In 1921. Fruit Growers Supply Company built a cabin at the south shore of Eagle Lake. They named it Sunkist Lodge. It was built for the recreational needs of its employees. Even though Fruit Growers closed its Susanville operations in 1964, employees of Fruit Growers who worked at Burney, Hilt and Los Angeles still vacationed there.
In 1921 and again in 1922, Fruit Growers sponsored a water carnival at Sunkist Lodge. This was a water competition between the three big mills—Fruit Growers, Lassen Lumber & Box Company and Red River Lumber Company. The event attracted large crowds of over a thousand in attendance. For the overflow camping, a new site was located and dubbed the Circus Grounds.
In 2019, Fruit Growers sold its Lassen Operation holdings to Sierra Pacific Industries. In 2021, Sierra Pacific has placed this parcel for sale.
The first takeaway from these photographs is the water level of Eagle Lake in 1921. The building in the photographs must have beens the first of two that was used for recreation by employees of the company. West of that structure Fruit Growers constructed a spacious pine log lodge with an associated guest house, I am assuming sometime after 1921. That is where my extended family spent many summers on vacation. The cabin in the pictures lays east of the log lodge and adjacent to the California Division of Forestery facility at Eagle Lake.