Columbia California

Description

Meanwhile, Columbia's tents and shanties were being replaced with more permanent structures. Streets were laid out, and by the end of 1852 more than 150 stores, shops, saloons, and other enterprises were going strong. There was also a church, a Sunday School, a Masonic Lodge, and even a branch of the Sons of Temperance. Wood had been the main construction material used in these buildings. In 1854, fire, the scourge of many mining towns, destroyed everything in Columbia's central business district except the one brick building. When the town was rebuilt, locally produced red brick was used for thirty buildings. Iron doors and window shutters, and bricks laid on the buildings' roofs were additional fire protection. In July of 1855 the New England Water Company provided piped water for fire fighting and domestic use. Seven cisterns, each with a capacity of about fourteen thousand gallons, were built under the streets. Some still store water for fire fighting. The early pipes were used until 1950, when the state installed a new water system. In 1857 a second fire destroyed all the frame structures in the 13-block business district, as well as several of the brick buildings. Rebuilding began immediately, and the citizens decided to form a volunteer fire department. In 1859 the fire department acquired the Papeete, a small, fancifully decorated fire engine. Its arrival in Columbia was the occasion for much fanfare and celebration...

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