Reservation" on the business district's south side. This block was bordered by Bay and Fir Avenues (north and south), and Oak and Pine Streets (west and east). When the Sierra Railroad was completed in 1900, its tracks ran through the middle of the "reservation", where they still exist today and you can still see them. The railroad station was located just north of the tracks, between Main and Oak Streets, near the location of the current swimming pool. In 1904 the rest of the Plaza and Railroad Reservation was developed as a park, with leveled ground, grass, shrubs and trees, and is now known as Memorial park.

To the south of the railroad station plaza, was the Turn Back Inn. The large, two-story frame building served as a first class hotel. During its heyday, it was the second largest hostelry in the county. Intended to serve as the overnight stop between the Sierra Railway and the Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite Valley tourist railroad, the hotel contained many amenities. Unfortunately, it burned to the ground in 1936 and is now the site of the Veterans Memorial Hall.

Another addition to the Carters Townsite came in 1901. This was called the South Addition and extended across the low ridge, which bounded the Carters townsite. This area served almost exclusively residential purposes. The land was part of the old Baker Ranch, which the West Side Flume and Lumber Company had purchased in 1899.

After the Carters and South Additions were laid out in 1901, many of the lots were built upon by West Side before they sold the lots and houses to individuals. This was particularly true of homes constructed on what became known as "the heights" above the business district, as well as laborer housing on mill property. Apparently, as workers were promoted within the West Side Company, they would relocate from the smaller houses next to the mill and around the Plaza, to progressively better accommodations elsewhere in town. Generally the larger residences were located along the "heights". Many West Side-constructed residences remain throughout the Tuolumne Community.

From 1900 to 1910, the newly created townsite lots were sold and subsequently developed. The buildings were nearly all-wood frame, with most materials coming from West Side's mill. Although single story houses were the norm for Tuolumne residences, there was a fairly wide diversity of floor plans and exterior designs. As mentioned above, many houses were built by West Side and then sold. No standardized plans have been discovered and the existing housing stock does not indicate that they were drawn from pattern books.

The southern boundary of the South Addition was Maple Avenue. Years later, the first Maple Avenue, located at the south end of the Carter and Bakers First Addition to Carters, was officially renamed Rozier Avenue.

In 1901 the owners of West Side brought lumbermen and sawmill operators from Dubuque, Iowa, to run the operation. Under the direction of this management, the mill became profitable. All of these individuals, except two, returned to Dubuque after the mill was sold two years later.

Crocker and his associates had sold the mill to a group of eastern lumbermen in 1903. After the sale, one of the principal investors, George Johnson, met William Thorsen, who became president of the West Side's operations.

Caroline Thorsen, the wife of William Thorsen, is credited with promoting the planting of sycamore trees that we see today along many of Tuolumne's streets and avenues. (These are the trees that have the bases white-washed to repel insects.) President Thorsen, from Manistee, Wisconsin, lived in a beautiful house built for him on Apple Colony Road in 1904. The Thorsen's lived in Tuolumne only during vacations; their primary home was in Berkeley. From the Bay Area, Thorsen could manage marketing and other matters. John Prince, from Ashland, Wisconsin, secretary and general manager, lived on Pine Street. George Johnson, vice-president, took over Charles Span's elegant, Queen Anne style, white house on Bay Street. The fourth major investor was Charles Canfield, a relative of Thorsen's wife.

Under this group's direction, the company was reincorporated as the West Side Lumber Company. They dropped the "Flume" from the official title because under their direction the means of transporting logs from forest to mill was via rail lines; flumes were never used.

In 1904, Fred Nelson came to work at the mill. Ed Ronten arrived in 1906. There were job opportunities for everyone.

In 1925, the Pickering Lumber Company purchased the West Side Lumber Company. Earlier, in 1921, Pickering had purchased the Standard Lumber Company, located a few miles distant from Tuolumne.

Then came the Depression. Like many small California towns, the Depression was devastating for Tuolumne. Pickering filed for bankruptcy and the mill was closed in 1930. Railroad operations on the West Side suspended, resulting in 1,200 - 1,500 unemployed. The town struggled, existing on County rationing, placer gold mining, and belt-tightening. Then in 1934 West Side reacquired its property from the Pickering Lumber Company and commenced operations with the help of a 3.5 million dollar Reconstruction Finance Corporation loan, one of the Roosevelt Administration's programs for economic recovery.

Tuolumne Townspeople were relieved and delighted by the mill's re-opening. They got their jobs back. A great jubilee or celebration was held around the 4^th of July and this became an annual tradition, called The Tuolumne Lumber Jubilee, and continues to this day. However, more about this jubilee celebration in next month's issue.

(Excerpts taken from "Tuolumne Community Context Statement", County of Tuolumne, September 1999.)