Lake Almanor Country Club and the Origins of the Golf Course
By Luther Carr
(from a lecture to the LACC Women’s Club)
The land under Lake Almanor was called Big Meadows. It was a very popular resort area in the summertime. The weather was perfect and there were rivers running down both sides of the Peninsula. There were several resort hotels that were very nice and very popular. This included the little town of Prattville and the beginning town of Chester. The Stover, McKenzie, Olsen and Bidwell families were the old pioneer families that used to pasture their cattle where you see cattle pastured today.
The Olsens built a rather large hotel in the southeast corner of Chester, but that burnt down in 1989. Shortly after 1900, the Great Western Power Company bought the meadowland from the cattle farmers including the land up to the 4500′ level. The land above the 4500′ was owned by the Walker family. The Walker family owned the town of Westwood, lock, stock and barrel. They operated the huge Red River Lumber Mill. Thomas B. Walker came out to Plumas and Lassen counties in 1894 and bought over 1 ¼ million acres of timberland. This included the Eastshore of what is now the lake, the peninsula, Hamilton Branch, and the area on the west side that is now Almanor West.
The Red River Lumber Mill started cutting lumber in 1912. It was a huge mill. One of the largest, if not the largest, in the country. This was about the time that the Almanor dam was finished; around 1912 or 1913. The controlling heirs of the Walker family sold the mill to the fruit growers supply company in 1944, plus the land they did not sell to The Great Western Power Company or to Ed Clifford. Walker Road was named after the Walker family of Westwood.
The Red River Mill burned in 1956 and the land and buildings in the town were sold for $650,000 to a couple of real estate developers from Los Angeles. They came up and sold it building by building.
Ed Clifford was a Seattle lawyer who also did some real estate development. He bought the East shore, Hamilton Branch, Peninsula, and the land used by Almanor West in 1948 and 1949 from the Walkers. In 1953, he filed incorporation papers for the Lake Almanor Country Club and filed a plat for Unit 1. Prior to that time, however, he had developed some land along the East shore.
Ed’s idea for the Lake Almanor Country Club was a private country club in a common‑consent subdivision where owner‑members would need to be approved by a member committee before purchasing a lot. This idea proved impractical, but for many years two member‑sponsored signatures were required on each sales contract.
The Mutual Water Company owned by the members was incorporated in August 1962 as a separate corporation. Actually, the golf course was originally an autonomous corporation. Ed Clifford, who still owned the golf course at that time, asked me to head the first golf course management committee. I appointed Ed Clifford, Len Harkness, Malcom Sykes, and Al O’Brian. Almanor West was also established by the Clifford family.
It’s interesting to know that Ed Clifford deeded all the land he owned at Hamilton Branch to a paving contractor, Slim Malovich, in consideration for paving the roads on the peninsula. Pretty stiff price—but a heck of a deal in the end.
In the summer of 1962, I was driving by the gate at Peninsula Drive and Ed Clifford motioned for me to come into his real estate office (where Lake Almanor Real Estate now sits). He explained he wanted to show me where he planned to build the golf course. We drove to the north end of the peninsula, hiked through the woods for half an hour, and I pointed out the perfect spot just north of what is now the pro shop.
As we were scouting, Bill Taylor (sales manager) and two dirt‑grading contractors pulled up. Ed asked them to start work that Monday—and that blessed event kicked off construction of our course.
