Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Siskiyou County Seat ~ Yreka 1915

Siskiyou County and the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition

In 1915 Siskiyou County participated in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco by promoting our agriculture, minerals, climate, transportation, forests, homestead land offerings, and a host of other assets to the world. In 1915 we were growing and local business was booming! What is viewed above is the cover to a brochure published by the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition Commission of Siskiyou, California and written by Harold French. Within this brochure many areas of the county are covered in the 36 pages ~ included are many photos of farming, mining, town scenes and the like.

Below is a transcription from page 31 of "Yreka, the County-Seat":

"Yreka, the county-seat, is a beautiful city of two thousand inhabitants, situated at the terminus of the Yreka railroad, on the line of the great State Highway and in the valley of Yreka Creek near the junction of Greenhorn Gulch, the famous placer camp of the fifties. The civic pride of its people is manifested by its beautiful homes, its miles of cement walks, its splendidly paved streets, lined with venerable locusts, walnut and poplar trees, its up-to-date county buildings, the new public library, the concrete Agricultural Hall and the excellent High School. Its leading bank boasts of a million dollars in assets and commercially Yreka supplies a large area with mining and other supplies.

Progressive improvement and social organizations promote the betterment of this community in many ways, such as the conducting of a Chautauqua annually and other activities for popular instruction and entertainment."

An interesting sideline about this brochure ~ in approximately the 1950s a box of these brochures (new and untouched) were found in the county's holdings and they were sold for 50 cents each to raise money for the county museum. Occasionally one will surface at a yard sale or on ebay.
Copyright: Claudia A. East, 2008.

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