Planting New Roots in Nevada City’s Downtown Scene
There’s an intangible allure between Nevada City’s historic downtown architecture and the entrepreneurs courageous enough to answer the call. “I don’t know what it was,” Stephen Crockford, owner of The Fern, recalls, “but the building spoke to me.” I don’t quite know what it is either, but it’s a phrase repeated so often in conversation with local business owners that I’m beginning to believe these walls really can talk.
Just under a year into new ownership, which includes Bar Manager Jacqui Jenkins and business partner David Ingbar, The Fern has filled its weekly entertainment lineup with a medley of diverse performances, expanding on the traditional Friday/Saturday live-music scene with open-mic burlesque, poetry, comedy, trivia, vintage markets, and late-night touring cover bands.
If The Fern could speak, from between it’s red-bricked walls and courtyard patio, from behind it’s vintage seating and fringed-chandelier lighting, from beside it’s 20 on-tap beers and “dealer’s choice” cocktails, it might reciprocate Stephen’s sentiment, pour forth it’s gratitude, or sound off on it’s former identities proclaiming the only true self is the bar you see today––welcoming, inclusive, diverse, subtle, and (in devotion to its name) a symbol of new beginnings.
235 Commercial St, Nevada City, CA 95959
