Things do changes and some times rapidly. When I was out to the Smoke Creek Ranch, in 1979, the ranch house was still there and three years later it was gone.

For those who did know where this place is, it is located just across the Lassen County line and In Washoe County, Nevada.  Actually, the upper portion of where the reservoir is located, a portion is located in Lassen County.

There is no longer public access to the ranch property.

Tim

P.S. – Still in search of a  home.

Back. in its day, it was a notable landmark. It was the second flour mill constructed in the Honey Lake Valley. Work began on the mill in the spring of 1864 near Johnstonville, approximately where the defunct Gables is located. The machinery came from a mill located on Cow Creek, Shasta County, which belonged to John Briceland. The operation was leased to various individuals and it was not until the 1870s that stability of the ownership came to be. In 1875, William Hall and Henry Snyder became partners and remained until it closed.

In 1907, Snyder desired to retire and move to a milder climate. Hall purchased Snyder’s interest, but he too, decided to retire and by 1908, the mill shut down. The mill sat idle for over a decade, and in 1919, as part of the liquidation of Hall’s Estate the mill was sold to M.A. Taylor of Oakland. Taylor attempted to sale it, but there was no interest. He gutted the machinery and took it to the Bay area. Sam Alexander of Standish, salvaged some of the lumber from the building which he used to build a barn at his place.

Support this site and Subscribe today!

Situated on the southern edge of the Smoke Creek Desert is Sand Pass. Personally, I like stop there, because of the view of Smoke Creek. At the summit there is a very large gravel pit. The purpose was to provide ballast for the Western Pacific Railroad.

Tim

While many are familiar with McCoy Flat Reservoir along Highway 44, there is another McCoy Flat in Lassen County, This too, was named for another Tehama rancher,  Leo Lewis McCoy (1850-1936) who used this area for summer pasture from 1874 to 1913. When he retired in 1913, he sold his ranch of 27,000 acres to Alden Anderson for $150,000.

For the record, this McCoy Flat is located along Pine Creek, just east of Eagle Lake.  In 1952, it was the scene of the last of the railroad logging operations of the Fruit Growers Supply Company.

Never miss a story, click here to subscribe.

P.S. – Still in search of a  home.