Fallon Hotel, built in 1857, and theater by the miners, who consequently organized the Columbia & Stanislaus River Water Company in 1854. Its aqueduct, when completed, wound 60 miles through mountainous terrain to Columbia. It is claimed that this project cost over a million dollars. By the time it was completed late in 1858, however, most of the easily found gold had been extracted in the vicinity. Conse- quently, the miners left in large numbers; and in 1860 the Tuolumne County Water Company acquired the miners' water system for the paltry sum of about $125,000. Meanwhile, the New England Water Company was organ- ized here to provide Columbia with water for domestic use and fire protection. In July, 1855, that company began distributing water through pipes. Seven cisterns, each holding about 14,000 gallons of water, were constructed underneath the streets, and some are still in use. The early day pipes served the town until the State installed a new water system in 1950. 3