A plaque honoring Leb Hirschman and the Jewish Gold Rush community was installed at Hirschman’s Pond on Monday. The Pond was registered as one of Nevada County’s newest landmarks by the Board of Supervisors on July 13, 2021. Hirschman’s Pond is what remains of the hydraulic mine operated by Nevada County pioneer Leb Hirschman.
Due to the pandemic a public dedication ceremony was deferred to later this year. The plaque was installed by the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission with the cooperation of the Greater Cement Hill Neighborhood Association. The Pond is located near the intersection of Cement Hill Rd. and Highway 49.
The text of the plaque is as follows:
“Nevada County’s diverse Gold Rush population included a large Jewish community. Most were immigrants from Europe, attracted by the opportunity to make their fortunes and by the County’s relative freedom and absence of discrimination against Jews. Many were merchants and many were miners. One of the more successful miners was Leb Hirschman (1823-1893), a native of Bavaria, who arrived here in the early 1850s, and mined around Oustamah Hill. In 1866, Hirschman, Grover & Co. purchased the American Hill Diggins, one of the the principal hydraulic mines in Nevada City, and operated it for many years. This pond, on the site of the mine, bears his name.”
Hirschman’s Pond will be featured in the next edition of the Commission’s interactive map and of Exploring Nevada County, which catalogues all the over 200 historical landmarks in the County, and is available for any smartphone, tablet and many computers from Apple or Amazon. Go to You Bet Press (youbetpress.com) to find clickable links.
Prefer paper? There are copies of Exploring Nevada County available from Comstock Bonanza Press (https://bit.ly/2IUHYi0
The purpose of the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission is to promote the general welfare of Nevada County and its citizens through official recognition, recording, marking, preserving and promoting the historical resources of Nevada County. For more information, visit