William Joshua Hammans And The Founding Of Project City

Above: William Joshua Hammans (1876-1937) the founder of Project City wearing his police uniform and badge, next to his vehicle in Redding. From the collection of Jeremy Tuggle.

My paternal great-great grandfather was William Joshua Hammans who was born at Shingletown on May 9, 1876, to Henry Hammans Sr., and Hannah (Moss) Hammans his parents came to Shasta County in 1865, they lived at both Shingletown and at Ludwig’s Bridge west of Cottonwood. He married Charlotte Sarah Kidder on April 23, 1899, at Ono. She was a daughter of Reverend William S. Kidder and Mary Elizabeth (McFarlin) Kidder. Early on, Hammans was a farmer, and a stockman of western Shasta County, who served as a Justice of the Peace of the Ono township from 1908 to 1916. Then he became a police officer in Redding who later served as the 13th City Marshal of Redding, from 1923 to 1926, City Marshals are now known as Police Chiefs. 

Then, William J. Hammans bought land in 1931 near the town of Mountain Gate, and in 1935 William and his son Earl Eugene Hammans erected and operated a restaurant and merchandise store on their property, which they named Midway Associated Service Station and Cafe. In 1937 William and his son Earl started to subdivide the area with the help of W.T. Lanning, a real estate agent. Their subdivision was called the Hammans Tract located on Grand Coulee Boulevard which would also feature commercial frontage as well. People started purchasing from them that year and the area of Midway became a flourishing town later known as Project City. It was Hammans and his son who founded Project City, in Shasta County.

Above: is the Midway Associated Cafe and Service Station, owned and operated by William Joshua Hammans and his son Earl Eugene Hammans. From the collection of Jeremy Tuggle.

William J. Hammans was also an apartment complex owner that owned and operated Hammans' Apartments on Yuba Street, in Redding and, a grocery store in Redding called Hammans' Cash Grocery. Later in life, Hammans was a janitor at local Redding area schools and a prison guard at Folsom State Prison. He died in Chico, Butte County, California, on February 27, 1938, at the age of sixty-two. He is buried in Redding Memorial Park at Redding.

During May of 1938, W.T. Lanning proudly boasted about Project City in an article which appeared in the Searchlight newspaper, of Redding, and stated that his lots would all be located on 50 to 60 foot wide streets. Lanning also told the local media that he would build a lumber yard at Project City to make the demand of lumber sales easier for local residents to assist them in the erection of their future residential and commercial buildings in the area. One of the first commercial buildings erected at Project City was completed by Dr. Donald B. Marchus who was a local physician in the area. This medical facility was the first of its kind here and it remained to be the only medical facility in the Shasta Dam Boomtown region.

At a meeting on April 12, 1939, property owners of the area adjacent to the intersection of Highway 99 and the Kennett road, nine miles north of Redding, voted 38 to 52 that night to call the region "Project City" instead of Hammans which was the other name presented. There was an estimated population of 1,500 persons at that time according to one newspaper article. Over 200 people attended the meeting but only property owners were allowed to vote on the naming of the community. The suggested name of Hammans which would have been named in honor of William J. Hammans lost by four votes. However, a Hammans Voting Precinct was also created for the Project City area as well.

Then on, October 10, 1939, a second class United States Post Office was established at Project City which was located eight miles north of Redding, and one mile east of Central Valley, with the appointment of Howard P. Nelson as the first postmaster for this place. A one room schoolhouse was erected at Project City, that year, by E.J. Phillips. Phillips was then awarded another contract on May 21, 1940, to enlarge the school with a two room addition for a contract of $6,720. Project City saw a large influx of students enroll into the upcoming school year, and the school needed more space to accommodate their students.

Years later on, March 26, 1975, the second class Project City United States Post Office changed to a branch of Central Valley, and still controls the mail for the area today. The Project City branch United States Post Office is located on Cascade Boulevard.

Above: the Project City Market at Project City, near Shasta Dam, California. This photo was taken by J.H. Eastman. Courtesy of David Stuart.

Above: the headstone of William Joshua Hammans (1876-1938) who is buried in the Redding Memorial Park at Redding. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on August 1, 2014.

Above: the headstone of Earl Eugene Hammans (1907-1974), a son of William Joshua Hammans and Charlotte Lottie (Kidder) Hammans. His headstone states: "A Founder of Project City". Also buried next to him is his wife Virginia (Dare) Hammans (1915-1998) in the Ono Cemetery at, Ono, Shasta County, California. This photograph was taken July 4, 2018 by Jeremy Tuggle.

Above: the Project City branch U.S. Post Office still exists today on Cascade Boulevard. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on August 19, 2022.

Resources: 

Brevities - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, March 7, 1908

The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, October 3, 1911

Mrs. Leschinsky Buy Big Farm West of Ono - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 17, 1914

The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, January 23, 1915

The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, January 10, 1917

The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, October 16, 1917

W.J. Hammans to Be City Marshal at Opening of Year - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, December 22, 1922

W.E. Smith Is Marshal - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, June 17, 1926

W.J. Hammans for Justice of The Peace - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, June 17, 1926

W.J. Hammans Called Beyond - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, February 28, 1938

William J. Hammans Rites Held Wednesday - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, March 2, 1938

The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, May 8, 1938

Project City Selected as Name of Area - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, April 13, 1939

The Sacramento Bee newspaper of Sacramento, May 21, 1940

Redding Police Department History Project

Oral History of the Hammans Family by Linda (Hammans) Vest by the Honorable Judge Richard B. Eaton

The Hammans Family written by Virginia (Dare) Hammans

The Shasta Dam Boomtown Community Building in the New Deal Era written by Al M. Rocca, 1993, 162 pages. Published by Redding Museum of Art And History Center. ISBN: 1-884055-00-1

The Story of William Joshua Hammans by Jeremy M. Tuggle - The Covered Wagon 2004, pages 91-93, published by Shasta Historical Society. 128 pages. ISSN 0574-3680