Tag Archives: Janesville

History

Thompson Peak

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Thompson Peak
Thompson Peak, 1952

Thompson Peak, is a well known landmark of the Honey Lake Valley, which straddles the Lassen/Plumas County line. At an elevation of 7795’ it is the second highest point of the Diamond Mountain Range.

It was so named for Manly Thompson who located near the base of the mountain in December 1856, Thompson was one the first settlers in that locale. Thompson opted out for greener pastures and on October 27, 1875, sold his 276-acre ranch to James P. Sharp for $6,000 and moved to Elko, Nevada. The property is known today as Bailey Ranch near Buntingville.

Thompson Peak Fire Lookout, circa 1950–Courtesy of Margaret Purdy

Some may want to check out this most interesting website concerning Thompson Peak. It is worth the gander. For me it brought back some interesting memories when I contemplated climbing the peak.

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History

A Shaky Experience

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Thompson Peak, 1911.
Thompson Peak, 1911. It should be noted that Thompson Peak, and the Diamond Mountain Range is a part of the Honey Lake Fault Zone.

During the 1860s and 1870s earthquakes in the Honey Lake Valley were a common occurrence.  In 1874, Sylvester Daniels arrived from Iowa and spent time with his sister, Polly Parks, who resided just east of Buntingville. He kept a journal of his experiences that he wrote specifically for his daughter, Viroqua and the rest of his family who remained in Iowa. The following is his account of the first earthquake he experienced.

“Sunday, January 24, 1875 – Well, we are all alive yet. Now, I will tell you why I started as I did. You have heard of earthquakes I suppose. Well, I will tell on the sly that there was a live one came along here this morning early about 4 o’clock. It awoke me very suddenly, then such a crash. I thought the house was all breaking to pieces and it seemed to roll  back and forth in bed. At any rate it shook things up pretty lively, while it lasted. But it was not near as long as I have written about. It seemed to roll back and forth and jar terribly. It seemed to pass towards the Mountain from the Valley.

Sylvester Daniels. Courtesy of Jean Gorzell

“The hens flew and cackled and the pigs squealed. Polly Parks said it shook every bottle and everything in the house. She said the cream was disturbed on every pan. So you see there was quite a commotion for a time. All the damage that I have heard of as of yet, is some chimneys are slightly rent and some were frightened. I have not heard anyone express themselves to wish it repeated.  Polly and Elisha Parks say they are not as near as afraid of them as they used to be of thunderstorms and tornadoes in the East.”

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History

Election Day, 1864

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Main Street, Susanville, 1864.

Lassen County was created on April 1, 1864 from the eastern portions of Plumas and Shasta Counties. On April 11, 1864, California Governor F.F. Low appointed three men—L.N. Breed, Frank Drake and H.C. Stockton—to serve as county commissioners to organize the county.*

The main task for these men was to put on a election for a slate of county officers and equally important to select a county seat. The date set for the election was May 2, 1864. Janesville and Susanville were the two sites selected for the county seat. On May 12, 1864 the final canvass of the election was held. It was a messy affair, and two precincts Fort Crook (Fall River Mills) and Surprise Valley were ultimately rejected. The minutes were vague: “The board proceeded to estimate the vote . . .Susanville having received the highest number of votes for the county seat, was declared the county seat of Lassen County.” The Quincy Union newspaper reported that Susanville won by 72 votes.

*In 1879 California adopted a new Constitution whereas the county commissioner became county supervisor and the District Court Judge became the Superior Court Judge.

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History

The Janesville Hotel

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Janesville Hotel
Janesville Hotel

The first and only hotel in Janesville was built in 1857 by Malcolm Bankhead, which was a two-story structure made of logs. In 1872, Dennis Tanner purchased it, and tore it down. He replaced it with a much substantial larger, two-story wooden frame building, that contained 22-rooms. The hotel had numerous owners over the years. In 1913, B.R. Holmes acquired it, made numerous upgrades and changed the name to the Diamond Mountain Inn. One of its most interesting owners were the Pollocks, as in the famed artist Jackson Pollock. The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1931.

For those interested in the hotel stood on Main Street, south of the former Masonic Lodge, though that structure was not built until 1910.

Tim

History

March Weather Madness, 1907

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The Susan River near Johnstonville, just before the bridge floated away—G.L.Morrrill

Note: This originally appeared on March 17, 2021. I thought with the latest weather predictions, will we see some kind of repeat of March 1907.

March 1907 was no doubt one of the wettest on record.The storms were widespread across Northern California, practically turning the Sacramento Valley into one vast lake. After all there no reservoirs such as Oroville and Shasta to retain some of the flood waters.

On March 16, 1907 it began to rain in the Honey Lake Valley. It was one continuous downpour and after 96 hours eight inches of rain drenched the region. Tremendous flooding was to be found everywhere. The majority of the bridges were either washed out or so severely damaged they were unsafe to cross. However, a lot of property damage was minimal. F. Peissker of Susanville suffered one of the biggest casualties. He was located on Richmond Road near the Susan River and the flood waters swept away some 100 cords of firewood, which was how he made his living.

The respite from the wet weather was brief. Two days later it began to snow. By March 22, forty inches of heavy wet snow blanketed Susanville. Travel was brought to a complete standstill. It took a two-horse team seven hours to haul mail one-way from Janesville to Susanville.

In all, some 13 inches of precipitation was recorded that month.

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History

Rural Free Delivery System

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Janesville Masonic Hall, circa 1912. The first floor was a combination store and post office.

The Rural Free Delivery system was slow to implement. The whole purpose was to provide mail to those in rural areas, so one would not have to travel miles to obtain their mail at the nearest post office. While approved by Congress in 1896, it was slow in adoption..

Rural Fred Delivery did not reach Lassen County until 1918. When the Edgemont Post Office (located four miles east of Janesville) closed in that year the residents of that region were first to receive Rural Free Delivery. Within twelve years many of the small rural post offices in Lassen County were closed and replaced with Rural Free Delivery.

A number of the rural post offices were either in a store and/or at someone’s one home. The Merrillville Post Office, located some 15 miles north of Susanville in Willow Creek Valley is an interesting example. Established in 1875, it was located at the Folsom Ranch (now Willow Creek Wildlife Area). It would later be relocated to the Hurlbut Ranch, then to Murrer’s and then to the Stone Ranch at Eagle Lake when it was discontinued on November 30, 1928.

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History

Janesville’s Lutheran Church

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Daniel Dieter Family circa 1890. Left to Right, Barbara Dieter, George William Dieter, Ernest Dieter, Fred William Dieter, Ella Dieter (who married Floyd Hoffman), Luise Dieter (who married Charles Hollfelder), Daniel Martin Dier, Jr. and Daniel Martin Dieter, Sr.—-Carrie Golden

The Lutherans were slow to organize in the Honey Lake Valley. On August 29, 1896, Pastor J.H. Theiss held the first Lutheran service in. Janesville. Like many other religious denominations the minister would ride a circuit so services initially were sporadic. In 1904, the St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church was established at Janesville. Its initial charter members were Dan Dieter, Sr., William Hoffman, Fred Dieter, George Dieter and Dan Dieter Jr. On July 28, 1907, the Reverand F.G. Gundlach arrived to dedicate to their church located on the Standish-Buntingville Road (A-3) near Sears Road.

During the early years many of the sermons and hymns were in German. By the early 1920s services were also held in Susanville at Fruit Growers Story Club. By 1930, the Janesville church was abandoned, though in 1941 a church was built on the corner of Ash and First Streets in Susanville.

Tim

History

Recycled Schools

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Janesville School, circa 1911.

On November 3, 1951 the Janesville School Board sold its old schoolhouse to Al Row for $350. Row then moved the structure to his property. It should be noted that in 1948, the Janesville voters had approved a bond measure to build a new school.

The sale of old schools was common back in the day. In 1901, Fred Hall purchased the old Susanville school, dismantled it and then used the lumber to build his ranch house near Standish. When Poplar School located on Mapes Lane, near present day Dakin Unit of Fish & Game, closed in 1935, Orlo Bailey purchased it and moved it the family ranch and it was used as a bunkhouse. In 1971, the old Bonham School at Flanigan was purchased by Standish resident Ed Bass and he moved it to his property. Then in other instances old schools become converted into residences such as Bird Flat, Honey Lake,  Johnstonville, Lake, Milford, and Richmond.

Tim

 

 

 

 

History

The Varied Bear Dance Locations

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The final part of the Bear Dance ritual at Bass Hill, circa 1900.

The spring ritual of the Mountain Maidu Bear Dance, locally, has been held at a variety of locations. In the earliest times, it would be held near a stream, for water was an important element in the conclusion of the dance.

One of the earliest sites was near Baxter Creek at Bass Hill referred to as the village of Yoskopin, also known as Lone Pine. This would be the late 1890s, early 1900s. There is a citation that the dance was held along Paiute Creek, just north of Susanville, from 1910 into the 1920s. That location was near the present day intersection of Chestnut and Parkdale. What is odd with its close proximity to Susanville, a town. with two newspapers,  that they never chronicled it.

Sacramento Bee, June 9, 1975

In the late 1920s, Kitty Joaquin sponsored the event at her place near Janesville. She continued the same until 1953. There are accounts that in the 1940s and early 1950s that it was occasionally held at the Susanville Rancheria. By the late 1950s, it appeared the ceremony was on the brink of being abandoned. However, in 1962 Gladys Mankins sponsored the ceremony at her place on Janesville Grade. In 1975,  that event made headline news with the appearance of California Governor Jerry Brown. Mankins continued with the tradition up to 1986. In 1989, it was revived and has been held ever since on forest service property at Willard Creek.

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History

Lassen County’s First Musem

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Pullen Museum
The Pullen Museum, May 3, 2015

Granville Pullen first came to Lassen County in 1870 and worked at various jobs. In the 1880s he located to Sonoma County, but made frequent visits to Lassen County to see his sister, Susan Goumaz. In 1901, he moved back to Lassen County and bought a ranch near Janesville. In 1914, at the age of 76, he retired from ranching and bought a house in Janesville.

Pullen had been collecting various artifacts and curios for over forty years. Not to be idle he opened a small museum in Janesville to display his collection after he had sold his ranch. People fascinated by his collection began donating items to him. In 1920, Granville and his wife Mary, moved to Susanville and bought a home on South Roop Street. Next to his new home, he had a small concrete building built to house his museum. On June 18, 1921, he opened the museum to the public.  When he passed away in 1926,  his wife kept the museum open for awhile, but she did not have the same passion as her husband. Over the years, she donated a portion of the collection to Lassen County. The items were displayed for a number of years in the Veteran’s building, and over time slowly disappeared.

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