On June 18, 1864, the County of Lassen purchased its first piece of real estate. On that date, the county purchased the entire Block 22, in the town of Susanville from Isaac Roop for $100.* It should be noted that the majority of the blocks in the original plot had not been been subdivided, mainly those with Main Street frontage. The property, of course, was to be utilized as a courthouse. However, due to the county’s finances, it was not until 1867, when the first courthouse was constructed on this site.
*It should be noted that a covenant was included in the deed that should the county abandon the property it would revoke back to Roop or his heirs. This was a common practice in the era, a number of rural schools received property in that fashion with the stipulation should the property no longer be used for its intended use the property would revert back to the original landowner or that person’s heirs, two examples being the Lake School and the Willow Creek Valley School.