THE DEMISE OF REDDING'S HISTORIC TURNTABLE WAS BEING RELOCATED TO MONTAGUE.

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

History and Business Directory - Shasta County - 1881 by B.F. Frank and H.W. Chappell. Redding Independent Book and Job Printing House, Redding, California, ©1881.

Redding Loses Old Turntable - The Tehama County Daily Republican, October 27, 1910

My Playhouse Was a Concord Coach, an anthology of newspaper clippings and documents relating to those who made California history during the years 1822-1888, by Mae Helene Bacon Boggs. Published by Howell-North Press ©1942

Shasta County, California A History, by Rosena Giles, published by Biobooks, ©1949.

Outpost On Poverty Flats by Charles J. Gleeson, ©1978 published by Redding Printing Company

Redding & Shasta County – Gateway to the Cascades – by John D. Lawson ©1986 published by Windsor Publications Inc.

Redding the First Hundred Years by Edward Petersen, ©1972 published by North-Cal Printing & Litho.

A History of Redding the Early Years, 1872-1875 by Al M. Rocca, ©2014 published by Renown Publishing.

A Historic Downtown Redding Walking Tour, 6-28-2025.

In this episode you can learn some interesting facts about downtown Redding, and its history with this walking tour presented by Shasta Historical Society, and hosted by Gabriel Leete, whose been featured on my YouTube channel in past episodes as well. This tour features local historians Robert Frazier of California Unearthed and Jeremy M. Tuggle of Exploring Shasta County History. We spent the day educating a group of people and toured 17 plus historic sites on a 2.2 mile walk in downtown Redding. The following sites can be seen in this film here: Jesse Litle Shoemaking Shop, Bank of Shasta County, Shasta Historical Society, Old City Hall, Railroad Turntable Tracks, Railroad Semaphore, The Lorenz Hotel, Damburger and more. Please like share and comment, and if you haven't yet, please smash that subscribe button. I will see you on the next episode. 

THE IRON MOUNTAIN MINE: A SITE OVERVIEW.

Above: The Iron Mountain Mine; A Site Overview.

In 1865 Charles Camden located the first iron ore body upon Iron Mountain which gave its name to the mountain, a 3,600 ft. high mountain, situated in the West Shasta mining district of Shasta County, California. Over the years the property grew to contain the Brick Flat mine, the Complex mine, the Hornet mine, the Little Nelly mine, the Lost Confidence mine, the Mattie mine, the Minnesota mine, the No. 8 mine, the Old mine, and the Richmond mine. It became a celebrated lucrative producer within this county. Camden then went into partnership with Colonel William Magee, and they eventually brought on James M. Sallee as an owner with them after Sallee located an impressive ore body of silver upon the mountain. The nearby communities of Iron Mountain, Keswick, Matheson, South Park, and Taylor came into fruition due to the mine itself. The first year of production for this mine was in 1879 and the last year of production was in 1963. On September 8, 1983, the Iron Mountain mine became an EPA superfund site and is presently ranked as the third largest polluter in California. In 2010, the Iron Mountain Mine was labeled as a "Toxic Hellhole" by the San Francisco Gate media outlet. For more information, please see the attached YouTube video: "The Iron Mountain Mine; A Site Overview."

Resources: 

A Road to Shasta Would Pay - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, September 11, 1869

Iron, Mountain - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, October 21, 1871

Iron Mountain - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 2, 1881

Lost Confidence Mine - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, May 14, 1881

Iron Mountain - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, May 21, 1881

Iron Mountain - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, June 25, 1881

Iron Mountain - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, September 24, 1881

Rich Mineral Strike - The Record-Union newspaper of Sacramento, August 29, 1881

The Republican Free Press newspaper of Redding, August 8, 1885

Eleven Bars of Bullion - The Republican Free Press newspaper of Redding, September 17, 1887

The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 7, 1895

The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 14, 1895

The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 11, 1896

Will Succeed Hill - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, May 1, 1897

Mines and Miners - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, May 4, 1897

South Park - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, July 22, 1897

Mail Route to Fielding - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, November 19, 1897

Aubury, Lewis E. The copper resources of California: California Mining Bureau Bulletin 23: 65. 1902

William McKendrick - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 25, 1903

William McKendrick - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 29, 1903

Mines and Mineral Resources of Shasta County, Siskiyou County, and Trinity County, by G. Chester Brown, ©1915 published by California State Printing Office.

Aerial Tramway to Be Built by Copper Company - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, April 30, 1921

Shipping 500 Tons of Ore Everyday - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, January 11, 1922

To Move Keswick P.O. To Matheson - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, July 7, 1922

Charles F. Reed to be Postmaster - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, October 20, 1922

Post Office at Keswick to Go - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, January 14, 1923

25 Prospectors Find Good Leads Around Matheson - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, January 24, 1923

Iron Mountain Mine No. 8 Is Closed Down - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, July 18, 1930

Mines and Mineral Resources of Shasta County, California – County Report 6 – by Philip A. Lydon and J.C. O’ Brien ©1974 by California Division of Mines and Geology

(4) Iron Mountain Mine - Jobs and Clean-up from Recovery Act Funds - YouTube

(4) Inside Iron Mountain Mine - YouTube

Inside A Toxic Hellhole, Iron Mountain Mine written by Peter Fimrite - The S.F. Gate newspaper of San Francisco, August 29, 2010

THE M.A. BURNS LUMBER COMPANY RAILROAD BOILER AT CASTLE CRAGS STATE PARK

A follow up to the M.A. Burns Lumber Company abandoned railroad 36' narrow gauge video that I filmed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHb14... with Robert Frazier of California Unearthed. The subject focuses on a boiler which was found along the railroad grade by state park staff in 1994.

The M.A. Burns Lumber Company Railroad: an Abandoned 36' Narrow Gauge Logging Railroad At Castella

On this episode of Exploring Shasta County History, join Robert Frazier, host of California Unearthed, and I as we explore an abandoned logging railroad situated just outside of the Castle Crags State Park at Castella on the North Fork of Castle Creek which was laid in 1910 as part of the M. A. Burns Lumber Company holdings as a 36" narrow gauge line which was utilized for hauling lumber that this company was milling and producing. Later on, the company changed its name to the Castle Creek Lumber Company. This lumber company operated this route until 1929 and the tracks were removed and relocated to another undisclosed location in 1936 when this railroad grade became abandoned. Today, only the abandoned railroad grade and ties remain of this railroad logging operation. Filmed on location October 8, 2023.

SHASTA LAKE DROUGHT: TOWN CREEK DAM AT BULLY HILL AND AN ARIAL ORE CAR TRAMWAY

Filmed on location on April 30, 2022.

The town of Delamar was established in the area in June of 1900, as for the Town Creek Dam I'm not positively sure on dates of construction but my estimate would be about 1907 to 1910 era due to the construction of the Sacramento Valley and Eastern Railroad which is associated with this small concrete dam. Construction on this railroad began December 11, 1906, and the Sacramento Valley And Eastern Railroad was incorporated on January 8, 1907, the purpose of the S.V. & E.R., was to conduct a 15 mile standard gauge, ore, delivery, and passenger train from Bonita 3 miles north of Kennett to the Bully Hill smelter at Delamar. It was completed in 1908 and operated until 1939, due to the flooding of Shasta Lake for Shasta Dam.

This railroad is the same railroad as seen in my previous YouTube video available here: 

Above: This video was filmed on 7-9-2021!

This video was filmed on location on April 30, 2022, the water level for Shasta Lake on that day was 945.62-feet elevation wise below full pool or 121.38-feet below the crest of Shasta Dam. My resources for this video are located here:

Resources:

Goes With The Bully Hill – The Daily Free Press, July 14, 1899

The Bully Hill Deal – The Daily Free Press, July 14, 1899

Deed To Bully Hill Mines Files For Record Today - The Daily Free Press, July 18, 1899

The Daily Free Press, Tuesday, July 18, 1899

Where The Smelter Will Be Located  – The Daily Free Press, July 19, 1899

Copper City Gets De Lamar Smelter  – The Daily Free Press, March 12, 1900

A Combination Smelter  – The Daily Free Press, July 20, 1899

Mines And Mining News – The Daily Free Press, July 20, 1899

Mines About Bully Hill – The Daily Free Press, July 21, 1899

The De Lamar Smelters A Sure Go  – The Daily Free Press, March 19, 1900

The New Smelter Town – The Daily Free Press, March 20, 1900

The Daily Free Press, March 21, 1900

In Pioneer Days – THE SHASTA COURIER, March 24, 1900

The Shasta Courier – March 24, 1900

Delamar And Sallee Show Rapid Growth - The Daily Free Press, March 26, 1901

Kennet-Delamar Road Files Papers - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, January 8, 1907

Incorporates To Build Railroad To Delamar - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, January 9, 1907

A New Station Called Pitt - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, February 5, 1907

Contract Let For Building The Railroad - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, February 9, 1907

Railroad Work Near Delamar - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, November 6, 1907

Railway To Electric Smelter - The San Francisco Call newspaper of San Francisco, December 15, 1907

First Load Of Freight - The San Francisco Call newspaper of San Francisco, December 16, 1907

Bully Hill Smelter Has Been Remodeled - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, December 24, 1907

Railroad Completed As Far As Horse Creek - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, February 4, 1908

Tracks Laid Into Delamar - The Chico Record newspaper of Chico, February 20, 1908

Round Trip Between Delamar and Redding - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, February 26, 1908

The Smelter Town Has Three Names - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, September 10, 1908

Sacramento Valley And Eastern Railroad Shows Profit - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, June 29, 1922

My Playhouse Was A Concord Coach, an anthology of newspaper clippings and documents relating to those who made California history during the years 1822-1888, by Mae Hélène Bacon Boggs. Published by Howell-North Press ©1942

Shasta County, California A History by Rosena Giles, published by Biobooks, ©1949.

Place Names of Shasta County by Gertrude A. Steger revision by Helen Hinckley Jones, ©1966 by La Siesta Press, Glendale, California

Mines and Mineral Resources of Shasta County, California – County Report 6 – by Philip A. Lydon and J.C. O’ Brien ©1974 by California Division of Mines and Geology

Above: Town Creek Dam at Town Creek at Bully Hill on the Squaw Creek arm of Shasta Lake. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on April 30, 2022.