In 1854, O. W. Hollenbeck came to the area and started mining at a location on Cold Spring Hill, which he named Mountain Springs. A post office with that name was established in the same year and in 1862 Hollenbeck laid out a town just north of the mine which he also named Mountain Springs.

Three years before the town plan was laid out, in 1859, hydraulic mining started at a nearby claim named Gold Run, a bed of ancient gravel two miles long, half a mile wide, and 250 feet deep that was mined until the early 1880's yielding more than six million dollars worth of gold. This claim was so rich and brought in so many miners that the town was renamed Gold Run in 1863. In addition to the hydraulic mining, the town was also an important supply town that served the nearby mines at Squire's Canyon, Canyon Creek, Goosling Ravine, Potato Ravine, and Indiana Canyon. When the courts made hydraulic mining illegal in 1884, the town became almost deserted.

The original town is south of the railway line just off highway 80. On the other side of the railway line can be found the Pioneer Union Church and the old Gold Run schoolhouse.

The Pioneer Union Church (left) was built by miners in 1855. It is still in use today. The Gold Run schoolhouse (right) is now a private residence.

Gold Run post office.

The remants of hydraulic mining.