Columbia - A Gold Rush Town Frozen in Time

Stop on Goldrush!, a free self-guided tour.

Welcome to Main Street, Columbia, where the Gold Rush never quite ended. Gold was found here on March 27, 1850, and it proved to be one of the richest strikes of the whole Gold Rush. Within a few years, Columbia was home to somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 people.

In 1945 the state made the old business district a historic park. About 30 Gold Rush-era buildings still stand, and it's a living, working town: costumed staff run a handmade candy shop and a daguerreotype studio, and you can take a stagecoach ride. The Columbia Museum, in the historic Knapp building, is a good place to get your bearings.

Hollywood has loved Columbia for a long time. Scenes for the 1952 western High Noon, starring Gary Cooper, were filmed in and around the Wilson House here, and The Shadow Riders was shot around town in 1982.

Stroll the boardwalks slowly and look for the heavy iron doors and shutters on the brick buildings, built to protect against fire.

Nearby: Public restrooms, water fountains, restaurants, a saloon and the candy shop are all within the historic park along Main Street.