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Monday, March 16, 2015

The Tibbits House in Columbia



Outside of Tibbits House corner of Main Street & Fulton Street, Columbia, CA

I have been to Columbia State Park in California many times in the past decades, but the first time I recall the Tibbet’s House being open to the public was during my trip last month. This house on the corner of Main Street and Fulton Street in Columbia is a neat, one story frame structure with an interesting history that reflects the growth of this gold rush city.



Mrs. Tibbits formal parlor so she could entertain her friends
 This house was named after the Lyman C. Tibbet (aka Tibbitt) family who lived in Columbia, California from 1887 to 1932. 

The back portion was formed from a cabin originally built in the 1850s on land north of Columbia in Gold Springs. It was originally owned by Lyman’s father, John P. Tibbets who died in 1866. In 1887 Lyman had the cabin moved to a vacant lot in Columbia.  Previously, the lot had been used for a general merchandise store, a meat market and possibly a saloon.








Mrs. Tibbet was dissatisfied living in the cabin because she did not have a formal parlor in which to entertain her friends. Her husband remedied that by buying a portion of another building in town and attaching it to the front of the original cabin.



That parlor is now restored to the 1870s era. Much of the decor is original and the rest is authentic to the time period.

















Docent by door leading to modernized back cabin

The back part, which is the original cabin, has been modernized and is currently being lived in by a park employee.



From 1880 to 1911, Dr. Tibbetts ran a pharmacy across the street from the home in the current bank building. He later ran the pharmacy out of the parlor in his home. He also served as the town’s postmaster for several years.

Map of Columbia with arrow pointing to location of Tibbits House

Although Columbia was on the other side of the Sierria Nevada Mountains by way of the Sonora Pass from Lundy in Mono County, the time period in which the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series takes place is about the same time that "Doc" Tibbits worked as a pharmacist in Columbia.

Now Available
There is a reference in both of my novellas, Big Meadows Valentine and A Resurrected Heart (scheduled for release in April), of Doctor Guirado who also worked as a physician and ran a pharmacy in the gold mining town of Lundy, California. Big Meadows Valentine starts in the first week of January, 1884 and concludes on Valentine's Day.
Although no known photos exist of Dr. Guirado's home or business, we do know that his pharmacy was located on Main Street between First Street and Second Street, across the street and a half block down from the Arcade Saloon in which my character Beth Dodd works as a cook for the chop shop (steak house) in the back.
Scheduled for release April, 2015

I know of no known record that tells us what Dr. Guirado was doing on April 5th, 1884, a day in Lundy dubbed by the locals as "Resurrection Day." A Resurrected Heart is about the weekend surrounding this event. However, I'm sure with all the celebrating that took place in addition to the usual illnesses, in real life the good doctor was kept busy.

On Friday in A Resurrected Heart, Dr. Guirado is called on to patch up a miner injured in a confrontation. On Saturday, Beth is called on to assist with a birth because Dr. Guirado is busy escorting two very ill Lundyites to the county hospital in Bridgeport. It was an action-packed weekend for all filled by "A march, a birth, a burial -- and a resurrection of her heart."



     Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels. Her novel, Family Secrets, was published by Fire Star Press in October 2014 and her novelette, AChristmas Promise, was published by Prairie Rose Publications in November 2014. Big Meadows Valentine, the first novella in the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series, is now available for Kindle HERE and for B&N Nook HERE and A Resurrected Heart is scheduled for release in April 2015.

Please visit the Zina Abbott’s Amazon Author Page by clicking HERE.





13 comments:

  1. What a fascinating place. I love the histories of old buildings, the people who lived there and the lives of the people around them. Thank you for sharing a fascinating place. We have a few here in Colorado, the most well known, South Park City, in the town of Fairplay, Colorado. Fortunatlely or unfortunately, it is composed of buildings from around the area and hare there for history and preservation. Doris McCraw/Angela Raines

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    1. Thank you, Doris. Yes, I love going through all the old buildings to see how they were furnished. Like I said, even though this house is in the middle of a state park, I have never seen it open until they had a special "gold rush days" and had a docent there to tell the history and keep an eye on things.

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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  2. I love visiting historical sites, but the places that have been *saved* through historical preservation efforts are so rich with details. When you're there, you can't help but wonder what conversations took place. Was there happiness or sadness? My wondering has no end... :-)

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    1. I agree, Kaye. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall and gotten in on the conversation(s) between Mr. & Mrs. Tibbits that lead to Mr. Tibbits getting the parlor for his wife. Probably a combination of love and keeping the peace.

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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  3. Yep, you always wish the walls could talk. There's so much, even with recent history, that we can only guess about. Thanks for the tour!

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    1. Thank you, Jacquie. I wish they had the room restored to have shown what it looked like when he kept the pharmacy there. I wonder how Mrs. Tibbits felt about that!

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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    2. I don't think she was very happy giving up her parlor.
      I'm a Docent in Columbia and we have different buildings opened up to the public on the second Saturday of every month for our Gold Rush Days.
      We also have an annual Calendar of Events showing our other fun things we put on. It's a great town to learn about California history and the Gold Rush Era.
      Since we already have an Apothecary display near Angelo's Hall, The room is set up so people can see a typical formal parlor.
      As a history educator, I like to make people think about their own era. How would a typical home be displayed a hundred years from now? How do you describe your technology to someone from a 1850s?
      Thank you for your photos and bringing history to life in the pages of a book.

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  4. I can't even imagine the problems involved with moving a room of one house and connecting it to another. Wallpaper must have been extremely popular in the 1800's. When I enter a historical home, I can feel this energy of the lives lived there. I'm not a psychic or anything of the kind. It's the kind of energy that makes the mind run wild with imaginary scenarios for a story.
    I know it must have been exciting to include a real historical element is both your novellas. Congratulations on your upcoming releases.

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    1. Sarah, from what I gather from my research, moving cabins and adding rooms was commonly done back in the day. It saved having to build from scratch. That happened a lot on the other side of the Sierra-Nevadas where wood was scarcer and so much was needed to keep mining equipment running. I had never considered your viewpoint, but it is an interesting thought. I imagine it could be the same as when people move into a home that was formerly owned by another family--especially if that family had lived there for some time.

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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  5. I think the more real life things we add to our stories makes them more real for the reader. Richer for the reader as we describe someplace odds are they'll never see but through their minds eyes. I'd love to be the caretaker that lives in the house. Sarah perhaps the ghosts from the past are calling to you. You may be sensitive to those that have gone before you. According to my friend psychic Kelli Miller we all have that ability its just that we don't develop it.

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    1. Thank you, Barbara. I love that I found a source that tells so much about the people and buildings of Lundy, the locality in my series. It is a genealogist's as well as a writer's dream. I feel it helps me create a story that feels like it really happened.

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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  6. What great info and pictures! I love it when real historical settings show up in books, especially if I know the area. I have not been to Columbia yet, but am always intrigued with outstanding places in my home state of California. Exploring the gold rush country is definitely something I want to do. I have this on my to-be-visited list now, as well as your story on my TBR! Best wishes!

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    1. Thank you, Tanya. Yes, if you get a chance, go visit Columbia State Park just north of Sonora in California. It has so many interesting buildings and displays typical of the 1850s to 1870s, the years they were mining gold in that region. What researching for my book has done is given me new eyes and a greater desire to visit more places in the California and Nevada gold and silver mining regions.

      Robyn Echols writing as Zina Abbott

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