Post by L Roebuck on Jun 25, 2006 17:57:48 GMT -5
Cave City putting a start to stopping
Calaveras town to get its first stop sign
Dana M. Nichols
Record Staff Writer
Published Sunday, Jun 25, 2006
CAVE CITY - This rural enclave in the geographic heart of Calaveras County is famous for its Gold Rush-era cave dwellers and for serving as a hide-out for folks wanting to escape all the rules and fuss of modern life.
But the stone age is coming to an end. Calaveras County supervisors voted last week to approve Cave City's first stop sign.
"That's way overdue," said Ted Dodge, 79. Dodge manufactures wine boxes in a wood shop overlooking the three-way intersection of Cave City Road and Michel Road, where the sign will be erected. Dodge said he sees frequent near misses at the intersection, especially on weekends.
"It's the cave people," Dodge said. "They go to visit the caves, and when they come back, they come over the hill at 60 to 70 miles per hour.
The "cave people" are tourists who come to see miles of underground limestone passages, vaults and lakes known as California Caverns.
The caverns, a popular tourist destination in the late 1800s, fell into obscurity and neglect for most of the 1900s before re-opening as a commercial operation in 1980. Now, the cave is seeing steady growth in both the carloads who come on weekends and bus loads of schoolchildren who come during the week, said John Fairchild, whose family owns and operates the cave.
Full Story: www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060625/NEWS01/606250346/1001
Calaveras town to get its first stop sign
Dana M. Nichols
Record Staff Writer
Published Sunday, Jun 25, 2006
CAVE CITY - This rural enclave in the geographic heart of Calaveras County is famous for its Gold Rush-era cave dwellers and for serving as a hide-out for folks wanting to escape all the rules and fuss of modern life.
But the stone age is coming to an end. Calaveras County supervisors voted last week to approve Cave City's first stop sign.
"That's way overdue," said Ted Dodge, 79. Dodge manufactures wine boxes in a wood shop overlooking the three-way intersection of Cave City Road and Michel Road, where the sign will be erected. Dodge said he sees frequent near misses at the intersection, especially on weekends.
"It's the cave people," Dodge said. "They go to visit the caves, and when they come back, they come over the hill at 60 to 70 miles per hour.
The "cave people" are tourists who come to see miles of underground limestone passages, vaults and lakes known as California Caverns.
The caverns, a popular tourist destination in the late 1800s, fell into obscurity and neglect for most of the 1900s before re-opening as a commercial operation in 1980. Now, the cave is seeing steady growth in both the carloads who come on weekends and bus loads of schoolchildren who come during the week, said John Fairchild, whose family owns and operates the cave.
Full Story: www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060625/NEWS01/606250346/1001