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One of the most picturesque towns of the Mother Lode or as some call it gold country is Volcano California while prior to it being called this the locals referred to it as "Stony Point". We are in the middle of upgrading our Volcano Page or reinventing it since now we are doing some of our paranormal cases out this way and happened to stumble upon The Masonic Caves which sit right below the town itself and have quite an intriguing history behind them.

Volcano founded in 1848 grew to a boom town by 1853 and all the way up until 1856 it was one of the most populated towns in gold country. It had 2 breweries, 3 Boarding Schools, 3 Bakeries, School House, Church, 36 saloons, 12 restaurants, 2 cemeteries, Multiple Stores, 210 House, Over 170 Families and 6 hotels. It also contains the cannon called "Old Abe" next door to Masonic Lodge No. 56 which served many of the miners who flocked to the area and were free masons. When the masons and miners came to the town they found rock, crags and early morning fog that would settle within the town thus naming the area Volcano. So this is where the name derives from later that same year the Masons discovered a cave system on a limestone hill which later would become part of the town.

There were three caves in all some deeper or bigger then others but the entire hillside is riddled with various caverns which you can explore and just up the road is Black Chasm Cavern which may at one time connected with the Masonic Caves. Most people who visit here never understand that the caves do contain some historical value besides the fact of them being a geological landmark. Prior to the white settlers who came to the area its very possible that the natives who lived for thousands of years a mile away at Indian Grinding Rock may have used the caves to store food during the summer months since they seem to stay fairly cool all year around.

The first cave was used as a vegetable market where a man by the name of Jesse Torkel was the proprietor and business owner. This cave has two rooms one of them was being used by his partner Elias Kratzer who made nails, spikes and horseshoes. As of current you can explore and visit this cave its fully safe. It would have to be considering back in the day customers came here to pick up various groceries for cooking with.

The second cave which opens up into a giant room was called "The Spring Saloon" aka Pike Town. A man by the name of H.M. Bowden owned the establishment where he sold ice cream, jellies, jams and served whiskey. Volcano was booming with saloons what better of owning one then to have a place where the miners could stay cool in the summer and enjoy a drink? This cave is also as of current safe and open to the public.

The third cave is the largest of the three which goes to a depth of about 1320' deep. This was considered a dangerous place but it also was claimed by the members of Volcano's Lodge #56 and by 1853 the first Masonic meeting took place here. As a matter in fact as many as five meetings took place in this cave system. According to the logs the Masons found the cave to be to cold inside the cave thus they built a simple building.

The structure they built on top of this honeycomb limestone hill proves their past presence is in a photo I took where you can see stone steps that wind around the side of the hill which would have led to the structure they built into the higher levels of the cavern. The building that they constructed at the time in 1853 was made of slats and batts it did not have studs or even windows. I believe the dimensions were around 33' x 60' in length. It had a front and a back door also a small porch in the very front. When meetings were held here oil lamps were used and the wood stove they put inside of here. When the building was built it was made with greener lumber so eventually as time went on the boards themselves shrunk then the knots fell out. So during the winters the structure was very drafty especially in the winter.

One winter I believe in December of 1860 it was very cold thus the meeting was not very long. One of the masons started a hot fire in the wood stove but did not put it out when they left. This may have been because the brethren were all in a hurry to get home. The stove had gotten so hot that it set the building on fire. It went up in smoke within minutes on a good note the secretary always took the jewels, bible and minutes home with him. So the only thing lost in the fire was the structure itself and furniture.

The caves themselves were an eerie location but it was also very chilly for the Masons so during these meetings they had to dress warm and generally road up to the caves via horseback. You can imagine brothers Clemens E. Bryant, Roy Bryant, Walter F. Bryant and Thomas L. Bryant must had been holding their lanterns close to one another inside these caves during the first Pre-Charter meetings. I bet they cupped their hands together on those cold nights in the sierra foothills no doubt. So when you look at some of the photos from this place try to imagine what it must had been like for the early miners who utilized these caves. A plaque resides above the Masonic Caves which honors the brothers who held the lodges first meeting here. The Masonic Caves are offlimits today because a massive boulder is hanging above the entrance which is very dangerous hence its closed and so I had to take photos for our galleries afar unfortunately.

Later on the Independent Order Of Odd Fellows and the Masons agreed to share a building which was built in 1856 by Samuel Hayes and James Adams which served as a store. Later on both fraternal groups acquired the two story building and shared it for their meetings. Also this site was used by the Volcano Weekly Ledger for a short period of time prior to relocating to Jackson California. The property also was used by a miner and astronomer named George Madeira discovered the Great Comet Of 1861! Their is allot of correlated history surrounding the old Masonic Lodge all the way to the newer one which stands today in downtown Volcano.

Since 1853 only two other Masonic Meetings been held within the caves. In 1921 then in 1992. More then likely the masons enjoy their historic lodge downtown Volcano because it is much dryer and warmer then the caves. Still though this had to be the man cave of all time to have Masonic Meetings at and if you were feeling lucky you might go to other caves below the hill for a drink or to pick up some vegetables to make for a stew. Life in these time periods was much more simple and people utilized everything they came across which today these caves pretty much sit forgotten because few people know about there history.

The ones that do are reluctant at visiting the property as they have had run ins with a very rude and hostile caretaker. I know because when we arrived there was a welcome sign that said 9am and as soon as we walked on the path she stopped me took down the sign said were closed. She also threatened to send a Mason after me and told me I am nothing special. This is in addition to screaming at me in front of my companion, two sons and his best friend. I tried to calm the caretaker to let her know I was doing a historical project for our website on this location so that the place gets recognition and she told me she did not care. At first I thought it was just me because I have long hair, tattoos and my nails are painted midnight black. I am gothic so some people prejudge me or they get hostile. However, I find out it was not just me that a few other friends of mine who do spelunking and cave explorations also had some very disheartening experiences dealing with the owners who live on the caves property. So if you can manage it try to enjoy the caves from our site its going to save you from being verbally abused and possibly ridiculed.

I talked to a local in Volcano who told me that the lady who lives there is crazy so its obvious that locally she is the talk of the town. Were far to respectful of a educational site to let someone discourage us especially when we came to the caves with pure intent to cover mainly their history. To make matters worst their are cameras all over the property and she will supervise you by watching you out her window. She also told me I could not take photos of the third cave said their was ice and it was muddy. I did take the trail anyway's and found out she was NOT being truthful with our group. I did not go in the cave as she told me its closed and respected that however the trail was just fine to take photos from afar. So be warned that if you do not mind dealing with Miss Kranky Pants then go for it but know that if she does not like the way you look get prepared to be verbally put down.

In conclusion I was only able to compile a few quick videos/photos this is because the owner who lives on the property said all you get is 10 minutes. I find her behavior extremely troubling and that is why its being posted here. She is lucky I did not record our conversation because the public would have been outraged at how she treated my family when we arrived here. I did all I could for our viewers 10 minutes only gave me enough time to do a few quick EVP sessions to see if the caves were haunted and gather a few photos for our members. I have NO plans on returning to them as much as Id like to I do not need to be threatened or abused for trying to educate local schools on locations like these its a travesty.

Copyright By
Lord Rick aka AngelOfThyNight
Founder
Author, Talk Show Host, Producer and Paranormal Investigator

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