Mary Hallock Foote, who lived in the house, was an illustrator and writer of the West
By Joan Clappier | Submitted to The Union
Mary Hallock Foote was a well-known, successful illustrator and author in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The path that led her to Grass Valley and the North Star Mine was an unusual one.
She grew up in a Quaker family on the family farm up the Hudson River from New York City. Her artistic talent was recognized and she studied art at the Cooper Union Institute in New York City. She was taught by a master engraver to produce artwork on woodblocks in a manner that they could be engraved to produce high quality pictures. (Illustrations in books and magazines were predominately engravings at that time.) Her first illustrations were published in 1867, while she was still a student.