Grass Valley is the location of the Empire Mine, one of the richest mines in California. Many of those who came to settle in Grass Valley were tin miners from Cornwall. They were attracted to the California gold fields because the same skills needed for deep tin mining were needed for hardrock (deep) gold mining. Many of them specialized in pumping the water out of very deep mining shafts. This coincided with a glut in Cornish tin mining.

Grass Valley still holds on to its Cornish heritage, with events such as its annual Cornish Christmas and St Piran's Day celebrations. Pasties are a local favorite dish with a few restaurants in town specializing in recipes handed down from the original immigrant generation. Grass Valley is also twinned with the Cornish town of Bodmin, UK.

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