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A short history of the cities in Siskiyou
County and a directory to their current addresses and telephone numbers.
Dorris
307 South Main Street, P.O. Box 768, 96023
Telephone:397-3511 Fax:397-883
City council meets 1st Monday of each month. Elections: April
Dorris was named after Pressley Dorris, who, with his brother, owned a huge homestead cattle ranch in Butte Valley. In
1870 the Pressley brothers left their homes and went to Modoc County
where they built a bridge which is on the site now called Alturas.
Dunsmuir
5915 Dunsmuir Ave., 96025
Telephone:235-4822 Fax:235-4824
City council meets 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month. Elections: November
The town was named after Alexander Dunsmuir a wealthy
coal magnate from Canada who frequently passed through
the area on his business trips to San Francisco. Dunsmuir
announced that he would give the town a fountain if they
would name the town after him, and in 1887 the town
got it's fountain and it's name. The fountain still stands in the
city today.
Etna
440 Main Street, (P.O. Box 460), 96027
Telephone: 467-5256
City Council meets 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month. Elections: November even year
A flour mill was built here in about 1867 and the town
was called Rough and Ready. Nearby was another small
mill and town called Aetna Mills. In 1861 and 1862
flooding seriously damaged the town of Aetna Mills so
that business slowly moved towards Rough and Ready. In 1870,
to avoid confusion with other towns in
the central valley of California, the named was changed
and shortened to Etna Mills. The "Mills" was dropped
in the 1930s to the name Etna as we know it today.
Fort Jones
11960 East Street, P.O. Box 40, 96032
Telephone:468-2281 Fax:468-2598
Elections: November
Originally a stage stop/tavern on the stage route between
Yreka and the old town of Shasta, in Shasta County, the
town was first called Wheelock after its founder. The
town had several other names including Scottsburg and Scottsville.
The military fort, called Fort Jones, which was operated from 1852
to 1857 was named after Colonel Roger Jones, Adjutant
General of the Army. The Fort, which was located
a few miles from the town, was abandoned in 1857 leaving
only its name.
Montague
230 South 13th St., P.O. Box 428 96064
Telephone: 459-3030, Fax: 459-3523
City council meets 1st Thursday of each month. Elections: June - even years
The town was built as a stop on the California-Oregon railroad, by the Prather
Brothers.One account says that the town was named after a railroad engineer.
According to Gudde, the town was named after a hardware merchant and
prominant San Franciscan, W.W. Montague, by the railroad. The post-office was
established
Mt. Shasta
305 North Mount Shasta Blvd. 96067
Telephone: 926-3464 Fax:926-0339
City council meets 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month. Elections: November
In 1854, the first name of the town was Berryvale, after
the fields of wild strawberries growing in the area.
In 1887, the name was changed to Sisson after J.H. Sisson
the owner of a lodge there and the man who laid out the
town when the railroad came through the area. The name
was changed to its current name by a vote of the residents
in 1922.
Tulelake
248 Main Street, P.O. Box 847, 96134
Telephone:667-5522 Fax:667-5501
City council meets 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month. Elections: November - even years
Surrounded by what was a one time a huge lake of marsh
and tules, Tulelake was visited in 1846 by Captain John
Fremont who named the lake Rhett Lake after a friend. The
name seems to have have been Rhett Lake until about 1900.
Weed550 Main St. P.O. Box 470 96094
Telephone:938-5020 Fax: 938-5005
City council meets 2nd Thursday of each month. Elections: November - even years
Abner Weed built a sawmill here in the 1860s, south of the site of
the current townsite. The weather with its strong wind
was thought to be conducive to the drying of lumber.
Later around 1900, another sawmill was added as well as
a box factory. The railroad was built to accomodate
the factory business and later was joined by the Southern
Pacific.
Yreka
701 Fourth Street 96097
Telephone:842-4386 Fax:842-4836
City council meets 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month.
Elections: June - even years
Gold was discovered here in 1851 at a spot called
"Thompson's Dry Diggins". Miners poured into the town
which was called Shasta Butte City. Residents found
this confusing with the town of Shasta, in Shasta County,
so the name was changed. There are several tales as
to where the name "Yreka" came from. Some say from the
word "Ieka" indian for white mountain or cave, some
say from an upside down Bakery sign hanging in town. The
mining boom was over in 1885, but by then the town was
well established.
Sources for the Siskiyou Cities page are:
Hettema, Dorothy. Origin of place names in the history
of Siskiyou County.
The Siskiyou County Historical Society. Siskiyou Pioneer
and Yearbook, 1982.
Gudde, Erwin. California Place names, 1949.
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