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Group hopes to revive tiny Golden By Paul Fattig GOLDEN � When Sandy Henderson steps softly into the old church built by pioneers, she can almost hear the heavy footfall of hobnailed boots on the wooden floor. With a little imagination, she can hear creaking pews, a giggling child and a parent�s solemn cough just before the congregation�s rousing rendition of "Amazing Grace" fills the Coyote Creek canyon. "I am absolutely taken back each time," she said of visiting the church built with local rough-hewn lumber in 1892. "The families that built Golden � the Rubles and the McIntoshes � both had 14 children. I think about what those women went through. "And I think about the men freezing in that creek, looking for gold," she added. For Henderson and other members of nonprofit Golden Coyote Wetlands Inc., the vacant mining town of Golden is a historic treasure. The group, which is dedicated to historic preservation and natural resource restoration, held an open house Saturday to discuss ways to protect Golden from the ravages of time. The group bought the old mining town, established in 1896, from a private owner in 1997 for $68,000. The tiny town is off Interstate 5 along Coyote Creek Road about six miles east of the town of Wolf Creek. Covering 5.5 acres, the townsite includes the country church with its tall steeple, a long-closed general store and the Rubles� dwelling, now shaky with age. "This little town boomed, then faded, boomed again, then faded again," said Henderson, a board member of the group. "There are very few places left like this. It�s absolutely precious." The town mushroomed after gold miners hit pay dirt in the late 1800s. Early-day postmasters included William Ruble and Henry McIntosh. Ruble also invented the Ruble rock elevator, a device used in early-day mining. By March 31, 1920, with the last gold boom having gone bust, the post office closed. The town lived less than a quarter of a century. A history buff and writer, Henderson and her husband, Bob, a retired antique dealer, live in a historic home two miles west of Golden. Their home was built by the Rubles and McIntoshes in 1889, Sandy Henderson said. "They were excellent craftsmen," she said. "That�s why the church has lasted as well as it has." Local resident Larry McLane, whose ancestors were pioneers, figures Golden is worth preserving. "There�s nothing else like it," said McLane, author of a local history book called "First There was Twogood: a Pictorial History of Northern Josephine County." Golden reflects the world in which miners and their families lived, he said. "It needs to be done � there is enough left of Golden to preserve," he said. "Even the old Ruble house, half of it is still standing. A substantial part of it is solid." But time is catching up with the old town. "Our first goal is to stabilize it � it�s slowly deteriorating," Sandy Henderson said. "There are some trim and protective things we could do. After that, we want to get into restoration, particularly the general store. "It would be a wonderful interpretive center," she added. "But it�s not safe enough to tour in right now." Another goal is to rebuild the Ruble house, circa 1894. "But the old house needs to be taken down and completely rebuilt," she said, although noting that process would include using the old timber where possible. The group intends to eventually seek formal protection of the town�s historic value by having it placed on the National Historic Register, Henderson said. One option they would support is to have the state purchase the site and keep it open to the public. "We would look very favorably on that," Henderson said, noting that those who built Golden also helped build the nearby historic Wolf Creek Inn. "But our immediate desire is to pay off the mortgage," she said. "If people want to designate donations to specific things, like windows in the church or the altar, that would be fine. We just want to save Golden." Checks can be sent to Golden Coyote Wetlands Inc., Box 33, Wolf Creek, OR 97497. For additional information on Southern Oregon�s ghost town, check out the Web site at www.historicgolden.org. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.