During the peak years of the gold rush, Nevada City and Grass Valley had a combined Jewish population exceeded in California only by San Francisco and Sacramento.
Some were miners, but many were shopkeepers. Rosenberg, Baruh, Rosenheim, Levy, Rosenthal, and Blumenthal were among the names associated with local Jewish businesses, as was Bailey Gatzert.
Gatzert, born in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1829, arrived in Nevada City in 1853. In May 1856, with Jesse Cody, he purchased Jacob Landekers Commercial Street grocery store. Two months later, however, the business was wiped out by the Great Fire of 1856.
Although they rebuilt, restocked and reopened, Cody soon bought an interest in the Shenandoah Billiard Saloon in the basement of the Kidd…
Read the full article at: https://www.theunion.com/news/steve-cottrell-bailey-gatzert-found-success-in-seattle/
