Modoc County Historical Society

Community Yard Sale TOMORROW in Alturas!

The Modoc County Museum will be open at 9:00 a.m. TOMORROW, June 6th to sell our past and present Historical Society journals for just $10 each. Come in and say "Hi", grab a journal or two at a reduced price, and stay a while to view our museum!

Hope to see you!
Modoc County Museum, 600 So. Main St., Alturas, CA.

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Special visitors on opening day of the Modoc County Museum!

"We had a great visit with the great volunteers at the museum on May 1st. We were researching my great grandfather Chester Parker, 5th Sheriff of Modoc County elected in 1890. We also found his headstone at the Alturas cemetery in the IOOF Section by the front gate (get their early for an easy to find plot!), explored the Parker Creek and Parker Road area, visited the County Courthouse and met the current Sheriff. If you want to do a post on your page about our great visit feel free. I’ll send the photo holding with us holding Sheriff Parker’s (our Relatives) photo with Sheriff Tex who was super hospitable. Hope Alturas and the Museum all the best. We had a great visit!" Signed/Brian Parker and Leyna Bernstein, Spokane, WA

Thank you for stopping by Mr. Brian Parker and Ms Leyna Bernstein and we do truly appreciate the compliments! We are very proud of our museum and history! Thank you to Sheriff "Tex" Dowdy also!

The 1918 Purple And White - Modoc Union High School Yearbook. This yearbook has Joe Steele's name written on the inside front page.

(Credit: Modoc Co. Museum - Clarice Lee collection)

Just a reminder!

There is still plenty of time to get your essay written for the Modoc County Historical Society's Young Historian & Junior Historian Essay Contest. Entries are due May 15th.
The essays can be returned to the Modoc County Museum, 600 S. Main Street, Alturas, CA 96101, phone (530) 233-2944. Mailed entries must be postmarked by May 15th. Entries can also be emailed to:
[email protected].

A cash prize will be awarded to winners in each age bracket - $500 for 1st place and $250 for 2nd place and winning essays will be featured in the Modoc Co. Historical Society Journal for 2026 to be published later this year.

The Modoc County Historical Society would like to collect stories and memories from people who attended Blue Lake Youth Camp since its establishment in 1955. If you attended the camp as a young camper, youth counselor, cook or camp director perhaps you have a funny and/or memorable story to share. Pictures would also be appreciated, please provide dates and names, and send them as jpeg files.

Your memories will be part of a journal article on the history of the camp and featured in the Modoc County Historical Society Journal for 2026. Please send your memories and/or photos to [email protected].