When traveling the back country around these parts. Google maps and GPS not the best move. Use some common sense. Though it should be noted that AAA maps indicated Shinn Ranch Road was maintained. May be it was back in the 1870s when the Shinns lived there.
There are a handful posts that I repeat each year, and for good reason. With summer weather upon us, it is an ideal time to check out the many wonders that surround the residents of the Lassen Region.
Shinn Ranch, 1987
In 1929, the Lassen Advocate published an editorial “Know Your Country.” The gist of it, encouraged residents to get out and see all the various and interesting natural surroundings we have. I am always ready to get out and about to explore. I never know where that might be, but I do have a few obscure historical sites that I want to check out.
he winter of 1923-24, was one of the driest on record in California. That summer another record would be broken–forest fires. It was June, 1924, when the Red River Lumber Company having been in operation for over a decade experienced its first major forest fire. The fire broke out at Chester Flats between Camps 34 and 38 and burned a narrow strip of land, eight miles in length. Red River’s loss was minimal as the fire burned recently logged over land and the only significant damage was 500 cords of wood burned along 1,000 feet of railroad track. Red River considered its biggest loss was to the men fighting the fire which cost the company a $1,000 a day in wages, and it took a week to contain the fire. Continue reading Westwood’s Fire Train→
1971 Advertisement in the Lassen Cougar Yearbook. Courtesy of Jim Chapman
It was not all bleak during my brief Reno residency. Just down street on Baring Blvd, in Sparks, where I had physical therapy, there is the last sole remaining A&W in the region. I splurged last Friday evening, had take out from A&W as my farewell dinner.
Susanville seasoned residents will remember it was located at the bend in Main Street. It opened for business on May 22, 1961. It was established by John Gilliam and Leonard Porritt who invested $40,000 in this new enterprise. My memory fails me when it was closed. It was first reincarnated as Chinese Kitchen and today it is the home of the Courthouse Cafe.
Unfortunately, not the best photograph of Spoonville.
This was a small town located several miles northeast of Janesville on the way to Standish. In 1897, William E. Spoon established the Honey Lake Creamery near the Missouri Bend School. Spoon also opened a general store and, for a time, it was operated by the Christie Brothers. Thus the nucleus of a town was formed. In 1903, Robert Dunn built the 20-room Spoonville Hotel. On May 29, 1905, Spoon sold his remaining interests there to Ebenezer Cooley Brown, for an undisclosed amount. Though a small town, with less than thirty inhabitants, it was the “corporate” headquarters of the Lassen Mill & Lumber Company, Baxter Creek Irrigation Company and the Pacific Coast Bear Club. Members of the Pacific Coast Bear Club included such dignitaries as President Theodore Roosevelt and Nevada Governor John Sparks. In 1913, the town’s name was changed to Edgemont, as part of a real estate promotion scheme. M.E. “Mul” Mulroney, a native of Spoonville, recalled the town was already in decline and the name change did nothing to correct the situation. In addition, Mul stated that in the early 1920s the second story of the Dunn Hotel was removed and the building was converted into a dance hall. He further stated it was torn down sometime in the 1930s.
One afternoon, many yeas ago, Mul Mulroney and I sketched a rough map of Spoonville. B=Barn, C=Creamery and S=School (Missouri Bend)
Tim
The old Missouri Bend School, December 2020–Smith Properties
Knoch Building, circa 1900. Courtesy of Philip S. Hall
It has been awhile since we last visited one of the oldest and most prominent business buildings in Susanville – the Knoch.
Knoch Building, circa 1940
After the devastating fire of 1898, it was rebuilt. Ten years later, David Knoch passed away and his son, Isaac “Ike” Knoch took possession of the building. With the arrival of the “iron horse” to Susanville in 1913, it brought tremendous growth to the region. In 1914, when Knoch proposed to add a third story, he was told it could not be done. Well, as Knoch recalled years later, “That was all I needed the word can’t.” Work on the third story was to commence shortly after Labor Day 1914, However, with the Moose Lodge proposed a harvest festival in which Main Street would be shut down for several days, the work on the third floor was postponed. When the $34,000 project was completed, Susanville also had its first elevator.
Jacks Valley, located ten miles north of Susanville, along Highway 139, does not seem like much to the untrained eye. In 1865, John C. Wright located on the abandoned homestead of Thomas Pearson, who had perished in a snowstorm on New Years Day 1865. Wright as known locally was Coyote Jack, and hence the name of Jacks Valley. In 1869, he left for parts unknown. By 1880, this had become a crossroads for travelers as five different roads converged in the valley. Frank Fluery took advantage of the opportunity provided by this unique junction and established a saloon. In 1884, as one of Fluery’s patrons noted: “. . . for ten cents he will give you enough to make you happy to cause you to forget all your trials, troubles and tribulations for a time.” In 1889, Fluery sold to A. J. Conklin who operated the saloon for a number of years. In 1907, Conklin ventured into the lumber business and built a sawmill that had a daily capacity of 15,000 board feet. In 1920, Conklin sold the sawmill to William Johnson. Johnson operated the mill for three years and then sold to the Red River Lumber Company who immediately closed it. In August 1926, a forest fire ravaged the region that encompassed some 20,000 acres. The following year, the Red River Lumber Company established logging Camp 70 to salvage the burnt timber. This was one of that Company’s earliest truck logging camps. While those enterprises have long since faded into oblivion, a cement water trough remains and is still a recognized feature to travelers. In 1913, Thomas Hill and the County of Lassen constructed the water trough. For early motorists, it was a wonderful blessing, a source of water for overheated automobiles making the trip up Antelope Grade. For the next 80 years it was popular stop to drink the water and take a break, though it appears the water line has been disconnected.
James Stokes holding “Old Lady of the Lake, a 8 pound Eagle Lake Trout caught in 1961.
On May 2, 1961, California Department of Fish and Game personnel located an unusual female Eagle Lake trout, that they dubbed Our Lady of the Lake. One reason that it was unique was its age–eleven years! The fish had been trapped twice and taken to Crystal Lake Hatchery to be spawned. Another interesting antidote was Fish and Game reported that this fish had been reared and fed in captivity for seven years, and then it was able to adapt itself to the natural environment of the lake. When it was first caught the fish weighed one and one-half pounds and was 18 inches in length and when they released finally released the fish back into the lake, the fish measured 26 inches and weighed eight pounds.
Goodrich crossing and reservoir in 1914. Minnesota Historical Society
The winter of 1923-24 was extremely dry. By the spring of 1924, Westwood’s water supply was in peril. In May, Duck Lake, the main water source for Goodrich Creek, which was Westwood’s water supply went dry. On May 10, Fletcher Walker the resident manager of the company town wrote “The water supply for the Town is failing us quite rapidly and it is now a race to get water from Clint’s Camping Ground Spring [Clear Creek] before the Goodrich Ditch water fails us. We are running the Town on meal hours so every one can get water for their meals and then closing it off. To do this requires water taken from the millpond. We are sure up against a real dry season as indicated by the Buck Brush and Manzanita leaves curling up and turning black. Springs that have heretofore been dependable are failing.”*
*As Walter Luff Jr., recalled during the 1924 drought they used the millpond water to bathe with and he stated the water tasted like turpentine. Relief came in the summer, when a pipeline was placed to bring water from Clear Creek to Westwood.
Pardee campaign headquarters, Main & Ash Streets, Susanville, October 1978
On April 28, 2015 the first hurdle of the permit process was made for the construction of a 17,400 square foot Rite Aid store. The store, along with the parking lot would encompass the entire of north side of 1600 block of Main Street. Of course, this site was the former home of Potter’s Maternity Home on the corner of Main and Park. In 1966, United California Bank took over this location and constructed their bank, which held an open house of February 27, 1967. It has housed a number of financial institutions since then. Of course, on the corner of Main and Ash was Baxter’s Flying “A” Service Station. After it closed, for a brief time in 1978 it housed Jim Pardee’s campaign headquarters for Lassen County Superior Court Judge, and then was subsequently torn down and now a part of the Rite Aid parking lot.
The Rite Aid was short-lived and and closed it doors not quite ten years of operation.
Recently, the SF Gate [San Francisco] published this photograph of the old Fruit Growers barn on east edge of Susanville. It was accompanied by an article ab out the return drought conditions for California. It should be noted the barn was destroyed by fire in June 2015. It is my understanding, and some one may correct me on this, but is the current site of the proposed Love’s Truck Stop.
Fruit Growers’ Susanville mill.
My adventures on my Reno stay have been memorable for on the wrong reasons. If all goes well, by next Sunday, May 3, I will have returned to Susanville in a new living arrangement and new neighborhood.Next Sunday, I should have more information.
