The celebration of the creation of Lake County 150 years ago was held in the shadow of one of the county's most historic buildings, the old courthouse which now houses the Lake County Museum in downtown Lakeport.
The square on Friday evening was lined with booths for community groups, including the Lake County Historical Society and the Lake County Genealogical Society. There also was wine tasting, chocolate and other edibles, and sesquicentennial souvenirs, and entertainment from local musicians, including Hilarie, Milton & Moe and the Sweet Adelines.
The Clear Lake Township area of Napa County became its own county on May 20, 1861, just a month after the beginning of the Civil War and two months after President Abraham Lincoln took office.
The anniversary marks the day that the act to define the news county's boundaries and provide its governing organization was approved by the state Legislature. Irish-born Gov. John Downey signed the act.
The sesquicentennial celebration wasn't just a way of appreciating the history of the county, but the people who have lived – and continue to make their homes – within its boundaries.
Supervisor Rob Brown, the evening's master of ceremonies, said people have come to Lake County over the years for many reasons, among them its clean air. “We had clean air even before the government,” he quipped.
Since Lake County was carved out of Napa County, a guest at the festivities was Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon, whose northern county district borders Lake.
Dillon congratulated Lake County on its anniversary, noting she also had roots here. Her great-great-great-grandparents, Franklin and Nancy McCall, settled in the Middletown area in the 1860s, she owns a property here and has visited relatives in the county over the years.
Bert Hutt came on stage dressed in 19th century garb to represent Gov. Downey, reading the act that created the county.
Judge Richard Martin shared stories of the county's wilder days, telling about the highwayman Buck English; explaining that famed British actress Lillie Langtry had obtained her divorce in 1897 in the old courthouse; and recounting the shooting over a property dispute in which Lindsey Carson II, Kit Carson's brother, was implicated.
He also told the humorous account of the Copsey brothers, who built the Lower Lake Stone Jail only to become, at least temporarily, its first occupants. They lifted the unsecured roof and made their escape.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington, himself descended from a pioneer family, read the proclamation offered by the Board of Supervisors earlier in the week in honor of the sesquicentennial.
Brown noted during the ceremony that in 150 years people would be talking about some of the county's recent accomplishments, including the purchase of property on Mt. Konocti. The land will be preserved as a county park.
Judge Martin returned to the podium for a second round of stories, including that of Ethan Anderson, a Pomo who in 1915 attempted to register to vote in the county but was denied.
Anderson sued for his rights, winning a court case in 1917. It was in 1924 that Congress voted to give all American Indians voting rights. That effort to bring suffrage to native peoples in the United States started in Lake County, Martin said.
He also explained the 1920 Gopcevic decree, which regulates the amount of water that can be taken from Clear Lake to reduce flooding.
Water issues in Lake County sometimes have been tumultuous; he told of how in 1868 the flooding of Lower Lake led a mob of about 300 people to destroy the old dam on Cache Creek and take some local officials hostage.
Brown summed up the event's importance by pointing out that those who came to take part offered a good representation of the community as a whole – from the descendants of pioneers to people who may have arrived only recently.
He said of the county, where his grandparents settled in the early part of the last century, “There's no better place on earth.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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