Lassen County, California

Lassen County
—  County  —
Seal
Location in the state of California
California's location in the United States
Country	United States
State	California
Region	Northeast California
Incorporated	1864
County seat	Susanville
Area
– Total	4,720.37 sq mi (12,225.7 km2)
– Land	4,557.27 sq mi (11,803.3 km2)
– Water	163.10 sq mi (422.4 km2)
Population (2010)
– Total	34,895
– Density	7.6/sq mi (2.9/km2)
Time zone	Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8)
– Summer (DST)	Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
Website	www.co.lassen.ca.us

Lassen County is a county located in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 34,895, up from 33,828 at the 2000 census. The county seat is Susanville, the only incorporated city in the county.

History

Lassen County was formed on April 1, 1864 from parts of Plumas and Shasta Counties following the two-day conflict known as the "Sagebrush War", also called the Roop County War,^[1] that started on February 15, 1863. Due to uncertainties over the California border, the area that is now Lassen County was part of the unofficial Nataqua Territory and Roop County, Nevada during the late 1850s and early 1860s.

The county was named after Peter Lassen,^[2] along with Lassen Peak, which is in adjoining Shasta County. Lassen was one of General John C. Fremont's guides, and a famous trapper, frontiersman and Indian fighter. He was murdered under mysterious circumstances near the Black Rock Desert in 1859, and his murder was never solved.

By the 1880s small towns began to spring up all over Lassen County. Bieber was at the north end of the county, in rich farm land. Hayden Hill was where a gold discovery happened, and a small town sprang up to support the miners. Hayden Hill no longer exists: as the mining stopped, the town's people left for other communities. Madeline was formed at the north end of another rich farming valley, and along the railroad tracks heading north to Alturas, California, this community to this day has about 50 people living in and around the town. A narrow gauge railroad ran through Lassen County from 1880 to 1927, and was called the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway. The N.C.O.R. was the longest small gauge of the century. It was meant to connect Reno, Nevada to the Columbia River, but only 238 miles (383 km) of track were laid, from Reno to Lakeview, Oregon.

In 1913 the Fernley & Lassen Railroad was built and would tap the large timber supplies of Lassen County. Along with this railroad being built, along came the Red River Lumber Company,^[3] who built the town of Westwood, California to support their massive logging operation. Two other lumber mills followed the Red River Lumber Co. They built their mills in Susanville, California. The Lassen Lumber & Box Company and the Fruit Growers Company both operated mills in Susanville for several decades.

In May 2007, Sierra Pacific Industries, based in Redding, California, closed the last lumber mill in Susanville, due to the lack of large timber for the mill. The mill was a large-timber mill, and would have required several million dollars to convert it to small timber. Sierra Pacific was reluctant to invest in the mill, and elected to close it permanently.^[4]

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 4,720.37 square miles (12,225.7 km²), of which 4,557.27 square miles (11,803.3 km²) (or 96.54%) is land and 163.10 square miles (422.4 km²) (or 3.46%) is water.^[5] Part of Lassen Volcanic National Park extends onto a western corner of the county.

Cities and towns

Bieber Clear Creek Junction Doyle Herlong Janesville Johnstonville Litchfield Madeline Milford

Nubieber Ravendale Standish Spaulding Susanville Termo Wendel Westwood

Hog Flat Reservoir covered in snow during Early April

Adjacent counties

• Sierra County, California - southeast
• Plumas County, California - south
• Shasta County, California - west
• Modoc County, California - north
• Washoe County, Nevada - east

National protected areas

• Lassen National Forest (part)
• Lassen Volcanic National Park (part)
• Modoc National Forest (part)
• Plumas National Forest (part)
• Toiyabe National Forest (part)

Transportation Infrastructure

Major highways

• U.S. Route 395
• State Route 36
• State Route 44
• State Route 139
• State Route 299

Public Transportation

Lassen Rural Bus (LRB) runs a local service in Susanville, and longer distance routes to Westwood and Doyle.

Airports

Susanville Municipal Airport, Herlong Airport and Westwood Airport are all general aviation airports.

Politics

Lassen County vote
by party in presidential elections

Year	GOP	DEM	Others
2008	65.8% 7,483	31.5% 3,586	3.2% 364
2004	71.0% 8,126	27.6% 3,158	1.5% 166
2000	66.9% 7,080	28.2% 2,982	5.0% 524
1996	52.6% 5,194	33.6% 3,318	13.8% 1,363
1992	37.2% 3,836	32.7% 3,388	30.3% 3,004
1988	58.6% 5,157	39.2% 3,446	2.3% 199
1984	61.1% 5,352	37.1% 3,254	1.8% 155
1980	54.5% 4,464	35.9% 2,941	9.7% 793
1976	43.0% 3,007	54.3% 3,801	2.7% 190
1972	50.8% 3,618	44.0% 3,134	5.2% 370
1968	41.1% 2,553	47.1% 2,930	11.8% 735
1964	34.3% 2,124	65.7% 4,072	0.1% 5
1960	40.2% 2,365	59.1% 3,472	0.7% 40
1956	42.5% 2,533	57.2% 3,412	0.3% 18
1952	43.7% 3,313	55.8% 4,237	0.5% 39
1948	34.0% 1,960	62.9% 3,632	3.1% 181
1944	33.9% 1,896	65.8% 3,678	0.3% 15
1940	30.1% 1,902	69.2% 4,367	0.7% 44
1936	19.6% 1,035	79.5% 4,193	0.9% 48
1932	26.9% 1,167	70.4% 3,056	2.7% 117
1928	56.7% 2,111	42.9% 1,597	0.4% 13
1924	40.8% 1,072	13.5% 356	45.7% 1,201
1920	66.2% 1,582	26.9% 643	6.9% 164

Lassen is a strongly Republican county in Presidential and congressional elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Lassen is part of California's California's 4th congressional district, which is held by Republican Tom McClintock. In the state legislature, Lassen is part of the 3rd Assembly district, which is held by Republican Dan Logue, and the 1st Senate district, which is held by Republican Ted Gaines.

On Nov. 4, 2008 Lassen County voted 71.3 % for Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1870	1,327		—
1880	3,340		151.7%
1890	4,239		26.9%
1900	4,511		6.4%
1910	4,802		6.5%
1920	8,507		77.2%
1930	12,589		48.0%
1940	14,479		15.0%
1950	18,474		27.6%
1960	13,597		−26.4%
1970	14,960		10.0%
1980	21,661		44.8%
1990	27,598		27.4%
2000	33,828		22.6%
2010	34,895		3.2%
[6][7][8]

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Lassen County had a population of 34,895. The racial makeup of Lassen County was 25,532 (73.2%) White, 2,834 (8.1%) African American, 1,234 (3.5%) Native American, 356 (1.0%) Asian, 165 (0.5%) Pacific Islander, 3,562 (10.2%) from other races, and 1,212 (3.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6,117 persons (17.5%).^[9]

Population reported at 2010 United States Census
The County	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Lassen County	34,895	25,532	2,834	1,234	356	165	3,562	1,212	6,117
Incorporated city	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Susanville	17,947	11,269	2,249	612	198	111	2,928	580	4,259
Census-designated place	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Bieber	312	264	0	15	1	0	24	8	72
Clear Creek	169	149	0	5	0	2	1	12	15
Doyle	678	583	14	37	3	2	12	27	55
Herlong	298	187	38	16	1	3	9	44	46
Janesville	1,408	1,283	13	32	11	3	27	39	118
Johnstonville	1,024	929	7	16	13	0	26	33	73
Litchfield	195	176	0	0	0	0	14	5	25
Milford	167	150	1	1	1	1	4	9	11
Nubieber	50	26	0	13	0	0	6	5	10
Patton Village	702	552	48	27	4	5	18	48	62
Spaulding	178	168	0	3	1	0	1	5	6
Westwood	1,647	1,430	3	104	10	2	49	49	179
Unincorporated communities	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
All others not CDPs (combined)	10,120	8,366	461	353	113	36	443	348	1,186

2000

As of the census^[10] of 2000, there were 33,828 people, 9,625 households, and 6,776 families residing in the county. The population density was 7 people per square mile (3/km²). There were 12,000 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 80.81% White, 8.84% Black or African American, 3.26% Native American, 0.74% Asian, 0.43% Pacific Islander, 3.23% from other races, and 2.69% from two or more races. 13.84% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 13.8% were of German, 12.1% Irish, 10.5% English, 8.7% American and 5.0% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 88.2% spoke English and 10.3% Spanish as their first language.

There were 9,625 households out of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.6% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the county the population was spread out with 21.8% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 36.9% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 168.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 192.2 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,310, and the median income for a family was $43,398. Males had a median income of $37,333 versus $26,561 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,749. About 11.1% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.1% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

See also

• Hiking trails in Lassen County
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Lassen County, California

References

1. ^ The Roop County War
2. ^ Lassen’s Past
3. ^ Lassen’s Past
4. ^ SPI Closes Lumber Mill
5. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
6. ^ http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/ca190090.txt
7. ^ http://factfinder2.census.gov
8. ^ http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/
9. ^ "2010 Census P.L. 94-171 Summary File Data". United States Census Bureau. http://www2.census.gov/census_2010/01-Redistricting_File--PL_94-171/California/. 
10. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• Lassen County Times Newspaper
• Lassen County History and Culture
• Lassen County website

Coordinates: 40°39′N 120°35′W / 40.65°N 120.58°W / 40.65; -120.58