Nevada City Downtown Historic District

Nevada City's downtown core is a cluster of 96 buildings along Broad, Commercial, Main, Spring and Pine Streets, most of them from the latter half of the nineteenth century. During the gold-mining era the area served as the retail and local government center for one of California's largest mining communities. Many structures date from 1864, when the district was largely rebuilt after a disastrous fire in November 1863. Two-story business blocks with shops below and offices or housing above dominate, joined by three-story landmarks such as the National Hotel and the county courthouse. Victorian-influenced brick and frame commercial buildings and false-front vernacular structures set the character. Churches, fraternal halls, firehouses and civic buildings add variety. The district reflects a mining town as it looked between 1864 and 1917, when development largely paused. Despite some altered facades and the loss of buildings to fire and a 1969 freeway, it retains much of its historical and architectural integrity.