In the 1930s, during Red River’s financial crisis, the company converted its American Legion Hall into a hotel known as the Blue Ox Inn, and thus the El Solano diminished in status. It would later be converted into apartments. In the fall of 1965 the Assembly of God Church renovated the building, and the second story removed. Today, it is a private residence.
Subscribe!
FacebookTwitterGoogle+Share
Support!
Tomorrow, I will have more details about the cemetery tour, with times and dates, so one has plenty of time to mark your calendar.
“It is well known fact that Lassen County offers the sportsman the greatest hunting and fishing in the West today. In the mountains are to be found the mule-tail and black-tail deer, grouse, quail and an occasional black or brown bear. In the valleys are to be found the sage hen, quail, doves, ducks, geese, rabbits, etc., and in the mountain streams and lakes one may find ideal fishing, varying from brook trout to black bass, weighing as much as ten pounds.”
Support!
In 1943, the Oakland Tribune published an article about Fred Lake’s 1892 dream town of Honey Lake City. That prompted a question from several readers as to how Honey Lake received its name. John S. Thomas of Oakland wrote the newspaper and stated: “They call it Honey Lake on account of the honey dew that fall on the borders of the lake. In haying time, if you lay or stand a pitch fork out all night, the handle in the morning will be as sticky as if it had been rubbed with honey. However, W. E. Booth of Hayward questioned Thomas’ claim in a letter to the Tribune. They published his response: “Booth used to live in the Honey Lake Valley and worked on a dairy ranch. Booth insists that he never saw such phenomenon and never heard the story. It would seem that if such a phenomenon was the source of the name of the lake and region, it would have been a matter of common experience and knowledge. The phenomenon of which Mr. Thomas speaks may have been incidental, the sticky handle may have been caused something other than the dew.”
Subscribe!
From time to time we will examine the wide variety of homes in the region. Of course, this topic is long over due, and Barbara thank you for your patience, and I am working on your house, too!
Featured above is the J.A. Gilman residence located at 1913 Main Street, Susanville and now the office of Town and Country Real Estate. It was built in 1898, and other family members built houses surrounding it. The Gilman’s were in the sheep business during its hey day, and retired from it before it collapsed in the 1920s and 1930s.
Support!
Way before gasoline taxes were introduced as a funding mechanism to maintain roads, there was a $2 a year road tax applied to all males over the age of 21. Sometimes, it was confused with the Poll tax, for often one would pay the tax when one voted.
However, one could opt of the road tax and provide labor in an exchange. Each county supervisor would appoint a road district overseer, who in turn would perform the work on in their respective districts, usually with the volunteer labor of those who did not pay the tax. Not the best system, especially in a large rural county like Lassen, but nevertheless it got the job done.
*To the far left is Satch Whitten, road overseer. The long time Janesville resident was married to Carrie DeWitt.
Support!