Leavitt is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Lassen County,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States, located alongside the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

Fernley and Lassen Railway The Fernley & Lassen was a rail line of the Southern Pacific Railroad constructed in 1912–14 between Fernley, Nevada and Westwood, California, near Susanville, a distance of approximately . The railroad was constructed to connect the Red Rive ...

branch, east of

Susanville Susanville (formerly known as Rooptown) is a town in and the county seat of Lassen County, California, United States. Susanville is located on the Susan River in the southern part of the county, at an elevation of . Its population is 16,728 a ...

, and 7 miles west of Litchfield, at an elevation of . It is the site of the High Desert State Prison.

History

Benjamin Hanson Leavitt (1834–1918), a pioneer rancher and lumberman who came from the state of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, settled in Lassen County in 1864 and proposed to build this town on his ranch in 1912. It consisted of one store, a few dwellings and a corral. Benjamin Leavitt was a descendant of

Samuel Leavitt Lieut. Samuel Leavitt (1641–1707) was an early colonial American settler of Exeter, New Hampshire, one of the four original towns in the colony of New Hampshire, where Leavitt later served as a delegate to the General Court as well as Lieu ...

Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...

. Benjamin Leavitt engineered the Honey Lake Valley irrigation system, including Leavitt Lake. Leavitt also named nearby Clinton, California, for his hometown of

Clinton Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...

in Kennebec County, Maine. (The town was renamed Leavitt Lake in 1973 when house construction began there.) Benjamin Leavitt was married to Celara Cleveland (Edwards) Leavitt, born in Massachusetts. A

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

at Leavitt was established in October 1914, and named after May F. Leavitt, the first postmaster. It was discontinued in December 1920.Salley, Harold E. (1991) ''History of California Post Offices, 1849–1990'', p. 116. The Depot,

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in California Unincorporated communities in Lassen County, California 1914 establishments in California