To be quite honest, today my mind is blank as to what topic to cover, may be it is moving fatigue. So I randomly went to a file cabinet and I just pulled a file. I do not know anything about this Standard Gas Station located on the corner Main and South Union Streets. There was an era when Susanville had nearly twenty service “gas” stations. Hopefully, I will be a bit more creative tomorrow.
Tim
Some communities celebrate a founder’s day, the date in which an individual located. It was on June 23, 1854, IsaacRoop set up a trading post on the Noble’s Emigrant Trail. Shortly thereafter, along with his brother Ephraim they constructed a cabin. Roop’s trading post had a home. It is interesting to note that in August 1854 Roop filed the region’s first water right claim to Smith Creek, later to be called Piute. Who was Smith and why stream was designated such is still mystery.
Tim
The first Trustees of Susanville (now Council) not only had the difficult task of the basic organization of the town, but it was compounded that they did not have any operating revenue. It instituted a business license and the lucrative liquor license fees. After all, in 1900, Susanville had five saloons. Of course, this action did not sit well for some business owners. Not only did litigation ensue, there was a disincorporation movement as well. At the November 1902 Trustees meeting they tabled the matter for calling for special election to disincorporate. They cited there were was no need to incur the expense of the election due to the pending litigation.
Tim
In July 1925, the Susanville Hotel Company hired T.J. Rees, a Fallon, Nevada contractor, to construct a three-story 70 room hotel, on the former site of the Emerson Hotel, on the corner of Main and Lassen Streets. The estimated cost was $300,000. It was interesting to note, that the new hotel opened with little fanfare on April 27, 1926. There were skeptics who considered it a “white elephant” and would never be a paying proposition. A lot money has been poured into the building with little or no financial returns.
On a side note, Rees was in Susanville to construct the Masonic Temple. In the same time period, Rees was awarded construct the American Legion building which was completed on August 12, 1926.
Tim
Note: The hilke piler is the featured photograph for May 2026 Calendar. For those that might be interested, my 2027 calendar work file survived the move and it is my desk file drawer waiting for my attention.
In 1925, Fruit Growers Supply Company at its Lassen (Susanville) operation were always looking at innovative ways for efficiency and reduce labor costs at the same time. That year, they installed a Hilke Lumber Piler, the contraption had been invented in 1915 by Seattleite Henry Hilke. The piler was a very efficient means of stacking lumber outdoors. Not only did it reduce the aisle width for stacking of conventional lumber, but the machine allowed to make higher stacks. While a four man crew was involved, the piler could handle up to 10,000 board feet per hour. As one local observer noted: “To those who had never seen the new stacker in action, it is a most interesting and educational sight.”
In 1920, Susanville city officials had the daunting task of the selection of the Highway 36 west entrance. The State and city officials did agree on one matter–to abandon the old route of Prattville Road and North Pine Street. The new approach to connect the highway to South Pine Street was a different matter. To complicate matters, the City was responsible for the final approach costs inside. the city limits. Initially, it was propose to loop around to connect with existing road next to the cemetery. One property owner asked for a “king’s ransom” for an easement. Instead, a cut was made near the water tanks and the highway connected to Quarry Street and a short distance to South Pine Street. This created two sharp turns that proved hazardous.
As to the feature photograph I do not have the details of the 1944 wreck. Years after the fact, “Mul” Mulroney told me there could have been a worse case scenario. The spilled oil flowed down gutter of the south side Main Street. Mul stated it was nothing short of a miracle that no one did not discard a lit match from lighting a cigarette or discard a lit cigarette into the gutter.
It has been awhile since we last visited one of the oldest and most prominent business buildings in Susanville – the Knoch.
After the devastating fire of 1898, it was rebuilt. Ten years later, David Knoch passed away and his son, Isaac “Ike” Knoch took possession of the building. With the arrival of the “iron horse” to Susanville in 1913, it brought tremendous growth to the region. In 1914, when Knoch proposed to add a third story, he was told it could not be done. Well, as Knoch recalled years later, “That was all I needed the word can’t.” Work on the third story was to commence shortly after Labor Day 1914, However, with the Moose Lodge proposed a harvest festival in which Main Street would be shut down for several days, the work on the third floor was postponed. When the $34,000 project was completed, Susanville also had its first elevator.
P.S. I am due back in Susanville late tomorrow morning..
On April 28, 2015 the first hurdle of the permit process was made for the construction of a 17,400 square foot Rite Aid store. The store, along with the parking lot would encompass the entire of north side of 1600 block of Main Street. Of course, this site was the former home of Potter’s Maternity Home on the corner of Main and Park. In 1966, United California Bank took over this location and constructed their bank, which held an open house of February 27, 1967. It has housed a number of financial institutions since then. Of course, on the corner of Main and Ash was Baxter’s Flying “A” Service Station. After it closed, for a brief time in 1978 it housed Jim Pardee’s campaign headquarters for Lassen County Superior Court Judge, and then was subsequently torn down and now a part of the Rite Aid parking lot.
The Rite Aid was short-lived and and closed it doors not quite ten years of operation.
Only four days to go!
In 1914, Franceska Neuhaus commissioned the construction of the St. Francis Hotel on the corner of Main and Union Streets. After her passing in 1918, her son and daughter-in-law, Bill and Flora Neuhaus took over ownership.
During the 1920s, Susanville’s population nearly tripled. Hotel accommodations were scarce, especially after the Emerson Hotel was destroyed in a 1915. In August 1925, the St. Francis Hotel announced its intention to construct a three-story addition. While it added only an additional nine rooms, it allowed for the lobby to be enlarged, as well as the restaurant facilities. The $25,000 project was constructed by the firm Woodward & Grebe, It should be noted that noted Nevada architect, Frederick deLonghamps designed the original hotel, as well as the addition.
Seasoned residents of the Susanville region will recall the spring of 1971, when the Bank of America building at Main and North Gay Street was demolished. Many in the community had not recovered from the demolition of another iconic building the original Lassen High School, which was torn down in June 1968 for the current campus buildings.
Tim