One facility Susanville sorely lacked was a post office building. The Susanville Post Office was established in 1858, and was always housed in some commercial building, with the Knoch building housing it for decades. During the depression of the 1930s, the residents hoped the federal government would fund a post office building. They did. On March 1, 1937 the government purchased the residence of Stanley Wade on the corner of North Lassen and Nevada Streets for $6,750. Construction began that summer and the post office officially opened on June 1, 1938.
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The Grizzly Growler was the long standing student newspaper.
Another relic of the past is the student newspaper. Anyhow, on with our story. In the mid-1930s the Lassen Union High School student body experienced some interesting happenings. The first was a student newspaper dubbed the Hi-Times. This was followed by a school emblem—-the Grizzly bear.
In the fall of 1935, Miss Morgan, the school’s journalist instructor announced a campaign to change the school newspaper name. One issue was there were a number of Northern California student newspapers that had a similar name to Lassen’s. In an effort to promote the school’s new emblem, the word Grizzly was required in the new name contest. On October 4, 1935 the renamed student newspaper Grizzly Growler made its debut. It was Eleanor Hansen, Class of 1939, that was the prize winning entry.
Fast forward by several decades, when I attended Lassen High the school newspaper was just the Grizzly, somewhere along the line the Growler was dropped. From what little research I have done, it appears sometime in the 1990s the student paper ceased to exist.
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J.W. Fritter (left) and John Hamilton (right) at Fritter’s peach orchard, Eagle Lake—-Rev. C.R. Fritter
One never knows what I stumble across in my research. While reviewing the Lassen County Board of Supervisor’s minutes in regards to a topic on Westwood, I came across a rather unusual bill submitted to the county. Shortly after the death of her father, J.W. Fritter, Mrs. S. Pinola of 130 18th Street, Pacific Grove submitted a bill to the county to help defray her father’s funeral expenses. It should be noted that Fritter resided at Eagle Lake from 1884 to 1932, at which time he moved to Pacific Grove. Fritter did serve a term as a Lassen County Board of Supervisor from 1902-1906. The Board of Supervisors at their September 3, 1935 obliged and instructed the County Auditor to issue a warrant to Mrs. Pinola for $40. I have never come across a particular incident like this. What makes it even more bizarre was the Fritter and his daughter were not even Lassen County residents!
Remains of the Fritter ranch house at Eagle Lake, 1984
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View of Richmond Road January 1916 from Winchester Hill. Susanville received four feet of snow in January, followed by below zero temperatures. After that it was the beginning of a twenty-year drought, with Honey Lake going dry in 1919, and not filling up until the spring of 1938.
On October 2, 1916 Susanville received its first snowfall for the season, just enough to blanket the town. On the other hand it was reported there were seven inches of snow on Fredonyer Summit. After the storm passed through the temperature plummeted to 22 degrees. As one observer noted, while not cold enough to begin ice harvesting season, no one had to tend to their vegetable garden.
Is a early snowstorm a harbinger for a long cold, snowy winter? Not exactly. Many years, it turns out, when there is an early snowfall, usually is just the opposite and tends to be drier than normal winter. In this case, the winter of 1916-17 marked the beginning of a twenty-year drought.
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This is to inform any one interested if you want to obtain a copy of my epic book on Susanville, I would not suggested you procrastinate. My inventory is very at about twenty-five copies, and once its gone, its gone. To learn more about the book and to order see books.
Known today as the Susanville Ranch Park, for many years it was the John T. Long Ranch.
Susanville Ranch Park is a 1,100-acre county park located on the northwest edge of Susanville. In 1856, William Weatherlow settled there and remained until his death in 1864. William Long purchased the ranch and his family operated it for nearly fifty years. In 1935, Republic Electric Power acquired the property, which was succeeded by CP National. In 1984, that power company donated the land to the County of Lassen.
Since that time, it has evolved into an open space park. It contains twenty-eight miles of hiking trails! Motorized vehicles are prohibited. The trails vary for the casual walker all the way to advanced mountain bikers.
Personally, I think September and October are some of the best times to go hiking, whether a leisurely stroll, or something more strenuous. At the main parking lot, there is an informative kiosk, which one can pick up a free brochure and map of the trails. Go explore and enjoy this wonderful asset.
For a bit of historical trivia relating to the park. In 1966, Lassen College examined the property as a possible location for its new campus. They liked what they saw, but the asking price of $3,500 was beyond their means.
Outlet of the Bly Tunnel, 1924. Courtesy of Lola L. Tanner
In the fall of 1921, construction began on Leon Bly’s Eagle Lake Tunnel. The mile and a half long tunnel purpose was to convey water to Honey Lake Valley for irrigation. Water from the tunnel began flowing in the spring of 1923. The tunnel has a long complicated history. In 1986, the tunnel’s inlet was sealed. The outlet, in a somewhat remote location remains intact, but water no longer flows through the tunnel.
The outlet as it appeared in 2012. Courtesy of Barbara White
In the spring of 1952, the Lassen Lumber & Box Company began liquidating its assets. This involved a sawmill, box factory, 100 acres of land along with 9.9 million board feet of timber, 7.7 million board feet of logs and almost a million board feet of box shook.
They found an unlikely suitor in its neighbor, the Fruit Growers Supply Company. Fruit Growers purchased it all for $1,425,000. While researching the history of Fruit Growers this transaction puzzled me. With the need of box shook declining why a need for another mill with a box factory? Fruit Growers was keen in exploring future venues to protect the citrus growers needs. Lassen Lumber & Box Company had one asset that Fruit Growers needed—-water. If at some point, Fruit Growers wanted to manufacture cardboard cartons, the purchase of the Lassen Lumber & Box Company gave them the water supply needed to convert their Susanville mill into a paper/pulp plant.
A packinghouse using cardboard boxes—-Sunkist Growers, Inc.
While the cardboard box has been around for over 150 years, when it came to shipping fruit and vegetables it would take many decades of refinement before the growers made the switch from wood to cardboard. During World War I the growers did make an attempt to use cardboard containers, but was deemed a failure. Those early boxes had two major flaws, they were not durable, and with no ventilation the produce quickly spoiled.
During the critical lumber shortage during World War II, the War Production Board asked the citrus industry to work with the Container Corporation of America, experimenting with the cardboard carton as a substitute shipping container. The growers complied, despite the far greater cost. They also experimented with mesh bags. Neither, however, proved satisfactory. The lack of proper ventilation in the cartons resulted in considerable spoilage and the lack of protection from the bag resulted in bruised fruit.
After the war ended, however, paper companies continued to refine the cardboard carton. The new containers were called half cartons because they were half the size of the standard wooden box. Grocers preferred them because they were easier to handle—-and empty cartons made great “carry home boxes” for customers.
Some citrus growers by the early 1950s had met with success with the cardboard boxes. Fruit Growers Supply Company, along with its parent company Sunkist Growers were still reluctant. One company official thought cardboard was just a passing fad. A fad it was not, and on November 1, 1955 Sunkist adopted the cardboard carton the package of choice, and the wooden box was now a part of history. Fruit Growers Susanville box factory curtailed production but continued making wooden picking boxes until 1961.
We are now in prime time hunting season, so I thought this would be a appropriate topic. Many may not realize there was a time when Fish & Game Wardens were a appointed county employee. In 1895, California Assembly Bill. No. 148 was passed that the Board of Supervisors of each county may appoint a Fish & Game Warden, to serve a two-year term. Depending on the county’s classification determined the salary. For most of the state the salary was fifty dollars a month. One of the requirements is that the game warden provide quarterly reports to the Board of Supervisors giving a detailed statement of all arrests made, convictions had, fines collected and any other matters. Frank P. Cady served as the Lassen County Fish & Game Warden for many years. However, I have never come across the quarterly reports. Yet, on the other hand I have located County Horticultural Reports, Medical Officers Report. After World War I Assembly Bill 148 was repealed, wherein the local game warden was done through the State.
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