Susanville’s Knoch Building located at the corner of Main and North Lassen Streets has a long storied history. It was built in 1893 as a Masonic Hall, destroyed by fire in 1898 and subsequently rebuilt.
David Knoch who loaned the local Masons for the initial construction, would foreclose on that organization and took possession of the property and over time became known as the Knoch Building.
After Knoch’s passing in 1908, his son, Isaac “Ike” Knoch took possession of the building. With the arrival of the railroad to Susanville in 1913, it brought tremendous growth to the region. In 1914, when Knoch proposed to add a third story to the building. He was told it could not be done. Well, as Knoch recalled years later, “That was all I needed the word can’t.” Work on the third story was to commence shortly after Labor Day 1914, However, with the Moose Lodge proposed a harvest festival in which Main Street would be shut down for several days, the work on the third floor was postponed. When the $34,000 project was completed, Susanville also had its first elevator.