'olshastaone' was the first to guess and he was correct! It is the foundation of Father Rainaldi's proposed church at the corner of High Street and Red Bluff Road. Congratulations olshastaone! He/she has won a $10 gift certificate from River...

What is this and where is it located? Welcome to the weekly History Mystery Photo Contest! If you are the first person to correctly guess what this is and where it's located, you'll win a $10 gift certificate from River...

The river was named for the deep and deadly hidden pits dug along its banks to trap enemies and animals by Achomawi Indian women. Great pains were taken by the women to conceal the pits - the dirt was carried...

The steamer 'Belle' was owned by Major Pierson B. Reading. She transported supplies and passengers up and down the Sacramento River and was one of the steamers in the fleet of the California Steamship Navigation Company owned by Samuel Hensley...

The "previous chief" became Redding's Chief of Police when he was only 21 years of age! This amazing feat made him the youngest chief in the entire United States. Then he took a leave of absence and joined the U....

The old and long gone Sacramento River Road was established in the early 1850s. The trail began at Shasta and traveled northeast to Waugh's Ferry just below the mouth of Rock Creek at the Sacramento River then crossed the river...

Mark your calendar for Sunday, August 1st. Gather up your family, your fishing pole, a lawn chair, and all the other important picnic stuff, and head out to beautiful Kilarc Reservoir, the reservoir that supplies water to historic Kilarc...

The entire Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District (A.C.I.D.) canal system has quite a history. One portion of it, the arched aqueduct shown in the photo, crosses over South Street in Anderson and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The...

Sorry to say I don't have the history of the quonset hut type maintenance building featured in yesterday's History Mystery Photo Contest. I do, however, have the history of Keswick Dam and powerplant, it's neighbor. The quonset hut is located...

"Baseball" won the contest at 9:07 a.m. when he guessed it correctly as the shop/maintenance building located at Keswick Dam off Keswick Dam Road. Congratulations Baseball! You have won a $10 gift certificate from River City Java plus an award...

What is this building and where is it located? Welcome to the weekly History Mystery Photo Contest! If you are the first person to correctly guess what and where this building is located, you'll win a $10 gift certificate from...

Take Interstate 5 north to the Castle Crags exit at Castella. Turn left at the end of the exit and start driving west. Drive past the entrance to Castle Crags State Park and keep going. Your destination is about eight...

Before the dam at Shasta Lake was officially named, it was unofficially called Kennett Dam, McColl Dam and Coram Dam. The Kennett name was for the town of Kennett that today lies about a mile north of the dam in...

Churntown was one of Shasta County's original 1849 gold mining camps. It was located less than a mile southwest of Summit City beside Churn Creek. The creek was named for the ruts or "churns" formed in its bedrocks that resembled...

Wow, Salt Creek sure is a popular named creek with even more than I knew of! The only two I have information on are the two listed in my previous blog. To Confused: I have no information on the Oasis...

There are two. Just like Rock Creek, a researcher had to be careful to not confuse one for the other because both creeks have great historical significance. Salt Creek #1: This creek was originally called Mud Creek. It was named...

There are at least four. If you're a historical researcher, four separate creeks with the same name like this can give you a big headache trying to figure which is which. Here's a little history on each: Rock Creek #1:...

The first and only participant was correct in guessing the two mystery people as Levi Tower and his sister Philena. Congratulations deuce560!!!! You have won yourself a $10 gift certificate from River City Java and a winner's certificate. Thank you...

Do you know who these two good-looking people are? Welcome to the weekly History Mystery Photo Contest! If you are the first person to correctly guess who they are, you'll win a $10 gift certificate from River City Java and...

Once upon a time there were quite a few stone powerhouses in Shasta County. PG&E's Battle Creek Hydroelectric System once contained four stone powerhouses, two were in Shasta County - Volta and Coleman. Volta was built in 1900 and was...

No kidding. He really did. "He" was Emil Yager and he arrived in Shasta County in the early 1880s and purchased a portion of the John Rupert ranch at Inwood. Yager was a linen miller by trade turned master cigar...

...that caused an untold amount of deaths. It was one of the reasons why Fort Reading was abandoned and was the reason why Pinckney was established. The first known catastrophic epidemic occurred among the Indian people in 1832 who contracted...

The old cannon is now part of the Shasta Courthouse Museum collection at Shasta. This is its story according to historian and Shasta Courthouse Museum benefactress Mae Helene Bacon Boggs: "A ship's cannon - cast iron and muzzle-loading. (16.5 cm...

The Chinese were excellent gardeners and planted many large gardens in the Redding and Anderson areas beginning during the Gold Rush years with some of them lasting into the 1920s. Chinese men tended, harvested, and sold the vegetables to meet...

Fellow blogger Marc Beauchamp pointed me in the direction of this Shasta Lake trivia. Did you know Shasta Lake was briefly a National Park property? The following excerpted information comes from a story written by Bob Janiskee in the National...

It came to me from blog reader Dave Leimer who found it of all places posted online at Scubaboard.com dated August 25, 2008. With his permission, I'm posting it here for everyone to see and enjoy. Thank you Dave! ...I...

The mystery photo was a 1941 aerial view of Toyon. The following is a description of Toyon taken from the draft 3rd edition of the The Dictionary of Early Shasta County History: Originally known as Seaman's Place. Later known as...

The winner is "toe2toe" who guessed it correctly as Toyon on Shasta Dam Blvd. The aerial photo was taken in 1941. Congratulations toe2toe! You have won yourself a $10 gift certificate from River City Java and also a nice winner's...

Do you know the name of this community and where it is located? Welcome to the weekly History Mystery Photo Contest! If you are the first person to correctly guess what and where this community is located, you'll win a...

Keluche Creek is named for an Indian orphanage established at the rancheria of Indian doctor Keluche once located near the McCloud River and beside the creek now known as Keluche. Keluche Creek flows into Shasta Lake. Charles (Charlie) Kluchi was...

Keluche Creek is named for an Indian orphanage established at the rancheria of Indian doctor Keluche once located near the McCloud River and beside the creek now known as Keluche. Keluche Creek flows into Shasta Lake. Charles (Charlie) Kluchi was...

I received a request from a reader asking if I knew where this buffalo ranch was located. I don't. It was supposedly located beside or near old Hwy. 99 somewhere "north" of Redding and a place that also housed mountain...

The following story was printed in an unknown local newspaper dated Sept. 24, 1885: "The Supervisors of Shasta county have granted to the Redding Boom and Lumber Company permission to clear portions of the Sacramento and Pitt rivers of their...

The following story is from the Red Bluff Tocain(?) newspaper dated Oct. 7, 1882: "Harry DeGas, who came down from Anderson Sunday, gives us the following picture of a fierce tornado which visited that section of Shasta County last week:...

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The following lively announcement was printed in the Shasta Courier newspaper on 5-13-1854 giving everyone plenty of advance notice of the July 4th extravaganza planned at the Tower House Hotel: "...I WOULD ANNOUNCE TO THE PUBLIC that every preparation is...

."dr" quessed it correctly as the Bear Mountain Lookout off Bear Mountain Road. Congratulations "dr"! "dr" wins a $10 gift certificate from River City Java and a nice winner's certificate. Thank you River City Java for our nice prize each...

What and where is this structure located? Welcome to the weekly History Mystery Photo Contest! If you are the first person to correctly guess what and where this structure is located, you'll win a $10 gift certificate from River City...

Yes, there was according to this Shasta Courier newspaper article of 12-26-1883: "COTTON FROM REDDING. Yesterday the Capital Woolen Mills of this city received from a Chinese rancher at Redding eighteen 500-pound bales of very fine cotton raised near there....

Way back in 1922, a building for undertaking purposes was built at South and Pine Streets in Redding by the Home Undertaking Company. This company sold in 1946 to Amos Melinger who operated the Melinger Mortuary at this same site...

When 'big wheels' were invented in 1875 by Silas Overpack in Michigan, the loggers said the wheel had been re-invented. The wheels were a boon to them because it was a much easier way to haul logs out of the...

These photos of the growing windmill facility on top of Hatchet Mountain in eastern Shasta County were taken by "...the local guy with the powered parachute" and passed on to me via Jo Giessner and Marilyn Rountree. Fabulous photos for...

This is the best news I've heard in a long time! Mike Dastrup, owner of the former Big Wheels Restaurant at Shingletown destroyed by fire, has just announced that groundbreaking for a new Big Wheels Restaurant will take place on...

Have you noticed it? It runs beside Main Street in front of the houses. And wondered why in the world it was there of all places? Now we have an answer thanks to Robert (Rob) Patterson, French Gulch resident, and...

The handsome man in the mystery photo is Frank G. Baum, 1870-1932. Baum Lake at Cassel is named for him. Since most people don't realize the history of this great man, this is my opportunity to share part of it...

Our winner is 'Mr. Smarty Pants' who guessed that handsome man correctly at 10:07 a.m. as Frank Baum. Congratulations Mr. Smarty Pants! Frank Baum is the man whom Baum Lake at Cassel is named for. Tune in tomorrow to learn...

Everything in this blog came to me from blog reader Larry Snell. Thank you Larry!!! Here are interesting excerpts from his email: There are quite a few stone structures left standing right along Harrison Gulch Road and with the aid...

In 1879, under the direction of C.C. Bush, Redding's founding father, and the Masonic and Oddfellow's lodges, the Redding Cemetery Association was formed. The association purchased 19 acres of the Rancho Buena Ventura land grant for $485.50 to establish an...