ALTURAS, CALIFORNIA OVERVIEW
Located in the far northeastern corner of California, the town of Alturas is the county seat of Modoc County. The only incorporated town in the third least populated county in California, Alturas’ current population is about 2,800.
The city was initially known as Dorris Bridge (or Dorris’ Bridge), named after Pressley and James Dorris, who built a bridge across the Pit River at this location. In 1876, the town was renamed Alturas, which is Spanish for “heights”.
The Pit River, which runs through Alturas, drains a sparsely populated volcanic highlands area in Modoc County’s Warner Mountains, passing through the south end of the Cascade Range in a deep canyon northeast of Redding, California. The river is so named because of the pits, along with other bands of what is now the Pit River Tribe, the Achumawi tribes dug to trap game that came to water at the river.
The Modoc Northern Railroad, commonly known as the Modoc Line, is a defunct railroad company that operated over 160 miles of track in northeastern California and southern Oregon. It was intended as a shortcut from Southern Pacific’s line in Oregon between California and the northwest to the SP Overland Route in Nevada.
The Modoc Line connected Klamath Falls and Lakeview, Oregon, to Alturas, California. The Modoc Line was largely assembled from existing lines, but the portion between Klamath Falls and Alturas was built new.
The rails used by the Modoc Northern were first laid out in June 1927 by a non-operating subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Company with the same name. The railroad shipped mostly timber products and livestock through remote ranch land and high desert.
The railroad and Alturas had an extensive symbiotic relationship from its inception to the day that Alturas was terminated as a home terminal on January 17, 1972, which was a devastating blow to the city as a large percentage of the population was forced to relocate to Klamath Falls, Oregon. Every business in town interacted with the railroad, whether by the influx of tourists or business travelers when the Southern Pacific offered a passenger service from 1927 to 1938. Even railroad workers who made their home base in Alturas, or stayed in one of the hotels made on impact on the town. The third floor of the Niles Hotel offered dorm style living for the railroad workers for decades. Before and during the time of passenger rails, the Southern Pacific and N.C.O. offered livestock shipment from 1908 to 1972, which provided most of its revenue. This was an option for the ranchers throughout the region to get their livestock to markets and sustained a way of life followed since the pioneers first arrived to this region.
The Niles Hotel was originally constructed in 1908-09 as the Curtis Hotel. Then in 1914, J.E. Niles moved his business down the street to what is known today as the Niles Hotel. Today the hotel interior represents a living museum of Modoc history. The Niles Hotel has long been a focal point in Modoc County for business and social gatherings.
NCO “Whistle Stop” Depot was built was built further west in 1906 and then moved to its present location in 1916 to serve as the passenger depot for the Nevada California Oregon Railroad.
PREVALENCE OF ALTURAS MESOTHELIOMA CASES
Alturas mesothelioma cases can involve industrial exposure to asbestos by many different kinds of workers, in all variety of industrial jobs, trades, and occupations, including:
- Boilermakers
- Carpenters
- Construction Workers
- Custodians
- Drillers
- Drywallers
- Electricians
- Flooring Installers
- Foundry Workers
- Glaziers
- Home Repair
- HVAC Repair
- Insulators
- Iron Workers
- Laborers
- Lathers
- Machine Operators
- Machinists
- Engineers
- Molders
- Painters
- Paintmakers
- Pipe Installation
- Pipefitters
- Plasterers
- Plumbers
- Public Works projects
- Repairman
- Riggers
- Roofers
- Seaman
- Sheetmetal Workers
- Steamfitters
- Superintendents/Foremen
- TiremenVehicle Repair
- Welders
Asbestos exposed workers in Alturas mesothelioma lawsuits have received care and treatment at hospitals and medical centers throughout Modoc County. These Modoc County treatment facilities include:
· Modoc Medical Center
EXPERIENCE OF ALTURAS MESOTHELIOMA LAWYERS
The offices of the mesothelioma law firm of Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood are located in the beautiful Jack London Square area of Oakland, California. The Kazan firm’s mesothelioma lawyers are able to file and prosecute cases throughout the Alturas/Modoc County area and throughout California.
Over the last four decades, the mesothelioma law firm of Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood has recovered over $4 billion in jury verdicts and settlements in mesothelioma cases arising throughout California, including in the Alturas area.
CONTACT THE ALTURAS MESOTHELIOMA LAWYERS
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, contact us now to speak with one of our partners. The mesothelioma lawyers at Kazan McClain, Satterley & Greenwood will bring their decades of expertise and success to your claim for mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure in Alturas. We can be reached 24/7. To get a free consultation with one of our mesothelioma attorneys, please call 1-888-887-1238, fill out the form on this page or use our live chat widget.