| Author |
Message |
Carolyn
Username: Carolyn
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, June 02, 2007 - 7:04 am: | |
Good to see the store in business again!
From - The Big Oak Flat Road-, published 1955- page 112
A statement from Thomas Hughes was obtained nearly twenty years ago: “The first white settler at Moccasin,” he said, “was a miner named Powell in 1849, and in ’55 the gold fever really hit the place. Of course all these paths that the miners used in getting into the mountains were actually Indian trails. The one that comes in from Coulterville to Moccasin was always used by Indians and also the road up Moccasin Hill, or the Old Priest’s Grade as some call it. Pack trains began to come over the trail from Coulterville and before many years the packers got the miners to widen it. When this vicinity became thick with new arrivals the widened trail was made into a road so that ox-drawn freighters could get through to the upper mines. In fact, from 1852 on, most of the merchandise that the old Sun Sun Wo store in Coulterville carried was sold and freighted up Moccasin Hill. The Marsh’s Flat Road and the Coulterville Road through to Penon Blanca started right here at the covered bridge over Moccasin Creek. |
glenn kangiser
Username: Glenn
Registered: 5-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, June 02, 2007 - 8:24 am: | |
The new owner still finds old Chinese coins in the soil in the area around the store.
Sun Sun Wo store is built of adobe made from the local clay soil. Over the years it has been plastered and the plaster has since fallen off. A small amount of damage has occurred at the base of the adobes due to splashing of rain over the years, but in general the walls are in quite good shape. Adobe is easily repaired with more of the same as long as major structural damage has not occured. Repairing an adobe with concrete is counterproductive as water gets behind it and usually causes more deterioration. Earthen walls breathe - concrete walls do not. Hopefully these walls will continue breathing for a long time.
North on Highway 49 and on a side road is Fiddletown. Located there is the Chew Kee store. It is rammed earth, similar to adobe but local earth is rammed with a tamper into forms. As it dries it becomes like sand stone. The general formula for earth building is 30% clay, 70% sand and aggregate including any aggregate that may be in the local clay. Many times straw is added for reinforcement. The Chew Kee store is worth a visit also although it was not open when I was there.
Both are fine examples of how durable and long lasting earthen construction can be if taken care of over the years. A good roof, wide eaves and periodic earthen plastering care help promote longevity. |
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