Bring your family to the mountains of Montana for an adventure – an adventure in preservation and history in the historic mining town of Nevada City, Montana. Nevada City, and neighboring Virginia City, sit high in the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 5,882 feet / 1793 meters. This is AiP’s third workshop in this beautiful location, but our first opportunity for families to enjoy the experience together.

Alder Gulch was the scene of Montana's greatest placer gold rush in the spring of 1863. By the fall of 1864, nearly ten thousand people crowded the surrounding hillsides. At its peak, Nevada City boasted dozens of stores and cabins, but by 1869, the population had fallen to one hundred ten. By 1876, Nevada City was nearly a ghost town.

Over the following decades, gold dredging and highway construction destroyed most of the town’s original buildings. In 1959, Charles Bovey (whose passion was saving historic buildings slated for demolition or being lost to neglect) was asked to move his collection of buildings from their site, and he selected Nevada City as the new location. Charles and Sue Bovey almost single-handedly saved a significant piece of Montana’s architectural heritage, bringing over 80 buildings from around the state to this town.

There are more than ninety buildings along Nevada City’s streets. A few are original; many have been carefully placed along the streets in order to retain the original streetscape, and some are re-constructions. In 1997, the State of Montana purchased the Bovey properties and they are now cared for by the Montana Heritage Commission. Also housed here is an outstanding collection of historic music boxes, player pianos and calliopes. A narrow gauge rail system links Nevada City and Virginia City (continuously occupied and filled with its original historic buildings), by means of a fully restored 1910 Baldwin Steam Locomotive.

Project: 
The Virginia City hands-on workshop will be a week-long heritage immersion experience. Participants will be involved not only in learning building preservation techniques that are used to repair and maintain the historic wooden structures, but will also work with an archaeologist to see how they explore for remnants of the historic mining era. In addition, everyone will get to work with a blacksmith, try their hand at gold panning, and cook meals over an open fire in Dutch ovens, the way it was done over 100 years ago.

The building conservation component of the workshop will involve learning how to mix and how to apply the historic exterior finishes that help the buildings survive the harsh winter weather. Participants will also learn how to make the chinking and daubing mix that keeps the wind from blowing through the log walls. This involves a great deal of fun “playing in the dirt”, which is required to mix and apply chinking, while learning preservation methodology and ethics. Note that solvents and linseed oil will be involved in mixing the finish treatments and lime is included in the daubing mix - these substances need to be used with some caution as skin can react if it comes in contact with these materials.

For more information, go to http://www.heritageconservation.net/ws-nevada-city-2010.htm