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Photograph of Preston School of Industry
Photograph by There is always more mystery, CC BY-SA 2.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Preston Castle

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. 14 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1889.

From the record

“The Preston School of Industry, also known as Preston Castle, was a reform school located in Ione, California, in Amador County. It was proposed by, and ultimately named after, state senator Edward Myers Preston.”

Wikipedia article Preston School of Industry, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 22 National Register listings published here for Amador County · listed in 1975 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. N of Ione on Preston Ave., Ione, 95640
  • When was it listed? July 1975
  • Category. building
  • Census division. Ione
  • Architectural style. Romanesque Revival architecture
  • National Register reference number. 75000422 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Then and now

1889 to 1993

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 104 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Preston Castle, surveyed 1993
Topographic sheet covering Preston Castle, surveyed 1889

Fires near this property

218 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 218 fires within 5 miles of Preston Castle between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,447 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 11 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined83
Equipment and vehicle use72
Debris and open burning29
Arson/incendiarism11
Power generation/transmission/distribution7
Recreation and ceremony4
Natural4
Other causes3
Smoking3
Misuse of fire by a minor2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 1999Natural10 acresAmador-El Dorado Unit0WENS
7 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAmador-El Dorado UnitSUTTER
7 September 2011Missing data/not specified/undetermined6.0 acresAmador-El Dorado Unit124
7 September 2000Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreCentral California DistrictBUENA
5 September 2012Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAmador-El Dorado UnitJACKSON
5 September 2009Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreAmador-El Dorado UnitHY
4 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreAmador-El Dorado UnitHWY 88
29 September 1997Arson/incendiarismunder an acreAmador-El Dorado UnitWILLOW

Every fire recorded in Amador County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 158 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 158 workings within 5 miles of Preston Castle: 55 occurrences, 36 producers, 27 unknowns, 24 past producers. 36 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Gold, Copper, Chromium. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Amador Lime RockLimestone, GeneralProducer
FancherGold, ClayProducer
Garibaldi RanchGold, LeadPast Producer
HaywardCopper, Silver, Gold, ZincPast ProducerChalcopyrite, Pyrite, Sphalerite
IoneCopper, Gold, Silver, Zinc, AntimonyPast ProducerStibnite
Ione ClaysIron, Silica, Aluminum, Water, FreePast ProducerSurface
Ione Pit and MillZirconium, Titanium, KaolinProducer1954
MooneyGemstone, QuartzOccurrence
MooneyGemstoneProspect
NewtonCopper, Silver, Gold, Lead, ZincPast Producer1863

Every working recorded in Amador County

Storms near this property

1 since 2023

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Ione, the town this property stands in, in 1 storm report in 2023: 1 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
January 2023Funnel CloudIone-The public reported a funnel cloud near Ione.

Every storm recorded in Amador County

Maps showing this location

14 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Preston School of Industry0.3 miles2024
George and Eliza Withington House0.5 miles2015
C.W. Swain House0.8 miles2014
Ione City Centenary Church0.8 miles1977
Five Mile Drive-Sutter Creek Bridge1.3 miles1986
Scully Ranch1.4 miles1978

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 75000422 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Amador CountyAll 22 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.