Editing Weaverville, California (section)

==History==

Founded in 1850, Weaverville is a historic [[California Gold Rush]] town.  Located at the foot of the current [[Trinity Alps Wilderness]] Area, Weaverville was once home to approximately 2,000 Chinese gold miners and had its own Chinatown. Many of these miners left once the gold rush ended, and the majority of the Chinatown burned down in a 1911 fire.<ref>Reynolds, Christopher "Redwood forest offers glimpses of many faces of U.S," ''The Vancouver Sun'', September 12, 1998, pg 133. </ref> Historical monuments and architecture throughout the town keep this history alive. The Joss House is California's oldest active Chinese temple, housing Chinese artifacts from the 19th century, and is Weaverville's oldest building, built in 1852. 

A self-guided walking tour of historic downtown buildings (some said to be haunted) is the best way to experience the ambiance and quaint shops and businesses.

Logging and tourism were the economic mainstays of Weaverville for many years. Weaverville is now more known for its robust trail system and quaint historic downtown. The Trinity Alps Basin Trails system starts in Weaverville and is a network of professionally maintained hiking and biking trails ranging in difficulty in and around Trinity Alps and its majestic lakes. 

Weaverville has notable and unusual original gold rush historical architecture, like its iconic spiral staircases on Main St., an old Bandstand, and red Courthouse. The Jake Jackson Museum on Main Street is an original building from the 1850's and displays gold rush equipment, tools, photos and memorabilia. The Diggins Saloon and New York Saloon are still open and welcoming customers since the gold rush era.

Historically, Trinity Lake (off Highway 3 just 15 minutes from Weaverville) is a man-made lake providing water to nearby Whiskeytown Lake in neighboring Shasta County, and farmers as far as the Central Valley of California. It became a popular secret recreation area for campers, boaters, and motorcyclists in the 1970's and continues its popularity in non-drought years. 

Weaverville has relied on the Trinity Journal as its main source of county news, event calendar, and business advertisements since 1856. It is one of California's oldest newspapers still in print. The office of the Trinity Journal is housed in Weaverville's Historic District, right downtown. The Trinity Journal publishes weekly on Wednesdays.

Also unique to Weaverville is its electrical grid. Weaverville created its own power company (Trinity PUD) so it could be independent of PG&E and have the ability to create power from local hydro sources.