Susanville’s Knoch Building located at the corner of Main and North Lassen Streets has a long storied history. It was built in 1893 as a Masonic Hall, destroyed by fire in 1898 and subsequently rebuilt.

David Knoch who loaned the local Masons for the initial construction, would foreclose on that organization and took possession of the property and over time became known as the Knoch Building.

After Knoch’s passing in 1908, his son, Isaac “Ike” Knoch took possession of the building. With the arrival of the railroad to Susanville in 1913,  it brought tremendous growth to the region. In 1914, when Knoch proposed to add a third story to the building. 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.

Never miss a story support and subscribe here.

On January 16, 1911 M.O. Folsom unveiled his East Addition, Susanville subdivision containing 300 lots. Many of its north/south streets were named for trees, i.e., Ash, Cedar, Fir, Spruce. The east/west were numbered, i.e, First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth.

Ash Street, initially ended at Fifth Street. Travelers headed north either used Hall Street or Weatherlow Street to Chestnut. In 1947, Ash Street was incorporated into the Lassen-Modoc Joint Highway #14, the pre-cursor to State Highway 139. Ash Street was extended to connect the highway making for a straight route into Susanville.

Tim

Susanville’s first hotel, if you could call it such was Cutler Arnold’s story and half structure of hewn logs. For two years, beginning in the spring of 1857, it also housed the town’s only dining establishment, meals costing seventy-five cents.

As the town progressed so did the accommodations. In 1860, Emanuel “Mike” Brannan built a two-story hotel on the northeast corner of Main and Lassen streets. It was a transitional period, as the days of log structures were being placed with wooden framed ones. Brannan operated the hotel for the next four years, and due to some financial problems lost the hotel. Just as the Brannan House had replaced Arnold’s, Brannan’s was replaced by the superior Steward House in 1864.

The Brannan House slowly faded away entirely. Its second floor was converted into lodge hall for the Oddfellows. The first floor was used for a variety purposes including that of the post office and the government land office. In 1880, it was torn down and replaced by a new Oddfellows Hall, and that building was replaced with the current structure built in 1896..

Support this site, Subscribe today.

Since I am repository of a variety items, lately I have been rummaging through the local Clampers file, i.e. the Neversweats Chapter #1863, E Clampus Vitus.  In 1990, they proposed to place a plaque at the Susanville Oddfellows Building located at 701 Main Street. For whatever reasons it did not happen. However, they submitted price quote for the cost of a bronze plaque with the following wording:

”Organized in 1879, the Silver Star Lodge No. 135 of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, is one of Susanville’s oldest fraternal organizations. In that same year, the lodge purchased this property for $4,000. This structure built in 1896 was the first two-story red brick building constructed in Susanville.  C.E. Clough, Architect & Contractor, Reno, Nevada.”

The proposed plaque had a dedication date of August 4, 1990. Fast forward to 2023, the local Oddfellows organization disbanded years ago. If any one happens to know what year it folded, let me know, so I can do an update.  It should be duly the local Clampers chapter went by the wayside a long time ago.

Tim

Before there was a Hotel Mt. Lassen there was the Hotel Lassen. It was originally known as the Johnston House. For a time, it was the town’s foremost hotel. On November 1, 1912, a change of ownership and name change occurred when long time Susanville resident Henry C. Dobyns acquired the property. At that time, he changed the name to Hotel Lassen. After he passed away in 1916, his son Charles took over the operation. The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1919.

Dobyns purchased the hotel from Thomas H. Long. In 1914, Long had a two-story stone building constructed as the Star Hotel at the corner of Main and North Gay Streets—only a half block away from his former establishment. For many years that structure was known as the “Telephone building” since the local telephone company was located there for many years.

Tim