Happy New Year! ~ Past and Present

It was December 31, 1982 when the Siskiyou Daily News ran this image on their front page to wish their patrons a Happy New Year.

At the time this photo was taken my family lived in the home seen in the background and my husband with the help of our (then) 14 year old daughter created the sculpture in snow as a way to bring in the New Year! 1982 was on its way out and 1983 was ready to arrive.

It has been 27 years since this photo was taken... time certainly does go by quickly. We no longer live in the "Senator Randolph Collier House" but truly enjoyed it while we were there. Many changes have occurred in Yreka during the past 27 years, but this lovely home still graces North Main Street.

As the author for this blog I would like to thank my readers for their views and time on my site and hope that the information presented here has given you both fond remembrances, and a look into the past. It is my desire that this blog helps preserve some of the history of our hometown, Yreka. I look forward to another year of Yreka History Blogging! Please return often, comments are welcome.

Happy New Year to all ~ Wishes for a happy, healthy and successful 2010.
Claudia East

Note: For those of you who have a copy of our book, Yreka, Images of America Series by Arcadia Publishing you can find more photos and information on this home on pages 62 and 63.

Yreka's Agricultural Hall

The Agricultural Hall viewed here once sat at the southeast corner of Center and Fourth Streets. Today the area is used as a parking lot for Siskiyou County Title. The building was used for about 45-50 years and then torn down. It is estimated to have been built around 1910. Prior to this structure there was an earlier building used for the Agricultural Hall that was one block south on Fourth Street. It was actually the earlier jail that was once used and later the building housed the County Library for many years. Today the law offices of Newton and Newton occupy the space where the first Agricultural Hall operated.

The Agricultural Hall helped serve the large horticultural needs that Siskiyou County had and the commissioner would instruct new settlers about local growing practices and help provide them with the newest information on profitable methods of farming.

This was a very active building in Yreka and was used for many community activities. During the fair agricultural exhibits were set up in the hall and displayed for fair goers before there was a permanent fairgrounds. Many dances were held here and numerous news articles mentioned Agricultural Hall as the place they were held! The community hosted dinners and get togethers here, and even one of the ladies Library groups held several events when raising money for the Carnegie Library funds. In World War I a dinner and musical concert event was held here for the Siskiyou County draftees before they headed off to fight the war to end all wars.

The image is from a postcard that was mailed in 1913 to a woman in Oakland from Anna Gillis and in the correspondence she mentions the picture is of the Agricultural Hall and she said "it is great"! In 1915 Siskiyou County promoted this hall in its special publication that was given out at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Yreka was very proud of this building! It is sad to note that in its later years the building was simply used for storage by Montgomery Ward (Ward's was directly in front of Agricultural Hall) and then the once lively building that saw so many events and people within its walls became a parking lot.

If you have a copy of our book, Yreka Images of America series by Arcadia Publishing you can see a photo of the first hall as well as this one on page 87. There is also a photograph of the interior during a fair exhibition on page 120.

Copyright, Claudia A. East