Nevada City History

List of Features Mining Ditches

Below is a summary of all the principal ditches mentioned in the book, The Ditches of Nevada City. The path of each of these ditches can be seen in detail by clicking the Map link for each ditch.

	Name of Ditch	When Built	Length	Destination	Water Source	Built By	Later Acquired By	Capacity	Grade	Water Speed	Dimensions	Where in Book
Map	Mosquito Ditch (Also known as Mosketo Ditch)	March 1850	1½ miles	Coyote Hill	Fly Creek	Unknown	No Longer in Use	75 inches (1.3 cfs)	18 feet per mile	1.6 miles per hour	18" top x 12 ft bottom x 12" deep	Chptr 4, p 75
Map	Phelps Hill Ditch	May 1850	½ miles	Phelps Hill	Little Deer Creek	Timothy G. Phelps	No Longer in Use	85 inches (1.4 cfs)	32 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 4, p 78
Map	Rock Creek Ditch	August 1850	6½ miles	Coyote Hill & Coyoteville	Rock Creek	John Dunn & William Crawford	South Yuba Canal Company	600 inches (10 cfs)	29 feet per mile	1.7 miles per hour	24" top x 20" bottom x 18" deep	Chptr 4, p 83
Map	Selby Flat Ditch (Also known as Kellogg Ditch, Queen’s Flume, Kellogg's Selby Flat Ditch)	October 1850	5 miles	Selby Flat	Rock Creek	Levi Kellogg & Joseph Harrison	South Yuba Canal Company	150 inches (2.5 cfs)	15 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 6, p 159
Map	Coyote Ditch (Also known as Cayote Ditch, Kiota Ditch)	November 1850	9 miles	Coyote Hill, Coyoteville & Red Hill	Deer Creek	Moses Hoyt, Leopold Chubbuck & Oliver Tomlinson	South Yuba Canal Company	300 inches (5 cfs)	13 feet per mile	1.9 miles per hour	22" top x 20" bottom x 18" deep	Chptr 5, p 96
Map	Deer Creek Ditch	November 1850	8½ miles	Coyote Hill, Coyoteville & Red Hill	Deer Creek	Amos Laird, Isaac Nixon & William H. Folsom	South Yuba Canal Company	275 inches (4.6 cfs)	16 feet per mile	1.8 miles per hour	30" top x 24" bottom x 24" deep	Chptr 5, p 106
Map	Miner’s Deer Creek Ditch (Also known as Deer Creek Mining Company’s Ditch, Fordyce's Ditch, Fordyce Miner’s Deer Creek Ditch)	March 1851	10½ miles	Gold Flat	Deer Creek	Thomas & Seibert	South Yuba Canal Company	250 inches (4.2 cfs)	8 feet per mile	1.8 miles per hour	36" top x 36" bottom x 18" deep	Chptr 8, p 197
Map	Original Rough and Ready Ditch (Also known as Rough and Ready Ditch)	April 1851	11½ miles	Rough and Ready & Randolph Flat	Deer Creek	Moore & Williams brothers	Excelsior Water & Mining Company	350 inches (5.8 cfs)	14 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 6, p 135
Map	Tomlinson’s Ditch (Also known as Laird and Wadsworth Ditch, Slate Creek Ditch, Laird's Ditch)	Spring 1851	3½ miles	Pontiac Hill (next to Coyote Hill)	Willow Valley Creek	Amos Laird & John Wadsworth	Excelsior Water & Mining Company	225 inches (3.8 cfs)	45 feet per mile	3 miles per hour	22" top x 18" bottom x 16" deep	Chptr 7, p 168
Map	Newtown Ditch	May 1851	8 miles	Newtown	Deer Creek	Dickenson & Newton	Excelsior Water & Mining Company	300 inches (5 cfs)	21 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 6, p 147
Map	Slate Creek Ditch (Also known as Later Rough and Ready Ditch)	July 1851	10½ miles	Rough and Ready & Randolph Flat	Deer Creek, Little Deer Creek, Gold Run & Slate Creek	Carter & Bennett	Excelsior Water & Mining Company	380 inches (6.3 cfs)	15 feet per mile	2.8 miles per hour	3 ft top x 16" bottom x 18" deep	Chptr 6, p 138
Map	Kellogg, Sheets & Harrison’s Ditch (Also known as Sheets and Moss Ditch, Kellogg, Sheets Harrison's Gold Flat Ditch)	Summer 1851	3½ miles	Gold Flat	Little Deer Creek	Lewis F. Sheets & John R. Moss	No Longer in Use	100 inches (1.7 cfs)	12 feet per mile	1.5 miles per hour	20" top x 18" bottom x 15" deep	Chptr 8, p 209
Map	Laird’s Gold Flat Ditch	October 1851	6¼ miles	Gold Flat	Deer Creek	Amos Laird	South Yuba Canal Company	250 inches (4.2 cfs)	8 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 8, p 203
Map	Eagle Saw Mill Ditch	November 1851	¾ miles	Eagle Saw Mill	Deer Creek	William Crawford & William Wood	Marsh Lumber Co.	300 inches (5 cfs)	21 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 7, p 180
Map	Buckeye Ditch	~1852	2½ miles	Alpha	Scotchman Creek	Merriman & D.D. Fordyce	South Yuba Canal Company	~1,000 inches (~16.7 cfs)	12 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 15, p 458
Map	Hotaling Ditch (Also known as Sargent and Jacobs Ditch, Sargent Jacobs or Old Hotaling Hunts Hill Ditch)	~1852	7¼ miles	Greenhorn Creek	Quaker Hill & Hunt’s Hill	Conrad K. Hotaling	Sargent & Jacobs	~500 inches (~8.3 cfs)	15 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 16, p 507
Map	Linck Ditch (Also known as Old Phelps Ditch)	~1852	2 miles	Alpha	Deer Creek	Charles Phelps	South Yuba Canal Company	~150 inches (~2.5 cfs)	22 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 15, p 458
Map	Union Ditch (Also known as Alta Hill Ditch, Lower Grass Valley Canal, Grass Valley Ditch, Idaho Ditch)	1852	7 miles	Little Deer Creek & Wolf Creek	Gold Flat & Grass Valley	Timothy G. Phelps & Noah L. Gebhart	South Yuba Canal Company & Nevada City	200 inches (3.3 cfs)	28 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 8, p 217
Map	Allen Ditch (Also known as Old Fordyce & Rich Ditch)	Fall 1852	3⅓ miles	Peck’s Flat (near Zion St)	Little Deer Creek	Justus Fordyce & Daniel Rich	No Longer in Use	300 inches (5 cfs)	45 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 8, p 221
Map	McNeil & McVey Ditch	March 1853	1 miles	Alpha	Scotchman Creek	Charles Phelps	No Longer in Use	~300 inches (~5 cfs)	24 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 15, p 459
Map	Fordyce & Rich Rock Creek Ditch	April 1853	7½ miles	Sugar Loaf Mountain	Rock Creek	Justus Fordyce, Daniel Rich & William H. Spencer	South Yuba Canal Company	350 inches (5.8 cfs)	65 feet per mile	3.8 miles per hour	24" top x 22" bottom x 18" deep	Chptr 9, p 237
Map	Warren Ditch (Also known as Warren's Selby Flat Ditch)	May 1853	4¾ miles	Selby Flat	Rock Creek	George Warren	South Yuba Canal Company	300 inches (5 cfs)	14 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 6, p 164
Map	Bell Ditch	~1853	1 miles	Alpha	Scotchman Creek	Bell & Co.	South Yuba Canal Company	~400 inches (~6.7 cfs)	24 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 15, p 458
Map	Upper Snow Mountain Ditch (Also known as Little Snow Mountain Ditch)	June 1853	10 miles	Willow Valley Creek	Cold Spring Creek	Justus Fordyce, Daniel Rich & William H. Spencer	South Yuba Canal Company	280 inches (4.7 cfs)	40 feet per mile	3.1 miles per hour	24" top x 18" bottom x 18" deep	Chptr 9, p 241
Map	Snow Mountain Ditch (Also known as Snow Mountain Canal)	Spring 1854	12 miles	Sugar Loaf Mountain	Deer Creek	Justus Fordyce, Daniel Rich & William H. Spencer	South Yuba Canal Company	950 inches (15.8 cfs)	20 feet per mile	2.8 miles per hour	5.5 ft top x 2.5 ft bottom x 2 ft deep	Chptr 9, p 248
Map	Danford’s Gold Hill Ditch	Summer 1854	3½ miles	Gold Hill	Deer Creek	Samuel Danford & J.W. Underwood	South Yuba Canal Company	1,000 inches (16.7 cfs)	84 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 15, p 462
Map	South Yuba Canal (Also known as Main Ditch)	February 1855	16 miles	South Yuba River	Deer Creek	South Yuba Canal Company	South Yuba Canal Company	3,500 inches (58.3 cfs)	10 feet per mile	4.8 miles per hour	10 ft top x 6 ft bottom x 4 ft deep	Chptr 12, p 320
Map	McCharles Greenhorn Ditch (Also known as McCharles Ditch, Herring Ditch)	March 1855	8 miles	Gold Flat	Clipper Creek	Harrison McCharles	South Yuba Canal Company	350 inches (5.8 cfs)	37 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 8, p 226
Map	Round Mountain Ditch	March 1855	4 miles	Round Mountain & Blue Tent	Rock Creek	John S. Dunn	South Yuba Canal Company	330 inches (5.5 cfs)	12 feet per mile	2.7 miles per hour	2 ft top x 2 ft bottom x 2 ft deep	Chptr 17, p 543
Map	Churchman & Fitch’s Greenhorn Ditch	May 1855	8½ miles	Greenhorn Creek	Quaker Hill & Hunt’s Hill	Churchman & Fitch	Sargent & Jacobs	900 inches (15 cfs)	27 feet per mile	4.2 miles per hour	40" top x 30" bottom x 24" deep	Chptr 16, p 507
Map	McAra Ditch (Also known as Mosquito Creek Ditch, McAra or Mosquito Creek Ditch)	Mid-1850s	1 miles	Fly Creek	Mosquito Creek	Unknown	No Longer in Use	200 inches (3.3 cfs)	30 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 7, p 192
Map	Sailor’s Flat Ditch (Also known as Churchman and Beeney’s Ditch)	1855	6½ miles	Greenhorn Creek	Quaker Hill	James Churchman & George W. Beeney	Sargent & Jacobs	500 inches (8.3 cfs)	27 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 16, p 505
Map	Sasseen Greenhorn Ditch (Also known as Sasseen Ditch)	1855	12 miles	Gold Flat	Clipper Creek	J.P. Sasseen	Grass Valley Water Co.	450 inches (7.5 cfs)	13 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 8, p 232
Map	Woods Ravine Ditch (Also known as Mount George Ditch, Woods Ravine or Mount George Ditch)	Mid-1850s	3 miles	Newtown	Woods Ravine & Mount George	Casey, Lewis, Smith & Goercke	Excelsior Water & Mining Company	300 inches (5 cfs)	35 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 6, p 154
Map	Laird’s New Ditch	July 1855	8½ miles	Lost Hill & Wet Hill	Deer Creek	Amos Laird	South Yuba Canal Company	500 inches (8.3 cfs)	14 feet per mile	2.5 miles per hour	36" top x 36" bottom x 26" deep	Chptr 13, p 371
Map	St. Louis Ditch	Summer 1855	6 miles	Alpha	Steephollow Creek	Skillman	South Yuba Canal Company	~250 inches (~4.2 cfs)	38 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 15, p 458
Map	Morrow’s Ditch (Also known as Mosquito Creek and Fly Creek Ditch)	Fall 1855	3 miles	Fly Creek	Deer Creek	Robert Morrow & George Peters	No Longer in Use	500 inches (8.3 cfs)	15 feet per mile	1.9 miles per hour	30" top x 18" bottom x 18" deep	Chptr 7, p 184
Map	Omega Ditch (Also known as Virginia Ditch)	November 1856	14½ miles	Omega	South Yuba River	Hudson & Culbertson	George W. Kidd & South Yuba Canal Company	1,800 inches (30 cfs)	14 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 15, p 464
Map	Laird’s Scotts Flat Ditch	April 1857	¾ miles	Deer Creek	Deer Creek	Amos Laird	South Yuba Canal Company	300 inches (5 cfs)	feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 14, p 411
Map	Alpha Ditch	May 1857	6½ miles	Alpha	Ridge Ditch	South Yuba Canal Company	South Yuba Canal Company	~600 inches (~10 cfs)	14 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 15, p 455
Map	Original Cascade Ditch (Also known as Cascade Ditch, Laird's Cascade Ditch)	Summer 1857	9½ miles	Quaker Hill & Hunts Hill	Deer Creek	Amos Laird	South Yuba Canal Company	1,400 inches (23.3 cfs)	20 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 16, p 500
Map	Ridge Ditch	September 1857	17½ miles	Junction House & Rock Creek	South Yuba Canal	South Yuba Canal Company	South Yuba Canal Company	2,900 inches (48.3 cfs)	12 feet per mile	4 miles per hour	6 ft top x 4 ft bottom x 4 ft deep	Chptr 15, p 453
Map	SYCC Gold Hill Ditch	1858	3 miles	Gold Hill	Ridge Ditch	South Yuba Canal Company	South Yuba Canal Company	~500 inches (~8.3 cfs)	65 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 15, p 462
Map	Blue Tent Ditch (Also known as Rock Creek Blue Tent Transfer Ditch)	October 1858	3¼ miles	Blue Tent	Rock Creek	South Yuba Canal Company	South Yuba Canal Company	1,200 inches (20 cfs)	27 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 17, p 547
Map	Schrader Ditch	1860s	¾ miles	Wet Hill	Big Reservoir	Unknown	South Yuba Canal Company	~150 inches (~2.5 cfs)	26 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 18, p 584
Map	Cement Hill Ditch	Early 1860s	3½ miles	Cement Hill	Big Reservoir	South Yuba Canal Company	South Yuba Canal Company	120 inches (2 cfs)	16 feet per mile	1.7 miles per hour	18" top x 18" bottom x 18" deep	Chptr 18, p 570
Map	Wet Hill Ditch, Oustomah Ditch or Red Hill Ditch (Also known as Oustomah Ditch, Red Hill Ditch, Red Hill Canal)	December 1870	2½ miles	Red Hill	Big Reservoir	Ianthus Rolfe & Sylvester Stranahan	South Yuba Canal Company	250 inches (4.2 cfs)	31 feet per mile	3.6 miles per hour	18" top x 18" bottom x 18" deep	Chptr 18, p 574
Map	Blue Tent Mining Company Ditch (Also known as Blue Tent Mining Co. Ditch, Blue Tent Mining Co. Ditch to Blue Tent)	June 1872	27 miles	Blue Tent	South Yuba River	Blue Tent Mining Co.	No Longer in Use	5,000 inches (83.3 cfs)	10 feet per mile	3 miles per hour	6 ft top x 4 ft bottom x 4 ft deep	Chptr 17, p 554
Map	South Yuba & Canyon Creek Ditch	August 1872	5 miles	Washington	South Yuba River & Canyon Creek	North Bloomfield Co.	No Longer in Use	500 inches (8.3 cfs)	32 feet per mile	2.9 miles per hour	3 ft top x 2.5 ft bottom x 1.5 ft deep	Chptr 16, p 539
Map	Idaho Ditch	March 1873	11½ miles	Idaho Mine	Snow Mountain Ditch	Idaho Mining Co.	Nevada City	350 inches (5.8 cfs)	15 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 21, p 669
Map	V Flume	February 1874	13½ miles	Town Talk	Deer Creek	John Dunn, J. Earl Brown, Charles Marsh & Harvey, Frederick and George Cooper	No Longer in Use	200 inches (3.3 cfs)	27 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 21, p 676
Map	Buffington Ditch (Also known as Buffington Canal)	1870s	½ miles	Wood’s Ravine	Red Hill Reservoir	South Yuba Canal Company	South Yuba Canal Company	~200 inches (~3.3 cfs)	100 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 18, p 578
Map	Herring Ditch (Also known as McCharles Ditch)	1877	8 miles	Herring Mine & Reservoir	Greenhorn Creek	Absalom Herring	South Yuba Canal Company	250 inches (4.2 cfs)	34 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 23, p 751
Map	Manzanita Ditch	1880	7 miles	Manzanita Diggings	Deer Creek	Manzanita Mining Co.	Excelsior Water & Mining Company	2,000 inches (33.3 cfs)	12 feet per mile	3.3 miles per hour	7.5 ft top x 3.5 ft bottom x 4 ft deep	Chptr 20, p 641
Map	New Cascade Ditch (Also known as Cascade Ditch, Cascade Canal)	November 1882	11½ miles	Yuba Reservoir	Deer Creek	South Yuba Canal Company	South Yuba Canal Company	3,000 inches (50 cfs)	13½ feet per mile	4.9 miles per hour	5 ft top x 4 ft bottom x 4 ft deep	Chptr 23, p 733
Map	Grass Valley Ditch (Also known as Pittsburg Ditch, Upper Grass Valley Canal)	February 1883	5 miles	Alta Hill (in Grass Valley)	New Cascade Ditch	South Yuba Canal Company	South Yuba Canal Company	500 inches (8.3 cfs)	100 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 23, p 746
Map	Texas Ditch (Also known as Texas Mine Company Ditch)	1884	¾ miles	Texas Mine	Willow Valley Creek	Texas Mining Co.	Excelsior Water & Mining Company	175 inches (2.9 cfs)	10 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 20, p 653
Map	Harmony Ridge Ditch	May 1891	7 miles	Sugar Loaf Mountain	Ridge Ditch	South Yuba Canal Company	South Yuba Canal Company	~1,000 inches (~16.7 cfs)	110 feet per mile	?	?	Chptr 23, p 754
Map	China Dam Flume	August 1895	4 miles	Rome Powerhouse	South Yuba River	Nevada County Power Co.	Pacific Gas & Electric Company	5,500 inches (91.7 cfs)	4 feet per mile	4.9 miles per hour	6 ft top x 6 ft bottom x 4.5 ft deep	Chptr 24, p 769
Map	Lake Vera Ditch	March 1898	3¼ miles	Rome Powerhouse	Lake Vera & Rock Creek	Nevada County Power Co.	Pacific Gas & Electric Company	2,000 inches (33.3 cfs)	36 feet per mile	4.8 miles per hour	4.5 ft top x 3.5 ft bottom x 3 ft deep	Chptr 24, p 771
Map	D-S Canal	July 1928	9 miles	Wolf Creek & Rattlesnake Ditch	Deer Creek	Nevada Irrigation District	Nevada Irrigation District	3,600 inches (60 cfs)	3½ feet per mile	3 miles per hour	9 ft top x 6 ft bottom x 4 ft deep	Chptr 25, p 795

Notes:

Water capacity is measured in miners' inches. Back then 60 miner's inches is equivilent to 1 cubic foot of water per second. This unit of measure was invented in 1850 by John S. Dunn for selling water from the Rock Creek Ditch. Today, a modern miners' inch is the equivilent of 1½ cubic foot of water per second. This is 11.22 gallons per minute or 16,157 gallons per day. The Nevada Irrigation District today charges $2 per day per miner’s inch. The miners' inch is still used by across the country as a standard amount of water, although the exact definition varies from place to place.