History

Historic Covered Bridge Reopens Over the Yuba River for the First Time in 10 Years

Following a 10-year restoration project, the historic Bridgeport Covered Bridge at the South Yuba State Park has reopened to pedestrians,…

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Historic California Ghost Town Transforms into a Winter Wonderland

The popular Bodie State Historic Park is a fun destination in the Eastern Sierra to learn about the history of…

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Historic Train Tunnel Now Fully Exposed on Shasta Lake

The abysmal water levels throughout Northern California currently sit at their lowest for 2021, with incoming storms bringing the prospect…

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On This Day in History: President John F. Kennedy Dedicates the Whiskeytown Dam

On November 22, 1963, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated as his motorcade drove through Dallas, Texas. Less than two…

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Mysterious Sunken Boat Revealed on the Low Shore of Shasta Lake

There have been plenty of historic structures revealed on Northern California reservoirs as water continues to shrink down to historically…

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Are There Frozen Bodies at the Bottom of Lake Tahoe?

Sitting at 6,225 feet elevation as the largest alpine lake in North America, there is plenty to be fascinated with…

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Jedediah Smith’s Travels Through Northern California – Part 2: Strong Was His Middle Name

Every time he visited California he got arrested. When a grizzly bear chewed off his hair and ear, he had…

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Jedediah Smith’s Travels Through Northern California – Part 1: The First White Settlers of NorCal

There is little doubt the standards have changed for what it means to qualify as a “bad dude.” NorCal has…

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S**** Valley Alpine Meadows to Host Washoe Cultural Tours

SVAM is excited to announce a new on-mountain summer experience: the Washoe Cultural Tour, beginning Monday, July 12. Not only is…

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Wildfire Unearths Hidden Bunker in the Big Basin Redwoods

Photo: Julie Horner/SLVPost When the devastating CZU Fire blazed through the Big Basin Redwoods, it destroyed much of the state…

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Ishi: The Last California ‘Wild Indian’ We Never Really Knew

Ishi making a wood harpoon in Deer Creek in 1914 Most California school kids have heard the story of Ishi,…

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How ‘Euro-Nymphing’ Originated in Northern California

Joe Kimsey was a fishing legend on the Upper Sacramanto River If you refer to that fly rod as a…

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8 Must-See Historic Gems Near Redding, California

Brought to you by Choose Redding While Redding, California is known to be the home of the some of the…

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The Story Behind the Secret JFK – Marilyn Monroe Rendezvous in Castella, California

You may have passed Castella, California while driving on Interstate 5 just south of Mount Shasta, although it’s difficult to…

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The Adventures of Mark Twain in California – Part 4: The Stand Up Comedian

While it might be a stretch to describe Mark Twain’s ascent to literary rock-stardom as luck, he truly did not expect…

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How this Man’s ‘Hell’ Became One of Northern California’s Most Popular Destinations

Bumpass Hell is a popular destination for people traveling through Lassen Volcanic National Park. Lassen is chock-full of hydrothermal activity,…

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The Adventures of Mark Twain in California – Part 3: Jackass Hill and Jumping Frogs

Who knew that Mark Twain, beloved American author and humorist, creator of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, spent seven wild…

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Rediscovered Film Takes a Trip Through San Francisco in Ruins Following 1906 Earthquake

On April 18, 1906, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit San Francisco, killing 3,000 people and destroying 80 percent of the…

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The Chronicles of Mark Twain in California – Part 2: Getting Fired in San Francisco

San Francisco’s Cliff House in the 1800’s By the time Mark Twain (formerly Sam Clemens) made it to San Francisco…

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Before the Fall: Stories of Conflict and Discovery in Northern California History

Like stepping off a bar stool after swilling shots of whiskey, nudging my canoe into Fall River catches me off-guard.…

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The Chronicles of Mark Twain in California – Part 1: The Stories Behind the Pen Name

People dream of coming to California to become the next Meryl Streep or Tom Hanks, but hardly the “father of…

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City of Eureka Transfers Indian Island Back to Wiyot Tribe in Historic Ceremony

Facebook/ Wiyot Tribe In December of 2018, the Eureka City Council unanimously voted to return Tuluwat, or Indian Island, back…

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Video Explores the Human History of Lassen Volcanic National Park

In an installment of Lassen NPS’s video newsletter, Lassen Peek, they give a brief introduction to the human history of the…

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This Beautiful Northern California Site was Once a World War II Internment Camp

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941, it started World War II, sending the United…

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Take a Historical Audio Tour Through the Modoc War

In the 1870’s, the national headlines set there eyes on the Modoc War, a bloody battle between the army and…

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Eat a Historic Burger and Fries at Redding’s Damburger

https://www.facebook.com/EatingNorCal/videos/327242764799898/ In 1938, 18-year-old Bud Pennington had the idea to sell hamburgers to the thousands of construction workers building Shasta…

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NorCal History will Come Alive at Lava Beds’ Living History Event

Photo: NPS/Angela Sutton Press release provided from Lava Beds National Monument: History will come alive on Saturday, May 11th, during…

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Wiyot Tribe Reclaims “Sacred” Indian Island in Humboldt Bay

Located off the shore of Eureka in Humboldt Bay sits an island called Duluwat, better know as Indian Island, which…

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History Reduced to Rubble: Remembering the Honey Run Covered Bridge

The Camp Fire took many victims as it spread through Butte County on November 8th, the most significant being lost…

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Digging for Answers-Where Did The 60-Foot Hole in the Side of Mt. Shasta Come From?

Around 10 years ago, a 60-foot hole mysteriously appeared in the side of Mount Shasta. Even with its incredible size,…

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A History of Yosemite Park in Photos

Yosemite National Park, filled with flush meadows, epic rock faces and mesmerizing waterfalls, is one of the most popular parks…

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Bulls vs. Bears: Northern California’s Bloody Spectator Sport of the 19th Century

In the 1800’s, when Spanish conquistadors and early gold rush optimists flocked to the newly settled areas of Northern California,…

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The Lockhart Ferry Massacre: Northern California’s Bloody War of the 1850’s

Peering into the lives of the first non-Native people in Northern California, dreams, imaginings and real history clash in a…

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Rare Collection of Ansel Adams Photography Donated to the Yosemite Museum in Yosemite National Park

A rare collection of 45 photographs by acclaimed 20th century photographer Ansel Adams (1902-1984) has been donated to the Yosemite Museum in Yosemite National…

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A Beacon Of Northern California History: The Battery Point Lighthouse

A D.C. socialite, the Gold Rush, shipping lines, San Francisco, Crescent City and Battery Point Lighthouse intertwine in history to…

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Explorers Study Ancient Underwater Forests with a Submarine at Fallen Leaf Lake

Mapping out the history of our the outdoors can be a difficult task, one that requires time, money, and maybe…

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Exploring the Car Graveyard of Mt. Shasta

By Ryan Loughrey Walking through the car graveyard felt like walking through an ancient time. Even though the cars couldn’t…

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Watch President JFK Dedicate the Whiskeytown Bridge Weeks Before his Assassination

We know that our area holds significant landmarks for the state as well as the country, and no event signifies…

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Remembering the Devastating Chemical Spill that Killed All the Wildlife on the Upper Sacramento River

It was July 14th, 1991 when a Southern Pacific tank car spilled 19,000 gallons of the soil fumigant metam sodium…

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How Did Weed, CA Get It’s Name? A Story of Achieving the American Dream in the Wild West

You see many people snicker when you bring up Weed, California. After all, it seems to be named after Cheech and Chong’s…

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What’s in a Name? The Story Behind Hat Creek

Names almost always make for a good story, and Hat Creek is no exception. Of course, not everyone may agree…

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A History of Bigfoot Sightings in Northern California

Stories and legends of Bigfoot and similar creatures pervade the history of the Pacific Northwest. In Teddy Roosevelt’s book, The…

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How Did Whiskeytown Get Its Name?

Whiskeytown began much like most other 1849 Gold Rush mining communities – as a modest collection of shabby tents. Young…

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The Heartwarming Story of President JFK Feeding Deer in Lassen Volcanic National Park in his Pajamas

When President John F. Kennedy visited Northern California in 1963, just months before his assassination, he made the rounds to…

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What’s a Lemurian and Why Do People Believe They Live in Mount Shasta?

We like to hypothesize about the paranormal activity surrounding Mt. Shasta. From Bigfoot sightings to alien activity, there is no…

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Photos of NorCal Waterways During the Last Two Droughts are Astonishing

During the drought of 2014, photos emerged of Northern California waterways that showed just how desperate we were for water.…

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Humboldt’s Lyons Ranches Finally Listed on National Register of Historic Places

Redwood National Park Superintendent Steve Mietz is proud to announce the listing of Lyons Ranches Historic District on the National…

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