IONE
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IONE |
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NAME: Ione COUNTY: Amador ROADS: 2WD GRID: 3 CLIMATE: Mild spring, fall, cool winter, warm summer. BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime |
COMMENTS:
Many full-time residents (pop 227); located about 12 miles west of Sutter Creek, off of sr88. "Iron Ivan" locomotive on display; and very interesting cemetery on hill. REMAINS: Many historic bldgs, etc. |
| Est. circa 1851 was more of a stage stop than mining camp, ag and rail center, and clay & sand producer, First called Bedbug, then Freezeout, and finally Ione (heroine of "Last Days of Pompeii"). The Ione Methodist Episcopal Church was 1st organized in 1853. The town was so pros-perous that a larger building was already being planned. In 1862, Bishop Matthew Simpson laid the cornerstone for a striking new brick structure of Gothic architecture, and in 1866, it was completed and dedicated by Bishop Calvin Kingsley. Among some of the old buildings that line the street of Ione, the D. Stewart Co. store, con-structed of brick in 1856, is noteworthy. Ione's expectations of becoming a great city were, of course never fulfilled, but it is still a busy little town with a population of about 1500. The Preston School of Industry, established in 1889 is located here, and an excellent grade of potter's clay is shipped from here. A line of stages was established in 1850, running between Sacramento and Sonora, via the Q Ranch (near Ione), Jackson, Mokelumne Hill, Angels Camp, and Columbia. Over $265 million in gold bullion is said to have been carried over this road in the early days. In memory of the many brave Wells Fargo messengers and stage drivers, a tablet was placed near Ione on September 8, 1929, which contains a replica of a 6-horse stagecoach with driver & guard. The tablet reads: "Michael (Mike) Tovey, Wells Fargo messenger, was killed, and Dewitt Clinton Radcliffe, stage driver, injured on this spot June 15, 1893 by a lone bandit, who attempted to hold up the regular stage on the old Ione-Jackson stage road". Submitted by: Bob stelow |
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