Summer Solstice Tour

June 11, 2016 Tim Purdy 1 Comment

Were you aware that the Belfast petroglyph site also serves as ancient observatory? This event only occurs on the morning of the summer solstice when the sun enters a chamber highlighting a variety of glyphs, among other things. It is quite the sight to see.

Last year we had a small delegation that made the trek. This is an early morning excursion and I mean early as we gather at 5 a.m. to make the trek. In preparation attendees receive in advance John Rudolph’s paper, “An Ancient Solar Observatory.” If there is enough interest we can make the trip again this year. Please let me know. One final note the solstice occurs on Monday, June 20.

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History

Milford School

June 10, 2016 Tim Purdy Leave a comment

On February 28, 1865, fourteen Milford residents petitioned for a school district for their town that would divide Lake and Long Valley school districts. In March 1865, the Board of Supervisors granted their request. In July 1865, Ezra P. Soule and Henry C. Stockton built the first schoolhouse for $500. In 1883, the voters narrowly passed a special tax for $160 to construct an addition to the building. Milford’s population continued to grow and a larger school was needed. On May 12, 1888, the voters approved a $1,400 bond measure and a new schoolhouse was constructed adjacent to the old one. By the 1960s, rural schools were on the brink of extinction, and Milford was no exception. In 1965, the upper grade students were transferred to Herlong Elementary. In 1966, the school only taught grades one through three. The Milford school closed in 1967. Of note, both schoolhouses still remain, each one converted into a private residence.

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History

The creation of the Sierra Army Depot

June 9, 2016 Tim Purdy 3 Comments

Sierra Army Depot. Courtesy of Donna Perez

The Lassen County business community courted the military over the years. During World War I attempts were made to establish a military training camp at Hackstaff, while that failed that location was not forgotten. In 1926, the Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot in New Jersey was destroyed, the cause of a lightning strike. Twenty-one people were killed, and the damage in today’s dollars about a billion.

This changed everything when the government sought a location for a munitions depot in the west. The two important criteria was it to be an isolated location, but have railroad access. The top three sites examined were Secret Valley, Flanigan and Hawthorne. In 1928, Hawthorne, Nevada was the victor. When World War II came along, saw the need for another Army Depot, and the army selected Hackstaff in the Honey Lake Valley and it was subsequently renamed Herlong, after the first Ordnance officer killed in World War I.

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History

Jeremiah Wood and the family legacy

June 8, 2016 Tim Purdy 1 Comment

The grave of Jeremiah Wood at the Susanville Cemetery. March 17, 2016

Jeremiah Wood (1819-1889) was a true ‘49er arriving in California in that infamous year and spent most of his life mining in Nevada County. In the meantime, two of his sons, John and Denis came to Susanville in 1872 and opened up a meat market/butcher business. In 1887, Jeremiah came to Susanville to spend his final years with his son Denis, who by the way expanded operations into ranching, and six generations later the family carries on the tradition. This is truly remarkable, after all the old saying goes the first generation makes it, the second uses it and the third loses it. Only 13 percent of family owned businesses make it to the third generation. On a final note, the Wood Ranch still uses the brand that Denis created back in 1875, the DX.

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History

Lassen High School Trivia

June 7, 2016 Tim Purdy Leave a comment

In the beginning of time, the school’s colors were not purple and gold. I know that sounds almost sacrilegious. Back in the earliest years of the school’s history, it was the seniors who chose the colors for the year. The first graduating class of 1907 selected the colors of green and gold and this proved popular for the next few years. The Class of 1911 were a bit more rebellious and opted for blue and white. By the end of the decade purple and gold were adopted, and its been that way ever since.

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History

The Knoch – End of an Era

June 6, 2016 Tim Purdy 2 Comments

On November 6, 1956, Jeanette Worley sold the Knoch Building to Tony and Hersoula Legatos for $69,500. It marked the end of era of the Knoch family’s influence in Susanville history.

It all began in 1864, when her grandfather David Knoch opened a general mercantile store at 722 Main Street. In 1877, Knoch made Jules Alexander, a junior partner in the business. Eleven years later, Alexander married Knoch’s only daughter, Rae. They had two children; Jeanette who married Jesse Worley and Edythe who married Justh Fehr. Continue reading The Knoch – End of an Era →

History

Lassen County – Willow Creeks

June 5, 2016 Tim Purdy Leave a comment

Upper Willow Creek, 2013. It was this creek that the various promoters of Eagle Lake project were to use the natural channel to deliver water to the Honey Lake Valley.

No, it is not a typo, but just to point out that in Lassen County there are three Willow Creeks, and over 200 in the State of California. It is also interesting all three Lassen County Willow Creeks flow in a different direction. First you have Willow Creek in the northern portion of the county, with its headwaters near Hayden Hill as a reference point and flows in a northerly direction. The second Willow Creek begins on the east side of Eagle Lake and flows in a southeasterly direction. The third Willow Creek, the shortest of the the three is located near Doyle and flows in a easterly direction. This creek, though of late, has been dubbed Willow Ranch Creek, to distinguish it from other Willow Creeks, and so named from the historic Willow Ranch, which is another story.

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History

Malvena Gallatin

June 4, 2016 Tim Purdy Leave a comment

Gallatin, Malvena453 — Malvena Gallatin. Courtesy of Wyn Wachhorst

This is certainly a tale of two Gallatins—Albert and Malvena. Last year I wrote about Albert and how he acquired the properties around Eagle Lake primarily for ranching purposes, i.e, summer grazing range. Malvena saw the lake for its aesthetic and recreational attributes. While she could have easily denied public access to the south shore, after all she owned nearly all of it, along with some 40 miles of shoreline, she did not. The south shore that later became known as Gallatin Beach was popular with the locals. This was to her benefit, more lake visitors equaled more complaints about the road conditions to the south shore. In 1913, she did a first at Eagle Lake—she built a summer home. More about the Gallatin House in the future. Yet, it was the increasing water level at Eagle Lake, that she accommodated Leon Bly and his proposed project to tap the lake to provide a water supply for the Honey Lake Valley. Years later she had regrets when the lake level dropped so low, reducing her property values. She sued and lost, to prevent further tapping of the lake. After all she had plans to sale the property, in the 1930s, for over a million dollars to developers for a recreational resort. The reason she lost was that the agreement she signed with Bly, the lake had not reached agreed upon lake level, but then no one thought the lake would ever drop so low.

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History

Honey Lake Produce

June 3, 2016 Tim Purdy Leave a comment

Produce exhibit Lassen County Fair, 1926.

Tomorrow marks the return of the farmer’s market in Susanville. Please note the location has changed and it is on Pancera Plaza, Main and South Gay Streets, and not the Susanville Depot. When the big lumber mills were established it was a bonanza to the local agricultural community. In 1924, the Fruit Growers Supply Company purchased the following for its workforce.

300 pounds of fresh apricots	25,000 pounds of apples
500 pounds of asparagus	5,000 pounds of beets
4,000 pounds of green beans	21,000 pounds of cabbage
3,540 pounds of cucumbers	1,270 pounds of sweet corn
10,400 pounds of carrots	10,500 pounds of cauliflower
2,200 pounds of celery	5,200 pounds of grapes
12,600 pounds of watermelon	17,560 pounds of other melon
11,600 pounds ofgreen onion	50,000 sacks of dry onions
13,400 pounds of peaches	100 pounds of pears
1,000 pounds of peppers	13,800 pounds of tomatoes
89,200 pounds of beef	24,500 pounds of veal
33,600 pounds of pork	2,200 pounds of turkey
3,860 pounds of poultry	1,300 cases of eggs
21,800 pounds of butter	14,220 pounds of ham & bacon
117,500 pounds of flour

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History

Antelope Station

June 2, 2016 Tim Purdy 2 Comments

It was a popular stage station in the upper end of Long Valley on the Susanville–Reno Road. It was established in the mid-1860s by Jonathon C. Roberts. In 1873, Roberts sold to David F. Evans and for many years it was known as the Evans Ranch. In 1882, when the Nevada-California-Oregon (NCO) constructed its railroad there, they established a station named Oneida, for the Sierra County Township of Oneida. On June 6, 1889, a post office was established there named Purdys—for Solomon Purdy who came to Sierra County in 1852, from Oneida, New York and eventually sold to David F. Evans. In 1891, the Purdy Post Office was moved to a site known today as Bordertown. Travelers of U.S. Highway 395 between 1931 and 1976 will know the location of the old Antelope Station as the first site of the California Agricultural Inspection “Bug” Station.