A Forgotten Spirit Remembered

Sprawling across two counties, the town of Cottonwood California has a colorful past. Founded in 1852 following the expansion of gold mining in the northstate, it grew with the development of the lumber industry. Front Street’s extraordinary width was specifically created to allow horse-drawn wagons to load lumber and then turn around.

Cottonwood’s history is full of interesting tidbits. In 1870, for example, the middle fork of Cottonwood Creek sported lush Chinese gardens. The town even had it’s own horse racing track, originally on Fourth St. It later moved to Trefoil Lane where the PG&E substation now sits. The town’s first newspaper, the Shasta County Index, which stood just east of where Holiday Market, a well-known fixture on Front Street, is located - started in 1885.

All this and more was recorded and elegently displayed in the early 1970’s in the Cottonwood Museum. Located in the old Southern Pacific building on Front Street, town residents bought the building in 1972, around the time of the building’s 100th anniversary. The Museum opened the following year.