I wrote a review (link available at the bottom of this post) about Historic Downtown Dunsmuir on June 1, 2014, but I decided to share some more pictures and find out the significance of some of the buildings we saw on the Avenue of the Arts and on the main street of Dunsmuir Avenue. This historic railroad town is rich with histoy and fun, current facts. The community is over 100 years old and remains a wonderful vacation destination.
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| California Theater, Dunsmuir, CA |
When we first began our drive through Dunsmuir, the sign in front of the California Theater stood out to me as very similar to one we saw in San Jose last year. We saw our cousin Christopher Bengochea sing Madame Butterfly at the Fox Theater in San Jose, and San Jose's vertical "California" sign is identical to the one in Dunsmuir. Dunsmuir's California Theater opened in 1926 and has had many famous visitors, including Babe Ruth and Clark Gable. It has gone several periods of operation after a restoration in 1991, but the three-screen house is currently closed.
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| "The Best Water on Earth" mural |
The official city slogan "Home of the best water on earth" is painted along a large wall leading from Dunsmuir Avenue down to "Avenue of the Arts", where the Union Pacific tracks run parallel to the street and the Sacramento River. The town sits at the edge of Mt. Shasta, and the mountain's lava layers eliminate the need for water filtration for their drinking water, giving them their slogan. I tested this statement at two of the town's three drinking fountains. One sits all alone across from the Hotel and Theater and two are closer to the Sheriff's station and City Chamber of Commerce. On each side of town, one fountain runs 24 hours a day - cold, clean, fresh water!
It was amazing!
The Dunsmuir Police Department was disbanded over 20 years ago and is now policed by the Siskiyou Sheriff's Department. The Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's Center was closed when we drove through town. Most of the town was closed that day and we could find nowhere to go into, but this was the most disappointing as I was hoping to speak with someone who lived in this alpine village.
Historic resorts can be found in town, as well as the (closed) Dunsmuir Travelers Hotel. The Hotel survived a big fire in 1921, only 18 years after most of the town had burned down in another fire. Herbert Hoover stayed in the hotel in 1933, the year my grandmother was born. Dunsmuir has survived many other fires, avalanches and floods during its life. One of the most horrific events was one of the most recent, when a railroad spill dumped 19,000 gallons of an herbicide into the river, killing every living plant and life for 45 miles downstream.
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Travelers Hotel
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| Even the rest areas right outside of town are beautiful |
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| There is an outstanding view of Mt. Shasta as you leave town (headed North) |
This wonderful town is named for Alexander Dunsmuir of British Columbia. In 1888 he donated a fountain to the town with the condition it be named for his family. Come see the fountain and participate in the many other activities offered here! River rafting on Class III rapids, sport fishing in the streams, and exploring nearby waterfalls are just a few of the great things there are to do in Dunsmuir. The town hosts festivals and celebrations and their events are on the Chamber of Commerce website calendar. The railroad tracks aren't the only major transportation line. This is the north-most stop for Amtrak and a bus station sits in the middle of town. It's also easily found on Interstate-5. The drive is as beautiful as the destination and I highly recommend it!
My original review of our experience (of Historic Downtown Dunsmuir only) is on this link:
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