Place Names

Afton

Believed named by a settler for his hometown. Post office established here on April 28, 1887, but discontinued on December 15, 1910. Later, the post office was re-established on June 20, 1915, and discontinued a second time on April 30, 1923. Located 4 miles southeast of Butte City on County Road Y.

Alder Springs (originally Oriental)

Named for the alder trees growing around the springs. The post office at this site 19 miles northwest of Elk Creek on the Alder Springs Road, was changed from Oriental to Alder Springs on November 20, 1917, but discontinued on June 15, 1940.

Artois (originally Germantown, Rixville)

Name stems from the ancient province in France where the method of boring artesian wells was first adopted. Petitions to change the Germantown post office name were successful in early 1918. The Germantown name was discontinued and the Artois name adopted on May 21, 1918. Located 7 miles north of Willows on Old Highway 99W.

Athena (Historical)

Station stop of unknown origin, possibly for the Greek goddess of wisdom, on the railroad branch line that ran between Willows and Fruto. Athena was the fourth stop at mile 14 west of Willows and appears in Southern Pacific timetables printed in the 1890s.

Bayliss

Farming community located 11 miles northeast of Willows on County Road 39 (Bayliss-Blue Gum Road). In 1916, the people of Bayliss petitioned and received $4,000 from the Carnegie Foundation for a library building. It was the first rural community in the U.S. to get funds from the foundation. The community of Bayliss began as a camp established by the Sacramento Valley Irrigation (SVI) project organized by the Kuhn Company of Pittsburgh.

Blue Gum

Named for the large grove of eucalyptus or blue gum trees. The 60,000 trees were planted in 1908 by a Nevada corporation on several sections of land about 5 miles north of Willows on Old Highway 99W.

Bridgeport (Historical)

Settlement located at the bridge across Stony Creek 1 mile north of Elk Creek. The bridge, on natural rock abutments, was an important link between the valley and the farms and villages in the foothills and on the westside of Stony Creek. Name was changed to Winslow in 1901 at the time an application was made for a post office.

Butte City

Name stems from the nearby Sutter Buttes which rise to the southeast of this community. The post office began operation on May 28, 1873. The only town laid out on the east side of the Sacramento River is located 16 miles southeast of Willows on State Highway 162.

Capay

Named for Rio de Capay (Stony Creek) northwest of Hamilton City. A Wintun Indian village was named "Kapai," which means stream and was their name for Stony Creek. The El Rancho Capay Land Grant, also known as the Capay Rancho, was deeded to Maria Josephia Soto on December 21, 1844. The 44,388-acre tract included most of the northeast corner of the county but extended into Tehama and Butte Counties.

Chrome

Named for the chromium mines in the Coast Range just west of the settlement. The post office here was named Millsap (April 26, 1894-June 30, 1927). The mines operated seasonally from the 1890s to the 1940s. Located about 6 miles south of Newville on County Road 306.

Codora (also Codora Four Corners)

Located about 2 miles west of Butte City on County Road 61. The Four Corners name stems from the site being the junction of State Highways 162 and 45.

Copper City

Name stems from the copper "finds" in the western portion of the county in the 1860s.
Rich ore along Coast Range creeks caused "copper fever" and a stampede was made to this site approximately 30 miles northwest of Elk Creek on the Alder Springs Road. The mining "community" disappeared almost as fast as it had sprung up.

Cory

Railroad siding into the large gravel deposits on Stony Creek just northeast of Orland. The name is probably a derivation of "quarry." Located 2 miles east on Wyo Road off of Old Highway 99W.

Elk Creek

Creek and town named for the many Tule elk that were formally in the area. The post office was established on June 19, 1872. The foothill community is located 26 miles northwest of Willows via State Highway 162.

Floyd (Historical)

Named after an early pioneer settler/family. The small foothill community was located about 14 miles west of Orland on County Road 200. A U.S. post office was established here on January 9, 1906, and was closed March 31, 1911.

Fruto

Name stems from the fruit orchards of the area. Located 19 miles northwest of Willows on State Highway 162. The Westside and Mendocino Railroad Company tracks reached the townsite in 1888. The post office was established on July 2, 1888, and ceased operation on August 15, 1953.

Germantown (Historical)

Named for the many German immigrants who settled in the area. The post office was established August 2, 1877. During World War I, anti-German sentiment forced the changing of the town and post office names on May 21, 1918, to Artois. Located 7 miles north of Willows.

Glenn

Named for Dr. Hugh J. Glenn (1824-1883), who was hailed as the "Wheat King" because his 45,000 acreage had yielded a million bushels making him the biggest wheat grower in the western world. The post office was established November 14, 1903. Located 10 miles east of Willows on State Highway 162.

Grapit

Name coined from "gravel" and "pit." The removal of gravel from Grapit began in 1882 by workers of the Northern Railway Company, then laying track northward through the valley. The large pit, located about 5 miles south of Orland on Old Highway 99W, remains but the gravel was spread as ballast on the railroad right of way between Red Bluff and Benicia.

Greenwood Switch (Historical)

Railroad siding located 4 miles south of Orland on Old Highway 99W. Named for Hiram A. Greenwood whose land was bisected when the railroad first came north in the early 1880s.

Grindstone Rancheria

Name originated from the making of grindstones on this tributary of Stony Creek as early as 1845 by Peter Lassen, Exekiel Merritt, and other pioneers. "Rancheria" is the Spanish name for an Indian village. The community is located about 5 miles north of Elk Creek at the point where Grindstone Creek empties into Stony Creek.

Hamilton City

Named for James G. Hamilton who helped found the town in 1905-06. Post office was established on May 26, 1906, and is located 10 miles east of Orland on State Highway 32. Hamilton, his brother and son, came to Glenn County in their search for new places to grow sugar beets and to build sugar factories.

Jacinto (Historical)

Named for Jacinto Rodriquez, grantee of the 1844 Jacinto Land Grant located 12 miles south of Hamilton City on State Highway 45. Post office established on March 19, 1858, and continued until November 15, 1910. The village was the home of Dr. Hugh J. Glenn and was an important trading point and steamboat stop on the Sacramento River.

Kanawha (Historical)

Named for a town in West Virginia by Levi Welch who came to the area and wished to commemorate his boyhood home. The post office was established on January 31, 1871, and was discontinued on June 9, 1879. The early pioneer village was located 4 miles west of Willows on State Highway 162.

Lake

District northeast of Orland named for Aleck Lake who owned and farmed the tract in the 1910s. When the first school in the district was established, most of the student body consisted of Lake "children" from the Daniel and Susanna Lake family.

Logandale

Name honors Hugh A. Logan, an early pioneer noted for his hospitality and owner of a large piece of land where he raised livestock and farmed on an "extensive scale." Logandale was located 6 miles south of Willows on Old Highway 99W and contained a warehouse and side railroad tracks.

Malton Switch (Historical)

Settlement and railroad siding 3 miles north of Orland. Also known as "Maulton" and of unknown origin. The proposed business section did contain a warehouse and side tracks where trains stopped upon being signaled. The community was only a memory by 1920.

Mills Orchard

Named for James Mills, Sr., who developed 15,000 acres to citrus and other fruits 2 miles west of Hamilton City. The planting began in 1913.

Millsholm (Historical)

Named for Edgar Mills when the Southern Pacific spur to Fruto was built through his land in the 1880s. "Holm" is German for "hill" since this former railroad siding is located in the foothills 10 miles west of Willows. Third station stop on the 17-mile branch line between Willows and Fruito.

Monroeville (Historical)

Named for Uriah P. Monroe who established a hotel and townsite at the mouth of Stony Creek in 1850. Monroeville was the county seat of Colusi County (1851-53) before it was changed to Colusa. Location of the townsite was about 5 miles south of Hamilton City on State Highway 45. Reports vary but the post office was listed in operation as early as July 29, 1851, and was discontinued on September 18, 1862.

Newville

The oldest settlement in the western foothills of the Coast Range, was founded in the early 1850s and "just given the name of Newville for no good reason at all." The post office was established on April 21, 1868, and was closed on October 15, 1918. Fire "virtually wiped Newville off the map" on July 22, 1929. Located 22 miles west of Orland on County Road 200.

Norman

Named for Norman Rideout whose father owned farm land in the area. Located 8 miles south of Willows on Old Highway 99W. Post office first established on August 25, 1879, but discontinued on December 15, 1889. It was re-established on October 20, 1890, and later discontinued May 31, 1914. Norman was a prominent shipping point of wheat with three warehouses.

Olimpo (Historical)

Named by General John Bidwell when the settlement was making application for a post office. The post office was granted on December 31, 1872, and discontinued on March 22, 1883. The pioneer village was located 5 miles west of Orland on County Road 200.

Ord Bend (also Ordbend)

Named for R.B. Ord who first settled in this vicinity 8 miles south of Hamilton City on State Highway 45. Other accounts credit rancher and ferry operator E.O.C. Ord and the Ord brothers (James, Robert, and Pacificus) who were farming along the Sacramento River in the mid 1850s.

Oriental (Historical)

Located 19 miles west of Elk Creek on the Alder Springs Road, the settlement had a summer post office from April 25, 1888, until the name was changed to Alder Springs on November 20, 1917. The name is of unknown origin.

Orland

Name was drawn out of hat in 1875. The post office was established May 5, 18756. The city was incorporated in 1909 and is now the largest city in Glenn County. The Orland Project was the first federal irrigation project in the West. Located 17 miles north of Willows on Old Highway 99W.

Plaza

Name is a corruption of "Placer" which originated from the early 1850s river settlement of Placer City. The district is located 6 miles southeast of Orland around the corner of County Road P and the St. John Road (County Road 24). The first school in the rural district was organized on March 11, 1865.

Princeton

Named for either John Helphenstine's birth place of Princeton, Kentucky, or the possible alma mater of Dr. Almon Lull (Princeton University, New Jersey). This river community is located on State Highway 45, 18 miles southeast of Willows. The post office was established on November 2, 1855. Princeton was removed from Glenn County by an 1893 act of the California Legislature after being in Glenn County for approximately two years.

Rixville (Historical)

Named for the Christian Rix family who were among the first to settle on the Colusa Plains. Plat of Rixville was filed and recorded on July 11, 1877. When the name for the post office was established on August 2, 1877, the name of Germantown was used. Located 7 miles north of Willows on Old Highway 99W.

Riz Siding

Name comes from the French for "rice," a major crop in this area 4 miles south of Willows on Old Highway 99W.

Rotavele (Historical)

Railroad siding 4 miles south of Hamilton City where County Road 26 crossed the Southern Pacific railroad tracks. The first concrete grain elevator in Glenn County was built here by Andrew Kaiser. Name is of unknown origin.

St. John (Historical)

Named for Aden C. St. John, an 1850s settler who purchased a tract of land on the north bank of Stony Creek near its' mouth with the Sacramento River. One corner of St. John's land was set aside for a townsite and the first large general merchandise store in the county was located here. The post office was begun on December 14, 1864, and was discontinued on February 28, 1917. The location of St. John was about 2 miles south of Hamilton City on State Highway 45.

Winslow (Historical)

Name changed from Bridgeport to Winslow in 1901 when seeking a U.S. Post Office and it was found that there already was a Bridgeport, California. The Winslow post office was established on March 6, 1901, and discontinued on January 15, 1915. The settlement was located on the north approach to the Stony Creek bridge 1 mile north of Elk Creek on County Road 306.

Willows (also Willow)

Named for the grove of willow trees that grew around the small lake created at the junction of Willow and Walker Creeks. The post office was established on July 26, 1876, but the name given was "Willow." The U.S. Post Office Department officially changed the name to Willows on May 15, 1916. Willows has been the governmental seat since the county was created on March 11, 1891. Willows is 17 miles south of Orland on Old Highway 99W.

Wyo (Historical)

Name comes from "Wye" which was formed when the railroad tracks were laid from Orland to Hamilton City. These tracks running off the mainline, 1 mile north of Orland, form a letter "Y" which is used for reversing cars and engines when no turntable is available.