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This article might be turned into a series about oft forgotten place names in Shasta County, California, which were formerly up-and-coming places to live in our beautiful region of northern California. Let’s take a look at some of them today and explore their history below...
Elderton, was an agricultural community where farming and stock-raising was the main industry which helped establish this community. This community was settled in 1860, and later that year, on October 17, 1860, John C. Divine took charge as the first postmaster of this United States Post Office, and it became a townsite complete with a rural general merchandise store which housed their United States Post Office. The townsite of Elderton was a booming location which was located four miles west of Cottonwood. However, the prosperous growth of the town of Cottonwood merged with this oft-forgotten locality and its United States Post Office became discontinued on September 20, 1862, as Cottonwood burgeoned with success and Elderton's mail route was rerouted to the Cottonwood United States Post Office at that time.
During 1852, the Wright Ferry, which was owned and operated by Eugene Wright & Otis Seaman sold their ferry to William Potter Jr., and Potter changed the name of this ferry to Potter’s Ferry which was then located one hundred yards south of the mouth of Spring Creek. Potter then relocated his ferry below the mouth of Rock Creek on the Sacramento River near Middle Creek (north of the present-day site of the Ribbon bridge.) Kilna, was a nearby settlement at the mouth of Middle Creek which was first settled in 1852 and later that year the United States Postal Service headquarters in Washington D.C., established a United States Post Office there on November 10, 1852, with William Potter Jr., as the first postmaster due to its flourishing population. It was located at the site of Potter’s Ferry, which was owned and operated by local ferryman, William Potter Jr., on the Sacramento River at Middle Creek. The town of Kilna boomed overnight and yet just as quickly as the townsite emerged out-of-nowhere it faded into becoming a footnote in history. On October 27, 1853, the United States Postal Service headquarters in Washington D.C., discontinued Kilna’s United States Post Office. William Potter Jr., was the last and only postmaster at this locality. The town of Kilna declined in population and it became deceased just as quickly as it emerged. Years later, a town called Waugh also known as Middle Creek formed at the same location as Kilna, and is now considered a ghost town along the Sacramento River Trail at Middle Creek with a few reminders of its hey-day remaining.
Believe it or not, Shasta County had a thriving mining settlement called Nebraska, which was located on Clear Creek, and situated in between the burgeoning towns of Texas Springs and Briggsville. Nebraska was a thriving community which saw an increase of population from 100 residents to 750 residents in 1855 due to lucrative gold strikes in the area. Five years later, only two residents remained in this declining community due to the mines not producing lucrative ore, and by 1861 the settlement deceased. Even today, Texas Springs and Briggsville outgrew Nebraska and there are a few relics from those townsites which remain visible to the public eye.
Pine View, was another booming lumber settlement which was first settled in 1884. It was located eight miles west of Shingletown and fourteen miles north-east of Balls Ferry. Pine View included a one-room schoolhouse which was established there on May 4, 1885, and was utilized to advance the education of the local school children in the area who were taught there by one teacher. The schoolhouse was erected in 1885 on the Balls Ferry to Shingletown Road approximately a half mile east of the Lack Creek bridge.
Later, the Pine View schoolhouse was relocated to an open meadow about a half-mile of Lack Creek bridge. Florence Pugh was the teacher here in 1899 and 1900. The school continued to be utilized until May 9, 1919, when the school was transferred into the Sheridan School District due to a decline in the community’s population which eventually was the death knell of this locality.
RESOURCES:
List Of Post Offices - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 26, 1853
List Of U.S. Post Offices and Postmasters in the State of California - The San Joaquin Republican newspaper of Stockton, August 18, 1854
Clear Creek Ditch - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, October 27, 1855
Increase Of Our Population - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, November 3, 1855
List of Post Offices on the Pacific Coast - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, October 25, 1862
San Francisco Bulletin newspaper of San Francisco, March 15, 1879
The Free Press newspaper of Redding, March 8, 1884
The Free Press newspaper of Redding, May 10, 1884
Shasta County, California A History by Rosena Giles, published by Biobooks, ©1949.
