Sierra College & Litton Trail Loop Hiking & History Tour

This self-guided tour was created for the 2023 Sierra Writers Conference. The conference theme celebrates the 20th Anniversary of Sierra College Press and the first publication of Standing Guard: Telling Our Stories, a beautifully photographed and formatted remembrance book about Placer County Japanese families, many of them fruit farmers, who were incarcerated during WW II.

After researching the Litton Hill land, people, and plants, it was noteworthy to learn that the Nevada County Campus of Sierra College shares WW II, fruit growing, farming, and publishing history with its Rocklin sister site.

Below, you will find tour components that include videos, podcasts, maps, and music.

Explore and enjoy the journey!

Download Interactive PDFs, with live links, to take on the go.

Phone Recommended Media PDF – podcasts, maps, and a time travel playlist

Large Screen Recommended Media PDF – videos & maps

Prior to the Gold Rush

Litton Hill Farming Families – 1850s – 1930/40s

podcast | newspaper printing history

Sierra College Campus Walking Tour – 1950s – 1990s

podcast | campus map | koi fish documentary | koi fish custom art | Gerald Angove interview

Writers Conference Materials

Campus Walking Tour-related writing prompts

Sierra College & Litton Loop Trail Sights

podcast | map | time travel playlist

Recent Sierra College Nature Observations

More Sierra College & Litton Hill Resources

Resources for Sierra College & Litton Hill Tour

Articles

Charles V. LittonHistory of talent and innovation in Nevada County: Grass Valley video industry | The Union (2014)
Grass Valley Hospital is Sold to Electronics Firm | The Sacramento Bee (1953)
Sierra College to assume property under eminent domain | The Press Tribune (1993)
Richard NoellDeath by Rail Car (1915 – page 8)
James Hughes Disposes of Orchard Property | The Union (1922)
William F. Prisk, Early Union Editor |The Morning Union (1893)
Robert Ross RoadRoss Helped Establish Local Campus of Sierra College | The Union (2005)
Sierra College celebrates 20 years in Nevada County (Interactive Timeline) | The Union (2016)

Videos & Reference Books

ANNOTATED NEVADA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INTERVIEW

Gerald Angove, Sierra College President 1975 – 1993

0:04:20 – 1940s Hughes Road. 0:04:45 – Golf course caddy & fish bait
0:10:27 – Hills Flat community, gas plant, and Nevada County Narrow-Gauge Railroad
0:42:02  – Pollution and Lake Olympia
0:48:00 – 1975 President of Sierra College
0:49:00 – Twelve-year legislative process to build Nevada County Campus
0:49:40 – Nevada County Campus
0:50:16 – First phase of NCC Construction

Printing Press History

0:02:07 – Washington Press

Koi Fish Documentary

Briar Patch Supporting Local Farmers

Playlist Links

Precious Waters – Carlos Nakai
Yuba – Mary Youngblood
The Singing of the Travels – The Folksongs of Britain (Cornwall)
Six Jolly Miners – The Folksongs of Britain (Cornwall)
Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy‘s Chowder – George L Giefer (Ireland)
President Grant Newcastle – Angus Chisolm
Mule Train – Frankie Laine
Railroad Boomer – Bud Billings & Carson Robinson
Joplin  – Maple Leaf


Places to Visit

HISTORIC CEMETERIES

Boundy – Newcastle Cemetery 
Hughes – Pine Grove (Nevada City) & Odd Fellows (Grass Valley)
Noell – Odd Fellows (Grass Valley)
Ross – Rough & Ready Historic Cemetery
Worthington – Pine Grove (Nevada City)

MUSEUMS

Nevada County Historical Society

Nevada County Narrow-Gauge Railroad Museum

Georgie Porgie – Arnold Johnson
Glow Worm – Dawn of the Century
Foxtrot – Michael Jary
Nature Boy – Nat King Cole
Simple Melody – Bing Crosby
Dating Game TV Show Theme Song
Dr. Who TV Show Theme Song
Sun Song – Nick Castro
Black or White – Michael Jackson
Cover – Patrick Patrikios

Custom Hiking & History Trail Art

Rough & Ready Cemetery – Filling in the Plot

Self-Guided Tour

Plan a visit between sunrise and sunset hours.


14474 Stagecoach Way
Rough & Ready, CA 95973


Select your preferred audio or visual media and travel back in time with a Randolph Flat family where you’ll learn about living with a handicap, problems with open mine shafts, women’s voting, love, and loss.

While visiting the cemetery, please demonstrate abundant respect for the Stagecoach Way neighbors, for those at eternal rest, and for their stone markers.

Download the single-page tour sheet PDF that includes GPS coordinates, a topographic map, and all tour links.

The podcast features period music and folk songs. (Same narration as the video.)

Soundcloud Podcast

Video includes
U.S. Census records, newspaper articles, and emotive video clips.
(Same narration as the podcast.)

YouTube video

“It was a perfect day to be out in person and in reverence for those hard working ancestors that came before us. The creative historical podcast was so interesting I had to watch the u-tube video.”

Mary Jo Curtin



Randolph Flat area
Images photographed from the big maps at the Searls Historical Library in Nevada City
https://nevadacountyhistory.org/searls-historical-library


Jenny Lind mining claim
Images photographed from the big maps at the Searls Historical Library in Nevada City
https://nevadacountyhistory.org/searls-historical-library

Bertha Cleveland mining claim
Images photographed from the big maps at the Searls Historical Library in Nevada City
https://nevadacountyhistory.org/searls-historical-library

Letter to Living Descentands:

Dear Clendenen and Cleveland descendants,

The self-guided tour media was produced by a genealogy volunteer for educational purposes only. All of the support documentation is available on Ancestry in a public tree named, “Filling in the Plot – RR Cemetery.”

While researching and pulling together public domain elements for this presentation, you were always in our thoughts.

There are so many relatable and engaging aspects of this story, it is sure to spark conversations and make Nevada County history even more memorable for its residents and visitors.

EXTRA

Create your own Cemetery Story (article) How-to Research in Three Steps (at bottom of page) – Full Circle Living and Dying

Links mentioned in the audio and video presentations:

 Jack London short story  –  PDF |  audio recording (YouTube).

Research Resources:

Find A Grave
Ancestry
Family Search
California Digital Newspaper Collection
Newspapers.com
The Grass Valley Daily Union archives
Doris Foley Library
Searls Historic Library

Referenced Nevada County Cemeteries 

St. Canice Cemetery
634 – 636 W. Broad St.
Nevada City, CA 95959

Pine Grove Cemetery
100500 – 18049 Red Dog Rd.
Nevada City, CA 95959

New Elm Cemetery
Kidder Street
Grass Valley, CA 95945

FullCircleLivingDyingCollective.com
http://followingdeercreek.com/
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