The STCHS Monthly Programs are held at the Groveland Community Hall on the third Saturday of each month except for September when the programs are on Fridays due to the Saturday annual 49er festival.
Donations
are $2.00 for members and $3.00 for non-members.
DVD Videos of past Saturday evening programs going back as far as 2003 are available for weekly loan or for viewing in the museum theater.
Click HERE for complete listings.
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click below for details
March Program
Saturday the 20th at 7:00 pm
Sierra Railway’s Race for Gold, Water and Power in Tuolumne County
April Program
Saturday the 24th at 7:00 pm
Getting Hetchy Water to Groveland
March Program
Saturday the 20th
NEW TIME - 7:00 pm
Sierra Railway’s Race for Gold, Water and Power in Tuolumne County
Joe Sparagna will discuss the history of the Sierra Railway’s impact on the economy of Tuolumne County in the race for gold, and particularly south of the river, for water and power projects. Joe has been an interpretive docent at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park since 1997. The many questions posed by visitors at Railtown sparked his interest in the interaction of the various railroads in Tuolumne County and how they affected the development of our resources.
The program will include the history of San Francisco City and County’s huge Hetch Hetchy Water & Power Project, the Hetch Hetchy Railroad and its relationship with the Sierra Railway in the construction of the O’Shaughnessy Dam.
Joe is a Past-President of the Tuolumne County Historical Society and currently chair of the Society’s Landmarks Committee and 2nd Vice-President. He is currently a director on the Mother Lode Fair Board of Directors. Joe has a BSEE and retired as a Vice-President of a GTE defense electronics division in 1996. After 38 years in systems analysis, design, project engineering, and general management, he moved to Sonora and volunteers on various projects. His most recent project involved the return of the 1897 Jamestown Branch Jail, which received the 2009 Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation in January 2010.
April Program
Saturday the 24th at 7:00 pm
Getting Hetchy Water to Groveland
Oral Moore, born in 1921, was the construction engineer on the Cherry Valley Dam project for Hetch Hetchy Water & Power, which began in 1955. During this STCHS program he will share highlights of that project, in which both he and Mary Laveroni were instrumental in getting Hetchy water to Groveland.
At the re-dedication celebration of Cherry Valley Dam, which occurred in 1996, Oral was an honored guest and dignitary. He appeared with his wife & family, along with others who had worked on the Cherry project. A large granite monument with brass plaque was dedicated and Oral’s name is on that plaque at the dam.
Oral also supervised the construction of the Canyon Powerhouse which later became known as the Kirkwood Powerhouse. In 1961 when Harry Lloyd, chief engineer of Hetch Hetchy Water & Power, retired, Oral became general manager of both Hetch Hetchy and of the Utilities Engineering Bureau (the construction division of City & County of San Francisco). Oral retired in 1983 and lives in the Bay Area.
