Inundated Underwater Cities
By Jonathan Haeber
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Downtown Kennett, California. Notice the “Meat Market” sign in the center building. photo courtesy of the Bureau of Reclamation.
In 1944, the Bureau of Reclamation closed the gates at Shasta Dam and began inundating the vast network of valleys in the Shasta National Forest. In the valleys resided three unique cities, a fish hatchery, and thousands of residents.
It may not compare to the estimated 1.9 million people displaced by China’s Three Gorges Dam project — a project that is five times as large as the Hoover Dam. However, it was an important location in the West’s history. Some of the largest copper mines resided in the mountains around Shasta. The largest of which was not consumed by the waters of Shasta Lake: The Iron Mountain mine, between Shasta and Whiskeytown. Effluence coming from Iron Mountain has been professed to have a negative pH (the only known natural negative pH). It is more acidic than battery acid.
Not only was there sulfuric acid, there were also smelters, used in the copper refining process. The process of refining copper released toxic smoke into the air. The hills were denuded within a 15-mile radius. The mountains looked like vast victims of a nuclear blast (but that’s a whole other story).
The point of this post was to talk about these inundated towns of Shasta (Baird, Copper City, Elmore, Etter, Morley, Pitt, Winthrop and the largest: Kennett). Kennett boasted a population of 10,000 — it had an opera house, trade stores, hospital, school, as many as 40 saloons, and more.
Kennett was a copper city that boomed in the early 1900s, especially during WWI. Slim Warren’s “Diamond Saloon” was known all across the state as an ornate and dazzling place to imbibe in alcoholic beverages. photo courtesy Shasta Lake Heritage & HIstorical Society.
Before the town was flooded, one of the workers on the dam, Archie Lefler, was interviewed by the Shasta Lake Heritage & Historical Society, saying:
“After our shifts were over, I used to go up to Kennett with a friend and roam around the deserted town. We were just looking around in the deserted, old buildings and saloons, when we found gold coins — some fallen through floors, some hidden in fireplaces and behind walls. We found enough coins during those days that I bought my first two lots in Anderson with the money.”
What does the story of Kennett tell us about Geography? I’ll let you decide for yourself. But one thing I find is that inundated towns tell something about the very real influence we as human beings have on the landscape. However much we may downplay our effects — positing that we are mere ants in the universe — we still have the ability to turn mountains into islands; cities into reefs. And as easily as we can submerge townsites, we can submerge history, never to look back. In the case of Kennett, we buried a place that became barren due to five copper smelters around the town — perhaps because we, as human beings, like to hide our ugly past.
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May 1st, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I’m looking for info on Copper City. I am researching a murder that happened in Red Bluff on June 1, 1863. The accussed was a James “Poker Jim” Lacey. It was said that he ran a restaurant in Copper City about that time. Are there any photo’s from that time period of Copper City that you may know of?
Thanks,
Bob
September 6th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Robert
I did a little research and there are photos out there. I have a photo post card from Kennett. In my research i found a book on Pioneer Photographers and one Grove K Godfrey took photos of Copper City. Here is a link to the information on Godfrey. Good luck finding what your looking for…
http://books.google.com/books?id=Nne4L9h27RsC&pg=PA262&lpg=PA262&dq=%22copper+city%22+california+1863&source=web&ots=a-HXdnEo31&sig=DHNuwGZcfEgFCMagOqxGJSXWbGE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result
September 6th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Thank You So much Carol! I love seeing things like this!
October 18th, 2008 at 8:04 am
i live in shasta lake city california, and would like see kennett city. the lake, i have have heard, is low enough to do so, but i dont know the location. is ther any way you could find out the location for me. i have been looking, but tis is the closest i have gotten. i thank you for the photos, and hope to hear from you soon
hubert
January 3rd, 2009 at 2:53 am
There’s at least one of these in Colorado. The town of Montgomery was flooded by the creation of the aptly named Montgomery Reservoir. The reservoir now provides water to the city of Colorado Springs, and all that’s left of the town is its mill, high up enough to be safe from the water.
We’ll take you up next time you’re in CO.
January 3rd, 2009 at 10:03 am
Jon, great post and nice re-design on the website. Do you think Kennett would be visible now that the lake is so low?
January 3rd, 2009 at 8:06 pm
Thanks Steve, Kennett is not visible now. The low point of Shasta Lake is about 400 feet underwater, so the lake would probably have to be literally emptied out in order to see the old city. However, I recently read a news story that indicated there are a few other mining towns recently revealed due to the low levels. Might be worth investigation. I know at the bottom of Whiskeytown Reservoir there was an entire steam engine discovered.
January 3rd, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Hey Andrew, would love to see the mill some day. I’m planning on a trip to Detroit for Memorial day this year, so I’m not sure when my next opportunity will arrive, but when it does I’d definitely love to see the mill. By the way is there any insight you have for me in regards to Gary, etc. Is there anyone i should be in contact with to give me tips for local sites?
September 15th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I was fortunate to publish Kennett: The Short, Colorful Life of a California Copper Town and Its Founding Family by Jane Schuldberg (Stansbury Publishing, Chico, CA, 2005, 224 pp., 51 illustations). I have a professional interest in the book, however even if I didn’t I’d recommend it to anyone interested in the history of Kennett, its surroundings, founders, and some of those who lived there.
September 23rd, 2009 at 5:52 pm
does anyone have any stores or pictuers of the town of morley? the founder was my great great great grandfather. thanks ben morley