Zeibright Mine History

The mine was first founded in September of 1900 and its first location was called 'A' Quartz Mining Claim. Fred Zeither and his wife Louisa originally owned the mine, which had 3,000 acres of mineral rights. On December 24th, 1903 William F. Englebright and Fred Searls purchased the mine which at the time consisted of a tunnel driven north above the level of the mill. The tunnel was over 1,000 feet in length with 400 feet of backs (smaller tunnels running above the main level).

It is unknown what day but sometime between 1903 and 1915 Zeitler, who still worked and lived at the mine after the Englebright and Searls purchase, walked away from his quarters. Fred Zeitler was never seen again and his purpose and fate continue to be a complete mystery.

In 1915 the Zeibright Mining Co. filed the Zeibright Extension Claim. The name Zeibright was a combination of the name of the original owner of the property as well as the new owner, Zeitler and Englebright. The company consisted of James F. Colley, William F. Englebright, Fred Searls Sr., William Griffin, Alex Hongell, C.D. Elastic and G.M. O'Conner. The extension claim was on the north side of the Bear River.

Like many of the mines, the Zeibright would see its ups and downs. In 1917, the mine was owned by the Bear Valley Mining Co. of San Francisco. By the early 1930's the mine had been inactive for a number of years. In 1931 Miles D. Coughlin of Nevada City petitioned the Nevada County Board of Supervisors to purchase the mine for $500.00 due to the condition and being abandoned for more than 10 years. The former improvements had deteriorated, most of the removable parts had been stolen or destroyed, and the buildings were in 'extreme disrepair.'

The property now consisted of the mine, boarding house and a mill. The road leading to the mine was out of repair and therefore the property was not accessible by road. In addition, the workings and underground openings of the mine had caved in in many places. The mine, which had been deeded to the state of California for failure to pay state and county taxes beginning in 1922 and for several years thereafter, was sold at public auction to Coughlin for a total of $550.00.

Mining laws tightened and effective in July of 1936, failure to meet the work requirements and file declarations to hold claims under the provisions would be subject to claim-jumping. By May of the same year, the Zeibright was under the operation of the Empire-Star Mines Co. of Grass Valley. The Zeibright employed 130 men in a 24-hour operation; 90 of the men lived at the mining property in 1936.

By 1936 the Empire-Star Co. had purchased the North Banner and Woodside mines, which adjoined the Lava Cap mining company property from the North Banner Consolidated Tunnel Co. Their holdings spread beyond Nevada County; they purchased the Pennsylvania mine in Browns Valley, Yuba County. In 1922, 1924 and from 1929-1938, Nevada County led all counties in gold output though it held third place in 1925 and 1928, second place in 1926 and 1927 (state mineralogists' report, 1939, p.126), gold output for that year was $11.2 million. Other county mineral production included copper, lead, silver, miscellaneous stone, and small amounts of barite, granite and platinum, which brought the county a total of all mineral output to $11.6 million. At $35.00 per ounce of gold, $11.2 million in annual profit was equivalent to roughly 314,857.14 ounces of gold produced through Nevada County alone in 1939. These figures support the often quoted 'There was no depression in Nevada County in the 1930s because the mines were very productive during the Depression years.'


Facts and Figures credited to research by Union writer Maria E. Brower and Grass Valley Historian Jack M. Clark