Wetzel Building - Yreka, CA
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member NW_history_buff
N 41° 43.920 W 122° 38.275
10T E 530112 N 4620084
This historical marker mentioning Yreka's great fire of 1871 is located in front of the Wetzel Building on historic Miner Street in downtown Yreka, CA.
Waymark Code: WMH8CP
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 06/06/2013
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member saopaulo1
Views: 3

This historical marker hangs in front of the Wetzel Building on historic W Miner St. There are numerous older buildings along Miner Street that contain historical markers that relate the history of each building, a few mentioning Yreka's great fire of 1871. This historic building's marker reads:

Wetzel Building
321 W. Miner St.

Originally a general store in the early 1850s, it became the site of Alois Wetzel's first bathhouse and shaving saloon in 1863 (He moved the business across the street three years later). The property was bought and sold numerous times through the years and served a raft of business ventures including a hardware store, Winckler's Mammoth New Store, Lehners General Merchandise, a millinery and dressmaking establishment, a cigar business, candy store, soda fountain, and grocerteria. The building was not destroyed by the 1871 fire and at one time was the only Miner Street frontage with a two-inch, wooden plank sidewalk rather than the usual one-inch.

Yreka has a few websites devoted to preserving its rich history. Siskiyouhistory.org is a good place to start and breaks up the town's history into groups of years. Yrekapreservation.org contains some nice pictures of original homes and commercial buildings from yesteryear. Finally, Yrekahistory.blogspot.com is a good blog website which contains great stories and events of Yreka's past and all their articles have been archived.

Type of Structure: Private Building

Construction Date: 01/01/1863

Fire Date: 07/04/1871

Structure status: Still standing building

Cause of Fire:
On July 4th, 1871, disaster struck — a fire burned down a good portion of the town, including most of the business district (the cause was most likely from fireworks). But the town came together and rebuilt, stronger (and more fire-proof) than before.


Documentation of the fire: [Web Link]

Other: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Give a narrative of your experience. Did you learn anything after reading about the fire in the waymark? Photos are always welcome too. Please no virtual visits.
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