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California Counties

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California Counties

The U.S. state of California is divided into fifty-eight counties. On January 4, 1850, the California constitutional committee recommended the formation of 18 counties. They were Benicia, Butte, Fremont, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Monterey, Mount Diablo, Oro, Redding, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and Sutter. On April 22, the Counties of Branciforte, Calaveras, Coloma, Colusi, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Trinity, and Yuba were added. Benicia was renamed Solano, Coloma to El Dorado, Fremont to Yola, Mt. Diablo to Contra Costa, San Jose to Santa Clara, Oro to Tuolumne, and Redding to Shasta. One of the first state legislative acts regarding Counties was to rename Branciforte County to Santa Cruz, Colusi to Colusa, and Yola to Yolo.

The last California county to have been established is Imperial County in 1907.

Lassen County, California

Lassen County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Susanville
Year Organized: 1864
Square Miles: 4,558

Court House:

221 South Roop Street
County Administrative Center
Susanville, CA 96130-0000

Etymology - Origin of County Name

The county's name was derived from Mount Lassen, which was named for Peter Lassen, one of General Fremont's guides and a famous trapper, frontiersman and Indian fighter. He was killed by the Paiutes at the base of the mountain in 1859.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Lassen County was formed in 1864 from parts of Plumas and Shasta Counties. Due to uncertainties over the California border, what is now Lassen County was part of the unofficial Nataqua Territory and Roop County, Nevada during the late 1850s and early 1860s.

In the 1840's, John C. Fremont and his army followed the trails left behind by fur trappers exploring the area in the 1830's to prepare for the Bear Flag revolt, which led to the creation of California.

With the Gold Rush of 1849 and emigrants following established trail routes through the area, it was not until 1854 that the area began to take shape, as a trading post was established on the west end of Honey Lake Valley.A small gold rush just south of the trading post two years later caused the permanent settlement of Honey Lake Valley and Lassen County.

In 1863, due to a growing dispute over land boundaries and taxes, the Sagebrush War ensued. After a victorious end for the residents in the area, Lassen County was created.

By 1880, many settlements had sprung up in the area, and the railroad industry had begun to develop interests in the area. The Nevada-California-Oregon Railway (NCO), which operated from 1880 to 1927, was the longest narrow gauge line in the nation in this century, traversing the eastern side of the County and assisted in the development of the high desert region of eastern Lassen. The Fernley & Lassen Railroad, built in 1913, tapped into western Lassen's timber resources.

Also shaping the area at that time was the lumber industry, particularly the Red River Lumber Company of Westwood, the world's largest electrical sawmill of that time, and two other large mills which developed in the Susanville area.

Other towns in the area, (Herlong, Janesville, Doyle, Standish, Bieber Hayden Hill and Wendel) all had their place in developing County of Lassen during this time as well.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,720 square miles (12,226 km²), of which, 4,557 square miles (11,803 km²) of it is land and 163 square miles (422 km²) of it (3.46%) is water. Part of Lassen Volcanic National Park extends onto a western corner of the county.

Neighboring Counties:

North: Modoc County
East: Washoe County, Nev.
South: Sierra County
Southwest: Plumas County
West: Shasta County

Cities and Towns:

- Susanville (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."