History

Janesville Renamed Lassen

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Main Street, Janesville, 1911. Courtesy of Betty Barry Deal
Main Street, Janesville, 1911. Courtesy of Betty Barry Deal

On July 2, 1914, Janesville was renamed Lassen. A  group of local developers petitioned the United States Postal Service to change the name from Janesville to Lassen. They were successful. It was their goal to rid the region of towns that ended with the suffix of “ville.” They felt the suffix carried a stigma of a small village, or worse yet, brought about the connotation of Hicksville.

Many of residents were not pleased with the new name. In December 1914, over 100 residents signed a petition to restore the post office’s name back to Janesville. The Postmaster General denied it. The area suffered an identity crisis, a place with two names—Janesville and Lassen. In 1918, the Lassen Mail wrote: “Janesville or Lassen, which shall it be? It isn’t a question of which it shall be but which it is. The post office is Lassen and the rest of the town is Janesville and it would require a special act of the California Legislature to make it anything else.” The editor did exaggerate a bit on the procedure. In 1923, the town’s residents petitioned the Postal Service and requested the name of Janesville be restored and this time the request was granted on September 22, 1923.

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History

Fruit Growers Supply Company

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The Susanville plant, 1921. Courtesy of Ed Standard
The Susanville plant, 1921. Courtesy of Ed Standard

In February, I inaugurated  a book-of-the-month, that featured Sagebrush Reflections. After all proceeds from book sales not only help support operations, but help finance future publications, in this case the stories behind the brands of the Pioneer.

It was not that long ago when one of the main components of the lumber industry was the manufacturing of wooden boxes to ship the nation’s vegetables and fruits. The Fruit Growers Supply Company was not your ordinary lumber company. Established in 1907, it is the co-operative purchasing arm of Sunkist. To protect the citrus grower’s interest in securing a supply of woodden boxes at a reasonable price, they went into the lumber business by accident at Hilt, Siskiyou County.  With increased citrus production, in 1920 the company expanded and built a mill at Susanville. The demand continued and in 1944 Fruit Growers purchased Red River Lumber Company’s mill at Westwood along with the Burney Tract. Ten years later, the wooden box went by the wayside and the grower’s converted to cardboard.

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July Preview

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Haying at the York Ranch, Willow Creek Valley, 1912. Courtesy of Hazel Moller

Here is the July lineup, as usual lots of different topics for everyone.

Fruit Growers Supply Company 7/1/16
Janesville Renamed Lassen 7/2/16
Go Exploring 7/3/16
Eagle Lake – Gallatin Beach 7/4/16
Roop’s Fort Revisited 7/5/16
Eastside Tour 7/6/16
William R. Harrison, Esquire 7/7/16
Elbern Kelley, A Honey Lake Tragedy 7/8/16
McCoy Flat Reservoir 7/9/16
Thomas Abner Ramsey 7/10/16
Johnstonville School – Then & Now 7/11/16
Eagle Lake Ice Caves 7/12/16
Lonely Graves – Henry Stratton 7/13/16
Lassen County’s Bastille Day 7/14/16
Your Topic 7/15/16
Missouri Bend School 7/16/16
Eagle Lake – Gallatin Peak Fire 7/17/16
Plumas County – Chester 7/18/16
Susan River – Brockman Slough 7/19/16
Lassen County Fair, 1922 7/20/16
Susanville – Ash Street 7/21/16
Lassen Park’s Butte Lake 7/22/16
Bank of Lassen Co. – Standish 7/23/16
A Honey Lake Valley Earthquake 7/24/16
Westwood’s Golf Course 7/25/16
Lassen County – Lake Greeno 7/26/16
Dixon’s Willow Creek Dam 7/27/16
A Belfast Revival? 7/28/16
Fruit Growers Supply Co. – Truck Logging 7/29/16
Buddy, Can you spare a dime? 7/30/16
August Preview 7/31/16

 

History

Sorsoli Hotel

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Sorsoli Hotel, 1908. Courtesy of Jo-Al Smith
Sorsoli Hotel, 1908. Courtesy of Jo-Al Smith

The defunct town of Prattville was quite the place prior to being displaced by Lake Almanor. Prior to Lake Almanor, it was known as Big Meadows, and a popular summer hang out, especially those from the Sacramento Valley, escaping the heat, after all this is pre-air conditioning days.

In 1898, Frank Sorsoli purchased Baccala’s Prattville Saloon.  Business was good. There being a lack of hotel accommodations, Sorsoli decided to build one. In May 1908, construction began on Sorsoli’s $10,000 twenty-eight guest room hotel.  But the operation was short-lived. A fire of suspicious origin on July 3, 1909 wiped out most of the town of Prattville, the Sorsoli Hotel was a casualty.

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History

Susanville – Sunkist Street

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Sunkist Street, 1921. Courtesy of Ed Standard
Sunkist Street, 1921. Courtesy of Ed Standard

In 1919, when the Fruit Growers Supply Company decided to locate its second lumber mill at Susanville, they thought that community would come forth to provide housing for its workforce.  It kind of happen. Yet, Fruit Growers with over 1,000 employees for its Susanville operation, was too much for the community to handle. To be able to attract a stable workforce, Fruit Growers only option was to develop its own residential district next to the mill. Those streets all have names associated with the citrus industry, such as Sunkist.

For those not familiar with Fruit Growers, it is a purchasing agent for co-operative then known as the California Fruit Growers Exchange comprised of citrus growers. In 1907, the Exchange coined the brand Sunkist and in 1952, they renamed the Exchange to Sunkist.

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History

Lake Almanor Country Club

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Entrance to the Lake Almanor Country Club
Entrance to the Lake Almanor Country Club

During the late 1940s, the Red River Lumber Company was in the process of dissolution.  They came to the conclusion the shoreline property they owned at Lake Almanor would be better for resort development and subdivisions that the expensive task for reforestation. To make the decision was a lot easier than to implement.

It was finally decided that they should sale to a developer than to undertake it themselves. Harriett Walker Henderson and Theodore S. Walker  were designated by the family to sell the shoreline property at Lake Almanor, consisting of some 2,500 acres. They succeeded in quick order. On June 9, 1950, the property was sold to Lake Almanor Development Company for $160,000. The company was comprised of Seattle investors Warren Orr, Paul Block and Edward Clifford.  In 1953, witnessed the initial development on the peninsula as the Lake Almanor Country Club.

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History

Brand History – Abe Jensen

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The Jensen barn, 1900. Courtesy of Abe Jensen
The Jensen barn, 1900. Courtesy of Abe Jensen

Abe Jensen probably has the distinction of the youngest person to record a livestock brand, which event occurred on October 11, 1917, when he was only nine years old. Albert Abel Jensen, was a member of a pioneer family. He was the great- grandson of Henry C. Stockton, who was one of three original Lassen County Board of Supervisors appointed by the governor in 1864 to organize the newly formed county and was elected to that office on May 1,1864, serving one term. It should be noted that in 1863, Stockton settled to the west of Devil’s Corral, along the Susan River and operated a sawmill. The property still remains in the family, with Abe’s nieces and nephew in charge.

Abe was a Lassen High graduate of 1926, and continued his studies at Stanford where he graduated in 1930. He continued with the ranching activities like his father, Bert. It should be noted that Bert was instrumental in resurrecting the Lassen County Fair in 1922, and the property that is the current county fairgrounds belonged to Bert Jensen. Besides ranching, Abe served as the Lassen County Fair Manager from 1946 to 1968. In 1973, Abe, and his wife Adelaide moved to Reno, where he passed away in 1989.

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History

Adin, Modoc County

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Adin, 1888. Courtesy of Delbert & Diane Poole.
Adin, 1888. Courtesy of Delbert & Diane Poole.

Located just a mile north of the Lassen County line in Modoc County, Adin benefited from Lassen County’s largest mining town of Hayden Hill, located twelves miles to the south.

As a matter of fact in the same year that Adin was founded in 1869, gold was discovered at Hayden Hill. It should be noted that one of Adin’s founders and its namesake, Adin McDowell, was a member of the prospecting party that discovered the gold at Hayden Hill.

When times were good at Hayden Hill, they were even better at Adin. By 1877, Adin was the largest town in Modoc County. In addition, it was only second to Susanville in the amount of business transactions conducted in Northeastern California.

For more information about the story of Adin, see this month’s issue of the Northern California Traveler.

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Exploring Lassen County's Past