Saturday, October 29, 2022


518 West 4th St, Chico: A Historical Profile

Situated South of the California State University Chico campus in an area known as the “South Campus Historic District” sits an architectural anomaly known as the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph building located at 518 West 4th St. This Historic District contains twelve full blocks, eleven partial blocks area is Chico’s oldest residential neighborhood, establish in 1860, and named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991, through the efforts of Chico Heritage Association. This beautifully landscaped neighborhood consists mostly of student housing, private residents, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, a small commercial area, and the very oddly placed three story Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company building.  The building and rear parking lot take up the entire block, situated between West 3th St. and West 4rd St., North-West to south-East and between Chestnut and Hazel, North-East to South-West.  The block is enclosed with ivy-covered chain-link fencing, marked by two large rolling gates on the Hazel St. side and one very uninviting locked entry on West 4th St., with no apparent signage on site. 

In 1843, Governor Micheltorena of Mexico hired John Bidwell, an aid to John Sutter of Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento, to survey all Mexican land grants. William Dickey, in 1844 acquired two Mexican land grants in Northern California: Rancho Arroyo Chico and Rancho Farwell, a total of about 26,000 acres from the foothills to the Sacramento River, which John Bidwell bought Rancho Arroyo Chico and a large portion of the Farwell Grant from Dickey in 1849 after permanently moving to the area.  Bidwell hired surveyor J.S. Henning between 1860 and 1863 to lay out the soon to be town of Chico between Big Chico Creek and Little Chico Creek, designing a block grid system similar to those of the Eastern U.S. cities. [1]   


The Pacific Telephone parcel of land was once known as Block Sixty-Nine in the first residential neighborhood of Chico, which once was very prestigious.  Its prestigious run of owners started with the first purchaser, David M. Reavis a local rancher and private in the Chico Light Infantry (November 28th 1863-July 27th 1866) during the Civil War.  Reavis purchased the vacant lot for $400 from John Bidwell on Aug. 8th 1866.  Eight months later on April 22nd 1867 he subdivided the one block parcel in half, selling off the West 4th St. half on April 24th 1867 to Jerry C. Noonan and retaining the West 3rd St. half for himself until it sold on July 18th 1868 to Wesley Lee. [2]

David M. Reavis
            David Morton Reavis born Oct. 30th 1830 in Missouri, traveled to Placer County during the California Gold Rush in 1850 at twenty years of age to try his hand at mining.   After a few years, Reavis opened a store in Placer County to make his living mining the miners, which was more profitable than digging for gold.  Reavis moved to the Chico area in 1858 to begin his ranching, farming and stock raising business with the purchase of 7,000 plus acres, in which 5,000 acres sitting on the North half of the Farwell Grant, and the remainder on the south half, three miles southwest of soon to be Chico.  After the purchase of an additional 3,000 acres in 1874 from Boggs and the Hill tract, “Reavis Ranch” now contained 11,000 acres, paying $8 to $30 per acre over time, making him one of the most prominent ranchers in Butte County.  Land ownership was not the only thing to make Reavis a prominent member of the community.  Reavis owned a large number of livestock not just land: 500 head of cattle, 1,500 hogs, 75 horses, with twenty-five full blooded mares, and three of the finest stallions in the state.  Award winning animals such as “Blackbird” his prized stallion, who won the opening day trotting race at the state fair in 1874, ten of “Blackbird’s” colts won many prizes at the state fair, and “Stonewall Jackson” the prize-winning bull at the state fair just to name a few.   Sadly in 1878 Reavis lost the ranch to creditors due to the decline in business.  George Gridley, the founder of Gridley, California took a hit as well because he backed Reavis notes. [3]

            Mr. Reavis passed away on May 13th 1896 at the age of 66, surrounded by family at his daughter’s home “The Strathmore House on Larkin Street” in San Francisco, but the Masonic Lodge of Chico made funeral arrangements due to Reavis’s prominent membership in the lodge, and he was placed at the Oroville Veterans Memorial Park.[4] 

Jerry Childs Noonan
            On Aprl 24th 1867, Jerry C. Noonan a druggist and pioneer apothecary, purchased the West 4th St. half of the parcel from David M. Reavis. [5] It is unknown when the first residence was built on this half of the parcel.  It could have been built by Reavis or Noonan between 1866 and 1870, but Census records show Jerry Noonan living on the property in 1870 with his brothers Dennis Noonan, also a druggist and John H. Noonan (10 years old in 1870) a stockman in 1881 and later became a druggist as well.  The home sat at the corner of Chestnut St. and West 4th St. facing Chestnut St., with an address of 334 Chestnut St., also on the property sat: storage units, and a carriage house. [6]

            The block began to become more subdivided as time went on.  Four lots, sat on the block by 1874 when Jerry C. Noonan bought 316 Chestnut St., on Feb. 12th 1874, which sat next door to his home at 334 Chestnut, until he sold 316 Chestnut St. on March 15th 1883 to H.K. and Sarah McLennan.  Noonan also purchased the vacant lot at 841 West 3rd St. on March 1st 1875, which sat on the Eastern corner of the block, on Hazel St. and West 3rd St.  Noonan built a home on this property between 1886 and 1888. [7]  When Noonan bought 841 West 3rd St. he added his wife Katie A. Noonan to the title and for a period of eight years the Noonan’s owned all the lots on the block except for two, making a funny looking U shape.  Jerry Noonan passed away on Feb. 3rd 1888, leaving the property at 334 Chestnut St. and 841 West 3rd St for his wife Katie to do with what she wished.  On May 7th 1895 Mrs. Noonan sold 841 West 3rd St. to Alex and Susan Womble and held onto 334 Chestnut until she sold it on June 10th 1902 to Park Henshaw a renter at the same residence. [8]

   The druggist, Jerry Childs Noonan born Dec. 25th 1841 in Canandaigua, New York, had his hand in more than just being a druggist.  He also worked as secretary of the Butte County Agricultural Association organized in 1867 and helped organize Chico’s first fair in October of that year.  Noonan, a very promenade member of the Chico community purchased a block of land at Broadway and West 3rd St. in 1869, where he allowed several different businesses to occupy. In 1882, Noonan built his two-story brick “Noonan Building” on the site, which still exists today after a fire that almost gutted the entire interior in 1975, now the Phoenix Building, but still displays the Noonan name ).[1] The Noonan Building housed a hardwood store on the first floor owned by the Hubbard Earll Company and a lodging room on the second story, until they became offices. [9]

Reavis sold the West 3rd St. half to Wesley Lee, the owner of Lee Pharmacy on June 15th 1867 but he quickly sold the property the next year on July 18th 1868 to James and Sarah Cole.[10]

Wesley Lee

            Wesley Lee, born Nov. 25th 1824, moved to Chico in 1855 from Illinois where he ran a very successful Pharmacy[2].  Lee moved to Chico with his wife Sarah Ann and then four children, with three more born in Chico.  Sarah passed on Jan. 21st 1866 at 36 years old, and in 1872, Lee would marry Emma Moirguies who bore him one more child.  In 1857 Lee would open Lee Pharmacy as a tent structure, that sold dry goods and medicine, on the banks of Butte Creek in Butte Valley, about 6 miles from present day Chico. In 1859 Lee moved the pharmacy into downtown Chico, and in 1861 opened a book and stationary store and “advertised that “Chicoites need no longer live in the darkness,” and sold a newly patented lamp, which burned coal oil.”[3]  In 1865 Lee built one of the first buildings in Chico, on Main St. between first and second.  On his birthday in 1884 he made the final move to the new Oddfellows building at 246 Broadway, where Lee’s Pharmacy remain for 110 years.  Wesley Lee the most prominent druggist in Chico, passed away in Chico on July 8th 1896. [11]

            Wesley Lee sold the West 3rd St. half of the block on July 18th 1868.  It was bought and sold twice before John C. and Elsa M. Nichols purchased the property on January 29th 1869 and split it in half on October 3rd 1870 with the Nichols retaining ownership of the North-Eastern half and selling the Western half to Asa and Ruby Bartlett.  As of October 3rd 1870, the block is split into three parcels.  Both halves of the West 3rd St. property are bought and sold twice before they are split in halves again, making four lots on the West 3rd St. half.  All owners holding ownership only for a short period of time, from three months to a year.  Israel Hull, a 3rd Lieutenant with the Chico Light Infantry who served with David Reavis, bought the North-Eastern half on January 23rd 1873 only to split it in half a year later on January 22nd 1874.  Hull splits the lot into two North-East to South-West directional lots facing Chestnut St., selling 306 Chestnut St. to William T. Turner on Jan. 22nd 1874 and retaining 316 Chestnut St. for twenty days before selling it to Jerry Noonan on Feb. 12th 1874.  As for the Western half of West 3rd St., Aaran W. Klies who bought the property on May 2nd 1872 splits it in half the opposite direction of the North-Eastern half, with both properties facing West 3rd St. on Sept. 21st 1874.  Kiles sold the Northern half at 825 West 3rd St. to Duncan & Harriet Robertson on Sept. 21st 1874 and retains the Southern half at 841 West 3rd St. until he sells to Jerry Noonan on March 1st 1875. [12]   Noonan would own almost the entire block except for two lots, 306 Chestnut St. with is was vacant lot and 821 West 3rd St., about in the middle of the block with a house built on it, with an unknown year of construction, but built before 1875.[13]  

Lee Pharmacy
            Chico started growing at a rapid pace at this point, new inventions were hitting the market, new city departments being formed, and new businesses coming to town.  Telephone service first came to Chico in 1880, four years after Alexander Graham Bell spoke his famous words through his new invention.   At first Chico had several short telephone lines and longer ones that crossed the Sacramento River to College City, St. Johns, and Jacinto.  The Butte County National Bank took part in constructing a single iron wire telephone line to the Bank of Willows and Rideout-Smithm & Co. Bank in Oroville.  By 1884, the banking lines were extended to Colusa and Sacramento, and shorter lines built by farmers to service Gridley and Biggs.  The telephones in the banks were used by bank officials along with the public who were encouraged to use it.[14]

On March 15th 1883, Fire Chief Henry Kenneth McLennan and his wife Sarah purchase 316 Chestnut St. to break up Noonan’s majority rule of the block, and lived there until Feb. 23rd 1893 when they sold it to F.S. Smith on Feb. 23rd 1893.[15]  McLennan became Fire Chief in 1883, and remained Chief for two years before retiring. Before that, McLennan was appointed the first fire warden to fire station No. 1 located east of Broadway and south of 5th St.[16]  The McLennan’s would sell 316 Chestnut St. on Feb. 23rd 1893 and move back to Sacramento.

John Jr. & Mary Kate Deveney, purchase 306 Chestnut St. on the corner of West 3rd St. and Chestnut St. on Jan. 3rd 1884 and build the first home on this property in 1884 and remain owners until Jan. 20th 1903.[17] 

While changes were happening on the property, major changes were also going on a few blocks away on John Bidwell’s eighty-acre cherry orchard, which is now the California State University at Chico.  In 1887 John Bidwell donated his cherry orchard to the State of California.  This is not the first time Bidwell donated land for educational purposes.  In 1863 Bidwell donated a block of land to all the churches in the area of the soon to be Chico for the purpose of building schools. The State Legislative Act created the State Normal School of California and chose Chico as the northern location for the purpose of training teachers.  In September of 1887 construction began on a three-story brick building and completed in 1889, ready for the first fifty students in which fifteen teachers graduated in June of 1891. [18]

Alexander and Susan Womble purchased 825 West 3rd St. on Jan. 17th 1885 and ten years later on May 7th 1895 they purchased 841 West 3rd St. next door from Jerry C. Noonan to create one quarter of the block back together again.  After the Womble’s sell the combined lots on Sept. 17th 1902 the house at 825 West 3rd St. is destroyed and a new home is rebuilt closer to the street.  Only nine months and two owners later the combined lot is split in two once again.  Cora Lee Mayer-Clark purchased the lot on Dec. 23rd 1902, and splits it back into two separate parcels on June 24th 1903 with her retaining 841 West 3rd St. and selling off 825 West 3rd St. to Henry Haile on June 24th 1903. [19]

On May 25th 1895 Alexander Gibb Simpson purchased 316 Chestnut St. and lived there until his death in 1927. His daughter Maude Simpson put the property in her name on May 5th 1930, until she sold it on July 29th 1944, making the Simpson family, owners for forty nine years of 316 Chestnut St. the longest continuous property owners on the block.  Simpson was born April 2nd 1863 in Oroville, California to a Butte County pioneer Alexander Gibb Simpson Sr. who worked alongside John Bidwell.  Simpson, a member of the first freeholders of Butte County along with enacting the present-day charter of Butte County, making himself a pioneer in his own right.  Alexander Gibb Simpson, clerked in many different stores, and in 1883 entered the office of the County recorder and auditor, as an assistant to Recorder Thomas Atchison.  On Jan. 9th 1887, Simpson became bookkeeper for Tickner, Burnham and Company, a department store in Chico. In August 1892, he went to work for the Chico Water Company, as secretary and collector; at the same   time, he was also secretary and collector of the Chico Gas and Electric Light Company until 1901, when the company sold.  Some years later he became Superintendent at the Chico Water Company.  Simpson also dipped into politics as well.  To support the Republican Party, he became a member of the Republican County Central Committee and became President of the order. Simpson also belonged to the Chico Lodge, No. 423, B.P.O. Elks, and to Chico Lodge. No. 113, I.O.O.F. [20] In partnership with G.L. Barham, under the firm name Simpson and Barham, also owned seventy-seven-acre orchard three miles northwest of Chico, where they grew prunes, peaches, olives and almonds. [21] 

The Band
            July 7th 1900 there was another split in property, making two even smaller lots.  The Deveney’s, who bought 306 Chestnut St. on June 3rd 1884, split the property in half along the West 3rd St. line, creating 821 West 3rd St. in which they sold on July 7th 1900 to Mary B. Lee.  A new home was built on the lot either before or after Miss Lee bought the property in 1900.   As for 306 Chestnut St., the Deveney’s sold it on Jan. 20th 1903 to their renters at the time Rudolph and Bessie Neubarth, who owned Neubarth & Sons on Broadway.  The Neubarth Band would play celebration events in Chico like July 4th celebrations which included Rudolph as a member of the band. [22] [4]

Park Henshaw
             June 10th 1902, prominent attorney Park Henshaw and his wife Harriet, went from renting 334 Chestnut St. to buying it from their landlord Jerry and Kate Noonan, who owned the property since April 24th 1867, some 35 years.[23] [5]  The Henshaw’s, between 1902 and 1909 turned their storage shed into a residence, which sat on the property about half way between Hazel St. and Chestnut St., and was right along West 4th St. with an address of 830 West 4th St.  The purpose may have been two-fold, a rental for college students or servant quarters, since they had two servants working in the home: Katie Seubert and Andrew Summers.[24]


            Henshaw’s main residence at 334 Chestnut St., a fantastic example of Colonial Revival (1880-1950) style architecture.[6]  The residence may have been built prior to 1870 by possibly Jerry Noonan, the past owner.  The residence is a two story, block shaped, wood structure that contains: wood clapboard siding, paired rectangular flat top two sash windows with shutters and an overhang above each window, a small one-story room attached to the left side of the home, and the most decorative detail is the truncated hip roof featuring a widow walk on top.  Pacific Telephone either destroyed or moved the home after they purchased the property in April of 1947, but there is no record of what came of it. [25]

Henshaw House

 Park Henshaw was born in Gregory Landing, Missouri in July of 1847.  He left Missouri in 1864, traveling the overland route to come live with his uncle on the old Henshaw place on the Feather River, below Oroville.  Returning to Missouri, Henshaw studied law and achieved his law degree there only to return back to Chico in 1867 to begin his long running prominent law career to the Newman building on Broadway. This included a period of time as assistant district attorney of Butte County, and at the time of his death in 1914 he had become a Nestor at the local bar in Butte County. [26]

As a young boy Henshaw found himself fighting in the Civil War for the Confederacy, but his military service did not end there.  In 1898 California Governor James Budd appointed Henshaw as Colonel to a new regimen, created with the advice from Henshaw.  Colonel Park Henshaw and the entire regiment of the Eighth Infantry, National Guard of California spent a year fighting in the Spanish-American War, before being honorably discharged in Benicia. [27]   

Park Henshaw’s personal life and beliefs outside of the law office is what made him one of the most promenade people in Chico history.  When a group of citizens asked Chico to start the first high school in Chico in 1896, the planners ask the town supervisors to levy a tax on the citizens to come up with the $11,000 it was going to take to get the project started.  Park Henshaw was the voice of those opposed to a tax levy and represented them at the Board of Supervisors meeting.  Not all events were so serious.  In Sept. 1880 President Rutherford B. Hayes and General William Sherman came to the west to see the far western states hor themselves. When John Bidwell heard of the visit to California, he sent out an invitation to the President to visit a working California ranch.  Hayes accepted and so Bidwell put a ten-man bipartisan reception committee together to receive the Presidents party.  The committee included Park Henshaw as one of the ten members.  On Sept. 3rd 1880 the committee and town of Chico put on one spectacular event to welcome the President of the United States.  This involved the entire town: men, women, children, flowers, fire companies, militia gun salutes, and the whole nine yards. [28]    

Some of Henshaw’s groups he belonged to included: charter member of Engine Company No. 1. Fraternally, a member of Chico Lodge, B. P. O. Elks, Masonry as a Knight Templar, a Shriner, and a thirty-third degree Mason which he achieved on February 14th 1884 and the first to do so in Chico.[29]

Colonel Park Henshaw, died at his home, 334 Chestnut St., at 9:35 p.m. on June 12th 1915 from an attack of Bright's disease, in which he battled for two years.  He suffered a stroke while in court on March 1st and he never really recovered fully.  The funeral took place at the Henshaw residence on Chestnut St. with some of the most prominent residents of Butte County: Spanish-American War Veterans, Chico Lodge of Elks, Chico Commandery, Knights Templar, and the Bar Association.   Chico Commandery No. 12 Knights Templar officiated the grave side service at Chico Cemetery, the procession headed by the Second Regimental band and gun salute.  Two of the backup pallbearers that day were neighbors: Alexander Simpson from 316 Chestnut St. and Ed Harkness from 820 West 3rd St.[30]

Mrs. Henshaw remained in the home until her death on Sept. 9th 1922.  Her funeral also took place at the family home, 334 Chestnut St.  The family home remained with Mrs. Henshaw’s mother Ella Buckius Bay, until Aug. 8th 1923 when she sold it to Harman and Alva Bay.[31]  

Sometime between 1909 and 1921 the Henshaw’s removed the Carriage house and the possible servant quarters on West 4th St. that use to be storage and built a home on the other side of the property at 319 Hazel St.  Between 1921 and 1938 two more houses were built on the old Henshaw lot, a duplex on the corner of West 4th St. and Hazel St. known as 327 and 347 Hazel St. and the other in the same location as the old possible servant quarters/storage unit at 830 and 840 West 4th St.[32]

The Bank of Butte County came to own 825 West 3rd St. from June 14th 1906 to March 18th 1909, when they sold the property to Edward Harkness who just so happened to be assistant cashier with the Bank of Butte County, on March 18th 1909.  Harkness lived at 825 West 3rd St. with his wife Nancy and two children until his death in 1938. After his death his wife Nancy Harkness continued to live at the home until she sold it on June 9th 1955. The Harkness family lived at 825 West 3rd St. for forty-six years, making them the second longest residence of the block. [33]   

Edward Harkness born in 1852 and Nancy Harkness born in 1856, both born in Missouri much like a lot of the early pioneers of the Chico area.  On May 1st 1881 Harkness started working for the Miocene Mining Company as a bookkeeper.  Harkness also kept title abstracts by searching title records of land for Park Henshaw, which earned him a reputation as the best researcher of records in the state.  Elected county clerk in 1894 by the citizens of Butte County, Mr. Harkness served until he resigns the position in Sept. 1887.  Edward Harkness also worked for a time with Butte County Bank as assistant cashier and bookkeeper.[34]

Mrs. Harkness sold or donated the Harkness Family home at 825 West 3rd St. to Bidwell Memorial Presbyterian Church on June 9th 1955. The church’s use of the property is unknown, but it may have been used for offices or student housing, seeing that the church itself was located on West 1st St.  No personal at the present church office have any knowledge that the church even owned property in the neighborhood from 1955 to the sale of the property on March 17th 1961. [35]   

The roaring 20’s saw many owners come and go, only retaining property for a short period of time, but long-lasting changes were happening at the State Normal School.  After World War I in 1921, Chico State Normal School became Chico State Teachers College and junior college with a two-year certificate program.  Disaster struck in 1927 when a fire destroyed the Normal Building, but Kendell Hall a new administration building was constructed that the site sometime later.  Not until 1972 did the college officially become California State University Chico.[36]

The South-Eastern half of the block was split by the first owner David Reavis on April 24th 1867 and remained half the one block lot until Feb. 4th 1946.  Seventy-Nine years and eight land owners later the property is finally split in half by Ethel H. Posey on February 4th 1946, shortly after the end of World War II.  Posey sales off the eastern half to Cornelius & Bertha C. Noordhoff, who own the old Henshaw house.  Posey retained the southern half that contained five residencies in three different buildings.   Seven lots now are divided into what once was a one block parcel. [37]

At about 1937 some addresses on numbered street like West 3rd and West 4th changed in the downtown Chico area.  On this block all the addresses on West 3rd and West 4th where in the 800 block, but when they changed the addresses, they become 500 block addresses (see Chart 1).[38]


Old Address Prior 1937

New Address Post 1937

811 West 3rd St.

509 West 3rd St.

821 West 3rd St.

521 West 3rd St.

825 West 3rd St.

529 West 3rd St.

841 West 3rd St.

543 West 3rd St.

800 West 4th St.

500 West 4th St.

830 West 4th St.

530 West 4th St.

834 West 4th St.

534 West 4th St.

Table 1: Address Changes in circa 1937


             After World War II telephone service increased rapidly, a customer base that took fifty years to create increased 88% by 1951.  As a result, Pacific Telephone made plans to build a new building where customer no longer needed to get ahold of an operator to make a call, instead a customer can dial local numbers direct.  The new technology and increase in staff required a new building to house both. On April 1st 1947, Pacific Telephone applied for a rezoning of property and use permit for the corner of Chestnut St. and West 4th St. to build and maintain a communication center for Chico.  In 1947 the residents fought the application, due to the fact the area was a residential district with older historic homes in which the residents did not want the historical integrity to be lost, and did not want the sense of the neighborhood stained by a commercial building, nor the noise and increased traffic.  City of Chico Planning and Building Department did not have the plans or permits for the first phase of construction, due to the fact they did not keep records at that point. [39]

Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company acquired their first parcel of land on April 3rd 1947, with the purchase of 334 Chestnut St. from Cornelius & Bertha C. Noordhoff.  Soon after the purchase, the company either destroyed or moved the circa 1870 Colonial Revival Style home, but there is no record of its demise.  In its place Pacific Telephone build in 1951, a two-story concrete square building with a finish basement valued at $650,000.  The building took up 5,772 sqft, with dimensions of 92 ft. wide, 72 feet long, and 32 feet tall, which did not supply a parking lot for employees, completed in 1953 and was not what the residents were told was being built. [40]  According to a letter written on March 3rd 1956 by six residents of the neighborhood Pacific Telephone and the City of Chico misled them,

 “The owners of property in the area were induced to sign a petition in favor of the variance permit, and the protestants were lulled by representations of the Telephone Company that the building which it proposed to construct was of such architectural design that it would conform to the general architectural plan of the area; that the building would be a one-story building of a Spanish design and would be pleasingly landscaped.”[41]        

January 26th 1956 Pacific Telephone wrote a letter to the City of Chico requesting a new use permit to construct an additional two-story concrete building to be added to the existing building, due to nearing maximum capacity in the first building because of increasing telephone service in the area.[42] 

            Pacific Telephone and Telegraph on June 14th 1956 purchased two lots adjacent to 518 West 4th St.  First, the remaining half of the original half block section from the Posey family, recreating the full half block West 4th St. section. Second, the purchase of 316 Chestnut St. from J. W. & Jessie W. Brownell.  On March 20th 1957, PG&E was issued an Encroachment Permit by the City of Chico to abandon gas service to 316 Chestnut St. and 534 West 4th St.  Pacific Telephone did do the right thing when it came to 316 Chestnut St., by moving it and not destroying it.  According to a Moving Permit dated June 5th 1957, Pacific Telephone moved the 73+ year old historic home outside of the Chico City limits, somewhere on East Ave.  The exact location has not listed.  As for the two duplexes and the one home on Hazel, there is no record of them being moved.  The National Register Application claims all the structures on the block were demolished, but that was not the case for 316 Chestnut St., so maybe others may have been saved. [43]  

            In 1957 Mr. and Mrs. McLain sought a Writ from the District court to restrain the granting of a permit to construct the second building of the Pacific Telephone building.  The District Court of Appeal denied the McLain’s request. Pacific Telephone began construction of the addition and the completion took place in 1960. [44]   

            September 16th 1963 brought two more properties under Pacific Telephones control, with the purchase of 306 Chestnut from sisters Vera Dean-Thompson & Leta R. Dean-Robbie, and 521 West 3rd St. from Florence Austin Shelton.  Harold & Elsa Collins were the next to fall on August 3rd 1962 after sixteen years of ownership.  The last holdout was local real estate agent Lloyd and Louis Ginter with Ginter Realty. The Ginter’s bought 529 West 3rd St. from Bidwell Memorial Presbyterian Church on April 16th 1961, but quickly sold it to Pacific Telephone in August of 1962. [45]

            Pacific Telephone and Telegraph have brought back the entire block as one parcel once again ninety-six years later. Not sense David M. Reavis first bought the block from John Bidwell on August 8th 1866 for $400 has the entire block been under one ownership.

            In April of 1970 Pacific Telephone ask the City once again to bend the rules.  They now wanted to build up and add a third story to the existing building.  There happened to be a fifty-foot-high limit on R-3 zoning, in which the building fell under.  With the third story, this would put the building four feet over that fifty-foot limit. They reasoned that the city planning commission already cleared the plans, which included a third story back in 1960, and that the extra four feet really would not make a difference to the residence or have any negative effect on them. The third-floor addition was approved and added on soon after.   The last part of the building that runs along West 4th St. also came about in 1970 as well, but this was another two-story concrete building that was attached to the existing building on West 4th St.  The present Pacific Telephone building is a reverse L-Shaped concrete three story building, with one window on two sides on the second floor, multiple windows on the third floor, one entry door on West 4th St. which is locked, and, ninety-four parking spaces fenced all the way around.  The third floor does not architecturally flow with the rest of the building. [46] 

            The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph building at 518 West 4th St. encompasses a one block area in the oldest residential neighborhood in Chico.  This one block area, originally sold as a one block section to David M. Reavis from John Bidwell who initially subdivided a large section of his property to form the present city of Chico.  After the properties first purchase from David Reavis in 1866, the one block property at the end when Pacific Telephone started buying off parcels in 1947, has been subdivided itself into seven different parcels, a total of 10 dwellings, and fifty-one different owners over 100 years.   The longest owners being the Simpson Family of forty-nine years and the shortest, Duncan & Harriet Robertson owning 821 West 3rd St. and for 20 days (See list of owners).  Through the properties history many promenade Chico pioneers and aristocrats called this property home. 

Current Pacific Telephone

             Unfortunately, the Pacific Telephone building is not architecturally appealing, nor does it appropriate the South Campus Historic District atmosphere.  Some may say it is an eye sore on the beautiful old neighborhood.  


 

Owner

Bought

Sold

David Reavis

8/8/1866

7/18/1868

Jerry C. Noonan

4/24/1867

6/10/1902

Wesley Lee

6/15/1867

7/18/1868

James & Sarah. Cole

7/18/1868

1/20/1869

John & Elsa Nichols

1/20/1869

10/3/1870

Asa & Ruby Bartlett

10/3/1870

11/21/1874

William C. Swain

1/5/1872

2/23/1877

Aaron K. Kiles

5/2/1872

11/21/1874

Israel Hull

1/23/1873

1/22/1874

William T. Turner

1/23/1874

2/23/1877

Duncan & Harriet Robertson

11/211874

12/1/1874

William & Susanna Wilson

12/1/1874

1/17/1885

Edward J. Reilly

2/23/1877

11/3/1877

Oscar Walker

11/3/1877

1/3/1884

HK. And Sarah McLennan

3/15/1883

2/23/1893

John & Mary Deveney

1/3/1884

1/20/1903

Alex and Susan Womble

1/17/1885

9/13/1902

F.S. Smith

2/23/1893

5/25/1895

Alex Gibb Simpson

5/25/1895

5/5/1930

Mary B Lee

7/77/1900

11/15/1902

Park Henshaw

7/7/1900

11/15/1902

Harman Tanner, Carl Muller

11/13/1902

12/23/1902

Archie Carrie

11/15/1902

1/26/1903

Cora C;ark

12/23/1902

12/21/1909

Randolph Neubarth 

1/20/1903

4/21/1910

Mary Barnett Entlet

1/26/1903

1/4/1904

Henry Hale

6/24/1903

11/19/1903

Charles Camer

9/19/1903

6/14/1906

FB. Warner

1/4/1904

7/14/1904

Mary Bates

7/14/1904

3/29/1909

Owner

Bought

Sold

Bank of Butte County

6/14/1906

3/18/1909

Edward Harkness

3/18/1809

2/28/1939

Florence Pledgers

3/29/1909

3/13/1922

Charles Thomas

3/21/1910

3/24/1915

Agnes B. Thomas

3/24/1915

11/18/1935

Harriet Henshaw

7/18/1916

8/23/1923

Turner & Ella Rinker

12/21/1919

1/3/1936

Florence Austin Shelton

3/3/1922

7/27/1964

Harman & Ella Bay

8/23/1923

11/21/1923

O.E. Tracy

9/21/1923

4/15/1931

Mable Simpson

5/5/1930

7/29/1944

Marion Wigton

4/15/1931

4/3/1934

Pacific State Saving and Loan

4/3/1934

12/19/1935

William Dean

9/18/1935

5/19/1938

C. Tracy

12/19/1935

6/12/1937

O.E. Tracy

12/19/1935

6/12/1937

Ethel Posey

6/12/1937

9/30/1952

Bertha Dean

5/19/1938

9/16/1957

Mary Harkness

2/28/1939

6/9/1955

William & Florinda Miller

1/19/1940

3/26/1943

F.J. & Mary Nedom

3/26/1943

5/20/1946

J.W. & Jessi Brownell

7/29/1994

6/14/1956

Cornellus & Bertha Noordhoff

2/4/1946

3/3/1947

Harold & Elsa Collins

5/20/1946

8/3/1962

Bidwell Memorial Presbyterian Church

6/9/1955

6/17/1961

Llyod & Louis Ginter

3/17/1961

1961

Pacific Telephone & Telegraph

2/3/1947

Present

 

Sources



     [1] Marcus Benjamin, John Bidwell, Pioneer: A Sketch of His Career (Publisher unknown: 1907; Princeton University, 2008) 16. https://books.google.com/books?id=NEIoAAAAYAAJ&num=13.: John Gallardo, Giovanna R. Jackson, and Elizabeth Stewart, “National Register of Historic Places: Registration Form”, (U.S. National Park Service, 1991; U.S. National Park Service, 2013),  3. http://focus.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/91000636.pdf.

     [2] Oroville Veterans Memorial Park Committee, “Oroville Veterans Memorial Park: For All of Butte County,” (Oroville Veterans Memorial Park Committee, 2016). http://www.orovilleveteransmemorialpark.org/contributors/chicoltinf.htm: Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department-CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D009-578.pdf.: “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D009-578.pdf.

     [3] “David M, Reavis Dead:,” California Digital Newspaper Collection, San Francisco Call, Volume 79, Number 166, 14 May 1896, (DL Consulting, Veridian, 2016), http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18960514.2.94: John Waterland, Many Large Ranch Houses Built During Prosperity Seventies: $60,000 Gross On Reavis Lands, John Waterland’s Historical Articles 1934-1940, (Chico Record, 1936-1940), Vol. 1, 94.: Joseph McGie. History of Butte County, (Oroville, Ca.: Butte County Board of Education, 1982), Vol. 1, 305.

     [4] “David M, Reavis Dead” (DL Consulting, Veridian, 2016).

     [5] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/map.html.

     [6] City and county Directory: Yuba, Sutter, Colusa, Butte and Tehama Counties, 1881 (San Francisco: L.M. McKenney & Co., 1881), 313: Kate Taylor, “Jerry Noonan”, Find a Grave, (Find a Grave.com, December 19th 2009) http://www.findagrave.com/cgibin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=noonan&GSfn=jerry&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=6&GScnty=186&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=45631375&df=all&: “1870 United State Federal Census for Jerry C. Noonan:”, Ancestory.com, (Ancestry, 2016), http://interactive.ancestry.com/7163/4259308_00029/14192465?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.com%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fdb%3d1870usfedcen%26indiv%3dtry%26h%3d14192465&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord. : “Sanborn Map 1884”, Precise Maps of Old Western Towns: California Maps: Towns in butte, Glenn Sutter, & Yuba Counties 1884-1949 (San Pedro, Ca.: Vlad Shkurkin, 1990), Reel #47-X

     [7] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/map.html

     [8] “Jerry Noonan”, Find a Grave, (Find a Grave.com, December 19th 2009)

     [9] Harry Laurenz Wells, W.L. Chambers, History of Butte County 1882 (Berkeley, Calif.: Howell-North Books, 1973), 207.: John Waterland, Miners Come to Valley in 60’s; Many Improvements in Chico: Homes, Business, Houses Built, John Waterland’s Historical Articles 1934-1940, (Chico Record, 1936-1940), Vol. 2, 232.

     [10] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D009-754.pdf

     [11] “Lee’s Tamale Spice 1878: Pharmacy History”, (Lee’s tamale Spice, 2013),.http://www.leetamalespice.com/pharmacy-history.: Miners Come to Valley in 60’s; Many Improvements in Chico: Homes, Business, Houses Built, (Chico Record, 1936-1940), Vol. 2, 232: John Waterland, , Saloon Open, John Waterland’s Historical Articles 1934-1940, (Chico Record, 1936-1940),  Vol. 3, 37: [11] “Wesley C. Lee”, Find A Grave, (findagrave.com, February 23rd 2013), http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=66034179.

     [12] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D011-069.pdf “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D014-137.pdf: “Oroville Veterans Memorial Park-For All of Butte County,” (Oroville Veterans Memorial Park Committee, 2016), [12] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D009-261.pdf.: “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D014-728.pdf.  

     [13] Sanborn Maps 1884”. Precise Maps of Old Western Towns: California Maps: Towns in butte, Glenn Sutter, & Yuba Counties 1884-1949. San Pedro, Ca.: Vlad Shkurkin, 1990.. Reel #47-X.

     [14] Tom Woodbeck, Ann Flournoy, Kathy Corrigan. “History of the Telephone”, CSU Chico University: Marian Library, Special Collections. (Tome Woodbeck), 1-2

     [15]“Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014),http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D018-556.pdf.

[16] John Waterland, Chico’s Early Fire Department, Complete with Steamers and Horses, John Waterland’s Historical Articles 1934-1940, (Chico Record, 1936-1940),Vol. 1, 68, : John Waterland, Sierra Lumber Co. Fire, One of Biggest in City History, John Waterland’s Historical Articles 1934-1940, (Chico Record, 1936-1940),Vol. 1, 72.

     [17]  “Sanborn map 1884”, Precise Maps of Old Western Towns: California Maps: Towns in butte, Glenn Sutter, & Yuba Counties 1884-1949 (San Pedro, Ca.: Vlad Shkurkin, 1990), Reel #47-X: “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014),, http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D023-706.pdf.

     [18]  John Bidwell, Pioneer: A Sketch of His Career, (Publisher unknown, 1907), pdf. ebook, page 16. https://books.google.com. : Ibid., 16.: Mary Ellen Bailey, “Chico State Normal School (1887-1921)”, University Achieves, (Chico, Ca.: CSU Chico,  10/10/2012). https://www.csuchico.edu/lspr/time1.html.: “History: Normal School”, CSU Chico University, (Chico, Ca.: CSU Chico,  2016). http://www.csuchico.edu/traditions/history/.

     [19] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014),, http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D024-743.pdf.: [19] “Sanborn map 1902”, Precise Maps of Old Western Towns: California Maps: Towns in butte, Glenn Sutter, & Yuba Counties 1884-1949 (San Pedro, Ca.: Vlad Shkurkin, 1990), Reel #47-X.: “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014),http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D077-184.pdf.

     [20] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014),http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D040-151.pdf.: “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/OR0046-352.pdf.: G. C Mansfield, History of Butte County, California: with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present. (Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic record company. 1918), 611.: John Waterland, 1880’s were Colorful Years in History of butte County , John Waterland’s Historical Articles 1934-1940, (Chico Record, 1936-1940), Vol. 5, 293.: History of Butte County, California: with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present. (Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic record company. 1918), 611-612.

     [21] Ibid.

    [22] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D056-213.pdf.: Chico City Directory 1904-1905 Vol. 1. (St. Louis, MO: Scollard Directory Co. 1905), 83.: “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D069-243.pdf.

     [23] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014),http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D065-227.pdf

     [24] “Sanborn map 1902 and 1909”, Precise Maps of Old Western Towns: California Maps: Towns in butte, Glenn Sutter, & Yuba Counties 1884-1949 (San Pedro, Ca.: Vlad Shkurkin, 1990), Reel #47-X/:

     [25] Gerald Foster, American Houses-A Guide to the Architecture of the Home, (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2004,), 284.

     [26] History of Butte County, California: with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present. (Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic record company). 1918, 480.

     [27] “Park Henshaw is now to be Made a Colonel” San Francisco Call, Volume 84, Number 20, 20 June 1898

, (DL Consulting, Veridian, 2016),  http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18980620.2.56.: History of Butte County, California: with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present. (Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic record company). 1918, 480.

     [28] John Waterland, Old Timer Recalls Fist Move to Organize Chico’s First High School, John Waterland’s Historical Articles 1934-1940, (Chico Record, 1936-1940)., Vol. 4,  269.: John Waterland, Chico’s Visit of Pres. Hayes, Gen. Sherman are Recalled,, John Waterland’s Historical Articles 1934-1940, (Chico Record, 1936-1940)., Vol. 4, 272.

     [29] History of Butte County, California: with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present. (Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic record company). 1918, 480-481.

     [30] “Colonel Park Henshaw,” Chico Daily Enterprise, Monday Evening, June 14, 1915,

 “Col Park Henshaw”, Find a Grave. findagrave.com, February 10th 2011, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=65476228.

     [31] The Chico Enterprise, Monday Evening, September 11th 1922, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=65476284.: “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014) http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D204-056.pdf.

     [32] “Sanborn map 1921 and 1937”, Precise Maps of Old Western Towns: California Maps: Towns in butte, Glenn Sutter, & Yuba Counties 1884-1949 (San Pedro, Ca.: Vlad Shkurkin, 1990), Reel #47-X.

     [33] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/D110-130.pdf.: Chico-Oroville Directory 1911. (R.L. Polk & Co. 1911), 51.: United States Federal Census 1920,” Ancestry, Ancestry.com, (Ancestry.com, 2016), http://interactive.ancestry.com.“

     [34] John Waterland,, Judge Holds Hydrolytic Debris Nescience   John Waterland’s Historical Articles 1934-1940, (Chico Record, 1936-1940).,  Vol. 3 page 216.: History of Butte County, California: with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present. (Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic record company. 1918), 339 and 400.

     [35] Geography and Planning Department-CSU Chico, “Historical GIS,” Geography and Planning Department-CSU Chico, 2014, http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/OR0776-266.pdf

     [36] Mary Ellen Bailey, “Chico State Normal School (1887-1921)”, University Achieves, (Chico, Ca.: CSU Chico,  10/10/2012). https://www.csuchico.edu/lspr/time1.html.: “History: Normal School”, CSU Chico University, (Chico, Ca.: CSU Chico,  2016). http://www.csuchico.edu/traditions/history/.

     [37] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014),http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/OR0390-207.pdf

     [38] Chico City Directory 1937. (1937).

     [39] Tom Woodbeck, Ann Flournoy, Kathy Corrigan. “History of the Telephone”, CSU Chico University: Marian Library, Special Collections. (Tome Woodbeck), 7-9.: “Letter from 6 Residents to City of Chico dated 3/10/56”, Butte County, City of Chico City Hall, Planning Department, 518 West 4th St. file, (City of Chico, 1956).

     [40] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/OR0440-145.pdf. : “Brief of classification 1951,” Butte County, City of Chico City Hall, Building Department, 518 West 4th St. file. City of Chico, 1951.

     [41] “Letter from 6 Residents to City of Chico dated 3/10/56”, (City of Chico, 1956).

     [42] “Letter date 1/26/1956 by Pacific telephone to City of Chico,” Butte County, City of Chico City Hall, Planning Department, 518 West 4th St. file. City of Chico, 1956.

     [43] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/OR0671-160.pdf.: [43] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/OR0332-233.pdf.: “Encroachment permit 3/20/1957,” Butte County, City of Chico City Hall, Planning Department, 518 West 4th St. file. City of Chico, 1957.: “Moving Permit 6/1957”, Butte County, City of Chico City Hall, Planning Department, 518 West 4th St. file, (City of Chico, 1957).: John Gallardo, Giovanna R. Jackson, and Elizabeth Stewart. “National Register of Historic Places: Registration Form”, U.S. National Park Service, 1991, (U.S. National Park Service, 2013). Section 7, 1, http://focus.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/91000636.pdf.

     [44] “Letter from City of Chico to Pacific Telephone January 26th 1956,” Butte County, City of Chico City Hall, Planning Department, 518 West 4th St. file. City of Chico, 1956.

     [45] “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/OR0903-095.pdf.: “Historical GIS,” (Geography and Planning Department: CSU Chico, 2014), http://www.csuchico.edu/chicohistoricalgis/deeds/OR0334-329.pdf.

     [46] “Council Memoranda 1970.” Butte County, City of Chico City Hall, Planning Department, 518 West 4th St. file. City of Chico, 1970.


   

 [2] “Wesley C. Lee”. Find a Grave, (findagrave.com, February 23rd 2013). http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=66034179.

    

     [3] Nopel, John. “Wesley Lee”, California State University Chico, Meriam Library, John Nopel Photograph Collection, Wesley Lee: 1885, sc50615.: “Wesley C. Lee”. Find a Grave, (findagrave.com, February 23rd 2013). http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=66034179.

    

     [4] John Nopel, “Neubarth Band, 2nd Infantry Regiment,” California State University Chico, Meriam Library, John Nopel Photograph Collection, Neubarth Band, 1895, sc50099.

    

     [5] Lincoln Hawkins Cook. “Park Henshaw”. California State University Chico, Meriam Library, Clifford Sanborn Photograph Collection, 2011. sc19373.

     [6] Robert Frazier, “Pacific Telephone Building: 518 West 4th St., 2016,” (2016)

 

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518 West 4th St, Chico: A Historical Profile Situated South of the California State University Chico campus in an area known as the “South C...