Lassen County, California

History

Lassen County was formed on April 1, 1864, from parts of Plumas and Shasta counties following the two-day conflict known as the Sagebrush War, also called the Roop County War, that started on Sunday morning, February 15, 1863. Due to uncertainties over the California border, the area that is now Lassen County was part of the unofficial Nataqua Territory and Roop County, Nevada, during the late 1850s and early 1860s.

The county was named by California after Peter Lassen, along with Lassen Peak, which is in adjoining Shasta County. Lassen was one of General John C. Fremont's guides, and a famous trapper, frontiersman, and Indian fighter. He was murdered under mysterious circumstances near the Black Rock Desert in 1859, and his murder was never solved.

By the 1880s small towns began to spring up all over Lassen County. Bieber developed at the north end of the county, in rich farmland. Gold was discovered at Hayden Hill, and the small town developed to support the miners. Hayden Hill no longer exists: when the mining stopped, the townspeople left for other communities. Madeline was formed at the north end of another rich farming valley, and along the railroad tracks heading north to Alturas, California. This community still has about 50 people living in and around the town. In the 1890s many immigrant family groups arrived in the county, primarily coming from Lincolnshire and Herefordshire, England as well as the towns of Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac in Serbia. Several "Yankee" settlers arrived from Waldo County, Maine and Lincoln County, Maine as well.

During World War I, the area was heavily in favor of American entry into the war, and a disproportionate amount of volunteers from Lassen County signed up to take part in the war effort. A pro-German newspaper editor from San Francisco noted that "the inhabitants of Lassen County" were "sympathetic to Britain, hostile to Germany, and indifferent to France."The Projection of Britain British Overseas Publicity and Propaganda 1919-1939 by Philip M. Taylor, Taylor Philip M. Taylor · 1981

A narrow gauge railroad, the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway, ran through Lassen County from 1880 to 1927. The NCOR was the longest small gauge of the century. It was intended to connect Reno, Nevada, to the Columbia River, but only 238 mi of track were laid, from Reno to Lakeview, Oregon.

In 1913, the Fernley & Lassen Railroad was built and it was used to export timber from the large forests of Lassen County. As this railroad was completed, the Red River Lumber Company set up shop, building the town of Westwood, California, to support its massive logging operation. Two other lumber mills followed the Red River Lumber Co. They built their mills in the county seat of Susanville. The Lassen Lumber and Box Company and the Fruit Growers Company both operated mills in Susanville for several decades.

In 2003, Anderson-based Sierra Pacific Industries announced plans to relocate or lay off 150 workers as they closed the last lumber mill in Susanville due to the lack of large timber for the mill. Sierra Pacific chose to close the mill permanently rather than spend the several million dollars required to convert the mill from large to small timber.

Since the late 20th century, three prisons have been opened in and near Susanville: California Correctional Center (minimum security, 1963) and High Desert State Prison (California) (maximum security, 1995), both in the city; and the nearby Federal Correctional Institution, Herlong (opened 2007). In 2007, half the adults in Susanville worked in one of the three prisons. In "job-starved rural America, ... residents see them [prisons] as the last and only chance for employment after work at the lumber mill or the dairy dries up."

Education

Lassen County is served by Lassen Community College, Lassen High School District, Mt. Lassen Charter School, Thompson Peak Charter School, Diamond Mountain Charter High, Diamond View Middle School, Herlong High School, Meadow View Elementary, McKinley Elementary, Long Valley Charter School, Fort Sage Charter School, and Westwood Junior Senior High School.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4720.115 sqmi, of which 4541.369 sqmi is land and 178.746 sqmi (3.79%) is water. It is the 8th largest county in California by total area. Part of Lassen Volcanic National Park extends onto a western corner of the county.

Adjacent counties

• Modoc County, California – north
• Washoe County, Nevada – east
• Sierra County, California – southeast
• Plumas County, California – south
• Shasta County, California – west

National protected areas

• Lassen National Forest (part)
• Lassen Volcanic National Park (part)
• Modoc National Forest (part)
• Plumas National Forest (part)
• Toiyabe National Forest (part)

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

As of the third quarter of 2024, the median home value in Lassen County was $264,340.

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 9,060 estimated households in Lassen County with an average of 2.64 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $64,395. Approximately 17.1% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Lassen County has an estimated 39.5% employment rate, with 13.2% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 79.1% holding a high school diploma.

The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (81.9%), Spanish (15.0%), Indo-European (0.8%), Asian and Pacific Islander (2.1%), and Other (0.3%).

The median age in the county was 37.8 years.

2023 estimate

As of the 2023 estimate, there were 28,861 people and 9,060 households residing in the county. There were 12,238 housing units at an average density of 2.69 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 81.5% White (63.5% NH White), 6.8% African American, 4.4% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 0.9% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 4.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 21.8% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Lassen County had a population of 32,730, 9,888 households, and 6,383 families, yielding a population density of 7.2 PD/sqmi with 12,216 housing units at an average density of 2.69 /sqmi.

The median age was 37.2 years; 16.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.5% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 172.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 193.1 males.

Of the county's 9,888 households, 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 23.2% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 12,216 housing units, of which 19.1% were vacant; among occupied units, 65.9% were owner-occupied and 34.1% were renter-occupied, with a homeowner vacancy rate of 3.3% and a rental vacancy rate of 8.5%.

The racial makeup of the county was 64.4% White, 7.0% Black or African American, 3.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% Asian, 0.9% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 15.1% from some other race, and 7.9% from two or more races, while Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 23.0% of the population.

27.5% of residents lived in urban areas, while 72.5% lived in rural areas.

Racial and ethnic composition

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 34,895 people, 10,058 households, and _ families residing in the county. The population density was 7.7 PD/sqmi. There were 12,216 housing units at an average density of 2.80 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 73.17% White, 8.12% African American, 3.54% Native American, 1.02% Asian, 0.47% Pacific Islander, 10.21% from some other races and 3.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 17.53% of the population.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 33,828 people, 9,625 households, and 6,776 families residing in the county. The population density was 7.0 PD/sqmi. There were 12,000 housing units at an average density of 3.0 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 80.81% White, 8.84% African American, 3.26% Native American, 0.74% Asian, 0.43% Pacific Islander, 3.23% from some other races and 2.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 13.84% of the population.

In terms of ancestry, 13.8% were of German, 12.1% Irish, 10.5% English, 8.7% American and 5.0% Italian ancestry. 88.2% spoke English and 10.3% Spanish as their first language.

There were 9,625 households, out of which 35.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.6% were non-families. Of all households, 24.5% were made up of individuals, and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.8% under the age of 18, 10.8% from 18 to 24, 36.9% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 168.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 192.2 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,310, and the median income for a family was $43,398. Males had a median income of $37,333 versus $26,561 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,749. About 11.1% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.1% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Voter registration

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

From 1932 through 1976, Lassen was powerfully Democratic, voting for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election save 1972, when it voted for Nixon over McGovern by just 6.8%. From 1980 on, however, it has been overwhelmingly Republican in presidential and congressional elections, coinciding with the dominance of the prisons in local employment. Jimmy Carter (in 1976) remains the last Democrat to have carried the county. In 2016, 2020, and 2024, Lassen stood as Donald Trump's best county in the state, giving him a 50% or greater margin over overwhelming statewide winners Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris.

Lassen County is in . is in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Megan Dahle,{{Cite web

Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Cities by population and crime rates

Infrastructure

Airports

Susanville Municipal Airport, Herlong Airport and Westwood Airport are general aviation airports in the county. The closest major airport is in Reno.

Major highways

• [[Image:US 395 (1961 cutout).svg|25px|link= |alt=]] U.S. Route 395
• [[Image:California 36.svg|20px|link= |alt=]] State Route 36
• [[Image:California 44.svg|20px|link= |alt=]] State Route 44
• [[Image:California 139.svg|25px|link= |alt=]] State Route 139
• [[Image:California 147.svg|25px|link= |alt=]] State Route 147
• [[Image:California 299.svg|25px|link= |alt=]] State Route 299

Public transportation

Lassen Rural Bus (LRB), operated by the Lassen Transit Service Agency, runs a local service in Susanville, with longer distance routes to Westwood and Doyle.

Utilities

The Lassen Municipal Utility District (LMUD) is the primary electric utility in the county, and was created in 1986 by purchasing transmission facilities from CP National (now Pacificorp) at a cost of $19 million. In 2019 it had 42 employees, and the General Manager was Doug C. Smith. It is powered in part by the Honey Lake biomass power plant, which runs on wood waste from the nearby Lassen National Forest. The Whaleback Fire caused a significant outage in 2018.

Communities

City

• Susanville (county seat)

Census-designated places

• Bieber
• Clear Creek
• Doyle
• Herlong
• Janesville
• Johnstonville
• Litchfield
• Little Valley
• Madeline
• Milford
• Nubieber
• Patton Village
• Spaulding
• Stones Landing
• Westwood

Unincorporated communities

• Ravendale
• Standish
• Termo
• Wendel

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Lassen County.

† county seat

Notes

References

References

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36. included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census
37. included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census
38. not an option in the 1980 Census
39. not an option in the 1990 Census
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