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Orland Historical & Cultural Society

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Orland, CA
Orland Historical & Cultural Society

To celebrate and preserve Orland's rich history.

06/19/2026

Digging deep.
Work on the plumbing problem at the Alta Schmidt House Museum is underway. Drove by this afternoon and there were a number of trucks and equipment blocking the alley as work is being done to address the "long-standing" problem of hooking the Museum property to the city sewer line. Will be nice to have this resolved.

06/16/2026

Mid-month History Mystery.
June is moving right along! This mid-month mystery is a simple one asking for location. The exact location should probably be in reference to two or three Orland streets.
Easy peasy. I will check back later this evening but don't expect this to be unanswered after 10 p.m.

06/15/2026

Flag Day.
The adoption of the U.S. flag took place on 14 June 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. The flag has been updated 27 times over the centuries and "the current 50-star flag, representing all 50 states, has been the longest used version in U.S. history, adopted in 1960." Flag Day is a national observance since 1949 and is not a federal holiday.
The Fort Sumter flag survived the opening bombardment of the Civil War on 12 April 1861. The fort is at the mouth of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina and is named for Revolutionary War hero Thomas Sumter. The Star-Spangled Banner was the flag flying at Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Francis Scott Key was 8-miles away and watched the British (on 13 Sept 1814) unleased a massive barrage on Fort McHenry which guarded Baltimore. Key was relieved and inspired the next morning and wrote the first stanza of a poem called "Defence of Fort M'Henry" on the back of a letter he was carrying. The poem was later published in the local newspapers and set to the melody of a popular British drinking song. The national anthem was made official by Pres. Hoover on 3 March 1931.

06/14/2026

Western Americana.
Along US Highway 50 in central Nevada, are two towns 70 miles apart. To the west is Austin with a population of 167 (2020). It is a "living ghost town" and is a well-preserved example of an early Nevada mining town. The location of silver was needed in the effort to support the (Civil) war effort in the early 1860s. Population was near 10,000 in 1863 but major silver production ended b 1887. The town is at an elevation of 6,575' and in Lander County.
Eureka is the county seat of Eureka County with a population of 414 (2020). It was first settled by a group of silver prospectors from Austin and became the county seat of Eureka County when it was carved out of adjacent Lander, Elko, and White Pine Counties. Production slowed in the 1880s and stopped when it became too expensive to pump water out of the mines and the silver prices dropped in 1890. They also mined lead and the local hillsides ranked as Nevada's second-richest mineral producer (behind the Comstock lode). Eureka is known as "The Friendliest Town on the Loneliest Road in America." The iron work pictures are from Eureka. I remember they had a nice museum there too.

06/13/2026

From back of the photo album.
Highway 50 is known as the "Loneliest Road in America." Starting in the 1990s, it had a famous landmark 2.4 miles east of Middlegate, NV. A 70' cottonwood tree was known as the "Largest Shoe Tree in the World." Unfortunately, on December 30, 2011, vandals took down the tree. A memorial service for the Middlegate Shoe Tree was held in February 2011 and hundreds of people attended. A new nearby tree was selected and is now Shoe Tree #2. If you have in mind of adding to the tree, they suggest that you use a Sharpie to write your name and date on your shoes before you throw them.
Images of Shoe Tree #1 were taken in June 2006.

06/12/2026

The Arch.
If you go to Google and type in "Orland Arch" you will get a surprising number of nice images of the Orland Arch. The Flood of 1940 (February) is shown in the third photograph, and the CCC men from Camp Orland are seen attempting to keep the creek water from getting higher in town. The night photograph is a great shot that was taken for the Marysville "Appeal-Democrat" newspaper. "MYNSPR.org" is the source for the California Northern locomotive on the tracks.

06/11/2026

The admiration of all...
Here are four more newspaper clippings on Orland's highway arch built in 1926. Articles are from March 5, April 9, July 9 and September 10, 1926. "It will be a handsome structure, massive in design, but not lacking in grace of outline." Long may it be a proud landmark of Orland!

06/10/2026

Gathering Glory...
Orland's iconic arch is coming up on its centennial. The Orland Unit of 11 June 1926 indicates financial issues seem to be a sticking point before construction actually started. It would be built by John Berlinger Sr. The 35-ton piers have a footing six feet below the surface and the steel truss was prefabricated in Sacramento by a bridge and iron works company. The moving spirit for the proposed highway arch was Bessie Marie Anderson Mecum (1886-1944) wife of Orland businessman Ira Edgar Mecum (1867-1940).

06/08/2026

"Boys (and some men) will be boys."
Since we are reminiscing about swimming in Stony Creek, I thought it would be appropriate to include this Orland Unit article/clipping from 23 June 1914. Wondering if any boys were ever cited or pinched for this apparent infraction? The fine of "spending a few days in the county bastille" seems a little harsh.

06/07/2026

John's "What Do You Remember?"
John is asking if you were lucky enough to swim in Stony Creek before Black Butte Dam was completed c. 1964? Where did you access it and whom might have been with you. Now that summer vacation has started, swimming will be on minds as the weather warms to summer temperatures. What do you remember about swimming in the creek?

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Orland Historical & Cultural Society PO Box 183
Orland, CA
95963

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