It’s going to be a busy autumn for the Nevada County Historical Commission. They’ll be catching up on plaque dedication ceremonies that had been postponed from pandemic restrictions. And on Sunday, an enthusiastic crowd of about 50 people gathered in from the Narrow Gauge Railroad kiosk to commemorate the hundreds of Chinese workers who helped build it. Commissioner Bernie Zimmerman says many were left over from helping complete the Transcontinental Railroad in the west. The 22-mile local project began in 1875 and took just over a year to build, despite geographical and physical challenges…

click to listen to Bernie Zimmerman

And although considered more dependable, Zimmerman says they were only paid two-thirds of the white workers’ rate…

click to listen to Bernie Zimmerman

Zimmerman says it was one of the key projects in opening Nevada County to development. In the 1850’s, about 20-percent of the population was Chinese.