Shasta State Historic Park

15312 Highway 299 West
Shasta, CA 96087
parks.ca.gov

Shasta State Historic Park contains the remains of the once thriving gold rush era town of Shasta. With the County Courthouse, Blum Bakery and Litsch store still intact, visitors can tour these buildings, wander past the brick remains of other downtown businesses and head up the small hill to the town's cemetery in an easy walk that takes just a few minutes.

Six miles west of Redding the lusty "Queen City" of California's northern mining district once stood on this site. Silent but eloquent vestiges remain--a row of old, half-ruined, brick buildings and the Shasta County Courthouse (c0nverted from a commercial building in 1861) remind passing motorists that Shasta City was the county's center before Redding claimed that honor. In the boomtown that prospered for over 40 years from 1850-1890, meat markets, hardware stores, barbershops, bookstores, and stables occupied the mile long stretch of now hollowed buildings. 

Visitors can start their park journey at the Courthouse Museum.

Today the building contains original furniture, apparel and other items in historical exhibits, plus the one-of-a-kind art collection which is the only such collection in the California State Parks.

The courtroom is furnished with many original items to interpret Shasta County justice. A jail and gallows have been restored to the 1860s but the storytelling ghost still locked in the jail is definitely an original.

Understated, the historic California Artwork that hangs above bookshelves and fills the walls of the exhibit space could certainly fill an art gallery when better spaced. However, the exhibit is one of the biggest attractions that make it the central figure of Shasta State Historic Park.

Artists such as Maynard Dixon, "Painter of the West," Julien Joss, Rowena Meeks Abdy, Emmanuel Leutze, Fortunato Arriola, Armin Hansen, William Gaw, Rinaldo Cuneo, Euphemia Charlton Fortune and Dong Kingman are represented in works. From sailboats and ocean scenes to portraits of women, men (such as John Sutter in front of Sutter's Fort,) horses, flowers, a young girl and favorite haunts such as Monterey's Old Fisherman's Wharf and San Francisco's Chinatown, the paintings were created from 1850 to 1950, and donated from the private collection of Mae Helene Boggs. There are 98 historic paintings by 71 different artists from dozens of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Many of the artists lived in California at some point in their lives, so the display is described as 100 years of California Art.

Blumb Bakery

The Blumb Bakery operated in Shasta until 1918. The entire bakery has been restored to house a working business. School children and weekend visitors often catch a glimpse of baking 1870s style in the faithfully recreated brick oven. Hours of operation vary.

Litsch Store

One-stop-shopping originated in places such as the Litsch General Store, owned and operated by the Litsch Family from 1850 to 1950. Restored to the 1880s appearance, it contains many original items that were actually for sale at that time. You'll see shelves neatly filled with cans and canisters of spices, foods, tea, coffee and everything imaginable. Brooms for sweeping, wheels and mechanical parts, lamps and umbrellas are just a few of the items or merchandise packed from floor to ceiling and utilizing nearly every single space. 

Pioneer Barn Area

Pioneer Barn is an old, wooden weather-worn hay barn that houses an original stagecoach, farming and mining implements of the 1800s. With old oak trees, it has a certain charm and lends well to photos and paintings. Also look for cottage ruins, gardens, orchards and the Catholic Cemetery along the park's trails. Many of Shasta's prominent citizens are buried in the graveyard.

Brick Ruins

The brick buildings, remnants of a once thriving gold rush shopping district, are still there thanks to misfortune the town faced with not one, but two devastating fires in its gold rush days. After the second fire burned nearly everything down, the buildings were then made of brick with huge iron doors to help slow the spread of fire once again.

 You can spend less than one minute driving past this historic gem but we recommend that you stop the car and get out and explore. Most everything is free to see except a small fee is charged for the Courthouse admission and possibly a few activities offered seasonally.