Shasta County, California

Shasta County forms the extreme northern point of the great Sacramento valley. Here are the headwaters of the river, which has its source in the defiles of Mt. Shasta, and here is some of the most picturesque scenery in the west. The county is traversed both by the Sierra and the Coast range, and for the most part is extremely mountainous, while the forest is largely virgin. The area is 3,765 square miles, and the population has jumped from 9,492 in 1880 to fully 18,000 at present. Redding, the county seat, is one of the most promising cities north of Sacramento. It lies in a position to command the trade of a rich farming, mining, and lumbering region, and its growth during the last two years has been phenomenal. Other towns are hasta, Cottonwood, and Anderson. Until recently farming, stock-raising, and mining were the chief industries, but experiment has shown that soil and climate in Shasta are specially adapted to fruits, and a very large acreage has been planted, and several flourishing colonies have been established. The completion of the California and Oregon railroad has given a great impetus to the development of the county, and set tiers are rapidly locating on the public lands. The assessed value of the county in 1889 was $6,600,000.

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Source: California State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1890, Volume II, R. L. Polk & Company, 1890.