Shasta, California facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Shasta
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Historic Masonic Hall
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 Shasta, California
Location in California
Shasta, California
Location in the United States
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| Country |  United States |
| State |  California |
| County | Shasta |
| Area | |
| • Total | 10.941 sq mi (28.337 km2) |
| • Land | 10.936 sq mi (28.325 km2) |
| • Water | 0.004 sq mi (0.012 km2) 0.04% |
| Elevation | 843 ft (257 m) |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 1,043 |
| • Density | 95.33/sq mi (36.807/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| GNIS feature ID | 2583135 |
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Shasta State Historic Park
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| Location | Shasta, California |
| NRHP reference No. | 71000199 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 14, 1971 |
Shasta is a small community in Shasta County, California. It sits high up, about 843 feet (257 meters) above sea level. In 2020, about 1,043 people lived there.
Shasta is also home to the Shasta State Historic Park. This park protects what's left of an old gold rush town, which is now mostly a ghost town.
Contents
Shasta's Gold Rush History
Shasta was once a very busy town, especially from the 1850s to the 1880s. It was the biggest town in Shasta County and the surrounding area. People sometimes call it "Old Shasta" today.
The town was a key place for trade. Goods were sent by mule trains and stagecoaches to mining towns and other settlements in northern California. When gold was found nearby in 1848, many "Forty-Niners" (gold seekers) came through Shasta on the Siskiyou Trail. They often used Shasta as their main base. Some stayed to work in the gold mines of nearby, temporary camps.
Shasta is about six miles (10 km) west of Redding, California. It used to have about 3,500 residents and was the main government center for the county. It had a busy shopping area. However, in 1873, a new railroad chose a different path, going around Shasta and through Redding instead. This caused Shasta to start becoming a "ghost town." In 1888, Redding became the new county seat.
By the 1900s, after several fires, a special row of buildings from the gold rush era still stood on Main Street. People who wanted to save history worked to protect these buildings and stories. They saved the old brick buildings with iron doors from the 1850s.
The poet Joaquin Miller wrote about Shasta in his 1870s book, Life Amongst the Modocs. This book was based on his own experiences living in the area as a young man in the 1850s. In his book, Miller describes being briefly put in a Shasta jail and then escaping with help from his Native American wife.
Shasta State Historic Park Today
The area where the old town of Shasta once stood is now a California State Historic Park. It's called Shasta State Historic Park. You can still see many of the original brick buildings from the 1800s, some of which have been partly fixed up.
Today, Shasta is a small town with the ruins of the old gold mining town. It has a post office, a church, California's oldest Masonic lodge, and a store.
In 2018, the park was damaged by the Carr Fire. The elementary school was destroyed, and the old brewery and cemetery were also harmed.
Shasta's Weather
Shasta has a hot-summer mediterranean climate. This means it has hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters.
The hottest temperature ever recorded in Shasta was 115°F (46°C). This happened on July 28, 1976, and again on August 8, 1981. The coldest temperature ever recorded was 14°F (-10°C) on December 21–22, 1990.
| Climate data for Shasta Dam, California, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1943–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 80 (27) |
80 (27) |
88 (31) |
97 (36) |
107 (42) |
111 (44) |
115 (46) |
115 (46) |
114 (46) |
104 (40) |
90 (32) |
80 (27) |
115 (46) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 66.3 (19.1) |
71.5 (21.9) |
78.3 (25.7) |
86.3 (30.2) |
93.7 (34.3) |
101.6 (38.7) |
106.3 (41.3) |
105.3 (40.7) |
101.7 (38.7) |
91.9 (33.3) |
76.3 (24.6) |
65.3 (18.5) |
108.0 (42.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 55.0 (12.8) |
58.7 (14.8) |
63.4 (17.4) |
69.6 (20.9) |
78.9 (26.1) |
88.2 (31.2) |
97.0 (36.1) |
96.0 (35.6) |
90.3 (32.4) |
77.6 (25.3) |
62.4 (16.9) |
54.2 (12.3) |
74.3 (23.5) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 47.8 (8.8) |
50.2 (10.1) |
53.6 (12.0) |
58.6 (14.8) |
67.4 (19.7) |
75.6 (24.2) |
83.0 (28.3) |
81.8 (27.7) |
76.6 (24.8) |
66.2 (19.0) |
54.2 (12.3) |
47.4 (8.6) |
63.5 (17.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 40.5 (4.7) |
41.7 (5.4) |
43.9 (6.6) |
47.6 (8.7) |
55.4 (13.0) |
63.0 (17.2) |
69.0 (20.6) |
67.7 (19.8) |
63.0 (17.2) |
54.8 (12.7) |
46.0 (7.8) |
40.6 (4.8) |
52.8 (11.5) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | 32.2 (0.1) |
34.0 (1.1) |
35.4 (1.9) |
37.7 (3.2) |
44.4 (6.9) |
51.2 (10.7) |
60.1 (15.6) |
58.8 (14.9) |
52.9 (11.6) |
45.6 (7.6) |
36.9 (2.7) |
32.4 (0.2) |
29.2 (−1.6) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 19 (−7) |
21 (−6) |
25 (−4) |
28 (−2) |
35 (2) |
38 (3) |
50 (10) |
44 (7) |
43 (6) |
34 (1) |
30 (−1) |
14 (−10) |
14 (−10) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 10.51 (267) |
11.41 (290) |
9.24 (235) |
4.61 (117) |
2.93 (74) |
1.51 (38) |
0.14 (3.6) |
0.16 (4.1) |
0.52 (13) |
3.43 (87) |
6.59 (167) |
11.99 (305) |
63.04 (1,600.7) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 13.9 | 12.7 | 13.3 | 9.6 | 7.8 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 5.0 | 10.3 | 13.5 | 92.5 |
| Source 1: NOAA | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: National Weather Service | |||||||||||||
People from Shasta
Some interesting people have connections to Shasta:
- Jim Hanks, an actor and the brother of Tom Hanks, was born here.
- Bronco Charlie Miller, a famous horse trainer and Pony Express rider.
- Scott Leary, a swimmer.
See also
In Spanish: Shasta (California) para niños
- French Gulch Historic District
- California Historical Landmarks in Shasta County
- Reading's Bar
