Real Estate Blog - A Modern Day Atlantis!

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A Modern Day Atlantis!

For those of us in the Greater Sacramento area, the rain of the last few days may be causing us to suffer a bit from Cabin Fever. However, we certainly understand the importance and urgency of restoring our water storage at Folsom Lake and from having a healthier snow pack in the Sierra Nevadas.

There is a part of our local history that has been buried in recent decades, by the waters of Folsom Lake. The little town of Mormon Island, a one time Gold Rush settlement, was drowned when building the dam at Folsom, allowed water into the area to create the lake in the 1950s. However, because Folsom has been at its lowest water levels in years from draught, old signs of the old town are emerging from the surface of the water like a small modern day Atlantis. Here are several news links that report on the recent finds from the old town:

http://cbs13.com/local/Mormon.Island.Artifacts.2.602922.html

http://cbs13.com/seenon/re.graswich.the.2.485720.html

http://cbs13.com/slideshows/Mormon.Island.Artifacts.20.602606.html

Posted by Myrl Jeffcoat on 02/16/2009 08:01 PM

Comments (11)

sacramento real estate news, folsom, gold river, mormon island, atlantis, folsom dam, folsom lake, myrl jeffcoat

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11 Comments on A Modern Day Atlantis!

FEB

Hi Myrl, I lived in Texas near a manmade lake myself and can relate to this experience. There too, when the lake was created entire settlements were flooded only to resurface decades later during a very severe drought.

I depend on a good snow fall in the mountains in my arid area of the country. I am still amazed at how many citizens have a disconnect when it comes to water and its' source.

Keep conserving even when the lakes are overflowing.

Myrl, this is very cool. It IS a bit like Atlantis. You know, Lake Livingston is a man made lake also and when the water level dropped people found mounds from Indians and discovered many arrowheads. What history lies underneath us! Beautiful post. Thank you,

Later in the rain~Deb

FEB

Hi Myrl:

This is neat. I'm a huge advocate of conserving water. Everyone needs to get on board here...

ToulaRosebrock.com - Lacey Township Real Estate

If I had any time, Myrl, I'd drive up there to look. This sounds fascinating. I, too, have a bit of cabin fever and wish, in a small way, that the rain would stop. But we do desperately need the water, so I'm championing the rain right now, even though I don't care for it.

My mom in law lives down in San Diego and she is loving her rain. We all need it. We are supposed to get some tomorrow. Hope it holds together.

Silvia and Deb - It's always neat when once hidden areas intermittantly surface again!

Sabrina and Toula - I hear you about the disconnect many folks have releated to water and its source.

Elizabeth - I had a small fender bender over the weekend, and my car is in the shop for a couple of days being repaired. I'm really feeling couped up. I didn't get a rental car, because I needed to force myself to do some spring cleaning, and to transfer some files from dozens of CDs to an external hard-drive!

Tammy - We absolutely NEED the rain!

Hi Mryl, many would have no idea that this town ever existed...like me! I love old ghost towns and the lore that goes with them. I found an old cemetery once from the 1800's and the locals didn't even know it existed. I photographed the headstones to find out they why and where of them. Nice post Mryl.

Gary - I have similar interest in old ghost towns, and historic areas. I also have a friend who belongs to a genealogy group which goes out and photographs cemetary headstones. It's called "Find A Grave." I also have an interest in genealogy, and find the stories behind the names and the dates very fascinating!

Really interesting Myrl. Love historical sites, not many left in the US that haven't been destroyed or ransacked.

FEB

That's pretty neat. Reminds me of when the Aswan dam was built in Egypt. They tried to relocate so much of history but ultimately much was buried under water. I wondered at that time what archaeologists might find 1,000 years from now when the climate changed and the water receded.

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