A Friendly Country Town Thru a Century

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Kelseyville Main Street Anno 1909

Kelseyville Main Street Anno 1946

Kelseyville Main Street Anno 2003                                 

LAKE COUNTY  was first formed from areas of Napa, Colusa and Mendocino Counties in May of 1861. At the center of the county is Clear Lake at a size of 43,000 acres and the largest natural lake in California, and possibly the oldest lake in North America. Scientific evidence has proven the lake to be at least 150,000 years old. Thousands of years ago a landslide resulting from a volcano created the lake's current form. This blocked the drainage into the Russian River from the valley, and the water continued to rise until it finally found a new outlet thru Cache Creek into the Sacramento River. 

The Pomo Indians had been hunting, fishing and collecting plant foods on the shores of Clear Lake for thousands of years before the rise of the Egyptian civilization. From the lake came an abundance of fish and tule reeds which they used to make clothing, boats, dwellings and household items. Pomo baskets are still widely admired throughout the west today.

Lakeport, known first as Forbestown, is the oldest town in Lake County going back to the Gold Rush era of the late 1840's. The city was incorporated in 1888 with apopulation of 700 people.

The first European families found their way to Lake County in the 1850's and lived near what is now Kelseyville. Farming and ranching grew steadily and in the 1860's toll roads began climbing over the mountains and bringing in more and more settlers. Gradually, the Pomo Indians were forced from their traditional homes to rancherias.

Natural mineral springs became very popular and thousands of visitors from around the world visited to "take the waters". Huge resorts were built and enjoyed their fame, some of which were Bartlett Springs, Soda Bay Springs, Seigler Springs, Anderson and Adam Springs. Many of those resorts were destroyed by fires, and were never rebuilt.

Today Kelseyville is the business center for Big Valley, Lake County's thriving agricultural area and serves a population of more than 9000 people. The pear and walnut trees are being traded for grapevines with several wineries and tasting rooms, and visitors come to Kelseyville for big name concerts, wine tours, Indian casino gambling, golfing, fishing, boating and sailing, swimming, stargazing, bird watching, cycling, the weather and clean air - and the laid back lifestyle.                       

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