Bell's Bridge is a historical site in

Redding, California Redding is a city in and the county seat of Shasta County, California, and the economic and cultural capital of the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California. Redding lies along the Sacramento River, north of Sacramento, California, Sacrame ...

Shasta County Shasta County (), officially the County of Shasta, is a county located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 182,155 as of the 2020 census, up from 177,223 from the 2010 census. The county seat is Redding. ...

. Battle Rock site is a

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

No. 519 listed on May 28, 1954. Bell's Bridge was built on the 100 mile long toll road from Shasta City to Tehama in 1851 by J. J. Bell. In Redding Bell built a large house and inn, on Clear Creek, the Bell's Mansion in 1859. Many a

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face (mining), face; cutt ...

s stopped and rested and eat at Bell's Mansion on their way to the gold fields of Shasta,

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

, and Siskiyou counties. Bell's Mansion was a three-story house that was built on the site of removed old

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

. Bell's Mansion it was made of massive hand-hewn timbers held together with wooden pegs. The first floor of Bell's Mansion had Bells's office, a

dining room A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually next to the kitchen for convenience in serving, though in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically the dining room is furnished with ...

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

, a

parlor A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessary ...

and two large bedrooms. The back second floor of Bell's Mansion had six bedrooms for female guest. The front second floor and all of the third floor of Bell's Mansion had a large room for all male guest. Bell's Mansion was known for good food and high prices. After Bell's death and the rush was over Mansion became a barn. Mansion was sold to William McCoy in 1879. Due to age and lack of care the barn collapsed in March 1998. The Mansion was at Clear Creek, now the

California State Route 273 State Route 273 (SR 273) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves as a business loop of Interstate 5 in California, Interstate 5 that travels directly through the downtown districts of Anderson, California, Anderson and Re ...

bridge, and across the street from the Win River Casino at 2100 Redding Rancheria Road, Redding, . In the past there was a historical marker at the SouthWest corner of old Hwy 99 and Clear Creek Road in Redding.

References

{{Authority control California Historical Landmarks History of Shasta County, California 1851 in California 1851 establishments in California

See also

References