Tracy Press - Bat cave barred

May 9, 2008 Tracy, CA

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Bat cave barred

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Written by by Glenn Moore / Tracy Press /
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
Abandoned mine specialists put a gate in front of the old Tesla mine, between Tracy and Livermore, to keep out people — but not bats. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press Journalists got a last look inside an abandoned, 100-year-old sand mine in Tesla today, as officials prepared to seal the entrance. The California Department of Conservation and California State Parks decided to permanently close the mine shafts in the old ghost town, five miles southwest of Tracy, to keep out vandals. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press A journalist takes a look at the trash and graffiti inside a tunnel in the old Corral Hollow Canyon mine. "People love to explore old mine sites, which is why we are so interested in preserving the mines for future tours," Bob Williamson, state parks district superintendent, said in a statement. "Unfortunately, vandals have entered the site illegally and burned some of the wooden tunnel supports ... creating a very dangerous situation." Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press George Siler (left) and Dean Betts, along with Siler’s son, George Jr., weld a section of steel bars together as they prepare to add the last section of gate to an abandoned mine. The 8-by-8-foot gate will allow bats and birds to enter. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press Don Drysdale of the California Department of Conservation discusses the plans for an abandoned mine. In all, 10 mine openings will be closed in Tesla as a safety measure. Photo by Glenn Moore/Tracy Press The California Department of Conservation and the Office of Mine Reclamation display pictures of Tesla in its heyday. Named for Nikolas Tesla, whose work on electricity made TV and radio transmission possible, the community of Tesla had 1,500 residents and more than 200 structures in the late 1890s. Coal was discovered in the area in 1855, and Tesla becameCalifornia's largest coal-producing area, also producing sand and clay. A fire in 1905 destroyed key parts of the mines, and six years later, they were closed, and Tesla became a ghost town. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 1170 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (4) Subscribe to this comment's feed Show/Hide comments ... written by JEFFONTHEWALL , January 16, 2008 Hey what's that on my name? report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 ... written by coffee , January 17, 2008 1oo or so years from now, archeologists will uncover these ancient caves to discover how stupid people were in our time. That goes for all you taggers out there. Not everyone knows what SST or NST means, and the other half don't care. If you can't draw, please don't graffiti---- it looks like S!T report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 ...* written by Spelunker , January 19, 2008 I dono, those mines are pretty dang cool. It's neat to actually read a little about their history after being inside them. Was able to find a Carnagie brick too! Can't wait until they make it a state park and I don't have to avoid the rangers! Guess there's no point in going out there now though. haha report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 ... written by Batman , January 21, 2008 To the bat cave Batman! report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0 This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 16 January 2008 )