Main Street, Susanville, circa 1906. Courtesy of Mark Reed
This is just one of those little things that we take for granted. Susanville happens to be one of the oldest towns of the western Great Basin. The town which had been laid out in the 1850s, is unique from other western towns of the same vintage. The town’s Main Street is unusually wide and there is a reason for that. The wide street acted as a fire buffer, so to keep a fire contained to one side of the street, and it worked except for once in 1893, when the whole business district went up in flames.
A 1906 4th of July parade entry. Courtesy of Leona Byars
Today’s featured photograph is that of Fred Bagin’s Honey Lake Meat Market 1906 parade entry, taken at 815 Cottage Street, Susanville. At the helm is his step-daughter, Leona Jackson and her companion Mary Fern Long. Bagin was an interesting person who had as many careers as he did wives.
First Confirmation, 1898. Courtesy of Milton Mallery
One hundred twenty years ago today was a red letter day in the annals of the history of Susanville’s Sacred Heart Church. The occassion was the arrival of Bishop Thomas Grace. The first order of business was the concencration of the church as the Church of the Sacred Heart. It should be noted that the construction of the church began in 1892, and was not completed until 1894. At the same time Bishop Grace administered First Communion and Confirmation.
In Susanville’s early years as an incorporated city, it was remarkable what the council did. One of their actions, I still support today, and that is the prohibition of fireworks. The first time they banned fireworks was in 1906, following the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake and fire. It was also a nod to the insurance companies who suffered tremendous loss from that event. It was their belief, as well as many other communities, that this preventive measure would reduce the risk of fires.
In 1912, the City once again banned fireworks. The Lassen Advocate applauded the city and wrote: 21 June 1912 – “No Fireworks on the Fourth. We desire to congratulate our Board of Town Trustees on their action in placing the ban on all kinds of fireworks on July 2, 3, and 4. This action has been taken by large and progressive cities for years past, and we are greatly pleased to note that the smaller places are falling into line. Fireworks do no good and may do a world of harm. Fires may be started that will blot out blocks of cities or towns; little boys and girls all over the United States have lost fingers, hands eyes and in many instances, their lives from the dangerous pinwheel and firecrackers. Let them yell all they will, let them spend their money for ice cream, candy—anything on earth but the fireworks.”
With the impending arrival of the Fernley & Lassen Railroad in the early 1910s, there were a lot of promotional materials produced to extol the virtues of the region. In a 1909, Sunset booklet, it noted that Susanville could be a major player in celery production. They cited one case of Frederick Borgwardt, a Susanville resident, who planted a small plot of thirty by fifty feet with choice variety of celery, from which he gathered eight hundred bunches. When you consider that this plot could be contained a hundred and thirty-five times in an acre, and that the celery sold at five cents a bunch right in Susanville, the profit may be readily seen.
As a friendly reminder, tomorrow is the beginning of Susanville’s Farmer’s Market for the season. Hope to see you there!
Lassen County Courthouse and Hall of Records, 1907. Courtesy of Gil Morrill
This being Election Day, I thought I pass along some local election folklore. One of which that at one time, Hayden Hill was in contention to become the county seat. Only once was there was some rumbling of moving the county seat from Susanville. In 1893, after the town’s business district was destroyed by fire, there was some talk to relocate the county seat to Amedee.
In 1864, when the election was held to organize Lassen County, the county seat question was on the ballot—Janesville or Susanville. That was a tricky election and it took some time to count the ballots. After all, the county had a polling precinct at Fort Crook (Shasta County) and one for all of Surprise Valley (Siskiyou County). Those votes were finally rejected and Susanville won the county seat by seventy-one votes.
On Friday afternoon, September 3, 1948 with little fanfare, a simple groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new Sacred Heart Church. Father P.J. Moran had the distinct honor of turning the first shovel of soil. T&M Carpenter Shop had the contract to build the Spanish architecture style church, that would seat 300. The old church could only handle 100. The building contract had a clause the church would be completed in 120 days. So much for good intentions, as the first Mass in the new church was not held until July 9, 1949.
In 1941, Father P.J. Moran of Susanville’s Sacred Heart Church announced plans to build a new church to replace the wooden one constructed in 1894. The raising of funds would take longer than Father Moran expected. In the spring of 1948, all systems were go so to speak. The first order of business was the disposal of the old church. In June 1948, it was advertised for sale, no specific price, just to the highest bidder. Alas, there were no bidders. Off to Plan B. Taylor & Roberts were awarded the bid to dismantled it, which the intended goal was the middle to July. It took a little bit longer, but in August, the old church was part of history.
This home was built in the 1880s and for many years was the home of Ike and Blanche Knoch. Initially, Susanville’s Jewish community had a special affinity for Italiante architecture, but that would go by the wayside for Craftsman style homes. In 1911, the Knoch’s had the house remodeled giving its current appearance.
Smith Properties, a Susanville real estate firm, has a for sale sign at the former millpond of Fruit Growers/Sierra Pacific Industries located along Riverside Drive. Even though I do have an inquisitive mind, I have not been able to bring myself to place an inquiry. First of all, I am not even sure what can be done with the property. It should be noted that Fruit Growers purchased the twenty-acre millpond site in 1919 from George and Pearl Bassett for $9,500.
