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Audio Description of Where's the Whiskey Wayside
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Description of Photo A black and white photo of a white stucco sided building with two gas pumps and a “Chevron Gasoline” sign next to the pumps. On the building are multiple signs including a large sign along the roof line saying “Whiskeytown”. A circular “Coca Cola” sign is on the left side of the building and a “Groceries” sign is over a window. On the left end of the building and under a shingled porch roof is a “Cocktails” neon sign. Captions The Whiskeytown General Store and Post Office, shown here, was a well-known business in the mid-1900s. During lake construction, it relocated to an area along Whiskey Creek Road. The general store remained a popular gathering place until it closed in the early 2000s. The buildings’ remnants burned to the ground during the 2018 Carr Fire. Where Exactly was Whiskeytown Located? The town of Whiskeytown was located where today’s Highway 299 travels across the lake. Nearby, Oak Bottom and Tower House were two other small communities. Where’s the Whiskey? Where’s the Town? California Gold Rush towns sometimes had colorful names. Such was the case with Whiskeytown, a small community born in the 1850s that succumbed to progress with the creation of Whiskeytown Lake over 100 years later. Standing from your current vantage point between the 1850s and 1950s, you would have seen this community about two miles distant. While no one really knows the origin of the Whiskeytown name, local folklore tells of an 1850s miner by the name of Billie Peterson who had a mishap. Hauling supplies to a mine, a pack on his mule’s back broke loose and Peterson’s supply of whiskey tumbled down a hill into the creek. From this christening came the name Whiskey Creek and Whiskey Town. Whiskeytown was a boomtown in the 1850s, but after most of the gold had been mined, the town grew quieter. Those that remained ranched, farmed, or served the few travelers passing through. Some continued to try their luck at mining. Before the lake was created in the early 1960s, the federal government purchased the town’s properties. Residents were given fair market value, but they were forced to relocate. The town’s historic cemetery was moved to its present location below the Clair A. Hill Whiskeytown Dam, while a couple other buildings were moved elsewhere. Today, although the town of Whiskeytown is no more, the colorful name remains.
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An audio description and reading of the Where's the Whiskey, Where' the town wayside.
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