It must have been exciting times when the California and Oregon Railroad, a division of the Central Pacific Railroad, stopped construction of its tracks at Poverty Flats in 1872 and formed the new town of Redding. Redding gained prominence and grew rapidly because of the railroad.
As the end-of-the-line, Redding was very fortuitous in its role in the development of our county for 10 years until the railroad resumed construction and laid its tracks north of Redding through the Sacramento River Canyon.
In 1884, the railroad established the town of Kennett at Squaw Creek, north of Redding. The town was named for the financier, Squire Kennett. Kennett soon became a center of mining and smelting. The railroad brought many new residents to the town of Kennett, which grew rapidly. It wasn't long before the town had a school, a post office in 1886, the a hospital, lodging with the Golinsky Hotel, a fire station, a calaboose, three newspapers and an opera house supported by a population of just over 5,000 residents.
Kennett was soon competing with Redding for prominence and became incorporated in 1911. Kennett also became home to the famous Diamond Bar Saloon, which was owned and operated by Victor E. 'Slim' Warrens, a native of Missouri. The name of the Diamond Bar Saloon was derived from the proprietor's passion for diamonds.
Like Warrens, numerous other people from around the country came and settled at Kennett. Folks like Charles Butters in 1885, a native of Massachusetts, who worked as an engineer and he began buying large amounts of Kennett property, some of which he subdivided and sold. This area was later referred to as the 'Butters Addition.' Another well-known subdivision at Kennett was 'Smelter Street.'
During this same period of time, two nearby towns, Little Italy and Bernhard, were created and 'unofficially' annexed into Kennett, using their Post Office to send and receive mail. Little Italy was located on the main road to the Mammoth mine and the children of its communities attended classes at the Kennett schoolhouse, located on School Street.
Little Italy was named for its large Italian population and had a hotel that included a restaurant. The hotel was called the Mt. Shasta Hotel and it was owned and operated by Antonio Carratini, a native of Uruguay.
Above: the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot at Kennett, California in 1909. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society.
The town of Bernhard was established by Bernhard Golinsky, a native of Germany who named the town for himself. It was located near Squaw Creek on the road past the Mammoth Hospital in Kennett. His family owned the Golinsky Hotel and Bernhard Golinsky served as postmaster of Kennett for a short time.
Between 1880 and 1890, the Mammoth mine was discovered in the Backbone Mining District by local prospector George Graves. Some reports indicate a man named Frazier discovered it, as well. In 1904, the nearby Mammoth mine was purchased by a group of people who formed the Mammoth Copper Mining Co. at Kennett. Their parent company was the U.S. Smelting, Refining and Mining Co., which would eventually build an immense smelter at the mouth of Little Backbone Creek. Other mines in the area were purchased by the company, as well.
In 1907, the smelter was erected and it prospered until 1919, when it closed. A year later, it reopened. But then it shut down again. The mine closed the same year as the smelter did, and the Mammoth smelter was eventually dismantled. The mine was reopened for a brief period of mining in 1937 and then it became inactive.
Kennett was unincorporated in 1930 and lost its post office in 1942. The Kennett Post Office closed due to the construction of Shasta Dam, between 1938-1945. The impact the dam had on the city was catastrophic. While Kennett was dependent on mining, the city of Redding had a broader basis of commerce, and Redding surpassed Kennett. Kennett now lies underneath the water of Lake Shasta, just north of Shasta Dam.
(This article was written by Jeremy M. Tuggle.)
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