The Neighboring Townsites of Union and Lincoln

Could you imagine how the City of Redding would have been laid out today if the neighboring townsites of Union and Lincoln materialized into burgeoning success stories? It would be quite different. In this YouTube video you can learn about the efforts of Edward A. Reid and his brother Artie J. Reid, early Shasta County pioneer settlers who tried establishing two neighboring townsites just opposite of each other at the present-day site of the Diestelhorst Bridge, in December of 1861, to make their ferry site a port for steamboat navigation which ultimately failed due to the obstructions in the Sacramento River channel north of Latona. Maps of the townsites were surveyed but to my knowledge no copies were preserved. Check out this oft-forgotten history of our area and I hope you enjoy this episode of Exploring Shasta County history.

Filmed on location December 14, 2022.

RESOURCES:

Middle Creek Correspondence – The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, February 26, 1859

Two More Towns - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 14, 1861

Destruction - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 14, 1861

The San Joaquin Republican newspaper of Stockton, December 20, 1861

The Town of Lincoln - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 21, 1861

Red Bluff - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 21, 1861

Extension Of Navigation - The Red Bluff Independent newspaper of Red Bluff, December 27, 1861