The Knight Foundry Alliance (http://www.knightfoundry.com) and the Sutter Creek Community Benefit Foundation (CCHS Region 16) jointly held a community fund raising, open house on Sunday, April 2, 2017 at Knight Foundry. Located in Sutter Creek CA, the Knight Foundry is a premier relic of the Mother Lode gold mining history. The Foundry is America’s last water-powered cast iron foundry and machine shop.
Established in 1873 by Samuel Knight, this extraordinary facility includes unique historical equipment and machinery, still in place in its original context.
The Foundry literally helped to build California from precision equipment for our hard-rock gold mines, to the lights of San Francisco, to the impulse turbine systems that powered many of the state’s hydroelectric plants. The foundry stayed in business until 1996.
Knight Foundry is nationally recognized as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark and a California Registered Historical Landmark. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been named by the National Trust as one of America’s eleven most endangered historic places.
A 42-inch (107 cm) Knight Wheel drives the main line shaft, with smaller water motors powering other machines.
The land and buildings were donated to the City of Sutter Creek, California on December 31st, 2016. Fundraising is on-going to purchase the equipment within the buildings and to further establish a living museum.
