A plaque outside of North Star House in Grass Valley lists the architect who designed it and the mining family who called it home but fails to name the man responsible for building it.
And though the same man was responsible for the North Star Powerhouse, plaques there neglect him, too.
That forgotten man’s story has been told at last in Gage McKinney’s new book “Gold Camp Gentleman: A Life of James D. Hague.”
Hague was educated at Harvard and the Royal School of Mines in Freiberg, Germany. He came to Nevada County long after the Gold Rush, and after serving in the Civil War, to work as a consulting geologist at the North Star mine. Intrigued by the geological complexities he encountered, and convinced of the mine’s potential, he bought the North Star.
Hague spent twelve years consolidating nearby properties and planning a powerhouse and a new vertical shaft at the mine. At last by 1895 the expanded North Star became a bonanza and Hague and his California and New York investors reaped the profits.
By putting the North Star mine on a permanent footing, Hague created hundreds of manufacturing jobs which continued for more than thirty-five years. He helped create the infrastructure which supports Grass Valley to this day and contributed to the industrial might which made America the first global superpower.
Hague brought talented people to Nevada County, especially the gifted engineer Arthur D. Foote, who built the powerhouse for Hague and then ran the mine, and Mary Hallock Foote, the famous illustrator and author. He was responsible for Julia Morgan coming to Grass Valley to design a house for the ages, the North Star House.
Hague encouraged younger men and a generation of engineering students and graduates from UC Berkeley, Stanford and other universities who came to Grass Valley to get their start.
During his career, Hague may have been the best-known mining engineer in America. A scientific man himself, he knew scientists in America and Europe, including Charles Darwin. He was a friend of Theodore Roosvelt and rode on Roosevelt’s presidential train.
Hague lived in a time remembered as the “Gilded Age” and not all of his story is triumphant. The toxic brownfield remaining at the former North Star property is part of his legacy, too. Hague himself, McKinney will explain, readily acknowledged that he and his generation failed to live up to the ideals of their youth.
To write this book McKinney did research at Searls Library, Nevada City; The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley; the Beinecke Library, Yale University; Down House (Darwin’s home), Kent, England; Western New Mexico University archives, Silver City, NM; Stockbridge Public Library and Archives, Stockbridge, MA; and The Century Association Archives, New York City.
McKinney spent weeks at The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, which holds the James D. Hague papers and papers of many of Hague’s business associates and friends. The Huntington published Mary Foote’s memoirs, which were an important source for Hague’s biography.
McKinney will tell the story of James Hague at North Star House on Sunday, March 23 at 2 p.m. Advanced tickets are available for $10 at thenorthstarhouse.org, $15 at the door. All proceeds go towards restoring the house.
Three generations of Hague’s direct descendants and their families are traveling to Grass Valley to host a reception following the talk.
Staff from The Bookseller in Grass Valley will be on hand to sell copies of Gold Camp Genius and McKinney’s other books.
“Gold Camp Gentleman” is published by Comstock Bonanza Press.