In the early 1960s, Lassen County was busy in building a new hospital adjacent to the one constructed in 1916. Once, opened the new facility would have a major impact on two healthcare facility—Potter’s Maternity Home and Riverside Hospital. “Ma” Potter took the opportunity to retire. The fate of Riverside Hospital was another matter. Irene Bengoa Purdy, a registered nurse, proposed to Dr. Fred Davis, Jr., they and others should purchase it and convert it into a convalescent hospital. Irene could not muster support to accomplish her proposal. In 1969, Riverside Hospital was torn down and replaced with the current convalescent hospital.

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Ruth “Ma” Potter (1886-1965) was a Susanville institution of sorts. In the early 1930s, the Utah native, opened a maternity home at 1603 Main Street, the current location of Rite Aid. She continued on until 1963, when she finally retired. It should be noted that her home was moved to South Street in 1966 to make way for United California Bank. There is a plaque in the sidewalk at Rite Aid marking the site.

During the time when Potter’s was in operation, one was either born there or at Riverside Hospital, the latter no longer exists. While my three siblings were born at Potter’s, I decided to be different or difficult, whatever the case may be, and was born at Riverside Hospital.

Yet, on the other hand, it would be fun to have a reunion of sorts of all those who were born at Potter’s. Let me know what you think?

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Initially, Susanville’s water supply came from Piute Creek and wells. In 1864, Luther Spencer claimed Big Springs (Cady) three miles west of town in the Susan River Canyon for a water supply for the community. Spencer’s good intentions never came to fruition.

In 1869, a group of Susanville residents formed the Susanville Water Works with the same proposal as Spencer. Their first priority was to survey a ditch, which they did. Then they went to the community to raise funds for the construction of the ditch and found none. Finally, with due diligence in 1872 construction began on the ditch. It was a modest effort fraught with problems, but it functioned without much change for the remainder of that century.

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This house was built in 1893, as a wedding present. Susanville merchant Alfred Jackson had it constructed for his bride-to-be Rose Murrer. In the stone mantle he had the letter “R” carved into it. Unfortunately, their happy marriage was cut short, when he died in a deer hunting accident in 1895. In 1914, when Rose’s mother, Franceska Neuhaus constructed the St. Francis Hotel behind her home, she planted an elaborate flower garden for guests of the hotel to enjoy. Rose remained at her home until the early 1940s, when she moved to Reno, to reside with her only child Leona Byars.

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