{"nrhp_refnum":"81000146","name":"Kennedy Tailing Wheels","other_names":["Kennedy Mine Tailing Wheels"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Jackson Gate Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Jackson","county":"Amador County","state":"CA","lat":38.36077509200004,"lon":-120.77307049108822,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-07-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Conservation","Engineering"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A system of four 58-foot elevator tailing wheels, connecting flumes and a multiarch concrete impounding dam at the Kennedy Mine, Jackson Gate Road, Jackson, Amador County, California. The wheels were completed in early 1914 to a design by mechanical engineer James Spears.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the wheels were an engineering solution that lifted mine tailings 176 feet over two hills across about 0.8 mile to a containing dam. The system served as a conservation measure that kept mining debris off farmland and complied with 1913 litigation requiring debris control. It let the Kennedy Mine, the highest gold producer in Amador County, keep operating.","narrative":"Four enormous wooden wheels, each 58 feet across, once carried waste rock from the Kennedy Mine stamp mill near Jackson, California, over two hills to a storage dam about 0.8 mile away. Engineer James Spears designed the system after the company studied a similar setup in Montana. Mine employees built it, and it was finished in early 1914. Gravity flumes fed the tailings to the wheels, which lifted them 176 feet in total, and a multiarch concrete dam held the debris. The system answered farmers' complaints about mining waste washing onto their land and a 1913 legal requirement to control debris, allowing the highest-producing gold mine in Amador County to keep working. Operation stopped in 1942 when the mine closed. Wheels 1 and 4 were restored in 1972, while Wheels 2 and 3 collapsed and remain on the ground. Parts of the flumes, the dam and the remains of a cyanide plant survive. The City of Jackson runs the site as a park.","period_of_significance":"1900-1980 (specific date 1914)","architect_builder":"James Spears","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Operation ended in 1942 when the mine closed. Wheels 1 and 4 were restored in 1972 and are in very good condition. Wheels 2 and 3 have collapsed and lie in ruins but are salvageable. The impounding dam is in good condition. The site is a city park.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.316893-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/81000146.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000146/5c2474ee55-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000146/5c2474ee55-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Ramkumar Menon","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kennedy_Tailing_Wheels_Park.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ramkumar Menon</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kennedy_Tailing_Wheels_Park.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"08001347","name":"Kennedy Mine Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/california/kennedy-mine-historic-district-08001347/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858404","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Gold_Mine","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6389653"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/amador-county/kennedy-tailing-wheels-81000146/"}