This was the third school district established in Big Valley, on the Lassen County side. The other two were Providence and Pleasant Butte. The Juniper School served the residents of the southern end of Big Valley. The district was established on November 5, 1877. On November 1, 1884, the voters of the district had two measures before them. One was for a school site and the other for a bond measure for $400 to construct the school. The bond measures were rejected and no site was determined. On April 14, 1888, an election was held to issue a $500 school bond measure and it was approved by all twelve voters. On August 27, 1889, Charles M. Kenyon donated one acre of land for the school and it was constructed. In 1924, the school closed for two years, for lack of students. Again in 1937-38, the school closed due to the decrease of students. It operated during 1939-40 with Reva Snell as the school’s last instructor. It then closed for a final time and annexed to the Bieber School District. The abandoned schoolhouse was sold on June 8, 1942, to Mike Roufs who tore it down and used the lumber to expand his mechanic shop in Bieber.
Tag Archives: Bieber
Those Annoying Bank Fees
Believe it or not, bank fees have been around for a long time. In 1926, the Lassen Industrial Bank introduced a “service charge” on checking accounts. The bank’s reasoning that it was meant to provide better service. The bank stated: “For the past decade the cost of conducting the banking business with higher wages, higher taxes and higher cost of check books, stationery and supplies has increased greatly. The rate of income realized by the bank has not advanced with the increasing cost of doing business.”
Of course this did not go over well with its customers in the greater Susanville area. It should be noted that the bank also had branches in Bieber and Fall River Mills, and those folks registered their dissatisfaction.
Tim
A County Seat Proposal
The May 1907 meeting of the Lassen County Board of Supervisors was a lively one. The hot topic was a new county jail and courthouse. The board received numerous petitions from throughout the county. One common thread that residents was for better roads. Many thought the county should be investing in a rock crusher and replacing wooden bridges with steel. There was, of course, resentment from the public who resided far Susanville over the cost of the newly established Lassen County High School.
The petitions from Bieber and Standish had another odd twist. Both petitions urged the board that the county seat be relocated. It was their opinion that Standish be made the county seat on the grounds it was more centrally located. The board took no action on these topics. In addition, it would be some time before the board would even bring up the topic of a new jail and courthouse.
Support
Bieber’s New Jail
On Saturday, August 8, 1931, Lassen County purchasing agent, E.F. Koken drove to Bieber to sign and award a contract to build a jail for that community. The concrete structure contained three cells and a storage room. W.A. Zimmerman built the structure at a cost of $1,935.50.
These were exciting times for Bieber being the focal point where the Great Northern and Western Pacific Railroads were in the midst of constructing their respective extensions to connect the two railroads. Besides the new jail, construction began on a $10,000 grammar school. In addition, Pacific Gas & Electric was constructing a transmission line from Fall River Mills to Big Valley.