July 13, 2020 – After a 15-year quest, a “holy grail” of local history has finally been acquired by the Society for the Preservation of West Calaveras History.  A stock certificate for the San Joaquin & Sierra Nevada Railroad--the narrow-gauge that helped create the towns of Wallace, Burson, and Valley Springs--was recently purchased by the SPWCH.  The single share, signed by the railroad’s president, Frederick Birdsall, the man considered the founder of Valley Springs, had originally been bought by Ansil Davis of Calaveras County in 1884. 

“I hoped to find a stock certificate but, as the years went on, I knew there was a good possibility we would never see one, much less have one in our hands,” said SPWCH president Sal Manna, noting that the railroad existed for only a few years.  “To now have this in our archives, to have this back in Calaveras County, is a great moment for local history.”

The share’s cost in 1884 was $100 of the $1,000,000 in stock issued by the railroad.  Manna said the SPWCH’s purchase price was considerably more.