by Susan Couso
In 1853, when Isaac Roop established his place in Lassen County history by claiming the land that Susanville now occupies, the town of Richmond didn’t exist. It was the fertile soil that first drew attention, and the gold that piqued the interest of those who dreamed of vast wealth.
As mineral ledges were discovered around Richmond, mines sprung up everywhere, and the lure of easy wealth brought in many wanderers who panned the creek for the elusive metal.
By 1856, there were a few cabins in the vicinity, and A. G. Hasey claimed the land to the north of where the old Richmond School was located. Hasey then joined a group of men who claimed a large tract, about two square miles, along Gold Run Creek.
As winter closed in, they erected a log cabin near the spring at Richmond. These structures were all simple and crude in manner, but they got the job done.
In one of these little cabins along Gold Run Creek, Emma Lanigar was born on September 28, 1856. She was the first birth among the newcomers to the valley.
Within a year, the district began to grow rapidly. The agricultural possibilities of the area became evident, and many staked out their claim to this range where the soil was loose and easy to work. Between the mines and the homesteads to the east and in the little valley, Richmond was getting settled by a variety of people.
William Edwards, one of Honey Lake Valley’s most notorious murderers was hanged in 1858, and his body was buried about three-fourths of a mile south of the old school. It was his choice to be buried in the place he loved most, and his wishes were granted by early settler Orlando Streshley.
Frank Drake’s ranch was about three and a half miles south of Susanville. Orlando Streshley was his brother-in-law, and the two of them opened a business there in 1859.
The log structure was a story and a half tall, with the store on the bottom floor and a hotel upstairs. It was the first commercial structure in the area. This building was also used for a dance hall, which was integral to the community’s social life. In 1859, Richmond even got a newspaper, the Richmond Times, a short-lived but vital part of the region.
The erection of the new store and hotel was a significant step toward building a town, and Orlando Streshley, who was born in Virginia, named the place ‘Richmond’ in honor of the Virginia capitol.
During the summer of 1859, Edward and Helena Mulroney moved to Richmond from Plumas County with their three-year-old son, John Patrick. Shortly after their arrival, little Edward Thomas Mulroney was born. The contribution of Anthony and Amanda Gray also increased the population when their son, Matthew arrived.
The precinct was expanding. During the fall of 1859 growth for the new hamlet spurted forward. Julius Drake and John Neiswender opened a saloon and bowling alley, and the men of the community finally had something to do besides work. Orlando Streshly and Tim Darcy opened a blacksmith shop and Charles Saunders opened a wagon shop. These were all on the south side of the road.
The town of Richmond was an ideal site for traffic. It sat on the road between Susanville and Janesville, which ran along the base of the mountains. The route up Gold Run Creek was the main path over the mountains to Greenville, Quincy and beyond. The Gold Run Road was busy with teamsters hauling merchandise from the cities to the south, into Richmond, where it was unloaded to be sent elsewhere.
On the north side of the Susanville Road, about three hundred feet from the Drake and Streshly store and hotel, Frank Drake built a new two-story hotel of frame construction. This building was an impressive sight and was completed in September 1860.
A dance was held to celebrate the opening of the hotel and a huge group attended the affair. Edward Townsend played his violin, and after a large meal was enjoyed, Dr. Henry Borrette played the coronet for the crowd, many of whom had never seen the instrument before. Tickets for the evening dinner and entertainment cost $5, not a small sum at the time.
Richmond was booming and this was its ‘heyday’. Houses were being built, shops were opening, and it looked like an established city which was here to stay.
But things were never completely calm in the ‘old west’. On Wednesday, March 7, 1860, there was a gunfight in Richmond. ‘Big John’ Chapman, who was from Arkansas, and Albert A. Smith, who was from New York, were vying for the attention of the same woman. The fact that political opinions were running ‘hot and heavy’ just before the beginning of the Civil War, didn’t help.
As Chapman walked into Ferdinand Sloss’ saloon, Smith fired his gun, hitting his target. The wounded man stumbled across the street before sinking to his knees. Bystanders helped Chapman upstairs and sent for Dr. Stettinius, who determined that the victim had been shot four times. ‘Big John’ Chapman died and was buried on the north side of the hill, near the top, about one fourth of a mile southeast of Richmond.
A trial was held, and it was determined that Chapman had said that he would kill Smith ‘on sight’, so Smith acted in self-defense. Albert A. Smith married the lady that he had fought for.
In 1861, the men of the Honey Lake Valley decided that they needed a Masonic charter for a lodge, and that the ideal place would be Richmond, as the mining activity and the growth around Richmond far out-shadowed Susanville. But by May of 1862, when the charter was granted, Susanville was chosen as the site for this new lodge.
To put it as Farriss & Smith say in their book, Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen and Sierra Counties, “Richmond had gone up like a rocket and came down like a stick and Susanville had been left to glory over her rival.”
By 1862, Richmond was fading. The Shaffer Brother’s grain warehouse was no longer shipping out flour in large quantities and the mines in other parts of the west were drawing the miners away.
Lassen County was created on April 1, 1864, and Susanville was chosen as the county seat, leaving Richmond to dwindle. In 1864, school was being held in the now-empty Schaffer warehouse, and Miss Kitty Funk was the teacher.
The area was still a productive region for agriculture, and even though the business section of town declined into nothing, the ranchers maintained a population.
In 1865, Mrs. Margaret Streshly and Mrs. Mary Drake, who were sisters, raised money for a new school and everything needed for it to function. It was a big project, but the education of the Richmond children was a fundamental need for many. After a few years the student population declined to the point that the school was temporarily closed, but it rebounded.
This school, built in 1865, was used until 1966, when a new modern building, just a short way to the east was opened. The original school building is still on Richmond Road, if you look carefully.
By the late 1870’s, the town was mostly abandoned. The buildings of Richmond gradually rotted away and the hotel, built by Frank Drake, was used as a hay barn until it fell over in a windstorm on the 24th of March in 1908.
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