The Stamp Mill

The thunderous crashing staccato of the ore stamp mill could be heard for miles in the narrow canyon, and the song of the stamps had long been familiar in this area since George Cozens erected the first mill here in the 1890’s for the Silver Pine Mine. Operated as the Schiff Mill through the 1920’s, it was completely rebuilt by Horace P. Moulton in the mid-1930’s and opened for local and regional use. Located near mines so ore could be easily transported and crushed into powder, stamp mills processed consignments ranging from a few tons to hundreds of tons, and the crushed ore was then washed or combined with mercury to extract the gold.

Placerville, California · United States