Located at the Shasta Lake Post Office is a dated plaque near the front entrance that reads:
The following verbiage is taken from Wikipedia to describe the history of Shasta Lake which was formerly known as Central Valley:
The City of Shasta Lake (prior to incorporation it was known as Central Valley or CV) is a city in Shasta County, California, United States. It is the closest settlement to Lake Shasta and the Shasta Dam, which are popular tourist destinations. The population was 10,164 at the 2010 census, up from 9,008 at the 2000 census.
History
hasta Lake started out as five small communities named Central Valley, Toyon, Project City, Pine Grove, and Summit City, all of which came about with the beginning of construction of Shasta Dam in 1938.[3] Project City was built at the intersection of Highway 99 and Shasta Dam Boulevard, a larger Central Valley at a midpoint on Shasta Dam Blvd., Summit City at the intersection of Shasta Dam Blvd. and Lake Blvd., and Pine Grove at what today is the intersection of I-5 and Pine Grove Ave.
The Bureau of Reclamation built the town of Toyon, first called Government Camp. Toyon was the premier community, built on 41 acres of what was once the Seaman Ranch. By 1950 Toyon had two tennis courts, an outdoor basketball court, a Community Center, green lawns, concrete side walks, commercial water and power from Shasta Dam, its own sewage treatment plant, and its own landfill. Initially toyon also had two large dormitories for bachelor employees. All the residents of Toyon worked for the US Bureau of Reclamation. Bureau headquarters office and maintenance facilities were located on Kenneth Ave, parallel to Shasta Dam Blvd.
All bureau employees were forced to vacate Toyon by the end of 1964 when the facility was turned over to the Job Corps as a work camp as a part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. The Job Corps supervision ended in 1972. Toyon was subsequently occupied by local Indians who hoped to stake claim and have Toyon recognized as tribal lands; this did not occur. Water and electric power were turned off after the Indians failed to pay a $28,000 utility bill. Conflicts between law enforcement and the occupying Indians continued, and a large number of the homes burned to the ground. The historic Seaman Ranch Community House and the large USBR headquarters building also burned to the ground in this era. Today, one metal storage building and the flagpole are the only remaining structures other than overgrown streets and sidewalks. The site is fenced off from Shasta Dam Blvd.
The workers at Shasta Dam built these communities because land was cheap and most families needed a low cost home while working on the dam. Later on, Central Valley became the commercial hub of workers on Shasta Dam. Initially there was no water supply for these new communities, and attempts at digging wells produced very limited water supplies.
As Central Valley was in fact larger than Redding at the time, chaos began to brew over building. (cite?)
Toyon School in Summit City was the first elementary school to open in the Central Valley area (it recently closed and is now home to Mountain Lakes High School). Subsequent schools were Project City and Central Valley elementary. Central Valley High School opened in 1956 ?. When oil production slowed down in the 70s Redding surpassed Central Valley in population in 1965? when it incorporated the community of Enterprise.? )The population figures in 1980 were Central Valley at 3,424, Project City at 1,659, and Summit City at 1,139. Talks of Incorporation spread in 1993 and incorporation became a reality on July 2, 1993 when 60% of the communities' people voted for incorporation.
A new McDonald's, Burger King inside the Chevron station, and several gas stations and a few motels encompass the area of the Shasta Dam Hwy and Interstate 5 interchange. These were all built around 2000 and several more fast food outlets and motels are planned for this interchange. Starbucks recently opened up, right next to Rite Aid and then closed a few months thereafter.