Weaverville was created in 1850 by early miners, merchants, craftsmen, and worshippers as the area's gold mining and commercial center. There they built in brick, earth, and wood examples of white and Chinese culture that still stand. The town survived numerous conflagrations and depressions and in 1971 was honored in the National Register of Historic Places as a community of unusual historic significance related to the gold rush period. Charles Henry “Mountain Charlie” McKiernan, a native of Ireland, made his fortune as a teamster near the Weaverville mines. When local natives ran off his mules and business ceased to be prosperous, he moved to Santa Clara County, where he continued his teamster operations, pursued many other ventures, and became the “celestial” clampatriarch of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus, Mountain Charlie Chapter. His motto was “Right Wrongs Nobody.”