Calneva, California

Calneva is an unincorporated community in Lassen County, California.[1] It is located 10 miles (16 km) north-northeast of Doyle,[2] at an elevation of 4009 feet (1222 m).[1] Calneva is on the Nevada state line—its name is a portmanteau of California and Nevada.[3]

Calneva
Unincorporated community
Calneva Location in California Show map of California Calneva Calneva (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 40°09′10″N 120°00′32″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Lassen County
Elevation [1]	4,009 ft (1,222 m)

The town was developed in the hope of finding sufficient water to sustain it.[4] However this proved problematic with the water proving too saline for drinking.[5] This, combined with the farm prices crash of the 1920s, failure of mining ventures and the cancellation of an additional rail line led to the town declining until it was no longer viable to operate either a post office or a station there.[5]

During the 1916 New York City polio epidemic a quarantine officer was stationed there to medically examine passengers from New York, New Jersey and Chicago in an attempt to prevent the disease spreading to California.[6]

A post office operated at Calneva from 1911 to 1919, and from 1920 to 1933.[2]

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Calneva, California
2. Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 361. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
3. Remington, Frank L. (Sep 8, 1969). "Take a Good Look at the US Map. Towns Have the Craziest Names". The Milwaukee Journal. p. 2. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
4. "Land to be developed". The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California). 23 Mar 1913.
5. Temple, Robert D. (2008-11-19). Edge Effects: The Border-Name Places. iUniverse. ISBN 978-1-4401-0146-5.
6. "State Quarantine Very Thorough". Oroville Daily Register. 13 Jul 1916.