Calfiornia History in Columbia State Park

California History was lived for a couple days up at Columbia State Park. Sarah's history group which has studied California History for the past 9 months spent some time living in the past as they visit Columbia State Park near Sonora California.

Our adventure began by looking for the largest flake of gold ever found. It was displayed at this beautiful vineyard. The Vineyard was huge and covered with green lawns, flowers, trees, and more flowers. A paradise of beauty.

The next day we had a tour of Columbia, an old gold town still portrayed in the 1850s. We had a docent led tour of the store, fire station, and school house. The school house teacher actually taught a lesson as she would have in the 1850s with the girls sitting on one side of the room and the boys on the other, using chalk slates and standing when addressed by the teacher before answering. It was a good practical look at what it was like to be a student in the 1850s in California.

We also had the opportunity to search the town looking for trivia answers to what it was like living in a gold town. The students explored the bank, black smith, barber shop, and various other parts of a gold town with their little red book in hand. After lunch it was time to pan for gold! We had a lesson on how to pan for gold and then took our time looking for those precious little flakes of gold to remain in our gold pan. We even got to keep what we found--hurray!

Columbia was a fun experience for kids and adults--the history so rich and the friendships so wonderful. If you haven't been there, it's a great little vacation spot we think you'd enjoy.