Seasoned residents of the Susanville region will recall the spring of 1971, when the Bank of America building at Main and North Gay Street was demolished. Many in the community had not recovered from the demolition of another iconic building the original Lassen High School, which was torn down in June 1968 for the current campus buildings.
Tim
In 1915, when voters approved a bond measure to build a new county courthouse, no time was wasted to construct the same. The new courthouse would be built on the site of the existing one. However, when James McCaughlin’s bid was accepted to construct the courthouse, that detail was omitted.
George Sellon, the architect was brought in as a mediator. It should be noted that old courthouse would still be used, until the new one was constructed. Sellon drew up the specifics and cost to move the old courthouse to the east along South Lassen Street. The cost $350.00. At the September 1915 meeting of the County Board of Supervisors the matter was approved. With that issue resolved, work began on the new courthouse.
Tim
Yesterday was the 120th anniversary of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire. Word of news spread rapidly. and in the Honey Lake Valley, like so many areas, there were numerous concerns. First, at any given time there were usually a dozen of local residents visiting San Francisco and it came as a great sigh of relief when news reached those individuals were not harmed.
On April 20, 1906 a local relief committee was formed to provide aid to all those in the bay area affected by the devastation. At the initial meeting held in Susanville, $600 was immediately raised. A clothing. drive was held and within three days, wagon loads of clothes were hauled to the Hot Springs Station (Wendel) to be shipped on the NCO Railroad. The residents of Amedee raised $75, which many considered substantial, since the community’s saw sharp decline in population and now only had 16 registered voters. Initially, over a $1,000 was raised for the relief effort.
Tim
Town of Doyle was surveyed and subdivided in 1911. However, there was plenty of activity there, since the Western Pacific Railroad had already established a station. So, the new town of Doyle was serviced, not by one, but two railroads, the other being the NCO. Yet, changes were on the horizon and Doyle like so many rural communities suffered from the effects of World War I. Many of its residents, and the regional homesteaders, never returned seeking new opportunities elsewhere.
In the 1940s, Doyle experienced a revival, due in part of the establishment of the nearby Sierra Ordnance Depot. In 1948, the Doyle Civic League proclaimed: “There is a boom on in Doyle.” The League cited among other things that the community boasted three grocery stores, three gas stations and two taverns with cafes.
Hayden Hill’s first mine, was named the Providence. In the early 1870s, Hayden Hill was sometimes referred to as Providence. The following whimsical account is from the Mountain Tribune of Bieber, April 22, 1882 that explains how the name came to be: “While at Hayden Hill this week in search of information, we inquired of Ben Bradshaw which was the first claim located on the Hill and he informed me that the Providence was the oldest claim. Being curious to know why it was so named he said it was located and owned by ‘seven preachers and two white men.’ We record this fact for the benefit of the future historiographer of the Hill.”
To the untrained eye, one detects it is an early day photograph of once was the Elks Lodge as the west send of Susanville. As the lodge recently sold, I am not sure as to the current owners has a given this landmark building a name.
This photograph was taken in 1923 or early 1924. In 1922, the highway department constructed the retaining wall in front of the of the Elk’s In the summer of 1924 a fire wiped out the pine trees on the bluff behind the Elk’s.
To the left, 502 Main Street, is still here, but it was a remodeled in to a two-story building. Just above it on the corner, that house was moved to Janesville Grade for the realignment of the highway curve circa 1990.
Tim
Recently Mike Cole wrote in the comment section of Susanville Helipad:
“1972 was the first year for Bieber Helitack. I was a firefighter on the crew. The guy in white shirt was our pilot, fresh out of Vietnam Nam, his first name was John ( can’t remember his last name). Next up is FC Jack Waters, FAE Jack Perdue, and FGT (FC) Dave McNamara. We were issued nomex jumpsuits, before firefighters had nomex. I retired from CDF in 2006”
Thank you Mike, Tim.
With passage of the Volstead Act, i.e, prohibition certain businesses had to change to survive. Established in 1863, the Pioneer Saloon was one of them. It no longer dispenses alcohol, but it had its lucrative card games to fall back on.
Tim
P.S. – Still in search of a home.
In 1890, when NCO railroad’s terminus to be known as Amedee, no one knew, that initially it would become boom town. With the influx families, in the spring of 1892, residents of Amedee petitioned the Lassen County Board of Supervisors to establish a school. The Board denied it. Not to be defeated, the residents opened a private school in September with an enrollment of eighteen students. The residents again petitioned the Board to approve a new district. The Board granted it on January 27,1893, and appointed L.W. Brubeck, E.C. Brown and C.D. Hemmenger as trustees. Continue reading The Original Amedee School
While it is fairly common knowledge that the City of Susanville was named for the town founder’s daughter, Susan Roop, who later married Alexander T. Arnold. Many assume that the Susan River that flows through the community would also be named after Susan Roop. However, that is not the case, because the river was so named, prior to Isaac Roop’s arrival on the scene.
During the years 1851-1852, William H. Nobles located a new emigrant road from Shasta, California to Lassen’s Meadows, Nevada. This road passed through the Honey Lake Valley. Nobles named the Susan River for his wife, Susan Parker Nobles. While we know a lot about Susan Roop Arnold, very little is known about Susan Parker Nobles. She resided in Minnesota for the majority of her married life, moving to California when her husband, Nobles, died in 1876.