Category Archives: History

History

Main Street, Susanville, 1901

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Main Street, 1901
South side of the 700 block of Susanville’s Main Street, March 12,1901—Sheila Holcomb

On June 6, 1900 an early morning fire started at Dave Stark’s blacksmith shop on the southeast corner of Main and S. Roop Streets. Within two hours some forty structures from Roop to South Union Street were destroyed in the blaze. The only building remained standing was Alexander & Knoch’s store, constructed of native stone, though it did sustain damage.

While this fire became the catalyst to incorporate Susanville, many resorted to the old wooden frame building practices of the past. The above photograph is a perfect example. What is interesting with this photograph you will notice the vacant lot between the Cohn Bros. and the Pioneer. It should be noted that the Pioneer used the lot for a beer garden, until O.M. Doyle constructed a two-story stone building that eventually became home of the Grand Cafe. The building to the right to the Pioneer, which was Alexander & Knoch’s store, though the store front has been modified is home to Margie’s Book Nook. 

In 1902, Susanville passed Ordinance No. 17 which prohibited wooden frame buildings in the heart of the town’s business district. All future materials, would be brick, native stone or cement. Roofs were required to be metal, slate or tile.

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History

Paradise City, Lassen County

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Hayden Hill, 1909. Courtesy of Dallas & Joyce Snider
Hayden Hill, 1909. Courtesy of Dallas & Joyce Snider

During the early years of Hayden Hill in the 1870s and 1880s numerous little encampments within a three mile radius sprang up. Paradise City was one of the earliest mining camps adjacent to Hayden Hill. In 1872-73, according to the Lassen County Assessment Rolls, Joseph Miles owned a house and lot in Paradise City—though no records of any subdivision is known for that place or for that matter Hayden Hill. Paradise City was also the location of the Providence Mining Company’s quartz mill. It was the first quartz mill constructed at Hayden Hill. This mill would crush the rock so that the gold could be extracted. Incidentally, that mill was hauled to the Hill from its original location at Hardin City in the Black Rock Desert.

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History

Lassen County Militia

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Militia Card
Tro Emerson’s Militia Card

Twice in Lassen County’s history there have been local militia units of the California National Guard. The first was the Honey Lake Rangers of the 1860s. The last time was during World War II. Initially, there was to be one large unit for Lassen and Modoc counties. That plan was neither feasible or practical and was dropped.

A new strategy was drafted. Inside each county, especially in large rural counties like Lassen, several local militia units would be formed. There duties were to protect the area in case of enemy invasion. Their involvement was confined to the boundaries of the county. Uniforms, guns and ammunition would be provided to each unit. They would also be trained in guerilla warfare. In Lassen County it fell upon the Farm Advisor (T.S. Brown) to organize these units.

On May 20 1942, the first organization meeting was held in Susanville. Local units were created for Susanville, Bieber, Doyle, Janesville and Standish. By the first of June, the Susanville Militia had 70 members. It became known as Thomas Tucker Militia—named after Thomas Tucker the first casualty from Susanville in World War I. Fortunately, this volunteer force never had to be activated. At the conclusion of the war, each individual’s enrollment in the militia was automatically cancelled.

Militoa card

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History

Leavitt Lake, 1948

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Leavitt Lake, 1940—Lola L. Tanner

April 1948 was a very rainy month. According to Lassen Volcanic National Park officials that placed received 419% above average precipitation for that month.

Closer to home, all the heavy spring rain and snow runoff, filled Leavitt Lake to capacity in a few weeks. It should be noted that the lake was nearly dry for three years. Then a brisk windstorm on April 28, with gusts as high 40 miles per hour, caused a lot of excitement at Leavitt Lake. With the winds whipping the lake into a frenzy, it began to wash away a portion of the northern levee. Grover Bass who was charge of Lassen Irrigation District, the owner of the lake, summoned nearby ranchers—Denny Elledge, Stanley Bill, Howard Bill, Bill Ahern, and Les McColm—to form a sand bag brigade. The men worked tirelessly all day and placed over 300 sand bags along a quarter mile section of  the damaged levee.

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History

A Tuesday Tidbit-Rafting Honey Lake

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Amedee during its heydays in the early 1890s. Courtesy of Grant and Lena Trumbull

The following is part of a Amedee letter dated, September 15, 1896: “The raft built by Torrey & Harwood has had quite an experience lately. Their first trip was made about the 4th and they brought over some 40 cords of wood from Milford in six hours, but it took them a week to return as they met contrary winds every day driving them back to the Amedee shore. They finally made the trip and returned with 40 cords of wood for the railroad company and have again returned. We wish them success, for we need plenty of wood have always experienced difficulty in getting it here.“
Tim

History

The Annual Eagle Lake Fish Harvest

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Pine Creek Fish Dam, April 4, 2019

During the late 1800s, there were a handful of individuals that each spring would go to Eagle Lake to harvest wagon loads of that lake’s famed trout, to bring back to Susanville to sale.

Susanville resident Med Arnold (1885-1967) provided an unusual account.  Med recalled an outing, either in 1895 or 1896, for their fishing expedition, they bypassed Eagle Lake and ventured to Pine Creek, near present day Bogard Rest Stop. It was in May and in several places they had to shovel through snow drifts.  Med stated, “We found literally thousands of those fine, big Eagle Lake trout all over the meadow. We scooped them out of the water with pitch forks. It was estimated that we caught around 800 pounds of fish. Upon arriving home the next day, we stopped in front of Hi Skadan’s livery stable (607 Main Street) and gave them nearly all way—two or three per person.”

What has puzzled me about these accounts, how did they keep the fish from spoiling?

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History

Susanville’s North Street

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North Street, Susanville
Look east on North Street from Weatherlow during the 1938 flood. Courtesy of Betty Barry Deal

The history of this street, is a bit odd, when compared to the city’s oldest avenues. The name is a bit of a paradox, the street runs in a east-west direction. Folklore has it, it was so named “North” because it was the most northernmost street. However, when one examines the original town plat of1863, that is not the case. Willow Street which is one block north of North Street, was initially the most northerly street at that time.  In addition, when North Street was laid out, it ended at Weatherlow Street. In 1910 it was extended to connect with Hall Street.

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History

Skedaddle Dam

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The dam site, 1916. Courtesy of Betty Barry Deal
The dam site, 1916. Courtesy of Betty Barry Deal

The year 1889 was a pivotal one in the region, especially with a frenzy of reclamation projects. On the Susan River watershed, Hog and McCloy Flat Reservoirs were built. A dam to store the spring run-off of Secret Creek to create Ward Lake. In Long Valley a dam along that creek would create Lake Greeno. Further north, a proposed dam on Red Rock Creek to create Dodge Reservoir.

Then there was the dam on Skedaddle Creek that straddled the California-Nevada border. Today,  it is an impressive historical site, but not in the way the developers wanted.  On May 25, 1889, William A. Clark filed a claim to all the water of Skedaddle Creek to irrigate the sagebrush lands of eastern Honey Lake Valley. To accomplish this, Clark proposed to dam the creek at the “narrows.” The dam would span the canyon some two hundred feet and be 126 feet in height. To fund the project, Clark formed the Honey Lake Water Company, and it was incorporated on June 17, 1889. It was estimated that the dam would cost $30,000. Construction of the dam began in October 1889, and it was anticipated that the dam would be complete by the following spring. In November, Company Engineer, Alexander Center, reported that construction had progressed better than expected and that the dam’s height would be raised an additional fourteen feet. It was during that month of November that one of the severest winters on record began. The November and December snows made work difficult and by January work came to a complete halt. Blizzards blanketed the countryside and then followed bitter cold temperatures that sent the thermometer to –30  degrees. Snowstorms continued and by the end of January it was estimated that on the higher slopes of Skedaddle, the snow depths surpassed ten feet! (Normal annual precipitation at the dam site is 7 inches a year, in 1889-90 it received 22 inches). Continue reading Skedaddle Dam →

History

McClelland Ranch, Eagle Lake

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A group of bass fishermen at the McClelland Ranch, 1914.

This well known place on the north shore of Eagle Lake, happens to be first place settled there. On January4, 1870, Levi Button, a thirty-three old New Yorker, filed a land claim there for 160 acres.  Button’s main activity was prospecting and trapping. Button only remained there for a couple of years. Various individuals would lay claim to Button’s abandoned homestead, but it was not until the early 1880s when Adolph Schuler made a real go of it. After making numerous improvements he secured a federal land patent for the property. At first, it seemed he would quickly fade away when on  July 11, 1884, he sold out to James D. Byers for $1,000. Byers had an extensive livestock operation in the Honey Lake Valley and could utilize the Eagle Lake property for summer range. Schuler remained on the premises working for Byers. In 1902, Byers passed away and left a major portion of his estate to his nephew’s family, the McClellands, including the Eagle Lake property. It is still owned by the McClelland family.

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