Sierra County, California

As its name indicates, Sierra is one of the counties that is formed by the great chain of mountains that bars off California from Nevada. It lies to the south of Lassen and Plumas, and most of its surface is broken by mountain peaks and ridges, though there are a number of rich valleys, walled in by spurs of the Sierra Nevada. The area is 781 square miles. The United States census of 1880 gave the population as 6,623; at present the county has about 8,000. Downieville, the county seat, was once the seat of very important mines, and it still commands a large trade. Other towns are Sierra City and Forest City. Mining has always been the leading industry. The county was rich in mineral deposits, and in the early days it produced large quantities of gold. Now, when only a small number of mines are worked, the yield is still something over $1,000,000 a year. Agriculture is carried on in the elevated valleys, the land being extraordinarily fertile. The assessed valuation of the county in 1889 was $1,700,000.

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Source: California State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1890, Volume II, R. L. Polk & Company, 1890.