Ruth “Ma” Potter (1886-1965) was a Susanville institution of sorts. In the early 1930s, the Utah native, opened a maternity home at 1603 Main Street, the current location of Rite Aid. She continued on until 1963, when she finally retired. It should be noted that her home was moved to South Street in 1966 to make way for United California Bank. There is a plaque in the sidewalk at Rite Aid marking the site.

During the time when Potter’s was in operation, one was either born there or at Riverside Hospital, the latter no longer exists. While my three siblings were born at Potter’s, I decided to be different or difficult, whatever the case may be, and was born at Riverside Hospital.

Yet, on the other hand, it would be fun to have a reunion of sorts of all those who were born at Potter’s. Let me know what you think?

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Initially, Susanville’s water supply came from Piute Creek and wells. In 1864, Luther Spencer claimed Big Springs (Cady) three miles west of town in the Susan River Canyon for a water supply for the community. Spencer’s good intentions never came to fruition.

In 1869, a group of Susanville residents formed the Susanville Water Works with the same proposal as Spencer. Their first priority was to survey a ditch, which they did. Then they went to the community to raise funds for the construction of the ditch and found none. Finally, with due diligence in 1872 construction began on the ditch. It was a modest effort fraught with problems, but it functioned without much change for the remainder of that century.

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This house was built in 1893, as a wedding present. Susanville merchant Alfred Jackson had it constructed for his bride-to-be Rose Murrer. In the stone mantle he had the letter “R” carved into it. Unfortunately, their happy marriage was cut short, when he died in a deer hunting accident in 1895. In 1914, when Rose’s mother, Franceska Neuhaus constructed the St. Francis Hotel behind her home, she planted an elaborate flower garden for guests of the hotel to enjoy. Rose remained at her home until the early 1940s, when she moved to Reno, to reside with her only child Leona Byars.

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A week ago, I wrote about the conditions found in the Lassen County Hospital in 1914. I thought I do a brief follow up as to what happened to it. Lassen County and Thomas “Ab”Ramsey did a property exchange wherein the county received thirty acres adjacent to Richmond Road, portion of which would become the home of Roosevelt School, as well. Actually, for a little bit trivia, the school site was designated to become a cemetery but that is another story.

Ramsey rented the hold hospital as a residence and it remained a rental until 1923, when A.H. and Grace Andrews purchased it. In 1927, the W.D. Haws family acquired and made extensive and necessary improvements to the structure. The building was destroyed by a flu fire on January 12, 1933. Little could be done to save the structure as the water pipes were frozen.

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On March 17, 1859 the Susanville Post Office opened for business. At its helm was Isaac Roop who served as its first postmaster. When it opened, postal authorities assumed that it was in Utah Territory’s jurisdiction and the earliest postal cancels are marked, “Susanville, U.T.” In 1937, after nearly eighty years of being in existence, it finally got a home of its own. At that time, postal authorities purchased a lot on North Lassen Street from Stanley Wade for $6,750. Shortly thereafter construction began on the post office and opened its doors to the public on June 1, 1938.

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