History

Jonas Spect discovered gold near Rose's Bar in June of 1848. Rose's Bar was a short distance downstream from present-day Bridgeport (the center piece of the South Yuba River State Park).

The gold seekers poured into the South Yuba River Canyon, concentrating heavily in the area of today's 22 mile South Yuba River Project, which is managed by the California Department of Parks & Recreation. Keeping in mind that this was not only a European migration but an Asian one as well, by 1852 there were 3,000 Chinese in Nevada County and 25,000 more throughout the gold fields of the Sierra Nevada. In fact, the Chinese made up 25% of the state's population by 1870. ( The 1852 census showed less than 950 native Americans).

1848 John Rose is given credit as the first European settler to build a permanent structure in Nevada County. He built a trading post for Native Americans and gold seekers that was halfway between present day Lake Wildwood and Bridgeport.

 

1849 The rapid entrance of the emigrants caused them to set up tent sites overnight along the sand bars of the South Yuba River. They where given colorful names such as Frenchman Bar, Banjo Bar, Illinois Bar, Jones Bar, Champion Bar (near Hoyt's Crossing)............

 

Development of the Crossings

1849 The need for immediate crossing of the Sierra rivers emerged. First were the ferries; Point Defiance Ferry (near present day Bridgeport) , Jones Bar Ferry (near present day Hwy. 49 Bridge), Moore's Ferry (present day Purdon Bridge); Edward's Crossing near Illinois Bar and Nyes Ferry near Freeman's Crossing on the Middle Fork.

These crossings were little more than the owners overturning their wagons and putting them together for makeshift barges. Each had its own unique history. Very quickly the crossings gave way to the construction of the first bridges.

 

Bridges Today Within the South Yuba River State Park

The successors of the first bridge crossings lie within the South Yuba River State Park today and proudly stand as landmarks, all of which are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The old Hwy. 49 Bridge built in 1921, is a unique cement arch style. The Purdon Crossing Bridge (still a maintained Nevada County roadway), built in 1895, the only half through metal truss system left west of the Rocky Mountains. The Edward's Crossing Bridge (also still a maintained Nevada County roadway), built in 1904, constructed with triangular members and steel pins in a three-hinged metal arch. This historic bridge was the main access to North Bloomfield (Malakoff Diggings SHP.) from Nevada City using the old South Yuba Turnpike Road.

 

The first bridges on the South Yuba River were Bridgeport (Birdeye) in the early 1850's; Robinsons Lower Crossing (present day Purdon Crossing Bridge); Robinsons Upper Crossing (present day Edward's Bridge); Coopers Bridge (Illinois Bar); Hoyt's Crossing built by Moses Hoyt completed by 1854; Coopers Bridge, James Cooper was brutally murdered on Nov. 26,1866 (the murder remains unsolved)...

 

1850 The Court of Sessions , an arm of newly formed County Governments, came into existence. The Court of Sessions had charge of regulating how much would be charged to cross on ferries and then soon after the bridges. By 1856 this duty was transferred to the Nevada County Board of Supervisors.

 

The first bridges on the South Yuba River were Bridgeport (Birdeye) in the early 1850's, Robinson's Lower Crossing (present day Purdon Crossing Bridge) Robinson's Upper Crossing (present day Edward's Bridge), Cooper's Bridge (Illinois Bar), Hoyt's Crossing built by Moses Hoyt completed by 1854, Cooper's Bridge; James Cooper was brutally murdered here on Nov. 26, 1866 (the murder remains unsolved)...................