Welcome to Exploring Shasta County history...
With this blog, I am bringing to life the stories of the early day pioneers and some of the oft-forgotten history of a bygone era in Shasta County, California. I'll also focus on important events after the turn of the 20th century. I would like to reflect upon current historical sites of the modern age as well.
This is copyrighted by Jeremy M. Tuggle.
One of the most iconic features of this terminus was the turntable system which rotated iron horses around on the rail line which came north towards Redding from Anderson and south from Redding to southern localities already in existence by rotating them on this circular contraption. Redding became the end-of-the-line at that time for trains traveling north in California for about a decade from 1872 until construction resumed north in 1883. At this location Redding’s iconic turntable once stood off of Tehama Street, in the railroad yard at Redding. Find out more in my newest video from Exploring Shasta County history.
Filmed on location.
SOURCES:
New Town - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, June 15, 1872
The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, June 22, 1872
Redding City - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, June 29, 1872
Redding - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, July 13, 1872
Redding - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, August 3, 1872
First Train - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, September 7, 1872
Trip To Redding - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, September 28, 1872
In my newest video you can visit the headstone and grave of Benjamin Barnard Redding who was born on January 17, 1824, to Fitz W. Redding and his wife Mary at Yartmouth, Yartmouth County, Nova Scotia, Canada, and died in San Francisco on August 21, 1882. Benjamin Barnard Redding is the man who the town of Redding, California was named for which was established on June 15, 1872, by the California & Oregon Railroad, a division of the Central Pacific Railroad. He was also a mayor of Sacramento in 1856 among other high profiled positions in California. He also became a land agent of the Central Pacific Railroad. This is the Redding family plot in the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery, in Sacramento, California, while I chase Shasta County's history to this historic location. Don't miss out, this is the newest video from Exploring Shasta County History...
RESOURCES:
B.B. REDDING - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper, of Sacramento, August 22, 1882
DEATH OF B.B. REDDING - The Shasta Courier newspaper, of Shasta, August 26, 1882
How did the City of Anderson receive its name? Who was the person this burgeoning present-day city is named for? When was the City of Anderson incorporated? Find out more about Elias Anderson and the city which bores his surname in this newest installment of Exploring Shasta County History from local historian and author, Jeremy M. Tuggle.
Before 1872, Redding was the end-of-the-line, for the Central Pacific Railroad which became very fortuitous in its role in the development of our county for ten years until the railroad resumed construction of its tracks and laid them north of Redding through the Sacramento River Canyon in 1883. During that year, these hand carved sandstone blocks were mounted and placed by Chinese laborers who were employed by the railroad company to lay tracks over various creek crossings in that region along the Sacramento River.
Now part of the scenic Sacramento River Trail, there function today serves as bridge foundations for a few pedestrian crossings from Salt Creek to Middle Creek. "Thousands of passengers and millions of tons of ore crossed over these foundations utilized by the railroad until 1939, when the railroad was rerouted over the high trestle east of the trail entrance as part of the construction of Shasta Dam."
Above: the remaining hand carved sandstone blocks are still intact on the Middle Creek crossing along the Sacramento River Trail. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on October 27, 2022.
Above: a close-up of the remaining hand carved sandstone blocks at the Middle Creek crossing. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on October 27, 2022.
Resources:
Trail plaque at Middle Creek on the Sacramento River Trail
On October 2, 2021, Shasta Lake’s water level was recorded at 891.58-feet elevation wise below full pool or 175.42-feet below the crest of Shasta Dam for the third lowest record of all-time. By this date we were 2.09-feet away from the second lowest record set on November 29, 2014, of 889.49-feet below full pool elevation. This building was also located at Pollock on October 2, 2021, and is located just north of the historic Pollock bridge. Presumably, it is a building connected with the Shasta Route railroad.
Filmed on location on October 2, 2021 in Lakehead, California.
California Drought Reveals 112-Year-Old Freight Train Car Derailment On Shasta Lake. One Of Five Freight Train Cars Found In The Sacramento River Channel. Wreckage Dates To 1909.
Above: this video was filmed on location September 18, 2021.
In the rain and mud at the discovery site in Lakehead north of Railroad Tunnel Number 6. L-R: Jeremy M. Tuggle (Education & Community Engagement Manager at Shasta Historical Society) and Ryan "Rizzle" Hammon the discoverer of this freight train car wreckage. Selfie. Photo taken: September 18, 2021, by Jeremy M. Tuggle/Shasta County News Source.
Lakehead, California, September 29 - After following the footsteps of my metal detecting buddy, Gabriel Leete, of Redding, and I, who helped me film a metal detecting segment of my YouTube show “Exploring Shasta County History” on September 4, 2021, near Railroad Tunnel Number 6 at Charlie Creek, on the Sacramento River arm of Shasta Lake, for recreation purposes only. While we were there we were trying to determine if the rail of the Shasta Route were still there or if they were removed by the railroad. It is our opinion that the railroad removed them to be utilized elsewhere along the modern route of the railroad heading north and south due to the hefty costs of manufacturing and purchasing of the rail at that time.
We were finding many iron pieces connected to the railroad and railroad spikes along the way, both old and modern versions, including a piping system of some sort below the rail bed before we concluded our search that day. We did not expect to locate anything important, and we thought we covered the entire area because parts of the river channel below the rail bed was still muddy, wet and not walkable at that time.
However, this warranted further investigation of the site by local Redding resident, Ryan “Rizzle” Hammon, age 29, who picked up where we left off. However, he didn’t think he would locate anything of interest or anything this exciting! Yet, what Hammon found was a historic derailed freight train car buried in the Sacramento River channel.
Looking north from a southern point along the rail bed at Railroad Tunnel Number 6 on the Sacramento River arm of Shasta Lake near Charlie Creek. This photograph was taken on July 11, 2021, by Jeremy M. Tuggle/Shasta County News Source.
Looking south from a northern point along the rail bed at Railroad Tunnel Number 6 on the Sacramento River arm of Shasta Lake near Charlie Creek. This photograph was taken on August 18, 2021, by Jeremy M. Tuggle/Shasta County News Source.
In 1872, the California & Oregon Railroad, a division of the Central Pacific Railroad stopped its construction at Redding until their surveying was completed to decide if they were heading west towards Shasta into Oregon or north through the Sacramento River Canyon into Oregon. As the end-of-the-line, Redding was very fortuitous in its role in the development of our county for ten years until the railroad resumed construction and laid its tracks north of Redding through the Sacramento River Canyon in 1883, and established additional communities, depots and "flag stations" along the way. Most of the railroad tunnels were erected along the route in 1884, a total of seven in all, and most of them were remodeled during the 1920’s these dates are etched into their concrete except for Railroad Tunnel Number 6 whose dates are faded away and lost to time. Only two remain above Shasta Lake's water line.
Later, this railroad was acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad, and eventually this region of track became known as the Shasta Route. The Shasta Route was used for both passenger and freight trains. One of the routes main passenger trains was the popular Shasta Limited. The Shasta Route promised to be the prominent and scenic travel route from San Francisco, California into Portland, Oregon. The railroad company advertised it as being the "road of a thousand wonders" since it traveled through the heart of the Shasta Cascade district. Train derailments rarely happened on this route, but they did occur.
One freight train derailment occurred on this rail line on March 27, 1909, when freight train number 221 came to a screeching halt approximately a mile north-west of Railroad Tunnel Number 6, near Charlie Creek, on a bend of the Sacramento River which derailed for 100 yards or more. Original reports say that four freight cars departed the track, later reports claimed that five freight cars departed the railroad. This incident held-up the traffic along this Sacramento River Canyon route for several hours that Saturday. The railroad was busy that weekend with the northbound passenger Portland Express Number 16 halted at Kennett and the southbound passenger Dunsmuir Express Number 35., halted at Dunsmuir on its way to Kennett and Redding. The cause of the wreckage was never determined. There was a transient who had hitched a ride on a break beam of the train as well, but this person walked away without injury. This wreckage made headlines all over the State of California.
A 1915-1945 map showing the Shasta Route at Charlie Creek at the Sacramento River. Source: CalTopo.
One hundred and twelve years later, on September 9, 2021, Ryan “Rizzle” Hammon with the assistance of local Redding residents Mariah Stevens, age 26, and James White, age 30, discovered something which many people can only dream of locating and “this discovery was made by hand with absolutely no metal detecting involved”, says Hammon as the current drought revealed this wreckage site to them, that day after digging by hand through the mud. On that day, Shasta Lake’s elevation was 900.13-feet below full pool and the wheel, drum bearing, and axel of the car appeared to them with other pieces neatly preserved by the murky depths of Shasta Lake.
Then, he departed Lakehead and anxiously went home to Redding where he immediately began his own research with the help of his friends above. Later, he contacted the author of this article at the Shasta Historical Society and invited me out to explore the discovery site with him. I first saw this discovery site on September 18, 2021, and I met him there in Lakehead to film and document it. I later finished compiling the research for Hammon. With hopes of salvaging the freight train rail car wreckage, Hammon, seeks to go through the proper channels before digging and he's aware that it might cost him money. With my help he contacted the Shasta Cascade Rail Preservation Society, general historian, Dave Jungkeit, who became fascinated and mind-blown by this rare discovery.
Jungkeit, remarked during an interview that: "it's a real possibility that whatever cargo those freight cars were hauling could still be intact and nicely preserved for Hammon to find, if he gets cleared to start digging it up from the river channel, of course he would have to go through Fish & Game to make a salvage claim." One newspaper article mentioned that most of the cars were hauling ties. Jungkeit, has set up a date with Hammon to review the discovery site himself.
The chances of locating the other four cars are slim since the newspaper articles claimed that they were smashed into pieces. So, it's a very rare possibility that any more lie there in the Sacramento River channel. Currently, Shasta Lake is 892.66-feet elevation below full pool, and or 174.34-feet below the crest of Shasta Dam.
FOUR CARS LEAVE TRACK NEAR TUNNEL 6 - CANYON TRAFFIC TIED UP FOR SEVEN HOURS SATURDAY - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, March 27, 1909.
One of the five derailed freight train cars is shown here. It has been nicely preserved by the murky depths of Shasta Lake for one hundred and twelve years. This discovery was made by Ryan "Rizzle" Hammon and his friends. This photograph was taken on September 18, 2021, by Jeremy M. Tuggle/Shasta County News Source.
L- R: James White, Ryan “Rizzle” Hammon, Zack Stevens, age 18, and Mariah Stevens checking out their incredible discovery in Lakehead. This photograph was taken on September 18, 2021, by Jeremy M. Tuggle/Shasta County News Source.
RESOURCES:
The Shasta Route - In All Of Its Grandeur - A Scenic Guide Book.
Four Cars Leave Track Near Tunnel 6 - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, March 27, 1909
Freight Wrecked Near Tunnel No. 6 - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, March 28, 1909
Shasta County - Wreck - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, March 28, 1909
Freight Cars Smashed To Pieces - The Marysville Daily Appeal newspaper of Marysville, March 28, 1909
Freight Train Wrecked Saturday - The Colusa Daily Sun newspaper of Colusa, March 29, 1909
New YouTube video: Railroad Tunnel Number 4 Now Surfacing Out Of the Sacramento River Arm of Shasta Lake, 9-17-2021. Today’s Shasta Lake level is 897.53-Feet elevation wise or 169.47-Feet below the crest of Shasta Dam. Built 1884 and remodeled in 1925. See my video below:
FULL TITLE: METAL DETECTING AT TUNNEL NO. 6 AT CHARLIE CREEK, AND BEYOND ON THE SACRAMENTO RIVER ARM OF SHASTA LAKE, 9-4-2021. ON THAT DATE SHASTA LAKE WAS 163.67-FEET BELOW THE CREST OF SHASTA DAM OR 903.33-FEET ELEVATION WISE BELOW FULL POOL.
ABOVE: This is the Redding family plot in the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery at Sacramento. All of the photographs are taken by Jeremy M. Tuggle, unless noted otherwise.
On February 22, 2019, my son Carson and I toured the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery at Sacramento and we visited the grave of Benjamin Barnard Redding who was born on January 17, 1824 to Fitz W. Redding and his wife Mary at Yartmouth, Yartmouth County, Nova Scotia, Canada. His family came to California in 1850, Benjamin was interested in mining and he did some mining along the Yuba River. Then in, 1854, Benjamin Barnard Redding became a publisher of the Democratic State Journal. Two years later, Redding was elected as a mayor of Sacramento. He was also the General Land Agent for the Central Pacific Railroad as well, and then he was appointed by Governor Low to be California's Secretary of State. Redding led a public life and he was also active in the State Board of Fish Commissioners for California.
ABOVE: This is the main headstone of Benjamin Barnard Redding in the Redding family plot one of four names etched into this towering headstone.
ABOVE: This is the main headstone of Mary Prescott (Putnam) Redding wife of Benjamin Barnard Redding.
ABOVE: A secondary headstone belonging to Benjamin Barnard Redding and his wife Mary Prescott (Putnam) Redding.
Benjamin met and married Mary Prescott Putnam, and to this union four children were born to them. The children of Benjamin and Mary are the following: William Redding, J. Albert Redding, George H. Redding, and Joseph D. Redding. Benjamin Barnard Redding died in San Francisco on August 21, 1882 at the age of fifty-eight of apoplexy. He is the man who the town of Redding, California was named for which was established on June 15, 1872 by the California & Oregon Railroad, a division of the Central Pacific Railroad.
ABOVE: The headstone of George H.H. Redding son of Benjamin Barnard Redding.
ABOVE: A Redding family headstone, too faded to read.
ABOVE: A Redding family headstone, too faded to read.
Today, the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery is located at 1000 Broadway Street in Sacramento. It was founded in 1849 by early Sacramento residents. Today, the cemetery has an office which is opened to the public daily from 7 A.M., to 5 P.M., and guided tours are available as well. This historic cemetery includes 17 famous burials including three California State Governors such as: John Bigler, Newton Booth, and William Irwin. Find out more from their website at: Sacramento Historic City Cemetery.
ABOVE: A Redding family headstone, too faded to read.
ABOVE: The main headstone of Fitz William Redding son of F.W. & Mary A. Redding.
ABOVE: L-R: Jeremy M. Tuggle and his son Carson K. Tuggle posing for a photograph at the main headstone of Benjamin Barnard Redding in the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery. This photograph was taken by Cindy L. Nelson.
ABOVE: L-R: Jeremy M. Tuggle and his son Carson K. Tuggle posing for a photograph at a secondary headstone of Benjamin Barnard Redding and his wife Mary Prescott (Putnam) Redding in the Sacramento Historic City Cemetery. This photograph was taken by Cindy L. Nelson.
RESOURCES:
B.B. REDDING - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper, of Sacramento, August 22, 1882
DEATH OF B.B. REDDING - The Shasta Courier newspaper, of Shasta, August 26, 1882
Believe it or not, this location at 2146 Pine Street in between Market and Pine Street in Redding was home to Redding's first cemetery. It's on the flatter surface of this knoll. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on December 12, 2018.
Redding was established by the California & Oregon Railroad, a division of the Central Pacific Railroad, on June 15, 1872. Once the construction of the railroad resumed north from Anderson, the railroad company decided to bypass this burial ground, and make its way north to Poverty Flats where the construction stopped that year. This cemetery was now on the outskirts of the brand new town at the southern end.
The first streets in town which were laid out by the railroad company was North, South East and West Streets followed by the nearby counties Placer, Tehama, Butte, and Yuba Streets. While Redding grew larger with additional streets and the development of Pine and Market Streets it brought more commercial businesses and private residences to town. The town grew into a flourishing city and this cemetery became an oft-forgotten location. It's a site of historical importance because it was Redding's first cemetery which a lot of people tend to over-look in Redding's early history. Over the years, the cemetery has been called the Redding Abandoned Cemetery. Today, the site is the former home of Biggins Lighting who just recently relocated to Larkspur Lane in Redding.
Since the cemetery's establishment in 1867, this piece of land became the final resting place of some of our counties early pioneer settlers for nearly thirty-nine years when it became abandoned and then rediscovered in 1906. At Shasta Historical Society, there are volumes of interment records for Shasta County cemeteries and among these are the records for this cemetery. It was Samuel Dinsmore, a young man, who died on April 24, 1867, at Dinsmore's ranch due to consumption at the age of twenty-five and he became the first interment into this newly established cemetery. Samuel Dinsmore was the eldest of four children born to John W. Dinsmore and Arabella (MacGlashon) Woodrum-Dinsmore.
Together, the John W. Disnmore family arrived in Shasta County in 1852, and they settled at Shingletown. John W. Dinsmore was a millwright who is noted with erecting the Dry mill at Shingletown in 1853, with his partner Merriman Ferrel, a brother to his future son-in-law. Then in 1857, John W. Dinsmore purchased land from Major Pierson B. Reading, this land was part of the Rancho Buena Ventura land grant. According to Shasta County historian Madge R. Walsh, "Dinsmore located his home, the Four Mile House, about four and a half miles east of Shasta, on the west side of the stage road where it divided to go east to Green's Ferry, or south to Tehama via Canyon House. He had built his house before paying for the property, as it was already extant when the deed was recorded. Today, the site is about a quarter mile west of the junction of Highway 299 W and Ridge Drive."
The headstone of Samuel Dinsmore whose remains were re-interred into the Redding Cemetery (now Redding Memorial Park). His name is misspelled as Samnel. He is buried next to his sister Angeline (Dinsmore) Ferrel (whose surname is misspelled as Ferrell. Ferrel is the correct spelling. There are no dates on this headstone. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle August 28, 2014.
Later that year, Arabella Ferrel, a niece of Samuel Dinsmore, and a daughter of Henry Clay Ferrel and Angelina (Dinsmore) Ferrel died at Balls Ferry, at the age of eleven from congestive chills on July 27, 1867. Henry Clay Ferrel is my paternal great-great-great uncle, and his daughter became the second interment at this former cemetery. Henry C. Ferrel, was a native of Ohio, and he arrived in Shasta County in 1853. He was married in 1854 to Angelina Dinsmore. In 1860, they were living at Shasta, Henry C. Ferrel was a miner by trade.
This is the headstone of Arabella Ferrel, a daughter of Henry Clay Ferrel and Angelina (Dinsmore) Ferrel who was re-interred at the Redding Cemetery (now Redding Memorial Park). The Ferrel surname is spelled correctly here. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST BURIAL IN REDDING MEMORIAL PARK. Note: Redding Memorial Park was established in the 1890s. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on August 28, 2014
The death notice of Joseph W. Brackett who died March 27, 1875 at Redding, he was a local lawyer. He was a son of Joseph Warren Brackett and Lydia (Miller) Brackett. His funeral was conducted under the supervision of the Masonic fraternity, of which he was a member. He was survived by his wife and a large family to mourn his loss. Taken from the Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, April 3, 1875.
The following is a confirmed listing of burials which took place between the years 1875 and 1877 and all of them were re-interred into the Redding Cemetery (now Redding Memorial Park);
Joseph W. Brackett died March 27, 1875
Emory Farhner died March 20, 1876
Ethol F. Wood died February 15, 1877
Annie Guilbert died July 20, 1877 (has no death notice, nor headstone.)
Six years after the turn of the 20th Century on February 13, 1906, the Redding Water Company rediscovered parts of the original cemetery when they were lowering the manes in that section of Redding. The majority of these burials above were re-interred into the Redding Cemetery (now Redding Memorial Park), that year. It was heralded across the state as a gruesome discovery, as their employees were finding the original coffins which were still intact and the headstones.
The local media claimed there were seven burials which had been unearthed, and only six of those seven burials are named in the cemetery records at the historical society. So who was the seventh burial? More research may uncover the answer to that question while it remains a mystery.
It’s possible that there might be additional burials at the former site of the Redding Abandoned Cemetery, only ground penetrating radar could tell us if there are any anomaly’s underground that shouldn’t be there today. It’s not clear if they recovered all of the burials because some references give this cemetery a much larger perimeter. It’s definitely, a location of historical interest that doesn’t get a lot of exploration, the next time you drive-by this former cemetery take a look as you're passing 2146 Pine Street.
The death notice of Emory Farhner, son of John Farhner, who died due to drowning in a small creek which ran through Redding and near the railroad tracks. Taken from the Shasta Courier newspaper on Saturday, March 25, 1876.
The headstone of Ethel Florence Wood a daughter of William A. Wood and Mattie Wood. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on August 28, 2014.
RESOURCES:
Death Notice - Samuel Dinsmore - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 27, 1867
Death Notice - Arabella Ferrell - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, August 3, 1867
Death Notice - Joseph W. Brackett - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 3, 1875
Death Notice - Ethel Florence Wood - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, February 24, 1877
Ditch Men Make Grewsome Finds - The Press newspaper of Redding, February 13, 1906.
Finds Coffins And Headstones In The Streets Of Redding - The San Francisco Call newspaper of San Francisco, February 14, 1906
Shasta Historical Society Cemetery Records (Small Cemeteries) - Redding Abandoned Cemetery, page 299, available in the archives of Shasta Historical Society.
Shasta County Cemteries compiled by Ronald Joliff
DP-015 Dinsmore, John W. Pioneer Plaque file available on file at the Shasta Historical Society in Redding
The Dinsmore Family by Madge R. Walsh
Selected sawmills of the Shingletown area by Jeremy M. Tuggle, Record Searchlight newspaper of Redding, February 4, 2017.
A view of Market Street in Redding with the T.J. Houston Co., Furniture on the right and the Temple hotel on the right in the distance. Horse, buggies and wagons are on the street. The Temple hotel was built in 1892. Circa, late 1890's. (Public Domain.)
On June 15, 1872, the town of Redding was established by the California & Oregon Railroad, a division of the Central Pacific Railroad, which stopped the construction of its tracks later that year at Poverty Flats. Poverty Flats lacked settlement by the early European-American’s because it was mainly swampland and farmers couldn’t raise their crops there which is the main reason it was ignored by them.
Due to the railroad it forced Redding's settlement upon Poverty Flats. Redding gained prominence and grew rapidly as the town burgeoned with success. However, Shasta County residents made the mistake of believing that Redding was named for Major Pierson Barton Reading (pronounced like the color red), an early day pioneer who was the first European-American settler in Shasta County.
Major Reading came to the area in 1843 with the Chiles-Walker Party on his way south to Sutter’s Fort. During the next year, he received a Mexican land grant from the Mexican Governor Manuel Micheltorena consisting of 22,632.08 acres of land, which extended from the south at Cottonwood Creek to the north at Salt Creek in Redding. The grant also stretched three miles west of the Sacramento River. He named his land grant the Rancho Buena Ventura meaning “good fortune” in Spanish. He didn’t settle on his property until 1847, becoming the first settler in what is now Shasta County.
Unfortunately, the new town of Redding was not named for Major Reading but for one of their own railroad agents, Benjamin Bernard Redding of Sacramento. Local residents began spelling the new town name as Reading in honor of Major Reading. The town kept using that spelling until it was overturned in the Superior Court in 1880, when the railroad won against private citizens who were for the pro-Reading spelling of the name.
The first streets which were laid out by the railroad in the new town site were North, South, East, and West Streets followed by the nearby counties Placer, Yuba, Butte and Tehama Streets. A railroad depot was also erected on Yuba Street. The first resident of Redding was a man by the name of Chauncey Carrol Bush Sr., who earned the reputation as being the “Father of Redding”. Bush arrived in Shasta County from Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1851.
He settled at Shasta, and then during the summer of 1872 he relocated from Shasta to the newly established town of Redding. A cellar of a building was constructed by Chauncey C. Bush Sr., on July 22, 1872, and on that same date the first permanent improvements were made to the new town site. Then on, August 3, 1872, seventeen new lots were sold at an average price of $108. Redding lots were now on the market for the very first time while many people purchased them.
Eight days later, Bush establishes the first general mercantile store in Redding. As construction took place local carpenters stayed busy erecting new buildings. Then on, September 1, 1872, the first passenger train arrived in Redding via Red Bluff, Cottonwood, and Anderson.
It was a grand celebration at the Redding Depot. Two local Shastan’s who rode on that first train into Redding were Charles Litsch and Mary Jane (Cloud) Culverhouse. She was the only female passenger that day. Throngs of people were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the train from Red Bluff in Redding that Sunday at the depot, which was the end-of-the-line and it was very fortuitous in its role in the development of our county for ten years until the railroad resumed construction and laid its tracks north of Redding through the Sacramento River Canyon.
Later that month, another post office was established, in Shasta County, at Redding on September 23, 1872 by the United States Postal Service headquarters at Washington D.C., who appointed Chauncey C. Bush Sr., as the first post master. Bush’s residence was located at the corner of Sacramento and Market Streets which is where he lived and raised his family. (It is now the site of the Redding hotel.) The block his house stood on was also known as the Bush Block. He was an entrepreneur who established businesses in Shasta County, a miner, a judge and he led other civic duties. He was well-known, and had a popular reputation. By November 22, 1872, there were seventy new houses which were constructed by local carpenters since August 20th.
A number of “firsts” occurred at the new town site of Redding during the upcoming months. A few of them included the following items of interest: the town’s first fire destroyed the residence of a Mr. Williams on December 21, 1872. A man by the name of George Lowry became the first person that died in the new town site on January 5, 1873, of natural causes. He was 63 years of age and a native of Kentucky. Another first occurred on June 16, 1873, when the first wedding was performed and celebrated at Redding. This matrimonial ceremony was between William F. Junkans and Mattie Todd who were both residents of Weaverville.
Redding’s first hotel was the Reading hotel at the railroad depot on Yuba Street, then in 1877, the McCormick-Saeltzer Company General Merchandise store was incorporated in Redding. It was the biggest store in town and it competed in business with Bush’s general mercantile store. It was often referred to as the “Big Store” by the local residents. At a later date, additional branches of this store were established at Delta, Keswick, Carrville and Delamar.
The Ben Frank & Company of Redding established a newspaper called the Reading Independent. It was a weekly newspaper which was printed every Thursday morning. Its first number Volume 1 was issued on August 22, 1878. Subscriptions to this new newspaper were offered at “one year, in advance $4.00, six months $2.25, three months $1.25.” Its tagline at the top of the title page claimed the following, “An independent newspaper devoted to home, the fireside, mining and agriculture.”
During the next year, a fire department was established at Redding which was named the Hook and Ladder Company. Of course, Bush was right in the center of attention becoming its first foreman. According to the Republican Free Press newspaper, Redding was incorporated as a city, by the Board Of Supervisors on September 5, 1887. However, the official filing with the state was dated October 4th, and the October date is the date that we currently celebrate as our city's official incorporation date.
It was Chauncey C. Bush Sr, who began serving as the first mayor on October 10, 1887. Bush served honorably as mayor until he was succeeded by local resident Jerry Culverhouse on April 9, 1888. Then on, May 19, 1888, the City of Redding became the county seat of Shasta County, on that day, the first court was held at Redding.
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors published their May term proceedings in the Shasta Courier newspaper on Saturday, May 19, 1888, which claimed the following:
"Supervisors Jones and Listch, committee appointed to secure quarters for the county officers, report as follows: That they have secured the entire upper story of the new brick building of Peter Hoff, to be used by the officers and the disposition of the Board for the sum of $175 per month, Peter Hoff to put in gas fixtures and supply water by pipe in at least one place in the upper story of said building. An office room for the use of the County Treasurer has been secured in the office of Edward Wood for $10 per month. The Methodist church has been secured to be used as a Court Room, to be rented for $30 per month. All of the above places to be rented from the 19th day of May 1888, until the time when a court house is built and moved into by the officers. All of said rent to be paid by warrants drawn on the general fund, by the order of the Board." (SIC)
A number of changes occurred in Redding during the decade of the 1890s, electricity would play an important role within the city. New businesses were established including additional newspapers as well. The population of Redding doubled its size. As the City of Redding flourished, Shasta began to decline, becoming a ghost town of ruins. Redding played its roll well over the years and it continued to do so past the turn of the 20th century as new industries were developed in the region giving people many reasons to settle here.
The West Side of Market Street, in Redding, California. On the left is the McCormick-Saeltzer Company. Early vehicles, buggies and horses on Market Street. Date unknown. (Public Domain.)
Correction to the caption on the above postcard, L-R: the Hall of Records and the Shasta County Courthouse in Redding on Court Street in 1912. The Hall of Records building was designed by Mathew W. Herron in 1908, and it was built by the Robert Brothers in 1909. (Corrected Note: Robert Lee Reading did not design the Hall of Records building.) The Shasta County Courthouse began construction in 1888 and was finished in 1889, erected by pioneer James T. Loag. From the collection of Jeremy Tuggle.
1620 Yuba Street, the present Redding Depot building. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on October 10, 2015.
A statue of the pioneer, Chauncey Carroll Bush, Sr (1831-1907). This statue is located in Caldwell Park. A plaque lies to the left of his feet. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on May 14, 2018.
RESOURCES:
New Town - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, June 15, 1872
Redding - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, August 3, 1872
First Train - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, September 7, 1872
Trip To Redding - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, September 28, 1872
First Fire In Redding - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 28, 1872
First Death - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 11, 1873
Married - Marysville Daily Appeal newspaper of Maryville, June 24, 1873
Married
– The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, July 5, 1873
The Reading Independent newspaper of Redding, August 22, 1878
Incorporation Prevails - The Republican Free Press newspaper of Redding, September 3, 1887
Supervisors Proceedings, May Term 1888 - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, May 19, 1888
Dethroned - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, Saturday, May 26, 1888
Election Proclamation - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 19, 1889
The
Republican Free Press newspaper of Redding, September 21, 1889
Plans Accepted For The Hall Of Records - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, January 12, 1908
The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, March 16, 1909 Women
Are Invited To Historical Society’s Luncheon Program – The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding,
January 25, 1937
Listing of Redding Mayors (1887-2007) CP-047
Culverhouse, Jerry Pioneer Plaque File on file at Shasta Historical Society. Trails
of 49’ In Shasta – Mrs. Mary J. Culverhouse, unknown author.
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