UPDATE: Seneca was a beloved old gold-mining ghost-town bar, known to generations of people in the surrounding mountains and far beyond. In recent years it had been repaired and cared for by Mark Burnham and other volunteers and donors. People still loved to visit and have picnics. It barely survived the 75k-acre Chips fire of 2012, thanks to firefighter efforts. It did not survive the still-growi
ng, cataclysmic 500k-acre Dixie fire of 2021. Ideas are being pondered even now to rebuild this heartfelt touchstone of the mountains. It may yet serve these communities for healing and recovery. It's a special place. I'll leave most of the old description below.
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The story of Seneca, California -- the old gold-mining ghost town -- went globally viral when it was sold in 2014. These days it's pretty quiet, just the old Gin Mill bar -- a simple cabin and porch with a tree growing up through it. This is a FB Page where you can share your stories, memories and photos of Seneca and the mountains around it. This property still needs a lot of TLC maintenance. Mark Burnham is working with the new owner, Jeff Vanover (of Houston, TX) to improve it. Contact Mark at [email protected] with any offers to help. Lately, the community of those who care about Seneca has been pulling through with volunteering and making a difference! Thanks! My uncle, Tim Ten Brink, ran the place previously. (I'm Jeff Potter, who is writing this. I greatly enjoyed visiting Seneca with my uncle.) Seneca is unique: a bar in a remote ghost town in the middle of a National Forest with a river running through it, the Feather River. When the bar is open Seneca almost becomes a town again! People from around the area stop by. Many from far and wide are proud to make it to this bar and its lovely surroundings. Seneca Road, leading to and from the town/bar, is an amazing drive. It's narrow, dirt, with a huge drop-off. Be prepared for the weather and the wilderness if you visit. Seneca used to be home to thousands. Stores, a hotel, rooming houses. 500 Chinese miners. An o***m den! 5 famous gold mines! Today it's just the bar, which isn't much more than a shack, 3 falling-down hunter's cabins, 9.8 acres -- and a lot of history. No electricity. Just a hillside spring for water, a propane tank for a frig and lights, and a septic system for a bathroom.
