Living California's Gold Rush Era in Columbia

As I landed in Columbia, I was transported to a different era, the Gold Rush era to be precise. The entire town is preserved exactly as it was in the late 1800s. The streets are cobbled, wooden sidewalks,line buildings with wagon wheels parked outside. As I walked around, I saw people wearing long dresses and top hats and bowler hats. I entered a general store and saw rows of glass jars filled with candies and different colored textiles stacked neatly. The storekeeper told me about how the miners would barter gold nuggets for goods they needed. I visited a goldsmith to see how pure gold nuggets were melted and made into intricate jewelry. A young girl sitting outside a schoolhouse recited the American Pledge of Allegiance and when I entered,the teacher was teaching children how to write and do basic math using chalk on blackboards. I saw people washing clothes in the creek while kids played with wooden toys, and one of them ran up to me and offered me some burnt popcorn as his mom was popping fresh corn in a huge cast-iron pot over an open flame.She told me it was a tradition of sharing food. Ah, what a wonderful time-machine this place is!