Robert Criddle

Hammonton and Marigold Robert Criddle

This is the story of one community and two towns: Hammonton and Marigold, companyowned dredger towns located 10 miles east of Marysville, California. Their founding was a direct result of the gold rush of 1849 and the subsequent hydraulic mining that followed. The towns' history was wrought by the families who inhabited them and the many men and women who would build their community together through the years. In Hammonton and Marigold, there was no upper or lower class; the people were all working for dredging companies and considered equals. Although the company towns were shut down and the families all displaced, in 1957, the community itself carried on to the present day, holding annual reunions and even publishing a quarterly newsletter.