Did you ever notice that North Street runs in an east-west direction? It does not make sense, until you go way back when Susanville was first surveyed. There you find the answer to this perplexing issue. You see, North Street was most northern street in the town. The same thing happened in the 1920s with an adjoining subdivision to the south, in which South Street became the most southern street. And here is trivia about North Street. When town, as mentioned was surveyed in 1863, Roop Street ended at Weatherlow. In 1910, it was extended to Hall Street. This met with teamsters glee to avoid the muddy bog on Main Street created by Piute Creek.

Another peculiarity is that of Roop and Weatherlow Streets and that they should be reversed.. This was pointed out to me  many years ago when Eleanor Vandeburgh and I worked at the museum. After all, her reasoning was, one would think Weatherlow Street should have been designated as Roop, since it went to his original home. Weatherlow lived at the end of Roop Street, though it did not extend that far, since his original home located  at Susanville Ranch Park. On the same token, Weatherlow Street went by Roop’s original home.

Tim

In the early 1900s a number of Susanville’s restaurants were operated by Chinese, though serving American cuisine.  The Grand Cafe was just such an establishment. It was established in 1909 by Kwan Wong in the rear of the Pioneer saloon.

In 1912, O.M. Doyle built a two-story stone building next to the Pioneer, which the latter had used the vacant lot as a beer garden.  Doyle named the building the Wee-Wee, a nickname given to his daughter, Marie. On May 3, 1912, Kwan Wong opened the Grand Cafe in that building, where it has been ever since, though the original building was accidentally  demolished in 1934.

Wong operated the Grand off and on for several more years. On trips back to China, he would lease it, and other times just close it until his return. On January 15, 1915, the Lassen Weekly Mail reported: The Grand Cafe closes its doors. The Grand Cafe is without an angel. Kwan Wong, its late proprietor, has quit for good, as he could not do enough business to make expenses.” 

It would not be until 1921, that the Grand Cafe found stability in its ownership with Sam Vucanovich and Steve Sargent. That is another story, for another time.

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The 1930s were a financially difficult time for Med Arnold, the grandson of the town’s founder, Isaac Roop. In a desperate need of funds, on October 8, 1936, Arnold put Roop’s iconic landmark up for sale. This in turn spurred a grass roots campaign movement to raise funds.  In May 1937, the City of Susanville purchased it.

Some thought that property could also be developed for a sorely needed children’s playground. While the city thought was admirable, it had no funds to make it a reality. Then there was issue that fort, which been used a hay barn and storage, had fallen into a disrepair. Since, it was the town’s oldest structure, it was deemed the foremost priority to do the needed repairs and new roof. The community once again rose to the occasion, and volunteers came to the rescue.

In 1974, Roop’s Fort was entered into the National Register of Historic Places.

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