Sunset highlights Nevada County swimming holes, watering holes

With release of its special Summer Trips issue, Nevada County is once again being spotlighted in Sunset magazine — a publication founded in 1898 as a promotional tool for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Sunset has previously featured our mining history, our architectural gems, local art and culture, wineries and restaurants, fall colors and more. This time the focus is on swimming holes along the South Yuba River with added information on local lodging and dining — including a prominent photo of Cirino’s Bar & Grill on Broad Street. And the publicity is free — something every chamber of commerce in the county gleefully welcomes. The regional special issue had a press run of 240,000 and the regular monthly edition of Sunset has a circulation of 1.2 million. Not even the combined resources of all county chambers of commerce could pay for such promotion. Nevada County Promotion Committee There was a time, however, when Nevada County was a major Sunset advertiser. In the 1890s, Nevada City and Grass Valley formed boards of trade, and the county board of supervisors established the Nevada County Promotion Committee — funded by the board and represented by businessmen from both towns. It was characteristic of what historian Arthur Schlesinger called the Golden Age of Fraternity — a time when “Associationalism” took root in the United States; when communities came together for the common good; and when civic improvement clubs, boards of trade, chambers of commerce and other business-oriented groups began to appear. Such organizational structure gave average citizens an opportunity to run meetings, maintain financial records and minute books, and participate in consensus-building — activities previously reserved only for the elite and oligarchs. Business groups exposed members to representative democracy on the local level and led to shopkeepers getting involved in the political process. They also got involved in community promotions aimed at attracting tourists who would then become customers. An opportunity not to be missed In the spring of 1911, Sunset sent its advertising manager to Nevada City to meet with the chamber of commerce. Following that initial meeting, J. B. Scofield, representing Sunset, appeared before the board of supervisors asking that $1,200 be given to the Nevada County Promotion Committee for the purpose of advertising in his popular travel magazine. Scofield offered a package deal the county couldn’t refuse. For $1,200, (equivalent to about $27,000 in current buying power), the county received a monthly half-page ad for a year, along with a two-page feature article on the virtues of Nevada County. In addition, Sunset agreed to produce 12,500 copies of an illustrated booklet promoting the county, and distribute them to passengers on Sunset Limited trains running between San Francisco and New Orleans. It was an opportunity not to be missed, but the board of supervisors finalized the deal only after the country promotion committee agreed that they would seek no further promotional money for a year. The informational brochure and monthly half-page ads generated tremendous interest from all parts of the nation. A letter received by the county promotion committee from Colorado asked, “Will you be so kind as to send me a booklet with prices of land in Nevada City, Cal, as I saw in your ad in Sunset.” Similar letters flowed into the committee’s Broad Street office from as far away as Central America and Europe. The 1911-12 Sunset promotion was especially noteworthy because it brought widespread attention to Nevada County at a time when the automobile was emerging as an important means of vacation and leisure travel. That initial Sunset advertising blitz caught the attention of the nascent motoring public and ushered in the active, organized promotion and marketing of this county.