Remember When: Jan. 23, 2008

Anderson Historical Society and Museum

I have been asked many times why there seems to be old irrigation ditches and checks in the land along Airport Road adjacent to Wyntour Garden Nursery and Wooded Acres.

These are the remnants of a land promotion by a vcry influential man by the last name of Nelson who was from San Francisco. He thought irrigation of his land would make it more valuable when he sold it so he asked for his land to be included in the proposed Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District (A.C.I.D.) that was formed in 1914. Much discussion was held pro and con, but he succeeded in having the land included.

His plan was to pump water from the canal system in Churn Creek to his property. His plan was to irrigate the whole area, grow rice and sell the land at a profit. To his dismay, when he tried to irrigate the tableland all the water seeped out of the ditch system before spreading into the fields, according to my father, Ed Rupert, who worked for Standard Oil and delivered products to various farms in the area.

Again, according to my father, Mr. Nelson then decided that since he could not irrigate the land, he would dry farm and plant grains. However, whenever it rained, all of his trucks and equipment would get stuck in the mud. Dad recalled numerous times when on his delivery route, his gas and oil truck would also end up stuck in the mud up to its axles. In the end, Mr. Nelson allowed the land to return to its native state.

Completion of the A.C.I.D. canal in 1916 became the lifeline for development of our irrigated valley. It serves the area from Redding to below Cottonwood Creek in Tehama County. In 1918, A.C.I.D.’s Board of Directors proposed building a flume to replace the main ditch across Anderson Gulch that washed out each year. Construction of the flume began in December of 1918. The flume, or aqueduct, has been in operation for 89 years. It crosses South Street, just below Anderson Union High School.

The aqueduct is the largest structure of it kind in California. It is 1,249 feet long, 8 feet wide, 5 feet deep and 20 feet high. It is difficult to imagine how this reinforced concrete, arched structure was built at a time when there were no labor saving devices as we know them today. Its construction cost the water district $20,000.

The California Parks and Recreation Department dedicated the Anderson Aqueduct on March 28, 1985, as a landmark of historical point of interest.

The Anderson Historical Society and Museum has on exhibit a fiberglass replica of the entire A.C.I.D. distribution system, as well as information about the construction of that system. All canals where built by mule and horse teams with old fashioned scrapers and manual labor.

Entrance to the museum is free.