Category Archives: History

History

A Negative Question In A Good Way

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Negative envelope from A.H. Bosworth, a Fall River Mills merchant.

Every day is a new learning process and some times I grasp what is in front of me, other times it just takes a bit longer to learn something new. One of my quandaries for some time is the scanning of old photograph negatives. I mean old, not your typical 35mm or 2 1/4x 21/4. These negatives are 6 inches by 3 inches, plus some other sizes, from the 1910s and 1920s.

I have thousands of negatives from that time period. For example I have nearly 1,000 negatives of professional photographer O.O. Winn taken from 1920 to 1923 of the construction and initial operations of the Fruit Growers Supply Company. I have hundreds of Lola L. Tanner’s negatives from 1915-1925 of Eagle Lake and Willow Creek Valley.  Recently, Richard Goudy of Chico asked for assistance with his family photographs of the time era mentioned that are of the Milford and Westwood areas.

My question is does any one have any experience with this, or know some one that has?

Thanks.

 

 

History

Blast from the past

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Seated left to right: Fred Metz, Mayor Pro Tem Charles Richardson, Mayor Jim Chapman, Dan Sanchez and Herman Walker. Standing outgoing city council members Ken Loflin and Ivor Lanigar.

At the Susanville City Council’s organizational meeting on March 9, 1976, Jim Chapman, at the tender age of 21, was made the Mayor of Susanville, the youngest person ever to hold that title. Chapman had aspirations that year and ran for Lassen County District Two Supervisor and won that seat in November.

It should be duly noted the city’s organizational meeting then was ceremonial, but not this time.  The council rolled up  their sleeves and went to work on the pressing issue of the day concerning the grandstand at  Memorial Park.

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History

Phil’s Place Revisited

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Phil’s Place
In 1976, Betty Pannell was the Westwood correspondent to the Lassen Advocate. She had a special feature entitled Yesteryear. The following is an excerpt of her interview with Lydia Schuldies, who with her husband operated a restaurant, bar, dancing floor and service station on Highway 36, near Goodrich Creek. Lydia recalls their place was not the only activity there, and now all that remains is the lone chimney.
“With the war and the advent of food stamps Lydia really had her hands full to run the restaurant at Phil’s. To arrange the menus as best as she could and for as long as possible. Then, when the food ran out, to close until she had more stamps. Lydia said she always tried to hire back the employees that had to be let off during these forced closures.
“There were many more buildings along the highway—next to Phil’s was a rooming house for the men working out there. Next to it an ice house with walls yay thick filled with sawdust for insulation to keep the ice. And back between the highway and Moonlight road was the airport. (This is where Cub Walker, one of Fletcher Walker’s son was killed in a plane accident.) On back in a beautiful spot on the meadow was the Home Ranch and during World War II when Victory—or vegetable gardens—were encouraged the Walkers set aside a good sized area for anyone to put in their own vegetables and the Walkers had a man to water it. Directly across the highway from Phil’s were the small house is, well that was the mess hall for the men. And there were was a dairy farm with big barns and the milk brought into Westwood by horse and wagon and sleigh.”
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History

Those skinny Susanville kids

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Lincoln School
Lincoln School, 1924
Today, there are frequent news reports about obesity in children and adults. This was not always the case. In January 1930, 682 students of the Susanville Elementary School District were weighed and measured and it was found that over one-fourth were under weight. This was considered an alarming figure and it was decided that the children be give proper rest periods after school. In addition, it was recommended the children be given milk and lunch at school.

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History

Sheep Camps

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McCoy headquarters at Bridge Creek, circa 1906. Courtesy of the Worley/Crum family.

As mentioned about the story of the Worley Ranch, how the sheep industry played a prominent role in Lassen County. Many of these outfits used the region for summer range, returning to lower elevations for the winter. Many of these camps were rather primitive, usually just a log cabin. As shown above was the camp of Galen Clark McCoy whose headquarters was at Bridge Creek and for whom the nearby McCoy Flat Reservoir is named for. Stanford University had two sheep camps along Pine Creek, north of Camp 10, which was unusual. The majority of these camps were abandoned in the 1920s, and nature has reclaimed the sites.

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History

Life in the fast lane

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Susanville photographer Jervie Eastman was certainly in the slow lane the day this photograph was taken. Courtesy of Eleanor Vandeburgh.

As the old saying goes, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” While doing some research, I came across this short, but interesting tidbit in 1930, that many people had hectic lifestyle.

“And you think we live in fast times. Its not the high speed of present day civilization that is causing many persons to die of heart disease. Such is the belief of Dr. George E. Bright of San Francisco, member of the state board of health. More persons die of this ailment he says because people are living longer than they formally did and heart disease an affliction usually associated with old age, carries them off.”

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History

All those bars!

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The Bank Club, Susanville. Courtesy of Hank Martinez

Yesterday, I duly noted the large number of gas/service stations, well there was a large concentration of bars in the uptown district. From Weatherlow Street to Roop Street there was: Manuel’s, Marion’s, Round Up Room, the 802, State, Pioneer, Western Room and the B&B. There was the Bank Club, but that was before my time. Then, if you wanted to be discreet, you could get a drink at the Grand Cafe. Today, there is only one, Lassen Ale Works at the Pioneer.

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History

Gas Stations Galore!

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Hudson’s Service Station, 504 Main Street, Susanville, California.

Seasoned residents will recall that it seemed like there was a gas station on nearly every corner of Susanville’s Main Street back in the 1950s and 1960s. Actually, the proper term at that time was “service station.” If one approached Susanville from the west, one of the first items they would see, was not one, but two service stations at the intersection of Main and Roop Streets.  At 504 Main Street was a Union 76 Station and kitty-corner and next to Doyle Motors was a Shell Station.

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History

A Lonely Job

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George Moore digging out a speeder at Camp 10, January 10, 1952.

Fruit Growers Supply Company’s Camp 10, located in Pine Creek Valley, west of Eagle Lake was a lively outpost from spring through fall, where over 200 people called it home. For a time it could even boast its own voting precinct. Yet, when the logging season ended, Camp 10 was de-populated, except for one lone soul. A caretaker was hired to keep an eye on everything. In the winter of 1951-52, George Moore was Camp 10 sole resident. The position would soon be eliminated as at the end of the 1952 logging season Camp 10 closed for good.

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Camp 10 cabins, January 10, 1952.
History

Roosevelt Pool Revisited

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800 South Street, Susanville

Three years ago today, I started the daily postings. At that time the hot topic was the Roosevelt Pool that was in the final stages of demolition. Each subsequent March 1, I did a follow up on the status of the replacement pool. The Roosevelt has been reincarnated as the Honey Lake Valley Community Pool. It is a joint effort between the city and county and I will spare the dear reader of the gory details of meetings that finally led to its creation. More importantly the community now has a swimming pool, located adjacent to the site of the old one. When the temperatures starts rising this summer, stop by and check it out.

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