Redding's Christmas Tree: A Local Tradition Since 1919

A crowd gathers to attend the lighting of the Redding Christmas tree in 1933. The tree is topped with a neon star. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society.

This holiday favorite was originated in 1919 by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), who cut the first evergreen to be placed on display in the city from McComber Lake in Shasta County. The tree was then transported by truck to the intersection of Market and Yuba Streets in downtown Redding for its placing. The tree could be of any size if they were fully branched without missing spaces. The Christmas tree would often stay standing until after the New Year had arrive, then it was dismantled.

Each year, the tree was crowned with a beautiful neon star on the top of the tree. Then in December of 1929, the Redding Christmas tree was measured at 73 feet high, and it was donated to the PG&E by two residents from La Moine. The date of December 20th, 1929 was selected for the big party at the intersection of Market and Yuba Streets. 

To help the Pacific Gas & Electric Company, a general committee was organized about 1930 which was comprised of Mayor William Menzel, Chairman; Ben Mason, and K.A. Walker. This committee would organize the upcoming Christmas tree festivities and other Christmas events. New delegates would be chosen to this committee in the future as well. In 1930, twenty-five hundred boxes were ordered to place gifts inside them for the children of Shasta and Trinity Counties in Redding, and gifts were purchased to be placed inside these boxes. 

Officials selected November 28th, 1930 for the beginning of the holiday season, in which Redding stores celebrated by decorating their window displays and buildings for Christmas. Also, some stores reduced their prices as well. Stores along Market Street stayed opened later to attract as many customers as they could. Hundreds of people gathered to be present for the highlights that evening while Redding lacked a Christmas tree. It was S.G. Nelson of the McCormick-Saeltzer Company who donated the Christmas tree which he planned on cutting down with the help of W.D. Simons, Earl Lee Kelley, K.A. Walker, Dr. H.C. Erno, Ben Mason, James Holt, Mayor William Menzel, Augustas H. Gronwoldt and Lyle Sarvis. The tree was transported to Redding from La Moine by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company in one of their trucks. Later, the Christmas tree was dedicated on December 15, 1930.

Each year, new ideas were presented, and the dates were pushed back earlier, or moved forward later for the lighting of the Redding Christmas tree and other festivities to be included during this joyful event. The intersection of Market and Yuba Streets was used up until 1970 (a total of fifty-one years) according to several Shasta Historical Society members who remembered it well. The Christmas tree was relocated around that time period to the parking structure on California Street (which is now being demolished). The construction of the downtown Redding Mall is the reason why the Christmas tree was relocated there. The downtown Redding Mall was opened by August of 1972.

After forty-nine years, the Christmas tree will be back in its original location at Market and Yuba Streets on December 6, 2019 which will be dedicated that night at Winter Fest. Older residents still recall and cherish their memories of having the Christmas tree at that location. This time, a whole new generation will be able to create memories with their families and loved ones at the original site. This year also marks the one hundredth anniversary of this Christmas tradition. 

The green paint on the ground represents where the Christmas tree will be dedicated at Market and Yuba Streets on December 6, 2019 during Winter Fest. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on November 7, 2019.

RESOURCES:

Redding To Have Giant Christmas Tree For All Children Of The County - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 11, 1925

Redding Community Tree Is 73 Feet High - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 16, 1929

Christmas Party's Leaders Named - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, November 22, 1930

Christmas Season Opens At 7:30; Visit Redding Stores Tonight - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, November 28, 1930

Christmas Opening Crowds Local Stores - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, November 29, 1930

Party Organized To Get Christmas Tree For Christmass Fete - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 9, 1930

Christmas Tree Put Up On Monday - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 15, 1930

The Covered Wagon 1954, published annually by Shasta Historical Society.

The Christmas Tree - The Shasta Shopper, December 17, 1987

Redding's Christmas Tree is finally coming home - and staying downtown, by David Benda, The Record Searchlight newspaper of Redding, November 2, 2019

A Timeline of Redding Development Growth Destruction and Rebirth by David McCullough

Mae Helene (Bacon) Boggs (1863-1963); A Pioneer, A Historian and A Preservationist

Above: Mae Helene (Bacon) Boggs standing in the door way of one of the south-side ruins at Shasta in 1930. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society. 

Mae Helene Bacon was born to Charles Bacon and Sarah Elizabeth (Smith) Bacon on February 16, 1863, she was a native of Pike County, Missouri. Mae’s father eventually died and then in 1871, Sarah decided it was time for them to live with her brother in Shasta, California. Sarah and Mae boarded a boat which took them to St. Louis on the Mississippi River. At St. Louis they connected with a covered wagon which took them to California. 

At the age of eight years old this journey became an adventure that Mae never forgot during her lifetime. Upon their arrival in Shasta, they immediately moved into the residence of Williamson Lyncoya Smith, an early California pioneer who arrived at Hangtown in Placer County on August 6, 1850. Two years after his arrival in California the pioneer ventured north to Shasta where he settled that year. Williamson was Sarah’s brother, and Sarah enrolled her daughter into the school at Shasta. This is where she continued her schooling and Mae Helene Bacon became a well-educated person. 

Eventually, Mae’s uncle became the division superintendent of the California-Oregon Stage Company which operated in Shasta between 1853 and 1888. Then, Williamson Smith also purchased stock within the newly established McCormick-Saeltzer Company of Redding which incorporated as a business on May 7, 1877. Williamson became a founding owner of this general merchandise store. When Smith died of heart failure on May 31, 1902, it was Mae who obtained her uncle’s interest in the McCormick-Saeltzer Company, and she became a heavy stockholder inside the company, this move made her wealthy. 

Above: Williamson Lyncoya Smith (1830-1902). His ashes are kept in the San Francisco Columbarium in San Francisco. Aside from being employed by the California-Oregon Stage Company in Shasta he also purchased stock in 1877 establishing the McCormick-Saeltzer Company of Redding. Mae Helene (Bacon) Boggs obtained his interest. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society. 

In 1900, Mae relocated from Shasta to San Francisco and then she met and married Angus Gordon Boggs on August 6, 1900, in that city. Angus Boggs was a prominent hard working and wealthy citizen of San Francisco. According to the 1910 U.S. Census of San Francisco, he was a promoter of mining stock in the area, and he kept supporting his wife until his death on January 20, 1920, at the age of sixty-two. Mae Helene (Bacon) Boggs inherited her husband’s estate, and she became wealthier. 

On Easter Day, April 20, 1930, Mae Helene (Bacon) Boggs of San Francisco returned to her childhood home in the town of Shasta with her friends Edna (Behrens) Eaton of Redding and her son the late Shasta County Superior Court Judge, Richard B. Eaton. At first glance she was heartbroken to see her hometown in disrepair and in ruins. Shasta had been neglected over the years; it was formerly the county seat of Shasta County from March 6, 1851, to May 19, 1888, when the City of Redding became the county seat that day. 

Above: The first McCormick-Saeltzer Company store of Redding was located at the south-east corner of Butte & California Streets in Redding. Then in 1888, the owners moved into the building which is pictured above. The second building which was located between Yuba and Placer Streets in Redding. This photo was taken circa 1920. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society. 

Boggs fondly remembered the town in its glory days and wanted to act fast to preserve its historic district. Her first priority was establishing a historic monument dedicated to the Knights of the Whip, the stage drivers that held the ribbons of the stage on the dusty roads in Shasta County and pay tribute to them. Then on, August 6, 1930, her vision became a reality as a monument was dedicated on the north side of Main Street in Shasta, and a duplicate on Bass Hill. She received additional help from the Native Sons of the Golden West and the newly created Shasta Historical Society, which was established on January 18, 1930, in Redding. Together they played an important role in preserving Shasta’s historic district. 

Mae Helene (Bacon) Boggs began embracing a passion for historic preservation as she began restoring the former “Queen City of the North” for future generations to enjoy. She began purchasing land in Shasta which contained historic structures on the property. With the help of the above organizations Boggs began the restoration within Shasta’s historic district which included the south side ruins, during the late 1930s. In 1937, the California State Parks Commission assisted them in their effort to preserve the historic town of Shasta, and from this partnership the Shasta State Historic Park came into fruition.

Of course, much more work was underway in Shasta by the above groups and Boggs herself. It wasn’t until June 12, 1950, that Shasta Historic State Park was opened to the public in the historic town of Shasta. The State Park office in Shasta was located in the (old) brick courthouse which was built in 1862 on the north side of Main Street. The courthouse was restored and preserved as well as it became an intriguing museum with a vast collection of archives and special collections that they received upon donations of local relics related to Shasta’s history. 

In 1942, Mae Helene (Bacon) Boggs published a book called; My Playhouse Was a Concord Coach: An Anthology of Newspaper Clippings and Documents Relating to Those Who Made California History During the Years of 1822-1888. This book was an extensive body of work documenting California’s rich and compelling history through newspaper articles and written material. Of course, the early history of Shasta County was not overlooked in it. In San Francisco, Boggs rallied for women’s rights, and she became a well-known person in northern California. 

Above: the interior of the second McCormick-Saeltzer Company building of Redding, circa 1921. It was located between Yuba and Placer Streets in Redding. This building stood until January 13, 1940, when it was destroyed by fire. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society. 

The name of the future dam site was heavily debated some of its early name proposals which were suggested by the Federal Government were the following: Coram Dam, Kennett Dam and McColl Dam. It was Mae Helene (Bacon) Boggs who named the dam- Shasta Dam, and she also named the adjacent lake, Shasta Lake. She named these important places after the town of Shasta. Shasta Dam was engineered by Frank T. Crowe the owner of Pacific Constructors Incorporated, and construction began in 1938 and it’s construction was completed in 1945. When the Bureau of Reclamation held their grand opening for Shasta Dam, they invited Mae to attend the ceremony. 

Above: L-R: Earl Lee Kelly, Director of the California State Department of Public Works, Mae Helene (Bacon) Boggs, and John C. Paige, Commissioner of the U.S. Department of Public Works. This photograph was taken on September 12, 1937. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society. 

At the present (Old) Shasta may be referred to as a ghost town by some people, yet it is a place of living history. Boggs had lived to see her dreams become a reality as she died at the age of one hundred years old on August 1, 1963, in San Francisco. She was a tremendous friend and benefactor of the Shasta State Historic Park. The Shasta State Historic Park now includes numerous historical landmarks and a working museum which employs its own park rangers under the California State Park System. 

Due to the efforts of the pioneers before us who made Shasta their home and succeeded in thriving businesses in that town, the town has reached a thriving population of 1,771 people over time, living amongst this state park. Shasta is accessible by Highway 299 West in Redding which intersects Main Street at Shasta and leaves Shasta heading towards Weaverville. From Weaverville it’s accessible from Highway 299 East and intersects Main Street at Shasta leaving Shasta towards Redding. It’s a short fun-filled family trip if you choose to go, and a visible reminder of the early gold rush days in Shasta County. 

Today, there are numerous places named after this philanthropist and pioneering woman, Mae Helene (Bacon) Boggs. One of them is a government building at 2460 Breslauer Way in Redding called the Mae Helene (Bacon) Boggs Building. There are also two special collections of local historical relics named after her, most notably they are the Boggs Collection in the Redding Library, and the Boggs Collection at the Shasta State Historic Park Museum. 

RESOURCES: 

W.L. Smith Is Taken To The Crematory - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, June 2, 1902 

Erecting The Memorial In Old Shasta - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, April 17, 1931

My Playhouse Was A Concord Coach, an anthology of newspaper clippings and documents relating to those who made California history during the years 1822-1888, by Mae Hélène Bacon Boggs. Published by Howell-North Press ©1942 

In Memory Of A Famous Knight of The Rein by Harry P. Bagley, the Sacramento Bee newspaper of Sacramento - October 17, 1942 

SP-033 Smith, Williamson Lyncoya Pioneer Plaque 

Shasta Historical Society Pioneer History - W.L. Smith dated January 20, 1943 

Mrs. Boggs Dedicates Her Life To Pioneers by Ward Bushee, the Redding Record Searchlight newspaper of Redding - December 27, 1949

Mae Helene Bacon Boggs 1863-1963 Pioneer-Philanthropist-Centarian written by Judge Richard B. Eaton, The Covered Wagon 1964, published by Shasta Historical Society, pages 42-45. 

Shasta: The Queen City by Mabel Moores Frisbie and Jean Moores Beauchamp, published by California Historical Society, ©1973. 

Shasta State Historic Park Brief History and Tour Guide, published by Shasta State Historic Park, ©July 1985 

Boggs gave California art collection to Shasta State Park by Jack Frost - Record Searchlight newspaper of Redding, January 14, 2013 

For a Famous Name, We Owe Thanks to Mrs. Boggs. By Marc Beauchamp - Record Searchlight newspaper of Redding, August 26, 2009 

California State Parks Museum Collections