First of all, I am not sure where I am going with this. While examining  photograph scans on my old computer I came across this photograph of a NCO train at Likely in 1916.

When I was a growing up, I was very naive and gullible. I was told that Likely received its name, since it would be “likely” to meet a Flournoy there. Actually, there is a lot of truth to that statement. In 1871, the patriarch John D. Flournoy settled in Modoc County, which then was still part of Siskiyou County. The Flournoy family is still part of the fabric of that area.

Likely was originally known as South Fork, it being located along the South Fork of the Pit River. Thanks to the internet one can choose what ever version of the naming of Likely they prefer. However, as a person of principle, I will stick with primary sources.  From 1878 to 1882 the community had its own post office named South Fork.

In 1886, the residents petitioned the Postal Department to re-establish the post office. The South Fork name denied. Three more names were submitted—all denied. As folklore has it, at a meeting that one person stated “Its likely we will never agree upon a name.” Thus, the origin of the name Likely, and the Likely Post Office was established on April 13, 1886 with Marx Lauer, first postmaster.

Tim