After I scheduled this post into the calendar, I knew what my intention was. Then I moved onto other topics, before jotting it down.
That spurt of creative genius has not returned. Progress is being made on the Pioneer Brands. It was discussed during the St. Patrick’s Cemetery Tour. In the forthcoming months, I will post some drafts of those brands and some brands from way back when that never adorned the wall of the Pioneer. Case example was the Red River Lumber Company’s brand.
Since we live in age of conspiracy theories, one reader was curious about the circumstances of Peter Lassen’s death. Continue reading Peter Lassen’s Demise
Thought I would pass along the above stock certificate. During the early 1900s numerous local businesses and organizations incorporated. By doing so it allowed them to sale stock, as an avenue to raise funds.
Hopefully, in about a month’s time I will have the history of the Susanville Country Club ready to be put on line.
By the early 1880s, the hot topic that would remain for several decades was reclamation, that was eventually replaced by the lumber industry. When the NCO Railroad inched its way into the Honey Lake Valley only added momentum for the formation of a myriad of schemes. We will explore a number of these, some were successful and some were not.
On a smaller scale, improvements with well-drilling was starting revolutionize irrigation in the Honey Lake Valley. In 1888, Lassen County allocated a $1,000 for the promotion and advertisement of the benefits of well drilling to entice people to settle there. Thus, the Lassen County Chamber of Commerce was formed.
In the fall of 1856, Levi Breed set up a trading post on the Nobles Emigrant Trail where it crosses Willow Creek, just north where the current Lassen County road A-27 crosses Willow Creek. It was second one for the Honey Lake Valley. The following year he located to Janesville and became that community’s largest merchant for a number of years.
It was the military that came along next to locate on Breed’s abandoned post. In 1859, a military station, under the leadership of First Lt Milton T. Carr, A 1 Dragoons, was established at the Willow Creek crossing. Its main purpose was to protect the travelers on the Nobles Emigrant Road. “Dragoon” is the name for a mounted soldier or cavalryman.The following year, it was replaced by Soldier’s Bridge which was located further to the east and along the Susan River.
In 1906, Brashear Street became the first new street inside the original town plat. There would be only three other streets inside the original city limits to be created. There is something the reader can contemplate which were the others.
William Brashear owned all of Block 32 and segments of Blocks 24 and 31. These had never subdivided into lots. With the pending arrival of the railroad, that all changed. It was prime residential property, as it provided some of the best views of the area. In 1911, J.W. Scott, a realtor subdivided the lots on the east side of Gay Street around to Brashear. It became one of the town’s first upscale developments. The initial deed restriction required all houses built cost at least $1,000.
In 1870, Frank Eben Horne became one of the first settlers of the Madeline Plains. Horne retired from his ranch in 1905 and turned it over to his sons. On March 28, 1917, Frank L. Horne, William R. Horne, and Arthur T. Horne, along with Raglan Tuttle and Grant M. Lorraine, formed the Horne Development Company. On April 27, 1927, the Farmers & Merchants National Bank of Reno, Nevada, foreclosed on the Horne Development Company for $38,791.11 and became the owners of the Horne Ranch. It should be duly the Glade Post Office was located there from 1908 to 1918.
In the 1990s, the ranch had a new lease on life when it was incorporated in R.C. Robert’s Spanish Springs development. This and other properties were made available to guests, whether their interest was equestrian pursuits, hunting, etc.
In 1916, William L. Wales, engineer for the Honey Lake Valley Irrigation District, looked at non-traditional water supply sources to reclaim the desert lands of eastern Honey Lake Valley. After all, other sources of water had been claimed.
Wales examined Horse Lake and wrote: “Horse Lake and it’s watershed of 115.2 square miles, laying just east of Eagle Lake, offer very good opportunities for a portion of the water supply. This lake has an area of 3520 acres at an average depth of six feet. According to a statement of a man living near the lake, it has not been dry but twice in sixty years. A shallow cut has been dug through the east rim connecting with a creek leading into Pete’s Valley. No doubt more than enough water has flowed out through this cut to offset the deficiency of the dry years.”
Susanville’s first catholic organization the Knights of Columbus was formed in the same year as the Susanville Elk’s Lodge and the Susanville Country Club. It was busy period in the town’s history. Continue reading Susanville – Knights of Columbus
On August 7, 1934 during a special session of the Susanville City Council they condemned the Liberty Theater, after state inspectors stated it was unsafe. Two day’s later the theater would close, and it was only fitting the film shown that day was “The Party’s Over.” It should be noted that the Liberty was built in 1921 and in 1924 it was purchased by T & D Enterprises.
In late September, demolition began on the Liberty Theater and it was announced a new theater would be built on the site of the old one, to be named Sierra Theater. Construction on the concrete re-inforced theater began in October, and the owners noted it was earthquake proof, the first of its kind in Susanville. On Friday, March 8, 1935 a grand opening was held for $75,000 theater. The first showing was appropriately a film named, “The Whole Town’s Talking.”