The mighty Plumbago Mine (aka lower Plumbago) and Stamp Mill has a long and rich history. Millions of dollars of high grade have been pulled from small pockets throughout intermittent intervals since the 1860s. Consisting of old workings along the outcrop a 6 foot vein is followed by five tunnels at intervals of 100 feet on the dip. The vein lies between bands of beautiful deep green serpentine which we found plenty of laying about the property. Westernmininghistory.com states the current ownership as “National Forest”. Sadly it was apparent the mill had not been worked for many many years and parts of the roof are missing.
…for many many years…
The Plumbago Road down to the Middle Yuba and back up German Bar Road was a popular 4×4 and jeep route until part of German Bar washed away in the rains of 2017. Now only dirt bikes can get through.
Earlier this year we were contacted by Johnny Gronley who is the nephew of the late John Brask. John Brask was a Swedish immigrant who worked the Plumbago, though we are not sure when or in what capacity. Mr. Brask was quite the shutterbug for his day.
John Brask photos courtesy Johnny Gronley.
2 Comments
My great-great uncle, John Brask, worked at the Plumbago Mine in the late 1800s. I have a couple of old photos.
I was so excited to see John Brask’s photographs! Please provide my contact information to John Gronley. I can provide additional information on some of the subject matter and would love to get high quality scans of his prints if at all possible for our museum. Thank you!