Brandy City (orginally known as Strychnine City) was one of the most extensively hydraulicked areas of Sierra County. In 1854 the "Sierra Citizen" newspaper reported 150 miners at work with sluices in the dry diggings. The dry winters of the early 1860's caused many miners to leave the area, but new finds caused a renewed interest in the area in 1867.
  The towns water supply came from a flume that connected the town and mines to Canyon Creek 10 miles away, it became known as the Brandy City ditch. Hydraulic mining flourished into the 1880's. The Brandy City Mining Company in 1883 began construction on a 3,400 foot long sluice tunnel which was to be completed in 1885. The company brought in tunnel digging machinery on the first teams and wagons ever to arrive at the town from the outside world. With the new machinery in place, the future looked bright, until the Sawyer Decision in 1884 brought an end to Hydraulic mining.

  The "Mountain Messenger" newspaper 7/23/1882 reported the impact of the Sawyer Decision on Brandy City:

"Times are dull at Brandy City, but we are living in hopes that the mine will be allowed to run, which will change matters greatly. The  company will continue working the mine if  the debris case, which is now before the U.S. Circuit Court, is decided in their favor."

  Despite the fact that the appeal was lost, mining continued in a limited basis at Brandy City. Hydraulic mining enabled Brandy City to hang on as a mining camp for several years, and it was reported that the town was "going along quite nicely" in 1911.

  Today nothing of the town site remains, but we did find wood ruins with square nails and a nice old cemetery in the forest and the main hydraulic pit which makes for a fun short mountain biking ride.