Westwood is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in

Lassen County Lassen County () is a county in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,730. The county seat and only incorporated city is Susanville. Lassen County comprises the Susanville, Calif ...

, California, United States. Westwood is located 20 miles (32 km) west-southwest of Susanville, at an elevation of 5,128 feet (1,563 m). Its population is 1,541 as of the 2020 census, down from 1,647 from the 2010 census..

Geography

Westwood is built upon lava flows from Cascade Mountain Range volcanoes to the north. Keddie Ridge is considered to be at the northern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and (1.34%) is water.

History

Westwood was built by

T. B. Walker Thomas Barlow Walker (February 1, 1840 – July 28, 1928) was an American business magnate who acquired lumber in Minnesota and California and became an collection (artwork), art collector. Walker founded the Minneapolis Public Library. He was amon ...

to be the operations center for the Red River Lumber Company in 1913, and serviced by 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 ...

built in 1912–14. The first post office opened in 1913. The Red River Lumber Company is credited as being "the world's largest electrical sawmill of the times." Red River Lumber Company also operated one of the first electric railways in the state built in 1927. The mill was equipped with the most modern equipment for its time; and the surrounding territory was crisscrossed by

forest railway A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felling, felled logs to sawmills or railway stations. In most cases th ...

s bringing logs to the mill. The railway shop at Westwood was home to

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

No. 102 and

2-8-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and two trailing wheel ...

No. 104 when forest railway operations ceased in the early 1950s. The four woods engines scrapped in 1953 were

2-6-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. ...

number 1,

2-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels, six coupled driving wheels and two trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Prairie. Overview The major ...

number 2, 2-8-2 number 3, and 3-truck

Shay locomotive The Shay locomotive is a geared steam locomotive that originated and was primarily used in North America. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a ''geared st ...

number 4. William Laughead, an advertising copywriter who had once worked in

lumber camp A logging camp (or lumber camp) is a transitory work site used in the logging industry. Before the second half of the 20th century, these camps were the primary place where lumberjacks would live and work to fell trees in a particular area. Many ...

s, took the stories of an old lumberjack and reworked them into the modern character. He sold the stories of

Paul Bunyan Paul Bunyan is a giant lumberjack and folk hero in American and Canadian folklore. His exploits revolve around the tall tales of his superhuman labors, and he is customarily accompanied by Babe the Blue Ox. The character originated in the or ...

and his Blue Ox "Babe" to the Red River Lumber Company, which published "Introducing Mr. Paul Bunyan of Westwood, California" in 1916 as an advertising pamphlet. Among other things, Laughead gave the name "Babe" to the blue ox, originated the idea that Paul Bunyan and Babe were of enormous size, and created the first pictorial representation of Bunyan. The Red River Lumber Company's electric mill at Westwood made wooden Venetian blinds, plywood, boxes, doors and windows which were shipped all over the U.S. and the world. The Westwood mill set a world record in 1942 by sawing 212 million board feet. Westwood High School's nickname is the Lumberjacks. Westwood had a very large indoor shopping mall as far back as the 1930s, as well as a large theater, skating rink and club for the mill workers. The town was sold in 1944 to the Fruit Growers Supply Company (sister cooperative of Sunkist Growers). The plant closed in 1956, and the town was sold to residents and developers. Westwood also had a very early form of cable television. The owner of the local variety store took it upon himself to provide television service to the community. At the time three channels were available to view in Westwood, Channel 3, the NBC affiliate in Sacramento, Channel 7, the ABC affiliate in Redding and Channel 12, the CBS affiliate in Chico. Multiple antennae were mounted outside of town and coax cable was laid up and down the alleys. For a small monthly fee a home could have television service without having three separate antennae on the roof.

Demographics

2010

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

reported that Westwood had a population of 1,647. The population density was . The racial makeup of Westwood was 1,430 (86.8%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 3 (0.2%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 104 (6.3%) Native American, 10 (0.6%)

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 2 (0.1%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 49 (3.0%) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 49 (3.0%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 179 persons (10.9%). The Census reported that 1,647 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 715 households, out of which 219 (30.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 299 (41.8%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 87 (12.2%) had a female householder with no husband present, 51 (7.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 65 (9.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 3 (0.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 223 households (31.2%) were made up of individuals, and 92 (12.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30. There were 437

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...

(61.1% of all households); the average family size was 2.87. The population was spread out, with 393 people (23.9%) under the age of 18, 135 people (8.2%) aged 18 to 24, 367 people (22.3%) aged 25 to 44, 531 people (32.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 221 people (13.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.9 males. There were 1,005 housing units at an average density of , of which 440 (61.5%) were owner-occupied, and 275 (38.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 5.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 15.1%. 977 people (59.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 670 people (40.7%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,998 people, 795 households, and 520 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 1,048 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 88.39%

, 5.26% Native American, 0.25%

, 0.55%

, 2.70% from

, and 2.85% from two or more races.

of any race were 8.51% of the population. There were 795 households, out of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.5% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.10. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 31.4% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $24,148, and the median income for a family was $30,195. Males had a median income of $29,219 versus $23,646 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $13,178. About 16.7% of families and 22.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.0% of those under age 18 and 1.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The

San Joaquin and Eastern Railroad The San Joaquin & Eastern Railroad (SJ&E) was a standard gauge common carrier railroad that operated in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Fresno County in the U.S. state of California. The line was abandoned in 1933. The railro ...

sold Shay locomotive Lima #2534 to the Red River Lumber Company. The

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

(BNSF) has a Maintenance of Way station and a siding that is used to store BNSF snow fighting equipment. The Westwood Community Services District serves 2,000 people.

Government

In the state legislature, Westwood is in , and . Federally, Westwood is in .

Points of interest

Westwood is the site of the

Walker family The Walker family came to prominence via its progenitor, T. B. Walker (Thomas Barlow Walker), a highly successful American businessperson who acquired timber in Minnesota and California and built one of the largest forest products corporations i ...

mansion and statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. The "Bizz" Johnson Trail, ends north of Westwood, at Mason Station. Named for Harold T. Johnson, U.S. Congressman from California, the

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

follows the

right-of-way.

Notable people

Pat O'Dea Patrick John "Kangaroo Kicker" O'Dea (17 March 1872 – 5 April 1962) was an Australian rules and American football player and coach. An Australian by birth, O'Dea played Australian rules football for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian ...

, pioneering, Australian-born American Football kicker for the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

, fled an embezzlement charge in San Francisco and lived in Westwood under the pseudonym "Charles J. Mitchell" between 1919 and 1934. *

John H. Tolan John Harvey Tolan (; January 15, 1877 – June 30, 1947) was an American lawyer and politician who served six terms as a U.S. Representative from California from 1935 to 1947. Biography Born in St. Peter, Minnesota, Tolan attended the public ...

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from California died in Westwood on June 30, 1947. *

successful American businessperson who acquired timber in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and California and became an

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

, founding the

Minneapolis Public Library The Minneapolis Public Library (MPL) was a library system that served the residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. It was founded in 1885 with the establishment of the Minneapolis Library Board by an amendment to the Minneapolis ...

and the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, t ...

. In 1923, he was among the ten wealthiest men in the world. He built two

company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

s, including Westwood, which one of his sons, Archie, sold to become part of what is today known as Sunkist.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Westwood has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.Climate Summary for Westwood, California
/ref>

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Lassen County, California Company towns in California Populated places established in 1913 Census-designated places in California 1913 establishments in California