Sierra County records delivered to the California State Archives in Sacramento. Left to right: Jan Hamilton (SCHS President), Bill Copren (SCHS Treasurer), Corri Jimenez (SCHS VP), Jeff Crawford (California State Archives Archivist), and Stuart Lauters (former California State Archivist)

As one might guess, in 171 years of existence, Sierra County has compiled many records. While California law outlines what can be kept and what can be destroyed, Sierra County has preserved many documents dating back to 1852 that are extremely valuable in telling the story of life here, especially pre-1900. They include records of criminal cases, civil disputes (many not surprisingly involving gold mines), naturalization issues, divorces, and anything else that helps tell the story of a community. While the government is often accused of tying issues up in ‘red tape,’ many of these records are, in fact, tied with red ribbon, a common practice in the 1800s and where that term originated.

With concerns about their survivability, these records have been stored in many places, some more secure than others. For years they were in the courthouse basement subject to flood concerns, and some were in a shipping container adjacent to the courthouse, and for some years, they were in storage in a Reno storage facility.

Thanks to the concerns of the Sierra County Historical Society (SCHS), some records have been moved to a budding county archive at the historic Sierraville School. With recent action by the Sierra County Superior Court and the Sierra County Board of Supervisors, some 200 boxes of the most valuable records will be moved again to the safest place they could be: the California State Archives in Sacramento.

While ownership of every record remains in the name of the people of Sierra County, these records will finally have a home worthy of their value, handled by folks who know and understand their importance and know how to care for them properly while continuing to make them fully accessible to the public. Both the court and board are pleased with this arrangement and appreciate the willingness of the California State Archivist to make this a reality. This past Monday morning, a truck containing these records made the trip to Sacramento accompanied by SCHS President Jan Hamilton, Vice President Corri Jimenez, and Treasurer Bill Copren. A special thanks to Court Executive Officer Ann Mendez and Court Clerk Mary-Ann Epps for all their work in making this a reality.

Kudos to all others who made this safeguarding of Sierra County history a reality.