Lassen County, California


Lassen County is a county in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 34,895. The county seat and only incorporated city is Susanville.
Lassen County comprises the Susanville, California, micropolitan statistical area. A former farming, mining and lumber area, its economy now depends on employment at one federal and two state prisons; the former in Herlong and the latter two in Susanville. In 2007 half the adults in Susanville worked in one of the facilities.

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 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 European Americans 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 farm land. 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.
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 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 and High Desert State Prison , both in the city; and the nearby Federal Correctional Institution, Herlong. In 2007, half the adults in Susanville worked in one of the three prisons. In "job-starved rural America,... residents see them as the last and only chance for employment after work at the lumber mill or the dairy dries up."

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. Part of Lassen Volcanic National Park extends onto a western corner of the county.

Adjacent counties

2011

Places by population, race, and income

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Lassen County had a population of 34,895. The racial makeup of Lassen County was 25,532 White, 2,834 African American, 1,234 Native American, 356 Asian, 165 Pacific Islander, 3,562 from other races, and 1,212 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6,117 persons.

2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 33,828 people, 9,625 households, and 6,776 families residing in the county. The population density was 7 people per square mile. There were 12,000 housing units at an average density of 3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county was 80.8% White, 8.8% Black or African American, 3.3% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.4% Pacific Islander, 3.2% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. 13.8% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 13.8% were of German, 12.1% Irish, 10.5% English, 8.7% American and 5.0% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 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

Lassen is an overwhelmingly Republican county in presidential and congressional elections. It is also one of the few counties to consistently vote Republican within the state. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976. In 2016, Lassen was Donald Trump's best county in the state, with a 50-point margin over the overwhelming statewide victor Hillary Clinton.
YearGOPDEMOthers
201670.79% 7,57420.79% 2,2248.42% 901
201268.03% 7,29628.47% 3,0533.51% 376
200865.45% 7,48331.37% 3,5863.18% 364
200470.97% 8,12627.58% 3,1581.45% 166
200066.88% 7,08028.17% 2,9824.95% 524
199652.60% 5,19433.60% 3,31813.81% 1,363
199237.02% 3,83632.70% 3,38830.28% 3,138
198858.59% 5,15739.15% 3,4462.26% 199
198461.09% 5,35237.14% 3,2541.77% 155
198054.45% 4,46435.87% 2,9419.67% 793
197642.97% 3,00754.32% 3,8012.72% 190
197250.80% 3,61844.00% 3,1345.20% 370
196841.06% 2,55347.12% 2,93011.82% 735
196434.25% 2,12465.67% 4,0720.08% 5
196040.24% 2,36559.08% 3,4720.68% 40
195642.48% 2,53357.22% 3,4120.30% 18
195243.66% 3,31355.83% 4,2370.51% 39
194833.95% 1,96062.91% 3,6323.14% 181
194433.92% 1,89665.81% 3,6780.27% 15
194030.13% 1,90269.17% 4,3670.70% 44
193619.62% 1,03579.47% 4,1930.91% 48
193226.89% 1,16770.41% 3,0562.70% 117
192856.73% 2,11142.92% 1,5970.35% 13
192440.78% 1,07213.54% 35645.69% 1,201
192066.22% 1,58226.92% 6436.86% 164
191636.96% 87755.75% 1,3237.29% 173
19121.91% 2745.61% 64452.48% 741
190854.61% 55135.78% 3619.61% 97
190462.69% 57332.93% 3014.38% 40
190058.10% 54934.50% 3267.41% 70
189643.66% 42054.89% 5281.46% 14
189248.09% 54046.66% 5245.25% 59

Lassen County is in. is in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Ted Gaines, and.

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

, Herlong Airport and Westwood Airport are general aviation airports in the county.

Major highways

, operated by the Lassen Transit Service Agency, runs a local service in Susanville, and longer distance routes to Westwood and Doyle.

Utilities

The Lassen Municipal Utility District is the primary electric utility in the county, and was created in 1986 by purchasing transmission facilities from CP National 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

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Lassen County.
† county seat
RankCity/Town/etc.Municipal typePopulation
1† SusanvilleCity17,947
2WestwoodCDP1,647
3JanesvilleCDP1,408
4JohnstonvilleCDP1,024
5Patton VillageCDP702
6DoyleCDP678
7Susanville Indian RancheriaAIAN549
8BieberCDP312
9HerlongCDP298
10LitchfieldCDP195
11SpauldingCDP178
12Clear CreekCDP169
13MilfordCDP167
14NubieberCDP50