Peanut, California

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Peanut, California
Unincorporated community
USA California location map.svg
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Peanut, California
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Peanut, California
Coordinates: 40°28′05″N123°10′07″W / 40.46806°N 123.16861°W / 40.46806; -123.16861
Country United States
State California
County Trinity
Elevation
2,500 ft (762 m)
Time zone UTC−8 (Pacific (PST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC−7 (PDT)
Area code 530
GNIS feature ID264592 [1]

Peanut is an unincorporated area in Trinity County, California, United States. Previously called Salt Creek, [2] [3] it is located on Highway 3, south of Hayfork, [4] at an elevation of 2,500 feet (762 m). [5]

Contents

As many as 100 people once lived there. [6] In 2018, KQED reported that there were "just a few old horse barns and a few dozen residents nearby". [3]

History

Prior to the arrival of settlers, the place that became known as Peanut was inhabited by the Wintu tribe. [7]

In the late 19th century, the area was referred to as Salt Creek. [2] [6] It was a stopping point on the trail from nearby Weaverville to the California coast, offering fresh water and a natural spring. [3] With its cool, mountainous climate, the area is inhospitable to growing peanuts. [4]

The town used to be on Highway 36 until the highway was adjusted, straightening and improving the quality of its route – this was done to provide shorter travels between Red Bluff and the coast, and eliminate a detour into Eureka from Fortuna to Route 299. [8]

Origins of name

In 1898, settlers in Salt Creek, which had a general store called Cuff's, decided to apply for a post office. [9] At the time, the nearest post office was in Hayfork, a seven-mile journey by horse. [2] The name "Salt Creek" was deemed unsuitable because of a United States Board on Geographic Names rule which required single-word town names. [7]

According to California Place Names, the petitioners originally considered naming the town after Mrs. Cuff. [9] When they discussed their application with the postmaster at Weaverville, A. L. Paulsen, he suggested the name "Peanut" instead because it was unique; no other post office in the directory had its name. [6] [9] The postmaster's own fondness of peanuts is also often cited as the reason for his choice. [6] [9] [10] According to the memoir of Salt Creek schoolteacher Joe McKnight, Paulsen was eating peanuts when he suggested the name. [2]

The petitioners added Peanut to their application as one of their choices. [9] The United States Post Office Department approved the name Peanut on January 20, 1900. [9]

Local economy

Although the town was too small to have its own saloon, during Prohibition bootleggers from Peanut became well known locally for supplying high-quality liquor. [6]

Peanut once had a sawmill which burned down in the 1940s, [6] or mid-1950s. [4]

In 1970, the owner of land where the town of Peanut once stood, Woody Smith of San Jose, put his 12-acre parcel up for sale. [6]

Popularity

Peanut became popular with tourists during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, a former peanut farmer. [4] In 1979, a local resident told the Sacramento Bee that tourists came looking for the Peanut post office, because they wanted to "mail a post card with the Peanut postmark." [4] They also said that road maps of the area often included Peanut purely due to the novelty of its name. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ "Peanut". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Branson-Potts, Hailey (September 10, 2020). "The nutty story of a town called Peanut". The Los Angeles Times . p. A1. Retrieved November 12, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 Khokha, Sasha (March 23, 2018). "Peanut: How a Postmaster's Snack Changed a California Town's Name". KQED . Retrieved November 12, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wiley, Walt (November 2, 1979). "Where's Peanut? Trinity Town Does Nicely, Thank You". The Sacramento Bee . pp. B1, B3. Retrieved November 12, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Summary Report: Peanut". Geographic Names Information System . December 31, 1981. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sanders, Garth (October 21, 1970). "Poor old town of Peanut is dead". Record Searchlight. Redding, California. Retrieved November 12, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 Branson-Potts, Hailey (September 10, 2020). "A post office and a little town called Peanut (Continued from A1)". The Los Angeles Times . p. A9. Retrieved November 12, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "HIghway 36: Scenic but Dangerous". Oakland Tribune. October 19, 1972. p. 27. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gudde, Erwin Gustav (1998). Bright, William (ed.). California Place Names (4th edition, revised and enlarged ed.). University of California Press. p. 284. ISBN   0-520-21316-5.
  10. ↑ Trask, Larry; Trask, Robert Lawrence (January 2010). Why Do Languages Change?. Cambridge University Press. p. 77. ISBN   978-0-521-83802-3.
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