Long before Chester came into existence, and Lake Almanor, too, there was the community of Prattville. In the early 1900s changes were on the horizon when the Great Western Power Company, known today as Pacific Gas & Electric Company, began buying property in the region then known as Big Meadows, for a reservoir site. One of the problematic properties for Great Western Power was the town of Prattville.
In 1909, there was a suspicious fire that wiped out the majority of the town of Prattville, though it still hung on barely, much to the dismay of Great Western Power. Frank Sorsoli lost his brand new two-story hotel, along with a saloon. Despite his severe loss, Sorsoli decided to rebuild his saloon. The only other business in town was Timothy Lucy’s general merchandise store, which also housed the Prattville Post Office. On December 23, 1911 Sorsoli sold his saloon and five town lots to Great Western Power and moved to Susanville and spent the remainder of his life there. Lucy carried on, but with the flooding of Big Meadows to create Lake Almanor in early 1914, he saw the proverbial writing on the wall and closed his store on March 31, 1914, and at that time the Prattville Post Office was discontinued.