Shasta

Shasta State Historic Park located at Shasta is a ghost town and California State Historic Park.

• Official Name — Shasta • Type — census-designated place • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Type1 — State • Subdivision Name1 — California • Subdivision Type2 — County • Subdivision Name2 — Shasta • Population Total — 1043 • Population As Of — 2020 • Population Density Km2 — auto • Unit Pref — US • Area Total Sq Mi — 10.941 • Area Land Sq Mi — 10.936 • Area Water Sq Mi — 0.004 • Area Total Km2 — 28.337 • Area Land Km2 — 28.325 • Area Water Km2 — 0.012 • Area Water Percent — 0.04 • Time Zone — Pacific (PST) • Utc Offset — -8 • Time Zone Dst — PDT • Utc Offset Dst — -7 • Elevation Ft — 843 • Postal Code Type — ZIP Code • Custom Label Sec1 — GNIS feature ID • Custom Data Sec1 — 2583135 • Footnotes —;

A bustling town of the 1850s through the 1880s, Shasta was for its time, the largest settlement in Shasta County and the surrounding area. Sometimes referred to today as "Old Shasta", the town was an important commercial center and a major shipping point for mule trains and stagecoaches serving the mining towns and later settlements of northern California. The discovery of gold near Shasta in 1848 brought California Gold Rush-era Forty-Niners up the Siskiyou Trail in search of riches - most passed through Shasta, and continued to use it as base of operations. Those that stayed worked the placer gold diggings of nearby, short-lived camps like Horsetown, Buckeye, and Whiskeytown, California. Situated about six miles (10 km) west of Redding, California along Highway 299, Shasta was once home to some 3,500 residents, the county seat, and a thriving commercial district. However, in 1873, the under construction Oregon-bound branch of the Central Pacific Railroad bypassed Shasta, in favor of Redding and the town began its decline into near "ghost town" status. In 1888, Shasta lost the county seat to Redding. By the twentieth century, and after several fires, a distinctive row of gold rush era buildings remained along its Main Street, which attracted preservationists and their efforts to save all the local stories and landscape, and the remaining first generation of 1850s brick and iron door architecture. The poet Joaquin Miller refers to Shasta in his 1870s novel, Life Amongst the Modocs, based on the experiences of Miller as a young man living in the area in the 1850s. In this book, Miller describes his brief imprisonment in a Shasta jail for horse-stealing and subsequent escape with the aid of his Native American wife.

The site of the town is now a California State Historic Park called Shasta State Historic Park, containing many of the original 19th century brick buildings, partially restored. Shasta is now a town with the ruins of the gold mining town, a post office, a church, the oldest Masonic lodge in California, and a store. The park was damaged by the Carr Fire in 2018, during which the elementary school was destroyed and the brewery and cemetery were damaged.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 10.9 square miles (28.3 km), of which 99.96% is land and 0.04% is water.

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Shasta has a hot-summer mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Shasta was 115 F on July 28, 1976, and August 8, 1981, while the coldest temperature recorded was 14 F on December 21–22, 990.

Shasta first appeared as a census designated place in the 2010 U.S. census.

As of the 2020 census, Shasta had a population of 1,043 and a population density of 95.4 PD/sqmi. The age distribution was 181 people (17.4%) under the age of 18, 49 people (4.7%) aged 18 to 24, 187 people (17.9%) aged 25 to 44, 347 people (33.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 279 people (26.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 54.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 107.2 males age 18 and over. The census reported that 1,041 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 2 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. In addition, 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas. There were 413 households, out of which 119 (28.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 273 (66.1%) were married-couple households, 18 (4.4%) were cohabiting couple households, 54 (13.1%) had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 68 (16.5%) had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. 61 households (14.8%) were one person, and 33 (8.0%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.52, and there were 330 families (79.9% of all households). There were 467 housing units at an average density of 42.7 /mi2, of which 413 (88.4%) were occupied and 54 (11.6%) were vacant. Of occupied units, 341 (82.6%) were owner-occupied and 72 (17.4%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 0.0%. Racial composition as of the 2020 census • Race — Number — Percent • White — 894 — 85.7% • Black or African American — 0 — 0.0% • American Indian and Alaska Native — 27 — 2.6% • Asian — 17 — 1.6% • Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander — 2 — 0.2% • Some other race — 16 — 1.5% • Two or more races — 87 — 8.3% • Hispanic or Latino (of any race) — 56 — 5.4%

• Jim Hanks, actor, brother of Tom Hanks, was born in Shasta. • Bronco Charlie Miller, horse trainer and Pony Express rider • Scott Leary, swimmer