RESTORATION

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Big Oak Flat had over 200 buildings by the 1860s. A disastrous conflagration in October 1863 devastated the entire town. Most surviving structures were built of stone. 

The Gamble Building was one of the survivors. It was built no later than 1852. Mine investor and merchant Alexander Gamble was its first owner. He rented the three commercial suites within the building to a variety of businesses. Among the businesses it housed were Big Oak Flat's first Post Office, a bakery, an apothecary, a shoemaker, and Raggio's general store. The Wells Fargo Express Office occupied the eastern suite until 1893. A smaller stone building, added abutting the west, was possibly the town's second jail after the first one burned down. 

In 2007, after the death of Harry Cobden, the Cobden family of Big Oak Flat gifted of the building to STCHS. Since then volunteers have been actively working on its preservation with a number of structural repairs, including a new roof (2019). 

The Wells Fargo Building adjoins the historic Cobden House, also being restored by STCHS. Both are easy to see on the north side of Highway 120 in the center of Big Oak Flat. Visitors may request to visit them by contacting STCHS.