North Roop Street, Susanville, 1931. Courtesy of B.R. Zimmerman Collection
Awhile back I had an inquiry about 100 North Roop Street. While I am tardy to answer that, but as a bonus I will have a few more observations to add. The older houses on the street, are actually located in the 200 block and beyond. At the moment, I am still overwhelmed of the first round of boxes of the move containing a vast assortment of research material. However, there is still a pickup load of boxes still to arrive. I am understand that event may be Sunday, to avoid another month of storage fees. Please be patient during this transition process.
Car dealerships and car styles are constantly evolving. For a brief time, Susanville had its own Edsel Dealership though it did not last long. In 1957 it was housed in a brand new building at 80 North Roop Street. Of course, Ford’s Edsel automobile was a failure and the model soon abandoned. Many seasoned residents will recall this building housed the California Department of Motor Vehicles for many years. It is now the home to Lasco and Rooptown Bicycles.
It has been a week now, since the move. Slowly, but surely I am getting settled in, but it is going to be a slow process. I am bit overwhelmed of the vast amount of records that I had hidden, kind of like out of sight, out of mind.
At the same time, I have backlog of messages and requests, so please be patient as I am inundated from so many fronts.
Sacred Heart Church, 1905. Courtesy of Sacred Heart Church
On August 1, 1869 the first Mass to be held in Lassen County was at the home of Ned Mulroney near Susanville, with the 27-year-old Father Charles Lynch officiating. Since a circuit priest had to cover a large territory in Northeastern California and Nevada, Mass in many instances was only held once a year when the priest made his rounds.
In the 1880s with a larger Catholic population, and the Diocese territory smaller, Mass was held in the Lassen County area twice a year. There was also a movement to have their own house of worship instead of the courtroom in the Lassen County Courthouse or the hall in the Steward House Hotel.
In the spring of 1892, when William Cain, a non-Catholic, donated a parcel land across the Susan River on Richmond Road, the current site of Poulsen’s Welding. In May construction began, the labor from church volunteers. As Father Thomas Horgan later recalled the driving force for the church came from three families—Bantley, Neuhaus, and Mulroney.
The new church had a seating capacity of 120, quite ample for their being about 100 parishioners. On June 26, 1898 Bishop Thomas Grace dedicated the Susanville church as the Church of the Sacred Heart.
This is a little known reservoir east of the Madeline Plains. When the fishing is good, it is worth the trip
In 1889, Albert L. Shinn formed the Union Land & Stock Company. Shinn proposed that the water from Red Rock Creek could provide irrigation for the entire eastern Madeline Plains. The reservoir was originally named Lake Lockett, for the Company’s Civil Engineer, H.M. Lockett. In the early 1890s, the Union Land & Stock Company started the irrigation project but eventually construction ceased because of lack of funds and other problems. On December 9, 1907, Henry C. Dodge acquired an option to buy the Union Land & Stock Company’s failed Red Rock irrigation system. In 1909, Dodge formed the Madeline Valley Land & Irrigation Company to undertake this enterprise. In the fall of 1909, the Company contracted with August and Alfred Anderson to build the system. In December 1909, Dodge Reservoir was completed. In 1912, Henry C. Dodge died during an altercation in Reno, Nevada. Dodge’s two sons, Carl and Dana, continued with the family enterprise on the eastern Madeline Plains. On January 14, 1949, Bernys M. Dodge, the agent for the Dodge Brothers, sold the Dodge Ranch and Reservoir to George and Jean Smith.
Smoke Creek Desert looking towards Sheepshead, fall, 1977
One of my favorite places to spend the day is the Smoke Creek Desert just across the state line in Nevada.
It received its name back in 1844 when John C. Fremont explored the region. His party noted the dust storms created on the playa there cast a smokey hue.
Smoke Creek Desert, 1996
When I conducted the BLM tours in the 1990s,Smoke Creek was a popular one. We did a mixture of prehistoric and historic sites. There are a lot nooks and crannies in Smoke Creek to see.
Apache Tears Mine, Smoke Creek Desert
It is an ever changing environment. That is evident as the desert slowly reclaims the abandoned homestead, when those hardy souls tried to eke out a living.
When traveling the back country around these parts. Google maps and GPS not the best move. Use some common sense. Though it should be noted that AAA maps indicated Shinn Ranch Road was maintained. May be it was back in the 1870s when the Shinns lived there.
There are a handful posts that I repeat each year, and for good reason. With summer weather upon us, it is an ideal time to check out the many wonders that surround the residents of the Lassen Region.
Shinn Ranch, 1987
In 1929, the Lassen Advocate published an editorial “Know Your Country.” The gist of it, encouraged residents to get out and see all the various and interesting natural surroundings we have. I am always ready to get out and about to explore. I never know where that might be, but I do have a few obscure historical sites that I want to check out.
he winter of 1923-24, was one of the driest on record in California. That summer another record would be broken–forest fires. It was June, 1924, when the Red River Lumber Company having been in operation for over a decade experienced its first major forest fire. The fire broke out at Chester Flats between Camps 34 and 38 and burned a narrow strip of land, eight miles in length. Red River’s loss was minimal as the fire burned recently logged over land and the only significant damage was 500 cords of wood burned along 1,000 feet of railroad track. Red River considered its biggest loss was to the men fighting the fire which cost the company a $1,000 a day in wages, and it took a week to contain the fire. Continue reading Westwood’s Fire Train→
One of the articles that I am working on, the Painter’s Creek Irrigation District of 1916. Does any one have a photograph of Painters Crék or Painters Flat east of the Madeline Plains?
Some little history about the naming of Painters Flat. After the murder of Peter Lassen in the spring of 1859, tensions between the settlers and the Indians became intense. Within a year the region experienced the Pyramid Lake War. On June 17, 1860, Horace Adams was murdered by the Indians at his ranch near Lathrop’s Station in the Honey Lake Valley. Two days laters, Col. Frederick W. Lander and Captain William Weatherlow gathered a group of men together to locate the Indians responsible for Adams’ death. They followed the Indians’ tracks north to the Madeline Plains. From there, they headed east through a canyon. Just before entering a valley there, they were ambushed by the Indians, Alexander A. Painter was mortally wounded. Painter’s body was moved a mile northeast from where he died. He was buried there beneath a cedar tree.
1971 Advertisement in the Lassen Cougar Yearbook. Courtesy of Jim Chapman
It was not all bleak during my brief Reno residency. Just down street on Baring Blvd, in Sparks, where I had physical therapy, there is the last sole remaining A&W in the region. I splurged last Friday evening, had take out from A&W as my farewell dinner.
Susanville seasoned residents will remember it was located at the bend in Main Street. It opened for business on May 22, 1961. It was established by John Gilliam and Leonard Porritt who invested $40,000 in this new enterprise. My memory fails me when it was closed. It was first reincarnated as Chinese Kitchen and today it is the home of the Courthouse Cafe.
