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Above: these structures were erected in the 1870s and 1880s, and they remain standing in Cottonwood today on the east side of Front Street. Date unknown. From the collection of Jeremy Tuggle.
In 1899, Cottonwood was located eighteen miles south of Redding and seventeen miles north of Red Bluff. It was located on the county line between Shasta and Tehama Counties, and on the California and Oregon railroad which included a busy railroad depot that made it a major shipping location. The town also featured a hostelry owned and operated by A.M. Dunham, a bakery owned and operated by a man with the surname of Moore, a church, livery and feed stables, and a general merchandise store owned and operated by John Pfeifer and W.F. Price.
T.R. McClabe was the post master at the Cottonwood post office, and he delivered the mail to a town site with a population of 450 people, that year. Cottonwood was also home to the Thatcher Lumber Company which was managed by W.F. Smith, at that time. Local resident, A.B. Gilliland was the physician and surgeon in town as well. Cottonwood continued to thrive into the 20th century
COTTONWOOD BEFORE 1899:
This community has a long history which dates back to 1846, when Captain John C. Fremont named the nearby creek for the abundance of Cottonwood trees in the area. The town site eventually took it’s name from Cottonwood Creek. During 1850, all of the townsite was located in Shasta County.
Cottonwood was established on the south side of the creek, the settlement stretched from Ludwig Gulch west of the Red Bluff-Shasta Road to nearly the same distance on the east side. The town’s first post office was established in 1852. When Tehama County was created in 1856, Cottonwood Creek was selected as the towns northern boundary which made Cottonwood a two-county town.
Above: the same row of historic structures located on the east side of Front Street on September 6, 2020. This photo was taken by Jeremy Tuggle.
RESOURCES:
1899 City Of Redding Directory
1900 U.S. Census
Shasta County, California A History by Rosena Giles, published by Biobooks, ©1949.
U.S., Appointments of U.S. Postmasters, 1832-1971
