The American Legion building also known as the Veterans Memorial Hall marks its cenentinial today. The $30,000 strucuture was designed by local architect Ralph Taylor. The contractor was T.J. Rees of Fallon, Nevada who was in Susanville constructing the Hotel Mt. Lassen.

The dedication was a spectacular event. The local American Legion Post, Thomas Tucker Post 204 was hosting the California American Legion Convention. A truly amazing feat that drew 2,700 visitors to Susanville.

Tim

Seasoned residents will remember this as the old Spalding Drug Building. In its later years it was known as The Bootery. It was destroyed by fire on January 5, 2005. In the spring of that year the building’s remnants was bulldozed.

Since that time it has remained a vacant lot. From time to time there has been discussions as to what to do with it, but that has been the extent of it.

Tim

On August 12, 1912, Jules Alexander, Ike Knoch, J.A. Pardeeand J.E. Pardee formed the Lassen Townsite Company aka Greater Susanville.*  With the arrival of the railroad boom times lied ahead. This was no ordinary subdivision, but the town’s largest ever since. It encompassed an area four times of the original incorporated city limits. The subdivision included all the territory east of Richmond Road and south of Susan River to Johnstonville Road, near present Eagle Post Office, and for a southern boundary, the agricultural lands of Sierra StreetThe Lassen Townsite kept the price of their lots at $100 each, with a minimal down payment and am easy installment plan. Asan extra incentive for buyers, they would not responsible for their property taxes until they had paid for their lots.

An added bonus for Lassen Townsite they prevented speculators from developing d tlwnsite along the railroad corridor that would be detrimental to the Susanville business district. Some examples are Standish and Litchfiled Bieber and NuBieber. I hope in further installments to scan images the company’s brochure.

Tim

*It should be noted these gentlemen a year prior attempted to rename Susanville to Lassen.

On the 100 block of Susanville’s South Lassen Street are two buildings well over a century old that are distinctive of each other, but had common owner, George McDow.

In 1911, McDow next to his residence had an office constructed to house the Lassen Abstract Company, the first land title office in Lassen County. Lassen Abstract operated for nearly fifty years, whose owners at the end where Art Anderson and George Pancera with Electa Lazard who managed the operations.

In 1935 Carlos Lucero purchased the McDow residence and remodeled it into a mortuary which is still used as such, though it has undergone numerous ownerships.

Tim

The Maryland Hotel is a thing of the past. The Maryland was located at 135 South Lassen Street. Its name rather misleading, not quite a hotel, but not quite a boarding house either. However, during its tenure it served the community well. When the lumber mills were the predominate industry in Susanville, a large number of single men, either worked in the mills or in the woods. It should be noted the lumber companies sought to hire married men with families, as it was deemed they were more stable, unlike single men who went from one operation to another seeking the proverbial greener pastures.

The Maryland catered to single men. Uptown Susanville was different then. Within two blocks of the Maryland there were four coffee shops/cafes-Mt. Lassen, Pioneer, Grand and State. Next to the State was a laundromat. There were grocery stores, too-Purity, Red & White and Safeway.  In 1983, the property was acquired by the nearby mortuary and it was demolished to make additional parking.

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