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Lassen County

  • Lassen County, California (circa 1915-1916) - Excerpts from Report XV of the State Mineralogist, Mines and Mineral Resources of Portions of California, Chapters of State Mineralogist's Report Biennial Period 1915-1916, Part II. The Counties of Butte, Lassen, Modoc, Sutter and Tehama, California State Mining Bureau, 1919, pp. 181-266. (Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

    Lassen County - Mines and Mineral Resources, by W. Burling Tucker, field Assistant. field Work in September, 1915.

    Description (of Lassen County)

    "Lassen County, in the northern part of the state, is bounded on the south by Plumas and Sierra counties, on the west by Shasta, on the north by Modoc, and on the east by the state of Nevada.

    "The county has an area of 4680 square miles. It is a succession of mountain ranges, those in the western half being heavily timbered, and interspersed with valleys, both large and small, wherein are located numerous lakes, of which there are twenty-two. The most prominent of these is Eagle Lake, which lies twelve miles north of Susanville, near the center of the county, among the eastern spurs of the Sierra Nevada range...."

    "The principal industries of the county are stock raising, dairying, mining, and lumbering."

    Railroad Facilities (in Lassen County)

    Lassen County is reached and traversed by three different railroads: The Western Pacific crosses the county east and west in the southern part; the Southern Pacific Railroad comes in from the east, starting at Fernley, on the Central Pacific about thirty miles east of Reno, Nevada, and continues through Honey Lake Valley as far as Westwood, where the headquarters of the Red River Lumber Company are located; the Nevada-California-Oregon Railroad, commencing at Reno, Nevada, and ending at Lakeview, Oregon, traverses the entire length of the east side of the county.

    Mining Conditions (in Lassen County)

    "Owing to the larger part of the county being covered by eruptive overflows, which obscure all indications of the presence of valuable minerals, there are only two places in the county where mining has been carried on, resulting in bullion shipments, the most prominent of which is the Hayden Hill mining district...."

    "South of Coopervale in Secs. 29 and 32, T. 28 N., R. 10 E., some good copper prospects have been developed, showing values in gold and silver. Among the mineral resources of this county are copper, gems, gypsum, gold, silver and sulphur."

  • Lassen County Mineral Industry (circa 1919) - Excerpt from California Mineral Production for 1919, Bulletin No. 88, by Walter W. Bradley, California State Mining Bureau, 1920, pp. 151.

    Area: 4,531 square miles.
    Population: 8,507 (1920 census).
    Location: Northeast portion of state.

    “Lassen County is one of the little explored sections of California. Since about 1912 a railroad traversing the county north and south has been in operation, thus affording opportunity for development along mineral and other lines.

    “In fifty-sixth place, commercial production for 1918 was as follows:”

    (Substance) Stone, miscellaneous; (Value) $1,100.

    Lassen County, 1916 Map, from California Mineral Production for 1919 (with County Maps), Bulletin No. 88, by Walter W. Bradley, California State Mining Bureau, San Francisco: California State Printing Office, 1920, pp. 182. Lassen County , 1916 Map

Lassen County - List of Stone Quarries, Etc.*

(* Please note this list does not include sand or gravel quarries.)

  • Susanville, Lassen County, California - James H. Lord (Marble Works) (excerpt from Pacific Coast Directory, for 1880-81...of California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Arizona, and British Columbia, L. M. McKenney & Co., Publishers, San Francisco, Cal., presented on the Golden Nugget Library web site, by Nancy Pratt Melton.

    • (pp. 848) “Lord, James H, marble works.”

  • Susanville (8 ½ miles from), Lassen County, California - Volcanic Tufa Quarry (Volcanic Tufa) Excerpt from Fifth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist, For the Year Ending May 15, 1885, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: State Office, James J. Ayers, Supt. State Printing, 1885, pp. 119.)

    • “5994. Volcanic breccia, used as a building stone in Susanville. It is said to resist the action of fire, as shown during a recent conflagration in that town. Section five, township twenty-nine north, range thirteen east, eight and one half miles from Susanville, Lassen County.”

  • Susanville, Lassen County, California - Volcanic Tufa Quarry (Volcanic Tufa) - Excerpt from the Tenth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1890, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento : State Printing Office, 1890, pp. 273.

    • “...Susanville, at the head of Honeylake Valley, a distance of forty-two miles from Liegan. The town, which has an altitude of four thousand two hundred feet, is situated on a side hill at the foot of a bluff of volcanic tufa, which is being utilized for building purposes. When first quarried, it is soft enough to hew into shape with an ax; after exposure it hardens, but never attains sufficient hardness to be accounted a first-class building stone. Lassen Butte, which is partly in this county, with the smaller craters in its surrounding neighborhood, seems to have been the source....”

  • Susanville, Lassen County, California - J. B. Wagender (Granite) (Excerpts from “California Mineral Commodities in 1951,” California State Division of Mines, California Journal of Mines and Geology, pp. Vol. 50, No. 1, January 1954, pp. 59-147. Used with permission, California Department of Conservation, California Geological Survey.)

    “A belt of white crystalline limestone runs along the east slope of the Gabilan range, in places forming the main ridge. (See XIth Report, California State Mining Bureau, p. 370, Monograph XIII, U. S. Geological Survey, p. 181.)”

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