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N E V A D A
C O U N T Y
A G R I C U L T U R E
L I V I N G
He Beefed Up An Industry
Concerned with the transport of his
cattle, Taylor became one of the principal
owners of a toll road intended to reach the
Forest Hill Divide. Completed nearly to
Colfax, the road carried freight and passengers for more than a decade until the
Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad
was built.
Agriculture proved to be an important
local industry, and Taylor was a “founding
father.” According to records of the time,
I
T IS SAID HE WAS RESPONSIBLE for
naming Grass Valley, and that his was
the first substantial home in town –
points that can perhaps be argued. But
what is undeniable is the fact he was
responsible for starting an important range
industry involving Nevada and neighboring
counties.
Pioneer Benjamin Taylor crossed the plains
from his home in Missouri arriving in the fall
of 1849 and was one of the first to make
his home in the area. He mined, but he also
cut and sold hay, and in 1851, establishe B