Collection: Books and Periodicals

About This Item:

Title: A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California (1891) Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Publisher: Lewis Publishing Company Published: 1891 Copyright: In the public domain or published before 1925 Source(s): Google Books # of Pages: 713 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2024-07-22 00:25:09 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 03:11:29 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 06:30:36

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

Page: of 713  

116 HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. and even in Chicago. The first citrus fair ever held in modern times was December 20, 1887, in an orange grove near Oroville, which proved 80 great a success that intense enthnsiasm was aroused. Butte County proved herself a formidable rival of Southern California in the production of fine oranges and lemons. One exhibit was a beautiful palace so completely and symmetrically covered with oranges and lemons as to appear to be built of them. FACILITIES. Persons in the East must not think of Butte County, California, as a “new country.” The California & Oregon Railroad runs diagonally throngh her borders. Her towns ure already located and well established with all that makes towns and embryo cities. They have telegraph and telephone lines everywhere. All lines of business are fully represented. Should a wall be built around it, shutting it ont from the world, it would go on and prosper, scarcely realizing that anything had happened. Forty years ago this was a new country; twenty years ago it was a new country; but in the sense in which the term is commonly used, this is a “new country ” no longer. Those who are there find themselves in the midst of lively competition. Yet there is abundant room for the development of new resources. OITIES AND TOWNS. Chico, the metropolis of the county, is a young city of abont 6,000 population, situated on the line of the California & Oregon Railroad, ninety-six miles north of Sacramento, in the midst of a very rich agricultural and fruitgrowing region. The Sacramento River is six miles distant, and Chico Creek, a bright stream, flows throngh. Here we have business houses of all kinds, two well-established banks, six hotels, gas works, water works, electric light works, a flouring mill, a foundry, extensive lumber yards, planing mills, a brewery, a cannery, two daily and weekly newspapers, two large public school buildings running fourteen departments, two private academies, a State Norwal School and seven churches, representing as many different denominations. No interior city in the State is more flourishing, or has a brighter future. The history cf Chico begins as far back as 1848, when Edward A. Farwell and William Dickey obtained a grant here. The town site was laid out in 1860, by J. S. Henning, County Surveyor, for John Bidwell. Richard Breeves built the firat house and E. B. Pond the first brick store. The first municipal election was held February 5, 1872. The Bank of Chico.—Thie bank is one of the most important financial institutions of the Sacramento Valley, being ably managed and possessed of ample capital for all its purposes. It was established in 1872, being incorporated under the banking laws of California. Mr. John “Conly, since deceased, was its first president, and Mr. Alexander H. Crew the secretary and cashier, the latter gentleman being in fact the head and active man. Upon the death of Mr. Conly, in 1883, Mr. W. D. Heath became president. After holding the office for less than a year he died, when Mr. Orrin Gowell was chosen president, and still holds that office. Mr. H. W. Heath, brother of the late W. D. Heath, is the vice-president. The capital authorized in $500,000, of which $300,000 is paid up. They have a fine substantial bank building, erected at a cost of $25,000, an ornament to the town. We append an outline of the busy and useful lite of the cashier, Mr. Alexander H. Crew, which will be found of interest. Mr. Crew is a native of London, England, where he was born June 28, 1835. He received a good English education in the celebrated Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Bermondsey, near London Bridge, of which his father, William Crew, was a trustee. In February, 1849, the family set out tor Australia, but while on the voyage they heard of the discovery of gold in California, and came here instead, after being a tedious seven months on the water.