Callahan, California

Callahan, California
Unincorporated community
Callahan, California
Coordinates: 41°18′35″N 122°48′05″W / 41.30972°N 122.80139°W / 41.30972; -122.80139Coordinates: 41°18′35″N 122°48′05″W / 41.30972°N 122.80139°W / 41.30972; -122.80139
Country United States
State California
County Siskiyou
Elevation 3,140 ft (960 m)
Time zone Pacific (PST) (UTC-8)
  Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code 96014
Area code(s) 530
GNIS feature ID 257834[1]

Callahan is an unincorporated community in Siskiyou County, California, United States. Callahan is located on California State Route 3 11.5 miles (18.5 km) south-southeast of Etna. Callahan has a post office with ZIP code 96014.[2] The post office opened as Callahan's Ranch in 1858 and changed its name to Callahan in 1892. The community was named after M.B. Callahan, who opened a travelers' stop in the community in 1851.[3]

The Last Lynching in California

On January 6, 1947, school children at Callahan's one room schoolhouse were greeted by the body of a dead African American man, strung up from a nearby telephone pole. A calfskin was wrapped around his shoulders and he was riddled with bullet holes. The January 10, 1947 edition of the Western Sentinel newspaper carried a front page story about the lynching, identifying the man as a butcher from Weed, California. The January 12, 1947 edition of the Etna Gazette also carried the story. All copies of the newspapers were subsequently destroyed, including copies from the Siskiyou County library. The identity of those responsible for the destruction remains a mystery. It was the last known lynching in California. The crime has never been solved.[4]

The above rumored event never happened. Residents living in Callahan at the time, some in elementary school, still alive in 2016, either have no memory of the supposed event, or offer this more plausible explanation of the rumor:

A Callahan resident, probably celebrating the new year, had a bit too much to drink, and passed out outside the local bar.

A few of his "friends" removed his pants and shirt, stuffed them with straw, attached his hat and boots, and strung the effigy up on a telegraph pole that at that time stood between the Grange Hall and the Emporium store and saloon. This is what the school children saw the next day.

Climate

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Callahan has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.[5]

Climate data for Callahan (1943-2012)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 65
(18)
72
(22)
82
(28)
86
(30)
98
(37)
103
(39)
106
(41)
105
(41)
105
(41)
91
(33)
75
(24)
65
(18)
106
(41)
Average high °F (°C) 44.9
(7.2)
50.9
(10.5)
56.4
(13.6)
62.7
(17.1)
71.5
(21.9)
80.1
(26.7)
88.5
(31.4)
87.2
(30.7)
80.6
(27)
68
(20)
51.9
(11.1)
44.2
(6.8)
65.6
(18.7)
Average low °F (°C) 25.4
(−3.7)
27.9
(−2.3)
29.9
(−1.2)
32.7
(0.4)
38
(3)
43.7
(6.5)
48.9
(9.4)
47.5
(8.6)
41.7
(5.4)
35.2
(1.8)
29.8
(−1.2)
25.7
(−3.5)
35.5
(1.9)
Record low °F (°C) −6
(−21)
−1
(−18)
4
(−16)
18
(−8)
21
(−6)
23
(−5)
30
(−1)
32
(0)
23
(−5)
15
(−9)
9
(−13)
−9
(−23)
−9
(−23)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.46
(87.9)
2.7
(69)
2.1
(53)
1.26
(32)
1.09
(27.7)
0.76
(19.3)
0.43
(10.9)
0.37
(9.4)
0.5
(13)
1.57
(39.9)
2.88
(73.2)
3.79
(96.3)
20.92
(531.4)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 4.5
(11.4)
1.7
(4.3)
2.2
(5.6)
0.3
(0.8)
0.2
(0.5)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0.1
(0.3)
1.3
(3.3)
2.6
(6.6)
12.8
(32.5)
Average precipitation days 12 10 11 8 7 5 2 2 3 6 11 12 89
Source: WRCC[6]

References

  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Callahan, California
  2. ZIP Code Lookup
  3. Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Quill Driver Books. p. 206. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  4. Kulczyk,David. (2008). California Justice: Shootouts, Lynching and Assassinations in the Golden State. Word Dancer Press. P115 ISBN 1-884995-54-3
  5. Climate Summary for Callahan, California
  6. "CALLAHAN, CA (041316)". Western Regional Climate Center. Retrieved November 29, 2015.


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