On March 12, 1912, it was formally announced of the construction of the Fernley & Lassen Railroad and Susanville would finally get the benefits of the iron horse. Of course, this set off land speculation and a flurry of subdivisions.
One of the early Susanville subdivision, was Indian Heights, and most peculiar one at that. This 78-acre parcel occupied a rocky hillside and was not even contingent to Susanville proper. This was conceived by Paul Riecker of Oroville, in the summer of 1912. He named it Indian Heights, because it was where the local Indian population chiefly lived. Rieckert offered lots for $100 and a down payment of $25. There were problems, a lack of streets and no water. Riecker disposed of it a year later to local resident Ralph Buckhout, who would end up with buyer’s remorse.
It was not until the 1950s, that Indian Heights was developed. In 1953, W. Robert Jennings, a civil engineer for the State of California, re-surveyed it because he deemed it “mathematically impossible to contain this subdivision within lands of original boundary.” It was re-surveyed and renamed Northridge Heights. However, it did in keeping Indian Heights theme, kept intact three streets named for local tribes–Maidu, Paiute and Washo.