I consider myself lucky in my ability to connect with interesting people on my travels. Running into the property owners son (I think his name was Rocky) got us inside the cool old Eureka buildings and told some interesting tales and history.
First an old bar. A bar with a well in the middle of it. I have never seen an indoor well. We were told the well wasn't really used for drinking water, but as a place ot hide the moonshine during prohibition. It was also the place where the guns of disarmed drunks ended up. A door in the back of the bar went to a cave in the room that was said to have housed the stills. The rooms were filled with interesting antiques and memorabilia. As we walked out he pointed out the staircase that led from outside to the second floor, and also had a door into the bar. Apparently the upstairs was a brothel, but back in the day women were not allowed into the bar, so the the bar door had to open into the stairwell for easy access to the women upstairs.
The next building we got access to was being remodeled into a gallery that displayed Billy Baum's (who owned the building) artwork, and other historic items and old photographs of the old mining town. Rocky told us interesting stories about the photographs, I wish I could remember them all.
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