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Tuolumne County Timeline
1951-Present |
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1951 |
Dodge Ridge snow ski recreation area opens |
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1952 |
"High Noon" with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly filmed
at Tuolumne County locations, including Sierra Railway |
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1955-1957 |
Tri-Dam Project comprised of 3 dams, 3 power houses, and 3
reservoirs at Donnell, Beardsley, and Tulloch. |
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1961 |
West Side Lumber Co. railroad closes after decision to use logging
trucks; New Moccasin power house (Hetch Hetchy) completed. |
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1962, Apr. |
West Side Lumber Co.’s Tuolumne saw mill shut
down by strike; burns down later in the year and closes permanently |
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1963 |
"Petticoat Junction" TV program filmed in Tuolumne
County using Sierra Railway equipment |
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1965 |
Pickering Lumber Co. Railroad abandoned (old
Sugar Pine Railroad)
and Pickering Lumber Company sold to Fiberboard Paper
Products |
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1968 |
Columbia College opens in Columbia State Historic
Park; later moves to its current location near San Diego Reservoir |
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1971 |
Don
Pedro Dam and reservoir completed. |
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1974 |
New
Melones Dam, power house, and reservoir completed. |
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1983, July |
State of California Parks & Recreation opens
Railtown 1897 State Historic Park; steam excursion and interpretive
living history |
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1990 |
Sierra Railroad movie, "Back to the Future III",
starring Michael J. Fox & Christopher Lloyd. Sierra Railway engine
#3 “The Movie Queen” & futuristic DeLorean car appear in film. |
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1994, June |
Sonora Mine, an open pit gold mine, located in Jamestown closes
after operating for eight years; 1993 largest crystalline gold
specimen in North America found the day after Christmas.
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1995, Aug. |
Fiberboard Wood Products sold Pickering Lumber Co. to Sierra Pacific
Industries; including SPI mill at Standard and mill at Chinese Camp.
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1995, Sept. |
Sierra Railroad passes to a group of creditors. |
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2000, Dec. |
Dedication of the Carlo M. De Ferrari Archive by
Walter P. Gray III, Chief of California State Archives
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2002 |
West Side Lumber Co.’s 380 acres was sold at
auction to Tuolumne Band of Indians (Me-Wuk) for housing and casino
development |
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2007, Jan. |
Rescue the 1897 Jamestown Branch Jail begins;
relocating the old brick & wooden building from Lodi, California
back to Jamestown, rehabilitation completed Oct. 21, 2008
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2009, Apr. |
Sierra Pacific Industries announces July closure
of the Standard mill; ends over 150 years of timber industry in
Tuolumne County |
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2010, June |
Sierra Pacific
Industries mill closed in 2009, has a plan to re-tool the mill to
accommodate smaller diameter logs and reopen in May 2011 |
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2010, July |
Railtown 1897 SHP
debuts the fully operational 1891 Sierra Railway Engine No. 3, “The
Movie Queen,” after a three-year $1.5 million restoration. |