- KATHLEEN SCAVONE
- Posted On
Lake County Time Capsule: Anderson Marsh State Historic Park's ranch house
“Let the farmer forevermore be
honored in his calling; for they
who labor in the earth are the
chosen people of God.”
– Thomas Jefferson
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Anderson Marsh State Historic Park is located on the southeast shore of Clear Lake, on Anderson Ranch Parkway in Lower Lake.
The park is composed of more than 1,000 acres of wetlands, oak woodlands and grasslands, with four great hiking trails: the Cache Creek, Anderson Flats, Ridge and Marsh trails, all two to three miles, round trip.
Our park is unique in another important way in that it includes a historic ranch complex, along with its prehistoric history.
There are more than 30 Native American archaeological sites here, some of which are more than 10,000 years old. The southeastern Pomo once made homes here.
The area known today as Lake County was explored and visited by European American trapper and hunters as far back as the 1820s.
The first European American settlers here at Anderson Marsh arrived in 1855, predating the Civil War.
This part of Lake County was known at Hot Springs Township, and was actually part of Napa County.
Then, two brothers named Achilles Fine and John Melchisadeck Grigsby arrived here from Tennessee.
It was their dream to ranch and farm the land. Looking at the ranch house, you can see the two-story portion, at the center, where they once lived.
The Grigsbys constructed that, and the older barn was thought to be theirs, as well. The Grigsby brothers built it with rough hewn redwood, and it is also known as Weatherboard.
They lived at the ranch for 15 years, making this house one of the oldest in Lake County.
The Grigsby family moved out in 1870 after a prolonged battle with the Clear Lake Water Works Co.
Large tracts of the Grigsbys' farmland were flooded after Cache Creek was dammed. At first, it appeared that the Grigsbys won the case, however, an appeal to the Supreme Court initiated a reversal of that decision, and the water works company won on legal technicalities.
The Grigsbys sold their land to the Clear Lake Water Works Co., and they held title until 1882 when it changed hands.
Next, in 1885 John Still Anderson purchased the land from the California Agriculture Improvement Association, affiliates of the Clear Lake Water Works Co.
Anderson, a Scottish immigrant from Edinburgh, traveled by Clipper ship around Cape Horn.
He operated a cattle ranch here, along with his wife, Sarah, and their six children.
The Andersons made a comfortable home out of the tiny quarters. Their descendants carried on at the Anderson Ranch House until the 1960s.
Now, the old house stands as a silent reminder of times past.
For more information, visit Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association, www.andersonmarsh.org/ .
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.