excerpts from Placer County History,
Thompson and West, 1882 pages 243-244
and an article from the Lincoln News Messenger, August 17, 2006 by Jerry
Logan
. . .this rancho is situated in Placer County about three miles northeast of the railroad depot in the town of Lincoln and twelve miles west of Auburn. . .Mr. Nickerson was born in 1819 in Kentucky. . . While in Chariton, Missouri he married. They had four sons and three daughters. . 1n 1849, Mr. Nickerson, leaving his family for awhile, came to California. . .his design was to reside in Tulare County. . .when a simple circumstance occurred which caused him to change his previous intention.
On a certain night he encamped with his family on the very ground now occupied by the town of Lincoln, and getting up the following morning, discovered his cattle had strayed and immediately set out in search of them. While thus wandering, he stumbled on a grassy glade bordering on Doty’s Ravine, the waters of which were then pure and transparent as crystal; a dense forest of oak and pine trees with matted underbrush stretched away in front of him, but his eye took in at a glance the adaptability of the region for a splendid home in the future. He abandoned his plan to go to Tulare had moved his family to a spot on the left bank of Doty’s Ravine. . . Without one dollar in money, he commenced to raise vegetables , which when matured commanded a very high price, for there was then hundreds of miners in the surrounding region. Every spare hour from the vegetable garden was devoted to the clearing of the forest and underbrush. . .now instead of wilderness, there is one of the most magnificent and extensive vineyards, with a truly splendid orchard of several thousand fruit trees and every species and choicest selection we have yet held in California . . .Mr. Nickerson has received awards from the various expositions, at the State Fair and elsewhere. . .
(Information from Lincoln News Messenger. . ."His orchard contains no less than 6,000 fruit trees. He has in all 1400 varieties of fruit, including grapes. The orchard presents a magnificent sight. .. . .(the winery is located several hundred yards west of the present Crosby-Herold Road) . . . His new winery was the feature that garnered the most admiration and praise. The bottom floor of this three-story building was of solid granite and it is this part of the structure that remains today as a reminder of the edifice that was considered a "state-of-the-art winery in the 1860's. The back of the building fit into the excavation, so ripened grapes could be brought onto the third story directly off the hill for crushing. Then the resulting juice was carried by hoses down to the second floor and into fermentation vats, then again through hoses to the bottom floor of the cellar and into barrels for aging.
The adjacent granite building, the still-house, served to make brandy. Troughs or flumes constructed of granite carried fermented juices or wine from the fermentation room for use in the distilling process. . . .
Today, the 12 foot granite walls of the 50 by 100 foot cellar are the only obvious trace of a California showplace that was our area spotlight 150 years ago. . .
. . .Thompson and West. . .the present owner of the ranch is Herndon Barrett of Marysville, who puts on the market tons of superior raisins annually besides large quantities of wine. One of Mr. Nickerson’s sons is manager of the California Raisin Company’s vineyard in Clover Valley near the village of Rocklin.