Category Archives: History

History

Christmas Trees

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Christmas, 1917, in the Swain home, better known today as the Susanville Elks Lodge. Pictured are the Swain Children: Fitzhugh, Nellie, Blanche and Frances. Courtesy of Frances Swain
Christmas, 1917, in the Swain home, better known today as the Susanville Elks Lodge. Pictured are the Swain Children: Fitzhugh, Nellie, Blanche and Frances. Courtesy of Frances Swain

Christmas trees had a slow start around these parts. During the 1860s and 1870s the Susanville Methodist Church would put up a community Christmas tree. By 1900, the area no longer a pioneer outpost and with more prosperous times some of the local populous would adorn their home with a tree.

After World War II Christmas trees became a regular holiday adornment in most homes. It also started to become big business. In 1950, Fruit Growers Supply Company implemented a Christmas tree farming lease program. In 1966, they sold over 70,000 Christmas trees for just over $100,000. Between 1950 and 1996 Fruit Growers sold 1,422,158 Christmas trees at an average price of $1.51 per tree.

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History

Main Street – Then & Now

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Looking east on Main Street, from Lassen High School, 1908.
Looking east on Main Street, from Lassen High School, 1908.

Back in June I wrote about A Main Street Problem that involved filling in the gully area of Piute Creek. Since that time, I came across the above photograph, as the original post was taken on the knoll looking west. In an attempt to show the difference on Thanksgiving Day 2015 I took the below image for comparisons sake. For safety reasons, and my mobility a bit limited, I did not take the view from the center of the street for comparisons purposes.  However, the 1908 photograph was taken in front of the high school, and I did the same.

Main Street, Susanville. November 26, 2015
Main Street, Susanville. November 26, 2015

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History

Honey Lake Heaven

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Honey Lake, from Tanner Ranch, 1997.
Honey Lake, from Tanner Ranch, 1997.

The first wave of Honey Lake pioneer retirees, which has something in common with those “snow birds” of today who flock to warmer climes such as Arizona for the winter, also sought the same.

By the early 1900s, Honey Lake’s grey hair crowd flocked to Pacific Grove on California’s Monterey Peninsula. Why the attraction? Methodism. Pacific Grove was founded as a Methodist retreat. By 1900, the Methodist Church was the predominat religion of the Honey Lake Valley, with churches at Janesville, Johnstonville, Standish and Susanville.

With so many old timers taking up residence there, some seasonal and some year round, Pacific Grove was dubbed “Honey Lake Heaven,” their last journey in life. Yet, it was not exclusive to the older crowd, as members of the DeWitt and Spoon families to name a few, found Pacific Grove more appealing than the Honey Lake Valley and raised their families there.

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History

Winter Solstice

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Arnold Planing Mill, Richmond Road, Susanville, 1913.
Arnold Planing Mill, Richmond Road, Susanville, 1913. B.R. Zimmerman collection.

Today brings a smile to face, for it marks at least one turning point of the winter season, even though it takes a few weeks to actually see it progress.  One of the things I dread about winter are the short daylight hours and now knowing that the pendulum will start working its way to bring more daylight. Actually, for those serious folks, on December 15, the sunset locally not starts to get later, by a minute on that date. However, the sunrise keeps getting later, and does not reverse the trend until January 9.

Around these parts, historically the coldest and snowiest months are just ahead in January and February. Nearly all the record breaking snowfalls occur in mid-January. For those interested in forthcoming storms and especially the snow conditions I recommend The Tahoe Daily Snow. On a final note, most forecasters call for the first El Nino storms to begin sometime in the week of January 11.

Finally, those interested in Eagle Lake conditions can see the web cam at Spauldings here.

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History

Soldier’s Bridge Military Camp

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Susan River, near the Soldier Bridge military site. November 19, 2015
Susan River, near the Soldier Bridge military site. November 19, 2015

During the late 1850s and early 1860s residents of the Honey Lake Valley requested military presence for their protection with the conflicts with the Indians. Most of the times, their requests were ignored. However, when Horace Adams was killed by the Indians on June 18, 1860, at Honey Lake Valley, this time their requested was granted. Continue reading Soldier’s Bridge Military Camp →

History

Susanville Roundhouse

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The Southern Pacific Roundhouse, Susanville, 1947. G. Dunscomb Collection
The Southern Pacific Roundhouse, Susanville, 1947. G. Dunscomb Collection

Yes, I must confess my ignorance on this topic. This railroad’s roundhouse is unique in the sense it was isolated.  It was not something a person would drive by, and it went relatively unnoticed unless you worked for the railroad or was involved with the nearby lumber mills.

Equally, puzzling is the rarity of photographs of trains along the Fernley & Lassen line. What makes that peculiar when one takes into consideration the large amount of tonnage shipped. During its existence, I would safely estimate some three billion board feet of manufactured lumber was shipped across these rails, that with the exception of the rails left at the Susanville Depot are all gone.

If anyone has information that they would like to share about the roundhouse, it would be greatly appeciated.

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History

Swamp Angel

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Murphy Field, November 19, 2015
Murphy Field, November 19, 2015

No this has nothing to done with some foul, slimy creature crawling out of a lagoon. There are a lot of  localized place names that over the years have been forgotten and abandoned. One example is Murphy field, where Bob Murphy and Finn Barry after graduating from college tried their hand at farming in 1916.  It did not take long for Finn to give up the farm and went on to become an attorney. Continue reading Swamp Angel →

History

Susanville’s Thompson’s Photography Studio

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Courtesy of Frances Wier
Thompson Studio, 1921. Courtesy of Frances Wier

It has been awhile since I wrote about the professional photographers of the area who left a valuable historical record behind.

In September 1912, Peter Julian “Jack” Thompson announced he was going to relocate his photography studio from Loyalton, which had been in operation there for ten years, to Susanville. However, due to some delays he did not open for business here until February 1913. Continue reading Susanville’s Thompson’s Photography Studio →

History

Paradise City – Lassen County

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Hayden Hill, 1909. Courtesy of Dallas & Joyce Snider
Hayden Hill, 1909. Courtesy of Dallas & Joyce Snider

Paradise City was one of the earliest mining camps adjacent to Hayden Hill. In 1872-73, according to the Lassen County Assessment Rolls, Joseph Miles owned a house and lot in Paradise City—though no records of any subdivision is known for that place or for Hayden Hill. Paradise City was also the location of the Providence Mining Company’s quartz mill. It was the first quartz mill constructed at Hayden Hill. This mill would crush the rock so that the gold could be extracted. Incidentally, that mill was hauled to the Hill from its original location at Hardin City in the Black Rock Desert.

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History

Save Our Center

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soc campaing
It was headline news everywhere.

Less than 10 years after it opened, it was disclosed that the State of California had plans to shut down the California Conservation Center at Susanville. Of course, the community fought to keep it and on December 13, 1972 the Save Our Center campaign was launched.  State Director of Corrections Ray Procunier stated that the California Conservation Center near Susanville was to be closed effective April 1, 1973. Procunier cited a decline of the inmate population by 4,000. In doing so it would eliminate 270 jobs. Procunier stated, “The cutting off of that payroll is to have an impact of the economy of that community, but Susanville is not the best location in the world for a correctional institution because of its remoteness.”

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