Set in the heart of Sutter Creek, Knight Foundry – America’s last water-powered foundry and machine shop and a premier relic of Mother Lode gold mining history – will open its doors to the public at its first Open House on Saturday, March 4, from 10am to 4pm. This is the first time in many years that tours will be available inside the Foundry. The Open House is a free event, and complimentary light refreshments will be available.

Visitors will be able to tour the Foundry floor, which looks much the same as the day the Foundry ceased operations in 1996, after being in business continually since 1873. On hand will be local historians and former Foundry employees who can talk about what it was like when the fires were going and the liquid iron was sizzling into the huge molds. David Weitzman, author and illustrator of Pouring Iron, a children’s book about the Foundry, is scheduled to be signing beautiful reproductions of two drawings from the book, which will be available for purchase. 

Knight Foundry is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark. Plans are for the Foundry to serve as a living history museum and an educational resource that provides a unique window into Amador County’s and California’s history and heritage.