Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District Aqueduct

Location:   South Street and Happy Valley Road, Anderson                        Designation:   Point of Historical Interest                                            Owner:  Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District (A.C.I.D.)

 

The aqueduct shown above is a small portion of the irrigation canal system that is commonly known as the Acid Canal.  Only the aqueduct portion of the canal system has been designated a Point of Historical Interest.  It was built in 1918 as a connecting link of the main canal to carry water across Anderson Gulch to irrigate lands in Cottonwood; it is 1249 ft. long, 8 ft. wide, 5 ft. deep and 20 ft. above the ground. 

The aqueduct shown above is a small portion of the irrigation canal system that is commonly known as the Acid Canal.  Only the aqueduct portion of the canal system has been designated a Point of Historical Interest.  It was built in 1918 as a connecting link of the main canal to carry water across Anderson Gulch to irrigate lands in Cottonwood; it is 1249 ft. long, 8 ft. wide, 5 ft. deep and 20 ft. above the ground. 

Construction on the main canal system began in 1914 and completion occured in 1917.  It was built to carry water for summer irrigation from the Sacramento River beginning at the Market Street bridge in Redding by way of a detailed system of canals and ditches to the fields in Churn Creek Bottom, Anderson and Cottonwood.  The canal ends in the Bowman Road area of Cottonwood. 

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Balls Ferry

Location:   Sacramento River Bridge and Ash Creek Rd., Anderson                  Designation:   Point of Historical Interest                                                Owner:  Shasta County and private

 

Balls Ferry and the Balls Ferry townsite are both designated as a historic site.  In addition to the ferry crossing on the Sacramento River, a small town grew up here.

In 1868, William Ball purchased a ferry, quite possibly from William Wilcox who had recently purchased a ferry from the estate of Pierson B. Reading.  Ball gave the ferry his name and began operating it across the Sacramento River approximately 100 ft. downriver from the present concrete bridge.  The ferry carried everything imaginable across the river including wagons loaded with supplies and freight, buggies, stagecoaches, and many herds of cows, horses, pigs, and sheep.

Also in 1868, the settlement of Balls Ferry began growing around the ferry site on the east side of the Sacramento River.  The settlement included the Balls Ferry Hotel at the rivers edge, plus miscellaneous businesses and residences on the hill to the east behind the hotel.

Balls Ferry was an important place because it was stragetically located on the main road from Cottonwood to Millville, Shingletown, Burney Valley, Hat Creek Valley, Adin, Alturas, and all points in southeast Oregon.  For a time, stagecoaches stopped daily at the Balls Ferry Hotel. 

Mr. Ball operated the ferry until 1897 when Shasta County built a steel bridge (not the existing bridge) next to his ferry and put him out of business.

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Bass Hill Stage Driver's Monument

Location:   Bridge Bay Resort parking lot across from the guard shack             Designation:   Point of Historical Interest                                                            Owner:  State of California            

The monument was placed in the general area of where the old California-Oregon Stage Road crossed the Pacific Highway (now Interstate 5) and descended down to the Pit River.  The monument was placed on Bass Hill because it was a favorite holdup spot in stagecoach days. 

It was erected by Mae Helene Bacon Boggs to commemorate the centennial of the birth of her Uncle Williamson Lyncoya Smith, a one-time stagedriver who became the Division Superintendent of the California-Oregon Stage Company.  Smith drove the first daily mail and passenger stage on the California-Oregon Stage Road in 1860 over Scott Mountain.  The monument also commemorates all the stagedrivers who followed Smith.

The hill is named for the pioneer Bass family who lived on the south side of the hill.  Another duplicate plaque is located at Shasta State Historic Park.

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Battle Creek Bridge

Location:   Across Battle Creek at the Shasta and Tehama County border          Designation:   Point of Historical Interest                                                             Owner:  Shasta County and Tehama County

 

Battle Creek Bridge crosses Battle Creek on Gover's Road, also known as Jelly's Ferry Road.  The bridge was built in 1911 by Tehama County.  It is 152 feet long. 

A new bridge was built on the west side of the old bridge in 1984 because Battle Creek Bridge was too narrow, load limited, and posted for less than the current legal loads.  Shasta County designed the new bridge while construction costs were shared jointly by both counties.

The old bridge has been renovated and now has very easy access.  It is a great place to visit during salmon runs because Battle Creek is a major spawning creek.

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Battle Rock

Location:   Northwest corner of Castle Crags State Park                     Designation:   California Registered Historical Landmark                                   Owner:  State of California 

 

Battle Rock received its name in 1855 in a baptism of blood when it became the site of a bloody battle between Indians, soldiers, and goldminers.  It is the most conspicuous spire (slender tapering rock) in Castle Crags State Park and is located directly under the highest crag in the northwest corner of the park.

The battle was important because it was one in a long series of battles which culminated in the Modoc War and was the last known in Shsta County where Indians used only hand-held weapons such as bows, arrows, spears and knives as their only weapons of defense against the whites, who used guns.

The battle occurred mainly because local resident Mountain Joe spread rumors amongst the miners that the fabled Lost Cabin Mine was in the vicinity of his trading post which was located below the crags beside the California-Oregon Trail.  Joe possibly started the rumor to attract more business to his trading post.

Mountain Joe's false information caused hundreds of miners to rush to the area almost overnight in an attempt to find the fabled lost gold mine.  However, their mad search and destructive mining techniques polluted the Sacramento and its tributaries with mud and slickins which completely ruined the ongoing salmon run.  They also killed much of the wild game for their food, which took more much-needed food away from the Indian people.  This all took place at a time when the Indians were desperately struggling for survival. 

The ruined salmon run and the dwindling wild game supply was more than the Indians could bear.  In retaliation, the Modocs seized control of the nearby California-Oregon Trail making it impossible for travelers, mail, or supplies to get through.  The Indians burned Mountain Joe's trading post, stole flour from his cabin, and unknowingly left a trail of flour to their hideout in the rocks at Castle Crags.

Captain Crook and his troops followed the flour trail to Battle Rock and fought the first battle with the Indians.  But the Indians overpowered them.  The next attack was led by Squire Reuben Gibson (Gibson Road is named for him) who led a company of 29 white men and 30 Shasta Indians against the Indians.  The Shasta Indians were long-standing enemies of the Modocs and eager to fight them.  The battle lasted for a day.  When it was over, many Indians had been killed, only one white man was killed, and the whites emerged victorious.

There is a hiking trail to Battle Rock.  A map can be obtained at the Castle Crags State Park entrance station.

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Bells Bridge

Location:   Hwy. 273 and Clear Creek                                                                 Designation:   Point of Historical Interest (there is no marker)                                                   Owner:  Private property

In 1851, during the heighth of The Gold Rush, this was an important and popular place.  Mr. J. J. Bell established Bell's Toll Bridge, a hotel (above), a stagecoach stopping place, and eventually a horse racing track all at this location.  His bridge crossed Clear Creek where present-day Hwy. 273 crosses Clear Creek.  Bell's Mansion House was located nearby, near where the big trees are still standing beside Clear Creek and across the creek from WinRiver Casino.  I don't know exactly where the horse racing track was, but I believe it was out on the flat area directly west of where the Mansion House once stood.  His Mansion House (see photo) became a popular stopping place for thousands of men on their way to and from the gold mines.  This was the location of one of the very first northern California stagecoach stations.

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Briggsville

Location:   Clear Creek Road, one mile east of Horsetown in south Redding Designation:   Point of Historical Interest (there is no marker)                                                   Owner:  Private property

Briggsville was the location of an 1849 gold mining settlement.  The settlement was located beside Clear Creek.  It was the place where goldminer James Reagan supposedly took gold out by the panful. 

The townsite was located by resident Ben Briggs.  It was first known as Breechesburg because the miners wandered about without their breeches.  The first female resident was Mrs. Briggs, and upon arrival, she demanded that the miners start wearing their breeches, or she would leave.  Not only did they begin wearing them, they named the town for her.

Briggsville was the location of the Landrum and Briggs Toll Bridge across Clear Creek in the early 1850s.  It was also a stage stop for stage companies beginning in 1853. 

In 1866, a Chinese mining company purchased the townsite for $1,100, cleared away the buildings and trees, and heavily dredged the area making a considerable profit.  The only known remains are tailing piles, three stone lime kilns, and several cabin foundations.

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Buffalo Pitts Separator Threshing Machine

Location:   Whitmore Road, downtown Millville                      Designation:   National Register of Historic Places                                             Owner:  Millville Historical Society

Even though it's officially known as a Buffalo Pitts Separator, it is what the farmers and ranchers called a threshing machine.  It was also known as "The Farmer's Friend" simply because of what it did - it was used to separate kernels of barley, wheat, rye, or oats from the straw.  It was the wonder of its day.

This threshing machine was patented in 1870 and 1872.  It was purchased by a Mr. Sharer and taken to his ranch above Whitmore.  The wheels were removed and it was bolted down and run by water power from South Cow Creek.  In 1905/06, Charlie Reineke put its wheels back on and moved it to his ranch on Clover Creek also above Whitmore.  Again, it was run by a water wheel.  The Reineke family used it for many years.  In 1975 Charley and Velma (Reineke) Taylor donated it to the Shasta College Museum where college students completely restored it as a museum project.  It is possibly the oldest Buffalo Pitts thresher in existence.

In 2006, the Shasta College Museum closed.  In 2008, when the college donated the thresher to the Millville Historical Society, a barn was built to house it.  It is now the pride and joy of their museum collection.

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 California-Oregon Trail

Location:   Hwy. 273 and Spring Gulch Road, Anderson                         Designation:   Point of Historical Interest                                                  Owner:  Native Sons of the Golden West

A historical plaque located at the intersection of Hwy. 273 and Spring Gulch Road in Anderson marks the location of the pioneer California - Oregon Road in the 1850s that was the main artery of travel for the pioneers and goldminers.  This road eventually became known as the Pacific Highway, later Highway 99, and today it is Highway 273. 

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Cascade Theatre

Location:   1731 Market Street, Redding                                       Designation:   California Registry & National Register of Historic Places Owner:  Jefferson Public Radio Foundation

The Cascade Theatre was constructed at 1731 Market Street in downtown Redding in 1935 and contained 1,348 seats.  It was a magnificent example of art deco architecture, complete with gold and silver gilded walls, period chandeliers, ornate plasterwork, a grand neon facade and marque, and beautiful murals. Over the years, the theatre struggled to survive.  In 1997, the Cascade ceased operating. 

In 1998, the Jefferson Public Radio Foundation purchased the theatre and began major restoration work.  Restoration was completed on August 14, 2004 and the theatre reopened as a regional non-profit performing arts center.  Total cost, including acquisition of the building and restorative work, was $5.65 million.

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Clear Creek Gold Discovery Site

Location:  Clear Creek at Horsetown-Clear Creek Preserve                                Designation:  California Registered Historical Landmark                                    Owner:  Public.  Bureau of Land Management (BLM)                

The first known gold discovery in Shasta County was made by Pierson B. Reading and his Indian laborers in 1848 on a bar in Clear Creek.  When Reading made this discovery in Clear Creek, The Rush soon spread to Shasta County from Coloma where James Marshall had discovered gold earlier the same year in the tailrace of John Sutter's sawmill.  By 1849, the rush was in full swing in Shasta County.  The area around the discovery site was quickly overrun with miners trying to strike it rich.  The community eventually became known as Horsetown.

Mining began in a haphazard way with shovels, picks, pans, even knives and spoons.  Gold dominated the mineral economy of Shasta County until 1897 when copper became king. 

The above marker is alongside Clear Creek Road near the discovery site.  Another historical marker commemorating the discovery is located at the intersection of Canyon Road and Hwy. 273.

 

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Cottonwood Historic District

Location:  South side of Front Street from Brush Street east to its end Designation:  National Register of Historic Places                                               Owner:  Private 

All the buildings from Brush Street east towards the railroad tracks, including all the buildings in the photo, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Captain John C. Fremont named Cottonwood Creek for the cottonwood trees growing along its banks when he was there in 1846 with his military soldiers.  The name later attached itself to the settlement.  Cottonwood is possibly the oldest settlement in Shasta County.  The first settlement was located on the south side of Cottonwood Creek (now Tehama County) across the creek from the present business district.  This settlement was a stopping place for miners, pack trains and wagon trains as early as 1849 and possibly even earlier.  In 1851 the Baxter & Monroe Stage Line began stopping and changing horses at the Cottonwood station which eventually became a major northern California stagecoach stopping place.  The first Cottonwood Post Office was established in 1852. 

Cottonwood existed even before counties were created in California.  When counties were created in 1850, all of Cottonwood was located in Shasta County.  When Tehama County was created in 1856, Cottonwood Creek was designated as its northern boundary causing Cottonwood to be a two-county town.  The first Shasta County train station was built at Cottonwood in 1872 at the east end of Front Street.  The Cottonwood Race Track (horse racing) was located from Fourth Street east to the railroad tracks. 

Cottonwood became Shasta County's major shipping point in the 1880s.  The railroad depot holding corrals and lumber yard extended from the railroad depot at the east end of Front Street to the present auction yard.  Was for many years the largest livestock shipping point in northern California.  Cattle and sheep were driven to the large railroad corrals, separated and weighed on large stock scales and then shipped on railroad stock cars to all areas of the West.  Front Street was built 90 ft. wide to accommodate wagon turnarounds. 

A building boom began in 1887 when the town was surveyed and mapped.  In 1888 a kiln was built to manufacture bricks on the north side of Cottonwood Creek just north of the Main St. underpass; it operated for several years.  Electricity was installed in 1902, telephones in 1910.  The Feigenburg Persimmon Orchard (on the east side of town) was hailed as the world's largest in 1950.  Cottonwood was the largest bee shipping center in the United States in 1950.  It is the oldest agricultural community in Shasta County.  

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Dersch Homestead Site

Location:  Dersch Road, east side of Bear Creek, Anderson                                Designation: California Registered Historical Landmark                                     Owner:  Private 

In 1866, when Marie was only 35, she was killed by Indians while she was making soap in the field near the creek.  She is buried in the nearby Parkville Cemetery.  There is a historical marker on the property, however, I do not agree with the reasons on the marker as to why she was killed.  There are petroglyphs (carvings in rocks) on rocks in nearby Bear Creek; petroglyphs are very sacred to Indian people.  I believe she was murdered because the Indian people believed she was desecrating their sacred petroglyph site.

The original Dersch home was destroyed by fire in 1934 and rebuilt in 1935.  The outbuildings in the photo are no longer there.  The existing barn could be the only original structure left from the days of the Dersch Stopping Place.

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Diestelhorst Bridge

Location:  Across the Sacramento River at Benton Drive, Redding                              Designation:  Place of Historical Interest                                                                  Owner:  City of Redding

The bridge was first called Reid's Ferry Bridge because Reid's Ferry previously operated at the site.  The bridge was built in 1915.  It is 639 ft. long, 24.3 ft. wide, and has nine spans.  It was named for the Gotlieb Diestelhorst family who owned the land and helped build the bridge.  Was the first automobile bridge to cross the Sacramento River in northern California.  The bridge was closed to automobile traffic in November 1997 upon completion of the adjacent Lake Redding Bridge on the downstream side.  The bridge now serves as a pedestrian/bicycle link in the Sacramento River Trail. 

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Dog Creek Bridge

aka Harlan D. Miller Memorial Bridge

Location:  Across Dog Creek at its junction with the Sacramento River                       Designation:  National Historic Landmark and California Historical Landmark               Owner:  U. S. Forest Service

The bridge is officially known as the Harlan D. Miller Memorial Bridge.  It ws named for Harlan D. Miller, one-time chief of the California Bridge Department.  Miller had great influence on California bridge design and was involved with this bridge, therefore, it is viewed as the work of a master.

However, the bridge is locally known as the Dog Creek Bridge.  It is said to be one of the most artistic and spectacular bridges ever built in California, and when built, had one of hte longest arch spans built by the state up to that time.  Benches were constructed into the roadway bed of the bridge as a place for weary travelers to sit, rest and gaze out upon the beautiful scenery all around them. 

The bridge was used until 1974 when another was built a short distance to the west by Caltrans.  The bridge was nearly demolished, but thanks to the efforts and protests of concerned area citizens, it was saved and is now protected by federal law.

The bridge is described as open spandrel, fixed, parabolic with two ribbed arches with a mainspan of reinforced concrete.  It is 24 ft. wide, 464 ft. long, stands 125 ft. above Dog Creek, has nine spans, and is unsymmetrical with a cantilevered roadway.

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Father Rainaldi's Foundation

Location:  Corner of Red Bluff Road and Crocker Alley, Shasta                  Designation:  California Historical Landmark                                                     Owner:  Private

Father Rainaldi had big dreams and was determined to build a church that would surpass any other building in the gold country,  He began making plans to build a Catholic basilica with walls of cut stone copied after the architecture of great Italian Renaissance buildings.  The rock foundation is the remains of the foundation of a Catholic church that never rose above the foundation.

Rainaldi began raising money through donations.  The ground was broken in 1856.  In 1857, the cornerstone was laid by Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O.P., of San Francisco, and the foundation was built.

But soon after, Rainaldi was transferred to another church and work stopped forever on his dream.  The foundation and the proposed church/basilica site are now historic landmarks. 

The foundaton is on private property but is close to the street and very visible from it.

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Fall River Valley's 1st School

Location:  Highway 299, 3.6 miles east of McArthur, south side of highway Designation:  California Historical Landmark                                                     Owner:  Private

The Fall River Valley School was the first school built in the Fall River Valley.  The school no longer exists; a historical monument marks its location.

The school was built in 1868 entirely of logs.  Its dimensions were 20 ft. by 30 ft.  The building did not have a floor, window, or even desks.  In approximately 1870, when the first sawmill in the Fall River Valley was established, lumber was finally obtained for a floor and desks.

The site where the school once stood is located on private property but is easily seen from the roadside.  

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Fort Crook

Location:  Near the McArthur and Soldier Mountain Road intersection, Glenburn          Designation:  California Historical Landmark                                                     Owner:  Private

 
The fort was located near Fall River Mills near the intersection of Soldier Mountain and McArthur Roads.  Established in 1857 with equipment from the newly dismantled Fort Reading.  Built by the First Dragoons under the command of Captain John Gardiner.  Named for Lt. George Crook.  Established to protect freighters, settlers, emigrants and travelers who used the nearby Emigrant Road and to also control hostile Indians.  Fort boundaries were one mile in all directions from a living pine tree flagpole located inside the fort walls whose branches were cut off close to the trunk and used as a ladder to get to the flag that flew in the breeze on top.  Built beside a sulphur spring.  By 1859, 28 structures and/or small log buildings existed inside its stockade walls that were used as officer's quarters, a hospital, mess hall, blacksmith shop, store, guard house, library, bowling alley, and a stable for 200 horses and mules.  For recreation, the fort contained a bowling alley for which $40 was spent to purchase ten pin bowling balls,. and also a library complete with $600 worth of books.  Between 50 and 150 soldiers lived at the fort.  An ambulance was used at the fort to transport soldiers injured in battle.  In 1857 the fort ordinance consisted of 69 percussion rifles, 10 Sharp’s rifles, 66 percussion pistols, 18 Colt pistols and 84 cavalry sabers.  In 1858 the fort contained 121 troops and 116 government horses.  In 1863 the fort was almost seized by outlaws who planned to use it, along with its arms and ammunition, as a guerilla rendezvous.  The fort was officially abandoned in 1869 when all soldiers were withdrawn and sent to Surprise Valley.  William Cayton was left in charge of the abandoned fort which was soon sold.  In 1871 the remaining Captain's Quarters was used as a school.   Government claim to the land was relinquished in 1881.  Local farmers tore down the stockades and most of the buildings.  In 1884, bodies from the fort cemetery were exhumed and taken to Fort Bidwell.  Also in 1884, 160 acres which included the fort and cemetery grounds, was homesteaded by John A. Farmer.  One log building survives and is now located at Fort Crook Museum.  Nearby Fort Mountain and Soldier Mountain were named for the fort and the soldiers. 

 

Fort Reading, 1852, Dersch Road beside Cow Cr., Anderson, California

 

French Gulch, 1849, Trinity Mtn. Rd., French Gulch, National

 

Frisbie House, 1887, 1246 East Street, Redding, National

 

Gladstone Mansions, Cline Gulch Road, French Gulch, National

 

Glenburn Community Church

 

Gold Discovery Site (see Clear Creek Diggings?)

 

Highway 99

 

Horseshoe Lake Ranger Station, LVNP, National

 

Horsetown

 

Iron Mountain Mine and Keswick Smelter

 

Keswick Dam

 

Tower House Irrigation System, WNRA, National

 

Lake Helen

 

Lamoine Lumber and Trading Company RR Logging System, STNF, Lamoine, National

 

Lockhart’s Ferry, 1856, Hwy. 299 in Fall River Mills, California

 

Lone Tree Schoolhouse

 

Loomis Visitor Center, Bldg. 43, 38050 Highway 36, Viola, National

 

McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, Hwy. 89, Burney, Nat’l Natural Landmark

 

Nobles Bungalow

 

Nobles Pass Route, 1852, LVNP, California

 

Nobles Emigrant Trail, east of Shingletown in LVNP, National

 

Nobles Trail Twin Bridges, Millville Plains Rd., Anderson, POHI

 

Old City Hall, 1907, 1313 Market St., Redding, National

 

Park Entrance Station and Residence, LVNP

 

Park Naturalist’s residence, LVNP

 

Phillips Brothers Mill, 29334 Bullskin Ridge Rd., Oak Run, National

 

Pine Street School, 1922, 1135 Pine Street, Redding, National

 

Pioneer Baby’s Grave, 1864, Hwy. 299, Shasta, California

 

Prospect Peak Fire Lookout, LVNP, National

 

Reading Adobe, 1847, End of Adobe Road, Cottonwood, California and Federal

 

Reading’s Bar, 1848, Clear Creek Road near Clear Creek Bridge, Redding, California

 

Reid Mine

 

Shasta, 1849, Hwy. 299, Shasta, California and Federal

 

Shasta Dam and Powerplant

 

Shingletown

 

Shotgun Creek Bridge

 

Southern’s Stage Station, 1859, 19010 Mears Ridge Road, Sims, California

 

Summit Lake Ranger Station, LVNP, National

 

Texas Springs

 

Tower House Historic District, WNRA, Whiskeytown, California

 

Volta Powerhouse Site

 

Whiskeytown, 1849, Hwy. 299 and Whiskey Creek Road, WNRA, California