The Lassen Grain and Milling Company was established in 1917 and located on Richmond Road, Susanville across from the Southern Pacific’s railroad depot. By the 1920s, the beleaguered company was barely holding its own. A major problem facing the company was the lack of grain being grown in the Honey Lake Valley to support the mill.
Enter the Susanville Mill Company. Founded in the fall of 1926, this company took over Lassen Grain. Susanville Mill comprised of three men—B.F. Hutchens, E.B. Birmingham and L.E. Deforest. Hutchens and Birmingham were executives of Fruit Growers Supply Company, while DeFores was well known in the local agricultural community. It was their intent to encourage local ranchers to plant turkey red wheat and provide them with the seed.
After several years of operation the company sold to Bronson & Doyle.