California's State Capitol?

We recently visited two interesting cities in California that were being considered as the State Capitol in the 1850's.  Wednesday, February 2nd: Benicia

"Benicia is a waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area.  The city is located along the north bank of the Carquinez Strait. Benicia is just east of Vallejo and across the strait from Martinez."

We enjoyed walking along the waterfront even though it was very windy.

Benicia served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. 

The town offered the use of this building that was to become their City Hall.  We were able to take a self-guided tour through the building.

The Assembly Room upstairs as it would have appeared in 1853.    The drapes are green which parallels the color used in the British House of Commons.

The Senate Room on the main floor has crimson drapers to parallel the British House of Lords.  The interior pillars were carved from the masts of salvaged ships abandoned in San Francisco Bay during the gold rush.

I loved the different hats on the desks!

The town was named for General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo's wife, Dona Francisco Benicia Carrillo de Vallejo.  Since there was already the town of San Francisco they used her middle name.

This is a painted tile of the couple on the sidewalk outside the building.

Next door to that building is the Fischer-Hanlon House.  We were able to take a guided tour and it was very interesting!  It was at one time a gold-rush-era hotel.  Joseph Fischer purchased it in 1858 and actually had it moved a few blocks and then converted it into a family home.  It was eventually donated to the State in 1968 with many of the original furnishings and artifacts.  

It was fun seeing what life was like from the late 1800's to the early 1900's.

Dining room:

Parlor:  The piano came by sea around the horn to San Francisco.

After lunch we visited the Arsenal area which is home to several historic buildings.  It was used by the U.S. army from 1849 to 1964.  One landmark is The Clocktower building.  It was built in 1859 and was the first stone fortress in the west.

And across the street is the Commandant's Home, a beautiful mansion built in 1860.

We also drove through the Benicia State Recreation Area out to Dillon Point.

Friday, February 4th: Feather River Canyon and Downieville

We've driven up and down the Feather River Canyon before and really enjoyed it.  But this time Grandpa had the idea to go a back way up to the Sierras and drive down and then end in Chico.  I think I enjoyed the Sierra part the most since we got to see some snow...

...and we got to visit Downieville along with other small towns.

Gold was discovered here in 1849.  It was named after Major Willian Downie, the town's founder.  By 1850 Downieville had 15 hotels, 4 bakeries, 4 butcher shops and numerous saloons.  In 1853 Downieville was vying to become the new state capital along with 15 other communities.  Hard to believe because it is very remote and now it is just a tiny town.  It is the county seat of Sierra County.

It is quite a funky town with several old bridges.

Here is a fence made with skis.

One of the main attractions is the Sheriff's Gallows.  They were used once in 1885.

Downieville lies at the confluence of the Downie River and the North Fork of the Yuba River.  We're standing on a bridge as the two rivers come together.

We ate lunch at the Two Rivers Cafe and the picture above was taken from the bridge on the right.

Then we headed down the canyon.

There were several tunnels.

Not sure why these rocks are so white.  It is not from snow.

We finally made it to the Melanchuks for dinner.  Nathaniel had a couple of magic tricks for us.

And Amelia got home from her fencing class:

Meanwhile the Perrys were enjoying the broadway play: Anastasia

And the McClellans had a couple of snow days:

FYI: