Sign In

This rare early map of Red Bluff, California, provides a comprehensive overview of the town's infrastructure at the time, detailing the layout of streets, sewer lines, water systems, and sidewalk grades.

The map includes pencil notes from an early owner.

The map was officially approved and declared by resolution of the Board of Town Trustees on November 7, 1897, with approval signatures from W. L. Bronford (President), James Stoll, J. G. Landis, J. R. Walton, and D. E. Masterson.

The map highlights various additions and subdivisions within Red Bluff, including Webb Addition, Olmsted Addition, and Scott Addition. The grid layout of streets is meticulously drawn, with major thoroughfares such as Main Street, Jefferson Street, Madison Street, and Monroe Street clearly labeled. Detailed markings for the sewer and water systems are included, with symbols indicating the location of fire hydrants, flush tanks, water gates, main sewers, branch sewers, water pipelines, and manholes. Elevations are marked in the center of streets.

Specific grades for sidewalks are provided, with Main Street showing a 16 feet width from the street line, High Street at 10 feet, Pine Street at 8 feet, and other streets such as Walnut, Elm, and Sycamore indicated with varying widths. Natural features such as Reeds Creek and the Sacramento River are prominently displayed, showing their relation to the town's layout. The creek flows through the western part of the map, while the Sacramento River forms the southern boundary.

Important landmarks, including the cemetery and various schools like the Lincoln Street School House, are marked. The courthouse square and other civic structures are also noted. The map is drawn to a scale of 200 feet to an inch, allowing for detailed representation of the town's infrastructure. It was produced by Britton & Rey in San Francisco. 

Red Bluff

Red Bluff, located in Tehama County, California, has a rich history intertwined with the early development of Northern California. In the early 19th century, the Siskiyou Trail was a crucial north-south path connecting Northern California and Southern Oregon, initially used by Native Americans and later by fur trappers and hunters.

The first European to settle in the northern Sacramento Valley, then part of Alta California, was Peter Lassen. In 1844, Lassen was granted the 24,000-acre Rancho Bosquejo tract by the Mexican government near present-day Vina, about 20 miles southeast of Red Bluff. Lassen aimed to establish a town there, but his efforts were overshadowed by the California Gold Rush, which drew away the settlers he had gathered from Missouri. Despite this, the publicity from Lassen's colonization attracted new settlers to the valley.

In the late 1840s, riverboat traffic expanded northward along the Sacramento River. Although Lassen's initial attempt to navigate to his ranch in 1849 failed, the following year a riverboat successfully made the challenging 125-mile journey from Sacramento in five months, only to sink afterward. The discovery of gold near Yreka in 1851 spurred a new rush northward, and settlers flooded the area, seeking the quickest route to the gold fields. A site on the Sacramento River just north of Reeds Creek was identified as the river's navigable head, leading to the establishment of a small community. Initially known as Leodocia and then Covertsburg, the town was renamed Red Bluff by the time a post office was established on October 17, 1853, in recognition of the red bluffs along the Sacramento River. Samuel Bishop served as the first postmaster.

Tehama County was created in 1856, with Red Bluff chosen as the county seat. By 1859, the first permanent courthouse was constructed, solidifying the town's status as a regional hub. As early as 1854, committees in Red Bluff began planning a railroad route connecting California to southern Oregon through the Siskiyou Mountains via Nobles Pass. The railroad reached Red Bluff in 1872, temporarily making it a terminus and significantly boosting the town's economy.

The town's history also includes darker periods, such as the ethnic cleansing campaign against Chinese residents in the 1880s. In February 1886, white supremacists in the "Anti-Coolie League" marched on Chinatown, demanding that Chinese residents leave within ten days. Later that year, after the expulsion of the Chinese population, Chinatown was burned.

Growth in Red Bluff slowed by the late 1880s when the railroad extended north toward Redding, but riverboat commerce continued well into the 20th century. While mining activities diminished, agriculture became the primary economic driver, with Red Bluff remaining a vital shipping point by rail and eventually highway.  

States of the the Map and Rarity

The map would seem to have been issued in 2 states, both of which are extremely rare:

• 1897:  Tehama County Library
• 1911: California State Chico, Tehama County Library