The astonishing story of how a depressed rural region in the 1920s was unexpectedly transformed after the Stock Market Crash of 1929 into a scene of vibrant activity and record employment. Gold from the richest mining districts of California made boom towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City while the rest of America staggered under the burdens of unemployment, financial failure and collapse. It wasn't all peaches and cream some refugees from the cities and the Dust Bowl suffered before finding their way to the region, but they found jobs that paid living wages. Families soon were buying homes and automobiles and appliances, further spurring the local economy. Amazingly, the population of the area doubled between 1930 and 1940, during which time the region benefited from the work relief programs inaugurated by President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, and local leaders attracted public works projects that renewed the local infrastructure. This is probably the most upbeat account ever written about the Great Depression and every word is true. California historian Kevin Starr calls it "a first-rate work of regional history."

The 1930s: No Depression Here

Gage McKinney

Comstock Bonanza Press

<p>Grandson of a 49er, mining engineer Errol MacBoyle chose to resurrect the "worked out" Idaho Maryland gold mine. He and his beautiful wife Glendolyn scraped by in a leaky cottage in the woods, but after he located a lost vein and made it the richest mine in California, they lived a fabulous life of private planes, thoroughbred racing horses, and expensive jewels, and "Glen" MacBoyle hobnobbed with San Francisco's glamorous and eccentric "Big Alma" Spreckels. Then World War II shut down their Santa Rosa winery, closed America's gold mines, and halted work on his incredible state-of-the-art hospital at Grass Valley. When MacBoyle suffered a paralytic stroke, no one imagined he could salvage his broken empire . . . but they were wrong.</p>

MACBOYLE’S GOLD

GOLD MINING GENIUS: A LIFE OF GEORGE W. STARR

A High and Holy Place

Pine Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gage McKinney. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gage McKinney

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gage McKinney. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The 1930s: No Depression Here

MACBOYLE’S GOLD

GOLD MINING GENIUS: A LIFE OF GEORGE W. STARR

A High and Holy Place