Trade Tokens from Historical California Gold Mining Towns
Marysville, California

Owner Comments:

In 1842, John Sutter leased part of his Rancho New Helvetia land to Theodore Cordua, a native of Mecklenburg in Prussia, who in 1843 built a home and trading post he called New Mecklenburg. The trading post and home was situated at what would later become the southern end of 'D' Street, Marysville's main street. In 1844, the Mexican government granted Cordua his own land grant, Rancho Honcut. In 1848, Charles Covillaud, a former employee of Cordua, discovered riches in the gold fields and bought half of the Cordua ranch. During the Gold Rush, the ranch became a stopping point for the riverboats from Sacramento and San Francisco that brought prospectors to the digging grounds. Even today a sign on the roadside as one enters Marysville describes it as the "Gateway to The Gold Fields."