Fruit Growers No. 2 was purchased new from Baldwin in 1921. It remained in operation throughout the existence of railroad logging operations on the Lassen Operation until 1952. It was scrapped in 1953.
It should be noted when Fruit Growers built its mill in Susanville in 1919/20, they referred it to simply as the Lassen Operation. In 1944, when Fruit Growers purchased nearby Westwood from the Red River Lumber Company, they changed the name of Lassen to the Susanville Operation.
Crystal Lake is located just southwest of Taylorsville. It is on my list of places to check out in 2021.
While I do not know much about the lake, I do know about the photographer, R.E. Stinson. Robert Stinson was born in Quincy in 1882, and followed in his father’s footsteps as a commercial photographer. It was a tough trade to operate a business in a rural region. So like many others it became necessary to be itinerate traveling from community to community for business. In 1913, Red River hired Stinson as their company photographer, who at the time was located in Red Bluff. Stinson’s main job was to make a complete photographic inventory of all the buildings being constructed in the town, as well as the sawmill plant. A portion of this collection exists in the T.B. Walker papers housed with the Minnesota Historical Society. Stinson just happened to be at the right place at the right time, when Lassen Peak set off a series of volcanic eruptions beginning in 1914. Unfortunately, for Stinson and other photographers such as P.J. Thompson, are overshadowed by that B.F. Loomis, but that is another story, for another time. Stinson stay at Westwood was brief and left Red River in 1915. He later returned back to the region and when he died in 1932, he was buried in the Westwood Cemetery.
This was a special day for employees for the Susanville Post Office. For the first time, they got the day off and there would be no mail delivery. However, the postmaster was not so fortunate as the post office remained open on Christmas Day for those who needed to pick up mail and/or mail packages.
A number of Susanville merchants agreed to open on Christmas Eve, 1916. That year Christmas Eve was on a Sunday, and as a general rule all stores were closed on Sundays. In this particular instance the stores who planned to open agreed upon the hours from 10 to 6, to accommodate those “eleventh hour shoppers.”
Food is usually safe a topic for a light hearted discussion. The above advertisement caught my attention. Seasoned residents may remember the B&B located in the Knoch Building. The Larrapin Good Chili I understood. The term larrapin was common in the 1930s vocabulary as description for dandy or over the top. Now, can someone explain to me what is a Electrocuted Hamburger?
In 1971, Susanville dentist, Robert “Bob” Amesbury had a book published about Eagle Lake. In the book’s dedication is to the pioneers there, which he includes Alfred Murrer. On page six Amesbury wrote about the lake level. He includes this sentence, “The narrows was shallow enough during the 1940’s to permit Alfred Murrer to swim his horse across.”
There is a slight problem. The east side of the lake that Amesbury refers is quite rocky, one would have problem with that condition with a horse. Even if you and the horse could overcome that, once you reached the other side, the horse would sink in a muck of. mud/water combination.
I do have some inside scoop about this. Amesbury never approached Alfred Murrer, or any Murrer family about his research of Eagle Lake. While the Murrers resided and still do in Willow Creek Valley, events at the lake were front center. After all, the two tunnel outlets are adjacent to Murrer property, among other things. The reason I happen to have first hand knowledge about this Amesbury tale about Alfred Murrer, stems from the fact I knew Alfred well—he being my grandmother Lola Murrer Tanner’s youngest brother.
Fast forward to 1988, when my book on Eagle Lake was published. That summer, by chance, I encountered Bob at The Galley, a bar and restaurant at the north shore of Eagle Lake. Bob congratulated me on my book and then stated, “You have all the facts, I had all the bullshit.”
Tim
This is a follow up on a story I published on December 17, 2017 about the history of the Methodist Church bell. It should be noted the church was destroyed by fire in 1915, and work started the following to rebuild. The church had limited funds and it initially seemed as though the church would have to go without a bell.
The following was an editorial in the Lassen Advocate of December 22, 1916: “The question of a bell for the Methodist Church has again pressed itself and there seems to be some difference of opinion in regard to the desirability of placing one in the church. It is hoped, however, that a full-toned bell of comparatively low pitch will be decided upon, for a village church without its bell seems almost like a ship without a rudder. But there are bells and bells, and while present financial conditions of the church a question of cost must be considered, a judicious use of money set aside for the purpose can just as well procure a pleasant deep-toned bell as to the mistake of placing in the church a ell every sound of which startles one with the thought of fire.”
By the time church was dedicated in 1917, it did have a bell. It came from the old Lassen County Courthouse, as the new courthouse design did not include a bell.
It is always nice to see an old home restored to its old glory. That is what happened this summer with 235 South Lassen Street, across from the Lassen County Courthouse, Many older residents may remember it as the law office of Gary F. Woolverton. However, prior to that is was the home of J.A. “Gus” and Blanche Pardee. It was built in the spring of 1907 as a single story residence. In 1924, a second story was added and the home remained in the Pardee family until 1976 when it was converted into law office. It has gone full circle now, and is now a private residence.
A lot has changed over the years. The one spot that has not changed is the area west of Susanville. Due to a number of factors, it is one area where development is limited.
Now a look to the north. As to residential Cherry Terrace was the only subdivision, and it is small compared to the neighboring ones that sprouted up to its east and north. The only activity north of the town, was the construction of the Lassen Community College campus.
The east end of Susanville more or less ended at Mesa Street. Notice the millpond is still in use at the Sierra Pacific Mill. To the south it was primarily agricultural and open space with very limited residential development.
In 1891-92 during Amedee’s initial boomtown period, there were promotions of the town galore. One campaign to attract families to the town was for the first baby born there. The sponsors agreed the first child born in Amedee would receive a choice town lot. If the baby was a boy, the family would receive a month’s free board at the Hotel Amedee; for a girl a one-year subscription to the town’s newspaper the Amedee Geyser. Amedee’s first native son was born on August 19, 1892, a son to Marion and Hattie Bringham. They named the new addition to the family—-Robert Amedee Bringham. The family never received a town lot or free lodging at the hotel. The following year, Marion Bringham, who operated a saloon at Amedee, moved his family to Reno, Nevada. Robert A. Bringham served in World War I and would eventually have a career with the Veterans Administration. He died on November 19, 1973.