In honor of my father’s birthday, this post will be brief. He began his logging career working at Camp Harvey. His next venture was with his brother James, and they formed Purdy Brothers Logging. This grew into a larger outfit known as Susanville Logging. Circumstances beyond his control saw that company dissolved in the early 1960s. The next re-incarnation was L&M Logging. Just some random related photographs for your enjoyment. Continue reading Susanville Logging
In June 1926, my grandfather and my name sake, Ira I. Purdy drove up from Sacramento to Susanville in search of employment. He was a mechanic by trade, a master one at that, which I may have inherited his name but not his mechanic skills. He found employment at Doyle & Hunsinger’s, operators of the local Ford car dealership. Once settled in he moved his wife, Margaret and young son, James, to Susanville. My father, Leroy, was born the following year on March 7, 1927 at Riverside Hospital.
Like so many others Ira yearned to have his own operation. In 1939 he left Doyle Motor Company, (Hunsinger had moved to Reno), to establish his own service station. He purchased several lots on the north side of Main Street, between Sacramento and Spring Streets and established Purdy’s Garage. It remained in operation until the mid-1950s, when health conditions forced him to retire. The property, that was Purdy’s Garage, would later become the home of the Lassen Advocate and that building sits vacant.
Of note, in 1989 Caltrans did a major reconstruction of Main Street. Caltrans consulted me as gas tanks were. It should be noted that by 1960 there were some 17 plus service (gas) stations on Main Street. Caltrans removed some, though Purdy’s Garage gas tank was actually located underneath Main Street, Caltrans even aware of that fact, did not remove it. Will it become a future sink hole?
Last summer while having dinner at the Lassen Ale Works, nee the Pioneer, one of my companions remarked in a philosophical manner that each brand represents someone dreams, whether fulfilled or not. For several months the topic would surface, when we were at that establishment and I, of course, would enlighten said companion on any given brand. Continue reading Brand Project
Many people may not realize but the original proposed name for Lassen County, was Byers County. So who was Byers, and why was he to be honored? In 1858, James Davis Byers (1825-1902) purchased some property along Baxter Creek near Janesville. However, he remained a Quincy resident for sometime. In February 1863, Byers served as a Plumas County Deputy Sheriff, and played a significant role in the Sagebrush War. The final result of that conflict led to the creation of Lassen County the following year. Plumas County Assemblyman Robert A. Clark introduced the legislation to create the new county. Clark proposed to name it Byers County, but Byers declined. Byers suggested that it should be named after Peter Lassen, and thus the Lassen name was applied to the new county.
More about Byers in a later post, though by 1880 he was one of the ten wealthiest people in Lassen County.
On September 29, 1929 Old Lucy a colorful character on the streets of Susanville passed away, purportedly at the age of 125. While she best known as Old Lucy, she also had another Anglo name, Sally Norman. Dubbed a “picturesque” Native American of the era, she was a familiar sight as she ambled about Susanville, bundled up in numerous clothes, walking with the aid of a stick. People who knew her back in the 1870s considered her old back then. While her age was exaggerated when she died, documents placed her age at around 100.
In the summer of 1920, Fruit Growers started their logging operations near McCoy Flat Reservoir, while their Susanville mill was still under construction. Since logging then, was seasonal in nature, they wanted to make sure they would have a steady supply of logs ready when the new mill would be placed into operation in the spring of 1921.
Camp A was the first of ten railroad logging camps of Fruit Growers Lassen Operation. It opened on July 1, 1920. The operation was comparatively small, only logging 720 acres that season. On April 29, 1921 the first woods crews were dispatched by rail, where they encountered three foot of snow on the ground. The first item of business was to remove the snow from the railroad spurs, so that the timber fallers could start work. Within in a weeks’ time, logs were already being shipped to Susanville. In addition, a second camp, known as Camp B, opened three miles to the north of Camp A. Between the two camps, they housed over 600 men.
It is only fitting to begin the daily post with some current and past history combined. In mid-February saw the demolition of one of Susanville’s notable landmarks, the Roosevelt Pool. It is part of the effort to build a new swimming pool adjacent to it. The pool it should be noted had set idle for nearly a decade when it was condemned in December 2004.
How the pool came to be is an interesting one. In 1912, the Lassen Weekly Mail announced that Lassen County had purchased some property near the proposed railroad depot site for a new hospital and cemetery. However, that was not the case. Yet, the county realized it had to seek a new location for its hospital and cemetery.
On March 1, I will start posting on a daily basis. In the meantime, go to Tim’s Blog to see what has been posted so far. In addition, at the bottom of each post is a tag. These are beneficial once a number of postings exist, you can click on the Westwood tag for example, and it will display all the posts about Westwood.
*In 1870, the Shinn brothers moved with their parents to a homestead they located on Upper Smoke Creek. A most interesting family, besides the Shinn Ranch itself, both another story for another time.
When the Red River Lumber Company established its company town of Westwood in 1913, it had to provide numerous amenities due to its remote location at the time. It was necessary to not only attract employees, but to retain them, as the lumber industry experienced a high turn over rate in labor. The Westwood Club was one of several facilities designed to meet the recreational needs of its employees. It included a restaurant, lunch counter, soda fountain, cigar and newsstand, barbershop, reading room and a billiard room.
On early Friday morning, March 31, 1944 a fire broke out in the Westwood Club though the cause, was never determined. Within twenty minutes the whole building was engulfed in flames. The heat so intense, that Nick Kannier’s automobile which was parked in front of building, burst into flames. Even neighboring buildings from across the street were smoking, on the verge of spontaneous combustion, which with quick action by the fire department prevented the same.
The J.R. Bartlett Company were the concessionaire of the Westwood Club, which included the clubhouse, cafe, pool hall, bar and lounge. There were four other tenants in the building—Ehorn’s Pharmacy, Quitman’s Apparel, Westwood Market and Kilpatric’s Used Furniture department. Estimated loss for all parties was placed at $125,000.
Johnstonville School was one of the original Lassen County school districts established in 1864, but was originally named Susan River School District. In February 1878, the name was changed to Johnstonville. On January 20, 1961, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to build a new school to replace the old one. School board members, Harry Reuck, Mary Barr and Leroy Cramer, broke the ground for a new four-room schoolhouse which would cost the district $134,518. When completed the old school house located on an adjoining parcel was sold and converted into a private residence.