Standish is an
unincorporated town
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
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
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 ...
.
It is located southwest of
Litchfield,
at an elevation of .
It lies at the northern terminus of
County Route A3 (Standish
Buntingville Road) on
U.S. Route 395
U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road ...
. The name honors
Miles Standish
Myles Standish (c. 1584 – October 3, 1656) was an English military officer and colonizer. He was hired as military adviser for Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts, United States by the Pilgrims. Standish accompanied the Pilgrims on ...
.
History
Standish was laid out in 1897,
as the second development of the Associated Colonies of New York, whose job was to "create utopian communities in the West".
As a part of this project, Standish was designed based on the beliefs of Myles Standish, and the economic structure was designed based on the ideas promoted by LDS leader Brigham Young.
The design of the town was supposed to model European communities which had the majority of residents leaving the village during the day in order to work in the nearby fields.
When the town was built, it was expected that most of the residents would be farmers with houses separated by at least one hundred feet.
In autumn 1897, the Associated Colonies purchased the properties of Edward T. Purser and his Susan River Irrigation system.
Afterwards, the Associated Colonies recruited local people to form the Honey Lake Valley Colonial Club, which would go on to design the Standish Colony. A site was chosen to build the town on February 5, 1898.
It was on February 18, 1898, that the Colonial Irrigation Company of the Honey Lake Valley was incorporated in order to irrigate water for the crops.
However, legal problems with the system and water rights caused delay in its operation and the development of Standish; after several legal battles, the courts placed restraints on their irrigation rights.
On January 14, 1905, the courts finally ordered the auction of the Colonial Irrigation Company.
The post office opened in 1899, having been transferred from Datura.
Points of interest
* Standish School
** On January 5, 1906, the school district was created. However, its existence was relatively brief; on July 1, 1951, the school district was consolidated with the Bridgeport, Soldier Bridge school district to form the Shaffer Union School District. Then school was then closed.
*
Standish Hall
Standish Hall was an estate and country house, built in 1573, owned by the Standish family in the south-west of Standish, Wigan. No standing structures of the hall remain on the former estate, however, some of its wooden-panel interiors are p ...
is a
registered historic place.
Climate
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above . 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, Standish 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 "Csb" on climate maps.
Climate Summary for Standish, California
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See also
* W. E. Smythe, founder of the town
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in California
Unincorporated communities in Lassen County, California