At shasta state historic park, we share the history of the areas gold rush with our visitors as well as telling stories of how the area was first settled by the early american pioneers. One of whom was Pearson Martin redding who came to the area in the 1840s. At the time, he worked for another prominent california Resident John sutter in sacramento and was with a small group of men early during californias gold discovery on the American River. He realized that the terrain, the geology, and the geography along the American River was very similar to the area that he had passed through and had established mexicos most Northern Land grant. He came to the area in 1848 and discovered gold on clear creek. Word soon spread throughout the United States and the world rushed in. Shasta quickly grew. Within the first couple of years of the gold strike in california, millions of dollars worth of gold passed through shasta. It soon developed from a miner tent city in 1849 to becoming the queen city of the northern mines in a cosmopolitan town not just for miners. Often that is how area residents struck it rich was developing businesses to supply the miners through different mining districts. This is shastas main street. Shasta had the Largest Selection of brick buildings north of san francisco. So, people came from all over the world to strike it rich. They came out. They were working the gold mines. Many of them had professions back home bakers, blacksmiths. They soon saw that there was a need for bakers and blacksmiths. They would make a lot more money doing the jobs they did at home than working the mines looking for gold. It was called mining the miners. Those that were successful opened bakeries and opened up blacksmiths shops and became very important in the community. Now weve moved down to the general store located on the south end of main street. The general store started as a Family Grocery in 1873. It provided everything the first class of Family Grocery would have provided that time. You can get all of your mining supplies, your shovels, your picks. You have your tobacco. Whiskey, beer. Everything you would have needed at the time. So, this photo was taken in the 1880s of the store. When we received the store from the family in the 1960s, we wanted to restore it back to its 1880s condition. So, we really used this photo to help us in our restoration process. If you look around, we tried to match it down to the last lori it was the development of technology and transportation that really in the 1870s spelled the end of shasta when the railroad developed the town of redding about five miles east of here. The town really became a ghost town around the turn of the last century when, in the early 1900s, there were maybe only two or three businesses left in shasta. Shasta. Announcer 1 our cities tour staff recently traveled to redding, california. Learn more about redding and other stops at the span. Org citiestour. Announcer 2 , nurses in the army, a halfhour look at the work of peacetime nurses in the 1950s in korea, japan, hawaii, and germany. This is an episode of the big picture, a Weekly Television series reduced by the u. S. Army between 1950 and 1975. The program was recently restored by the national archives. We are airing it today to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Womens Army Corps in 1942