With the pending arrival of the railroad to Susanville in 1912, it started a frenzy of housing subdivisions. The first was Hill Long’s Long Addition. It was unique in many ways, it being one of the smallest and at that it was located inside the city limits, a very small territory. Continue reading Susanville’s Burma Road and View Drive →

The Paul Bunyan Lumber Company was formed in 1945/46 as part of the break up of the Red River Lumber Company. Kenneth Walker wanted to remain in the family business and took over the company’s “Cedar Mill” in Susanville. This mill was closed in Susanville in 1967, but the lumber company continued with another mill in Anderson, Shasta County.

Thanks to Dave Bricker, he took this picture overlooking the same area in June 2022. Times have changed.

Tim

Many visitors to Susanville when it was a frontier outpost during the 1850s and 1860s had positive comments about the community. One aspect  in common, was its natural setting at the base of the mountains and two flowing streams. Well, there was one particular visitor, Major Gorham Gates Kimball of Red Bluff, California who was not impressed with Susanville when he passed through there on his way to Idaho. Kimball wrote in his diary on June 15, 1865: “This is a small town and a darn poor one—Indians ought to come in and kill the white man that would live there—it was made for Indians.”

It is interesting note, while Kimball in his opinion it was a poor town, three major businesses were established in Susanville. that year. David Knoch established his general merchandise store, to become one of the leading merchants of Susanville. It would last for three generations, later as Alexander & Knoch and finally  Feher & Worley’s Big Store and it shuttered its doors in 1942. A.C. Neale and Zetus Spalding founded Spalding Drug, an institution that lasted 102 years. Lastly, was the town’s first bonafide newspaper the Sage Brush. It would evolve into the Lassen Advocate and chronicled the region’s news until 1987 when forced into bankruptcy.

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On December 22, 2004, the  City of Susanville condemned  the Roosevelt Pool citing structural defects. This became a long and some times not pleasant saga as to what direction to take. It would take a decade before any action was undertaken in February 2015 the old pool was demolished.

Slowly, but surely there would be a new pool, built adjacent to the old site. Getting all the parties to agree and move forward was another matter. In the end in 2017 a new outdoor community pool became a reality.

Tim

December 1, 1928 was interesting day in Susanville, especially at the intersection of Susanville and North Gay Streets. On this date, Bank of America took over the Lassen Industrial Bank. Safeway opened its store in the telephone building. Safeway would move several times, first to the Del Mar building on the 600 block of Main Street. In 1939, Safeway built its first store at 60 South Roop, known today as LMUD. In 1963, Safeway relocated to the 1600 block of Main Street, now the current home of Grocery Outlet. Then in the early 1990s to its current location.

Tim