Nearly since time immemorial Susanville boosters grappled with the town’s population figures. This became quite problematic when the town incorporated in 1900, due to its small boundaries. At that time the western boundary was Inspiration Point, Piute Creek to the north, Susan River to the south and Weatherlow Street was the town’s eastern boundary. 

One of the issues the City of Susanville grappled since it was incorporated was its population.  To lure business and families, the larger number of inhabitants was an enticing inducement, and still is to this day. After the lumber mills arrived by the early 1920s, there were numerous subdivisions to the east of the City. The City tried its darndest to annex, but large property owners like the Red River Lumber Company which owned the Milwood Tract was a force to be reckoned with and defeated many annexation measures. All the Susanville boosters could do, is at least advertise a Greater Susanville. It should be duly it would take nearly a half of a century before City was able to annex adjoining properties.

However, this concept was not limited to any certain era. For instance in the 1990s, when the City annexed the State Prisons, those incarcerated became city residents. Those 8,000 inmates were reflected on the City Limit signs noting it now had a population of 17,000. As one city official informed me at the time to include the inmate population in the sign, was for marketing purposes hoping to influence more businesses and perspective residents to take a second a look. 

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The Johnston House was built in 1893 after a devastating fire that destroyed the north side of Susanville’s Main Street business district. It was so named for its original owner/proprietor Robert Johnston. Until the Emerson Hotel opened in 1901, it was the town’s major hotel. There was the smaller Cottage Street Hotel, which was more like a boarding house. In 1897 Johnston sold the hotel and it changed owners on a frequent basis. In 1916, Henry C. Dobyns purchased and renamed it the Hotel Lassen. It was destroyed by fire in 1919.

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In a twenty-five period from 1894 to 1919, Susanville witnessed some of its most devastating fires. It first began on August 14, 1894 when the Bremner sawmill and Anthony’s electric light plant on the Susan River caught fire and was destroyed. It was followed by the Knoch Building fire of August 9, 1898. The Blue Goose Saloon also burned down on August 9, 1912, which sported the town’s first electric neon sign. The Arnold Mill fire of August 6, 1914, was followed by the destructive of fire of August 5, 1915 that consumed the Emerson Hotel, Hyer House Hotel and the Methodist Church. The photograph of that fire shows the intensity of the heat leaving just the brick wall shells of the Emerson and Methodist Church. Located between the two was the two-story wooden Hyer House Hotel which was completely wiped out. The last of these fires was when the majority of the north side of the 700 block of Main Street that destroyed the Hotel Lassen among other things on August 14, 1919.

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From time to time the local health officials raised concerns about swimming in the Susan River. Take for example of an incident that occurred in 1945. In early June, Dr. J.W. Crever, Lassen County Public Health Officer issued a polio alert. By mid-August, Crever noted that there was a decline of people using Roosevelt Pool and an increase of the same in the public using Susan River. Crever stressed swimming at the pool was much safer than the Susan River. Shortly thereafter he declared the polio threat over and only one case reported.

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