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As Highway 4 winds its way over the first of the Sierra Foothills, out of the cold valley fog, into the bright happy sunshine of the attractive Gold Country, below the snow, a sign on the right says: Copperopolis. Copperopolis, known as "Copper" to the locals, was a thriving copper mining town during the Civil War. It provided most of the metal needs for the Union Army during that war. Located out of Stockton, the copper lode was first discovered by two prospectors at about the same time in 1860. During the war years, Copperopolis had a population of 10,000, much larger then any of the nearby gold camps. At the end of the war, the price of copper dropped to 19 cents a pound compared to 55 cents during the war. This forced closure of many of the mines and population dwindled. It did, however, provide copper during the two world wars.

As you can see from the series of photos below, "Copper" has taken on a new life. Perhaps, it is a need to have a connection to the past, or to have purpose and meaning in todays existence, tremendous voluntary effort is being expended to preserve Copper while breathing new life into the little town. The biggest breath of new life is the Town Square development by Castle and Cook. Construction is underway now. Also nearby is Lake Tulloch with it's Copper Cove, Poker Flat, Saddle Creek, Peninsula Estates subdivisions, expanding commercial activity and new golf course. Soon to come is the Oak Canyon Estates subdivision with it's new golf course. Homes there will be in the 1/2 million dollar range. Also close by are hundreds of twenty acre parcels in the Diamond XX Ranches subdivision with it's own private Flower Lake. The picture below is of lake Tulloch taken from Peninsula Estates.

Copper is blessed with the Olive Oil Baron of Calaveras County, Ed Rich. Ed has a dream of this area one day becoming famous for Olives. He has done the research, planted his own trees, created a must see boutique and olive oil tasting room in a recently refurbished historical building and will sell trees for your own special property. The picture below is Ed in front of his samples and the next one is out side his shop also showing the town hall next door

Is pictured below and has recently changed hands and is now owned by Bill & Nancy Turner. The Turners are active in the community and have everything in the world available in their store including friendly service.

Next to McCartys is the Old Corner Saloon.

 

In the past on Friday evenings they have had awesome Blue Grass jam sessions where 10-15 musicians entertain mostly themselves for drinks. The sounds of the guitars, base fiddles, harmonicas etc. were high quality and incredible entertainment. If you love Blue Grass more than you hate cigarette smoke, you would have enjoyed this.

But that was then, and now The Old Corner Saloon is now owned by Bud "Odie" Odikirk, who has remodeled and installed a computer and web site. I think this is the only bar in California where customers can see web pictures of themselves sometimes acting silly the night before. Odie has added excellent BBQ Ribs, Chicken and Tri-tip plus prime Rib on some nights.

Bluegrass is back! They meet at 7 PM on the 1st and 3rd Friday night - Smoke Free!

They also have Kerioki on Saturday night. His web site is www.old corner.com. On this site, he has made available the excellent history of Copperopolis by Rhoda and Charles Stone entitled "Tools On The Bar".

Odie also does magic and constantly treats his patrons to incredible magic tricks. The Sonora Union Democrat did a feature article about the saloon. Here it is:

Popular saloon's owner a card

Published: August 11, 2005.

Owner Bud Odekirk looks over the Old Corner Saloon, which is said to be the second oldest continually operated bar in California.
Amy Alonzo/Copyright 2005, The Union Democrat
By SCOTT JASON

Bud "Odie" Odekirk came out of a back room at the Copperopolis bar holding a wooden box with a picture of his uncle, a magician and hypnotist, on it.

Inside the box were about 15 card decks Odekirk uses to perform card tricks. Odekirk can do sleight-of-hand tricks and says he can make people levitate.

Odekirk's latest trick is renovating the Old Corner Saloon, which he said is the second oldest continually open bar in California.

Odekirk, 67, said he is trying to put the bar on the National Register of Historic Places. Along with the forms, he said he has to submit photos and documentation about the bar's history.

"I think (being on the register) would probably bring in more people," Odekirk said. "I just think it would be cool to be on the National Register."

Odekirk, who lives in a former post office next door to the bar, is always busy. He's either renovating something in the bar, fixing a computer, performing magic tricks or otherwise joking with patrons.

"I have too many irons in the fire," he said.

The bar, circa 1862, serves as a place for Copperopolis residents to shoot pool, have some drinks and relax.

Old pictures and antique signs cover its walls. One picture, from 1890, is of two U.S. Army soldiers. In the background, the Old Corner Saloon sign can be seen.

The bar holds weekly karaoke contests, barbecues and, once, a car smashing. People have had birthday parties and wedding receptions there. Two years ago, for Christmas, bar employees collected about $3,000 for needy families, Odekirk said.

Odekirk bought the bar about three-and-a-half years ago when he was looking to build a house in the area.

"Everybody asked me why I did it and I said, stupidity,'" he said.

Odekirk, who was a software engineer for 20 years in San Ramon, paid $205,000 for the bar and began fixing it up.

"It was a disaster," he said. "It still needs a lot of work."

Odekirk was born in Long Beach, but grew up in Utah, Wyoming and Nevada. In 1964, he moved back to California. He has been divorced twice and has two daughters and a son.

"They have all been here to visit," he said. "They thought it was pretty cool."

When Odekirk started to clean the bar, he found the drywall was browned from about 140 years of people smoking inside. He stripped the walls down to the bare wood, and, in the process found an antique Coke sign in mint condition hidden beneath the drywall. An appraiser valued it at $4,000, Odekirk said.

The bar's foundation was unsafe when Odekirk took over, so he spent $40,000 on a new one.

Odekirk estimated he has spent about $300,000 fixing up the bar, which includes a new deck and new tile in the bathroom.

The building that the bar is in has a colorful history, Odekirk said.

During the 1800s, its upstairs was used as a rooming house and brothel. In a month or so, Odekirk hopes to have the upstairs open as a hotel. All he has left to do is put up wallpaper and add decorations.

During Prohibition, the bar's basement was a speakeasy, Odekirk said.

A buzzer was connected from the upstairs to the basement so the people there would be quiet if the police came, he said. The buzzer button is still mounted on the bar, but doesn't connect to anything. Odekirk said he has no immediate plans for the basement, which he uses for storage.

A picture of Black Bart — the famous stagecoach robber — standing in the Old Corner Saloon hangs on the bar's wall. Bart did his first and last robberies in Copperopolis, Odekirk said.

Behind the building, Odekirk wants to build a fence and a stage so he can have music on Sunday afternoons.

Odekirk said he built a house himself and enjoyed it and thought it would be fun to renovate the bar.

"I just thought, I don't want to build a house, retire and sit and watch TV all day,'" he said. "(The bar) is a project."

Besides working on the bar, Odekirk fixes computers for area residents. He figures he has fixed about 100 so far. He does the work for free, unless he has to buy parts.

Odekirk, who said his father was a professional gambler and his mother was one of the first female card dealers, has been practicing magic since he was 8, when he learned how to make a nickel apparently disappear into his arm.

He said he can perform about 100 magic tricks, most of which the bar patrons have seen.

Odekirk plans to have a friend videotape him making someone appear to levitate, so Odekirk can show the video to people in the bar.

"You can't do levitation impromptu," Odekirk said.

A year ago, someone donated a car to Odekirk. He sold tickets for $1 to those wanting to take a swing at it with a sledgehammer. The car was smashed down to a few feet high and the event was popular. Odekirk said he bought a $200 barbecue for the event and collected about $100 from the car bashing.

"People keep asking me when I am going to have another one," he said. "A lot of people said it was the most fun they have ever had."

Darren Johnson, of Copperopolis, said he has been going to the bar since 1988.

"It's the hub of the community," he said. "You know everyone who comes here."

Johnson said the bar, on his way home from work, has the coldest beer in town.

"(The previous owner) called us the water and electric bill because we paid it every month for her," Johnson said.

Odekirk said his favorite drink always changes, but at the moment it is a Sea Breeze — vodka, cranberry juice and grapefruit juice. He said he usually only drinks on weekends to be sociable.

"I don't want to get (drunk) every night," he said.

Odekirk is not really sure how long he will own the bar. It could be another year, it could be a decade.

"It's pretty tough living here," he said, referring to his room next door to the bar. "You can't go to sleep when the bar is open. I don't get to bed until 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays."

More homes are scheduled to be built in the area, and Odekirk said he expects the property value to go up.

"I could sell it for profit now," he said, "but I am having way too much fun."

Contact Scott Jason at sjason@uniondemocrat.com or 588-4530. Sierra Views is a weekly feature profiling various people and places of the Sierra foothills; every one and every place has a story. Have a profile suggestion? Call the editor at 588-4546 or 736-1234.

Not the Average Joe

Published: January 5, 2006

By CHRIS NICHOLS

His attitude today belies the fact that, 16 years ago, life threw Joe Carlson a harsh curve.

While working at a construction site north of San Diego, then 30-year-old Carlson slipped from an iron beam, falling 16 feet and landing head-first on the concrete below.

He suffered major head and back injuries, and struggled over months and years to regain his memory and mobility.

Despite lingering back problems that still affect his ability to walk, Carlson remains both optimistic and very busy. He now owns three Copperopolis businesses.

"He doesn't believe in sitting down and feeling sorry for himself," said Carlson's wife of six years, Elaine. "He wasn't supposed to be walking. He's just very strong willed."

Today Carlson, with brownish-gray hair, a Fu Manchu mustache and a warm smile, lives in Copperopolis with his wife and 20-year-old son, Ian, from a previous marriage.

He doesn't speak of his accident unless asked. Nor does he speak much of his constant back pain, said his wife.

Instead, the soft-spoken Carlson says he "was lucky in a lot of ways" to have survived his fall, and to be able to walk today.

His cheerful demeanor is evident to many of his customers at Espresso Stop!, a small shop off Copper Cove Drive where Carlson prepares hot drinks and also runs an architectural design business.

He and his wife clean houses as well, operating Joe's Custom Cleaning.

"He's the nicest guy in the world, very cheerful, overly-friendly," said John Losoya, a Copperopolis general contractor who was at the Espresso Stop! last week, and frequently chats with Carlson.

Losoya said he's surprised Carlson is able to accomplish as much as he does, given the physical challenges he still faces.

Carlson's back stiffens when he sits for a long period, forcing him to constantly move. Carlson said he cleans houses both for the extra money and because he needs to keep his body moving as much as possible.

Inside the brightly-lit coffee shop, Carlson has all the tools he needs to make both decadent caffeine drinks and the blueprints for people's dream homes.

When his espresso machine isn't steaming, Carlson's laptop and desktop computers are buzzing and his plotter — a large blueprint printer — is producing plans.

"It's very unique. I've never seen a shop like that, with blueprints and coffee," said Marc Bush, who stopped at Carlson's shop last week. "He wears two hats at the same time."

At the shop on a recent rainy Thursday, Carlson was helping Wilbur Hightower realize his dream: building a 2,500 square-foot Hacienda-style home which will overlook Salt Spring Reservoir, north of Copperopolis.

Hightower said he's met with Carlson several times over the past year to discuss the home plans.

"He takes the time to get what you want right," Hightower said. "He's really good at that. He's really patient, he doesn't pressure you."

Carlson's path to recovery has been a long and difficult one, he said. After the accident in 1990, he spent six weeks in a drug-induced coma, a preventative measure applied by paramedics at the scene to prevent further head and spinal cord damage, Carlson said.

While at a head trauma center in San Jose, Carlson had to relearn basic functions like speaking and counting. For weeks, he had no memory of his family, including his then-wife and children, he said.

Almost all of his memory came back eventually, but even today bits and pieces of his preaccident life return to him, seemingly out of nowhere.

Carlson said he enjoys his work today, and the interaction he has with members of Copperopolis' booming housing industry.

But he said designing on a computer is not the same as building with a hammer and nails.

"I miss being out there and keeping yourself physically fit," he said. "The other thing is, when you get done with a building, you know it's going to be there for 40 or 50 or 60 years ... If I could, I'd still be building."

Looking forward, Carlson said he'll continue designing homes, making espressos and cleaning houses for as long as he can.

His wife, Elaine, said Carlson recently began taking Sundays off work. Otherwise, she said, he'll probably continue to be as busy and optimistic as ever.

"I've never met anybody like him," she said. "He's just a wonderful, wonderful man."

Contact Chris Nichols at cnichols@uniondemocrat.com or 588-4585.

Sierra Views is a weekly feature profiling various people and places of the Sierra foothills; every one and every place has a story. Have a profile suggestion? Call the editor at 588-4546 or 736-1234.

 

The Congregational Church is as fine an example of Gothic Revival architecture as exists in the Mother Lode. Built of brick in 1866, the lot upon which it stands was purchased the previous September from a Mr. J. M. Pike. The Reverend M. A. Starr assisted in raising the $12,000 needed for the construction, and also served as the first minister. The church was dedicated on June 23 of 1866, by the Reverend Mr. Beckwith of San Francisco. When the mines began to slow down, the church experienced a drop in membership and the building was leased to the Presbyterians for several years. It was used once again by the Congregational Church from 1874 to 1895. Following several years of vacancy, the Mineral Lodge of the I.O.O.F. purchased the building in 1903 for use as their lodge room. It remained thus until it was given to the community of Copperopolis in 1939. - Gold Rush.

Submitted by Henry Chenowith and Al Segalla.

 

For more information about Copperopolis businesses go to: Copperopolis Area Business Association (CABA)

For the CABA Purpose Statement, Click Here

For exciting community information about Copperopolis go to: Copperonline

For in depth articles about development in the area by John Hall courtesy of the Calaveras Enterprise Click Here

For more information on Calaveras County click HERE