Just an update, and it is not my intent to do this as teaser! The text is ready, but I need to photograph two locations, one a grave and the other the oldest house of prostitution still standing. The latter is not where one would think. My ability to get around improves, and if all goes well this weekend, I will have an assistant to photograph the above, plus more, like the original location of Soldier’s Bridge, the 1860 military encampment.
The location of the above photograph has some significance to Susanville’s early brothel history for an event that occurred there in 1908. Stay tuned.
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World War II ushered in a new architectural style, that after the War was adopted by the civilian population.
The two most notables one was the old Naef Electric building in the 1800 block of Main Street. After it closed its doors circa 1977, it has been home to numerous enterprises. In the fall of 1978, it is where the Lassen County Times made its debut.
The other is Poulsen Welding Shop located on Richmond Road and Riverside Drive, and carries with it, an important historic significance.
In the 1930s, Bigelow and Poulsen operated a blacksmith shop at this location, in which Poulsen would take over the business and branching out into welding. On July 11, 1946 a fire destroyed Poulsen’s shop and provided the catalyst for city annexation. The City was unable to respond to the fire as the city limits stopped on the north side of the Susan River, while Poulsen’s was on the south side, and outside the City. Efforts over the years to annex areas to the east of Weatherlow and south of Susan River had failed. The Red River Lumber Company which owned the Milwood subdivision fought efforts for fear of property tax hikes. Residents of the outlying areas wanted services such as fire protection.
Thus, the movement for “unification” was born. On April 8, 1947 a special annexation was approved by the voters. Susanville’s Main Street now extended from Weatherlow to Fairfield Avenue. The City’s land mass quadrupled in size.
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Queen Lena the first, September 24, 1902. Courtesy of Betty Barry Deal
As promised, here is the story behind the coronation.
On September 24, 1902, Miss Lena Long won a lively contest to be crowned Queen, which was part of the festivities of the first Lassen County Fair to be held in ten years.
The coronation was a highlight of the fair, which began at 10:00 a.m. Queen Lena I and her attendants rode in decorated carriages from South Gay Street to Main and then to the head of Main Street where the new bandstand had been erected. When she arrived at her throne the Lord Mayor, E.V. Spencer performed the Crowning Ceremony. It was reported that, “Queen Lena as she sat on her throne looked the ideal Queen. Her robe, one of the most handsome money could procure, could not have been worn by a more lovely woman. Tall, stately, of the brunette type of beauty, Queen Lena is one of the most handsome of California’s fair daughters and as every one knows, California contains more lovely women than any spot on earth. “
The conclusion of the coronation was followed by a street parade. In the evening a reception and dance was held at the Emerson in honor of Queen Lena.
Lena later married Fred D. Hall and spent most of her life on their ranch near Standish. She passed away in Susanville in 1946.
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Only two structures were built on this lot. The first was the residence built in the mid-1870s, and that structure stands today at 250 South Roop Street.
In the 1920s saw the invasion of chain stores to Susanville. They were met with mixed reaction. No matter what your opinion they were here to stay.
In 1939 the residence was moved to its current location to 250 South Roop Street. It was replaced with the current structure which when completed housed Susanville’s first Western Auto. Business was so good it had to move to larger quarters on Main Street. Since then it has a few different occupants. For many years, it was the office of Dr. C.I. Burnett. It was also the dentist office of Dr. Frank Packwood. In 1979 for a brief period it was the home of the Lassen County Times. Since then it has been the office of Carol Curry, CPA.
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Liegan was one of those typical Nevada-California-Oregon (NCO) stations. It was known for something, but then again for nothing. On September 10, 1888 it became the new terminus for the railroad a bit north and east of Herlong today. It was a desolate outpost to say the least, surrounded by miles and miles of sagebrush, but not a single living soul in the immediate region. Of course, the decision to bypass the west side of Honey Lake for the east drew lots of criticism, a topic for another time. Its location was too remote for the railroad to generate any quantity of freight traffic at that point. One of its biggest claim to fame occurred on January 1, 1890 when numerous sight seers from Reno ventured there to view the eclipse of the sun. By that summer, the railroad extended its line farther north to Amedee, which quickly overshadowed Liegan. In the fall of 1890, Elmer Koken who traveled to Amedee on the NCO remarked that the Liegan station consisted of a box car. On April 9, 1891, the Liegan Post Office closed after an existence of eight months.
There was a glimmer of hope and Liegan was revived briefly during 1909-10 by the railroad. The Standish Water Company had just built a pumping plant on Honey Lake, with the intention to reclaim the sagebrush plain into a major sugar beet production region. That failed, and Liegan’s hopes went with it.
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Susanville’s Knoch building has endured a lot since it was first constructed back in 1893-94. The building’s location on the northwest of corner of Main and Lassen Street was originally occupied the local Masonic Lodge. The town’s horrific fire of 1893, where a majority of its business district was destroyed, including the Masonic Lodge, changed its landscape.
The Masons determined like the proverbial phoenix embarked on an ambitious plan to rebuild. The two-story native stone was dedicated on July 4, 1894. The $20,000 structure was more than the Masons could afford and seven months later looked at options to dispose of it. One of the biggest creditors was David Knoch who lent the Masons $7,650. Knoch, a Mason himself, offered to forgive the debt in return the Masons would deed the property to him. A lot of contentious wrangling took place, but in 1898 Knoch became owner of the property, and it remained in the family until the 1950s when his granddaughter Jeanette Worley sold it.
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In the mid-1930s, Bill and Jeanette Tunison established very popular bar, restaurant and gas station five miles east of Westwood near Goodrich Creek. Tunison, it should be noted had been a Westwood resident since 1916. The establishment became very popular in a short order, known for its good food and hospitality. As Marian Hull Herrick recalled, “People would call ahead to see if they serving were Jeanette’s Rum pie that night. People raved about the fried chicken and biscuits. Jeanette confided in me that they were made with Bisquick.”Continue reading Tunison’s aka Phil’s Place→
Soldier Bridge School, DeWitt, California. Courtesy of Franklin Dill.
The Soldier Bridge School was located a short distance from the present day Fleming Unit, of the California Department of Fish & Game. The district was established in March 1865 from a division of Susan River (Johnstonville). The first classes were held in the fall of 1865, with Miss Lurana Walker as instructor. In 1883, George W. Fry donated the land where the school had been built. At that time, Honey Lake Lodge #358 of the Independent Order of Good Templars was established and a hall was constructed next to the schoolhouse.
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Horse Lake Station, 1915. Courtesy of Nevada Historical Society
It was originally a Nevada-California-Oregon Railroad station and later a Southern Pacific Railroad siding that operated from 1930-1961. In a way it is a bit of misnomer, since it is located five miles east of Horse Lake and near Snowstorm Ranch.
In 1913, the Shumway Post Office at Horse Lake was discontinued. In 1916, Horse Lake residents attempted to re-establish the post office and have a mail drop off at the NCO Railroad’s Horse Lake siding. The postal authorities denied the request. They stated they did not need a mail drop as that there were only four permanent families residing in the area. In addition, it was cited, the NCO was an unreliable operation, with irregular train service, and since there was no attendant at the Horse Lake Station, there was no way that the mail could be protected.
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Devil’s Corral Bridge, 1918. Courtesy of Margaret A. Purdy
The circumstances leading to its name are not known. There are two possible explanations. In 1865, San Francisco journalist Lisle Lester wrote: “Late in the afternoon we crossed a weird looking place of a rock wall enclosing a little flat meadow land called Devil’s Corral. The place is historical, for in the early days a band of emigrants stopped here to feed their stock and were overtaken by disease which covered the little nook with the bones of their cattle, and added to its soil many a way-worn form. For years the bones of the cattle bleached here in rude piles.”
In 1923, when the first highway bridge to span Devil’s Corral was completed, this published version made its debut: “The name was given the curious lava rock formation on the banks of the Susan River at this point by early day wagon trains who sought to reach the Sacramento Valley by following the course of the Susan River. At this point the perpendicular rock walls of the canyon made further progress impossible and they were forced to turn back, hence the name Devils Corral.”
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