Tanks for the Memories: Oroville is Golden!
- Lindsay Britts
- Nov 17, 2017
- 3 min read
Getting inspired to do a little cruisin’ of your own? Ready to hit the road for a weekend ride to a place you’ve never been before? We can show you the best trips in your neck of the woods and you won’t even have to stop to fuel up. Each week, we pick a starting city and plan a getaway to some of the most charming, energetic, and just plain fun places that you’ll only need one tank of gas to reach. When it’s all over, you’ll be able to say… TANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!
Starting City: Sacramento, CA
Destination: Oroville, CA
Distance: about 70 miles
As the holidays come around again, we often think about traditions. Things that are passed down from generation to generation are cherished to us, and some places lend themselves naturally to this process. Towns with rich histories have a lot to offer, including a glimpse into the past and the beauty of preservation for generations to come. If you’re willing to journey from Sacramento for a day or two, you can find more than a couple things from “back in the day” in Oroville, California.
Source: Wikipedia
Oroville played a significant part in the California Gold Rush as a town where miners would journey before they set off in search of a mine. One of the first gold mining sites was in nearby Bidwell Bar, and the building of the Western Pacific Railroad helped the population in the area rise. As the town settled, a large Chinese population migrated to Oroville and their heritage can still be seen in the Oroville Chinese Temple. This temple, now operating as both a temple and a museum, is both a California Landmark as well as on the National Registry of Historic Places.
There are a lot of places in Oroville where you can see the town’s past, and one of them is Bolt’s Antique Tool Museum. There are over twelve thousand tools on display, from ancient Roman and Egyptians tools made in the 5th century BC Roman and to modern hand tools. There are also several tools used to build railroads. On the third Saturday of every month the shop has a presentation by an expert about a varied topic of interest, anything from history to travel to (our favorite topic!) classic cars. There are even fiddle concerts that the public can attend for a small fee.
Some of those tools probably came from an industry that made its start in Oroville: olive canning. Frida Ehmann set up an olive canning factory in town and experimented for years to craft the perfectly preserved olive. By 1900, she was the president of the world’s largest canned olive factory. The Butte County Olive Festival, hosted by the Butte County Historical Society, will be in its eighth year in June 2018. In addition to the many olive and olive oil vendors in attendance, there are raffles as well as tours of Ms. Ehmann’s preserved home built in the Craftsman Bungalow style.
Source: Wikipedia
If you want your historical journey into Oroville to bear even more fruit, make sure to visit Mother Orange Tree, the oldest orange tree in Northern California. It has been around since 1854 and is also a California Historical Landmark. No matter your reason, or the season, Oroville lets visitors take a trip to the past in a beautiful setting that everyone can enjoy.
STRETCH YOUR LEGS: If you want to experience an ancient art and you don’t mind a little extra driving, just off of I-20 in Marysville is West Coast Falconry where you can not only see falcons that have been trained but can also take a basic class to hold and command a real falcon. You can also visit with hawks and owls, and if you’re nearby in the summer they have a day camp for children to learn about these beautiful birds of prey.
LEARN MORE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oroville,_California
http://www.cityoforoville.org
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