During the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th, John Flint Kidder and family were treated like royalty mainly due to their social and professional stature in western Nevada County. Who were the Kidders?

John Flint Kidder, was a native New Yorker and civil engineer who, between 1875-76, superintended construction of the dearly departed Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad. He had been part of the construction teams for some half a dozen western short line railroads before coming to Nevada County. Kidder stayed on as the road's manager (1876-1884) and later was elected president of the company (1884-1901).

He died in 1901 at age 71, and his widow Sarah Clark Kidder became the first woman railroad president in the United States if not the world! Her tenure was between 1901 and 1913. Sarah retired to San Francisco where she died in 1933 at age 93.

They lived in a very ornate Victorian mansion on Bennett Street near the corner of Kidder Street overlooking the Grass Valley Narrow Gauge rail yards. It like the railroad has passed quietly into oblivion.

The Kidder Mansion was the social center of the western county and many a 19th century "A" list celebrities were Kidder's guests.

Now we have a few Kidder facts, let's explain Clamper Square and how Kidder fits in the scheme of things there. The property is about the size of a substandard city lot and is located at the intersection of Railroad Avenue and the Golden Center Freeway's Sacramento Street off-ramp.

It is surplus freeway land deeded to the City of Nevada City by the California Department of Transportation. The name of the small parcel was proposed by Nevada City Councilman Bob Paine to honor the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus, Nevada City Chapter #10, which group had honored many historic sites, people and event with bronze plaques.

On May 8, 1968, the chapter dedicated the first of three monuments to the memory of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad. The Nevada City marker is the first of those three that were placed, the others at Grass Valley and one at Colfax, principal stations on the line. The Narrow Gauge monument base is fashioned of stone with a bronze plaque attached giving a thumb nail history of the railroad.

A few survivors, former employees all members of the railroad's "Last Man Club," were on hand as were John Nolan, the road's last master mechanic and Bob Paine, the last freight and passenger agent. Nolan's father had been John Kidder's foreman of bridge building during construction and spent his life on the railroad as did John; Paine's tenure was some 11 years. Nolan took time off to soldier in France during World War I, while Paine was stationed in Italy in W.W.II. Some two years ago, the last member of that Club, Rose Geronimi passed on.

"But," you again ask, "how do the Kidders fit in Clamper Square picture?"

To honor both the railroad and the man most identified with the road, the Clampers planted three Sierra redwoods, the Sequoia Gigantia, each named for a family member. Today, as by some mysterious hand of fate, each tree seems to be aware of its namesake and grows in proportion.

We have the John Kidder tree, the largest; the Sarah Kidder tree, the next in size and the much smaller little Beatrice Kidder tree.

I discussed this phenomenon with a nurseryman who pointed out that the soil in Clamper Square is very poor in nutrients being a composite of left over freeway cut and fill material. It's been 40 years since the three were planted and we should expect they'll continue to improve with age.

Bob Wyckoff is a retired Nevada County newspaper editor/publisher and author of local history publications including "The Way It Was; Looking Back in Nevada County," published by and available at The Union newspaper, 464 Sutton Way, Grass Valley CA 95945. E.mail: bobwyckoff@sbcglobal.net or PO Box 216, Nevada City CA 95959



TIMELINES

By Bob Wyckoff



OUR TIMELINES GUY has been called to task for using yet (ho-hum) another shot of the front of Miners Foundry and to complicate things, he blacked out the sign that said "Miners Foundry," at left. Those daring enough to submit are: Alling, TroyEllen, Holbrook, Worthington, Pickering, Drievold, Johnson, Wellner, Hayden and Young.