Nevada City paper served bustling mining community

Local History

Nevada City paper served bustling mining community

Courtesy "The Union" Grass Valley, CA

By Maria E. Brower

Broad Street looking toward the first Nevada City Nugget newspaper office at 305 Broad St. The Nugget later moved to 318 Broad St.Courtesy: Brita Rozynski, Nevada County Historical Society.
It is well known that during the Depression in our country, many people stood in long bread and soup lines day after day. What little food was available that day may have been all they would have to take home to their families to survive on. While people in cities and towns all across America could not find work, the people living in Nevada County experienced little if any change in lifestyle.

The year 1929 saw a great advance in the mining industry in Nevada and Sierra counties. Grass Valley had been the leading gold camp of the Pacific Coast for many years and continued to do well, while other sections of the county during that year showed promise that Nevada County was on the verge of a mining revival. It had always been a top gold-producing county in the state, and had never fallen below third place in its 80 years.

Nevada City's prospects were on the upswing with five large operations under way. A new power line was in development from the East Belt section reaching from the town of Washington northward to Graniteville and into the rich Alleghany area and Downieville districts. The power line would solve a standing problem for the mines of those districts - the lack of a dependable water supply. Prospects were looking good for future development in the county and would trickle down to local businesses.

Nevada County had always attracted investors and businessmen from other California cities and towns, as well as those back east. In November 1926, Arthur A. Willoughby came to Nevada County and started a new weekly newspaper, The Nevada City Nugget. The masthead on the Nugget touted it as "California's Leading Mining Weekly." The newspaper was essentially a mining paper to boost and support the chief industry of the county. It fully covered the news of the mines in the area and local events and people.

Willoughby was born in Huron County, Ohio in 1884. When he was a small boy, he moved with his family to a farm in Kansas. His father died when he was only 10, and his family later moved to Hillsdale, Mich. Willoughby attended Hillsdale College, graduating in 1907. During his school years he started working on the local paper and was manager of the college publication. Coming west in 1910, he traveled for several years for a mining publication; and in 1916 he married Elsie Peterson, a Mendocino County girl, at Placerville.

The Nugget was first located at 305 Broad St. in Nevada City. Willoughby was both editor and publisher, while Elsie was associate and manager of the paper. He had a great belief in the future of the Nevada County mines and was one of the best boosters to the local industry. While Willoughby was busy with the growing newspaper, he always made time to give advice and information freely to any one who came into The Nugget office. He was civic-minded and belonged to a number of clubs and organizations, and was secretary of the local chapter of the Mining Association of California.

On June 1, 1930, Willoughby was taken to Jones Memorial Hospital in Grass Valley, suffering from internal ailments. He had been recuperating at home from an illness that did not seem serious until he was rushed to the hospital. It took the community by surprise when he died later that afternoon at age 46.

Elsie P. Willoughby took over as editor and publisher after her husband's death. A little more than a month later, Mrs. Willoughby and her two children were almost killed in an automobile accident on the Downieville Highway. Ironically, she had reported in The Nugget a week before that there had been no accidents reported in the district in spite of large Fourth of July crowds and busy highways.

Taking the children out for a short ride for a breath of fresh air, Mrs. Willoughby turned too far to avoid a passing motorist. She was driving a light roadster, which turned over and plunged down the canyon 50 feet. This was decades before the invention of seat belts, and it was a miracle neither Mrs. Willoughby nor the children were fatally injured, although the editor was seriously bruised, while the children escaped with a few scratches.

The Nevada City Nugget continued to be published until 1977

Sat, Dec 15, 2001

Maria E. Brower is a local researcher and is a member of both the Nevada County Genealogical Society and the Nevada County Historical Society. She works at the Doris Foley Historical Research Library, part of the Nevada County Library System in Nevada City.