Calaveras Heritage Council

Water has always been and continues to be of major importance in the development of Calaveras County.

Calaveras was served by three railroads: the Stockton and Copperopolis Railroad, the Sierra and San Joaquin, and the Sierra Railway.

The earliest routes into the gold regions followed long-established Indian trails.

The California Gold Rush is identified as the greatest world-wide migration in peacetime history.

INTRO TO ROADS AND TRAILS

In 1976, Bob Bliss, with partner Jim Riggs, bonded the first new winery in Calaveras County in 40 years; Chispa Cellars.

After the Repeal, when alcohol of all varieties again became legal, wine production in Calaveras lagged, undoubtedly also due to the oversupply of acreages planted to grapes in the Prohibition years.

The institution of the Volstead Act in 1919 produced yet another boom in the Calaveras wine industry, as wines for sacramental use and home wine making were the only alcoholic beverages allowed under

An account written in 1885 noted that the season of 1885-1886 would probably show a much greater acreage planted in vines and fruit trees than any other season in the history of the state Elliott

At this point it should be noted that not all winemaking in Calaveras County was for commercial purposes.