Butte County
Biographies
LAWRENCE GARDELLA
LAWRENCE GARDELLA.—A dredger-mining
man who has been extraordinarily successful both in his private enterprises and
as the head of a well-known company, and whose prosperity is attested by the
erection of the finest business block in Oroville, is Lawrence Gardella, who was born at Oroville on
December 14, 1873. His father, Joseph Gardella,
was born in Genoa, Italy, and when a young man he came around Cape Horn to San
Francisco, and engaged in farming in Butte County; he was among the first in
this section to take up horticulture. He was one of the first, for example, to
raise oranges for commercial purposes, and his place, just southwest of
Oroville, in the Palermo district, was visited by many in his day. In 1913,
this worthy pioneer from a foreign shore passed away at the age of
seventy-four. His wife, Angelina, still resides in Oroville, the mother of
twelve children, five of whom are living.
The second eldest of these, Lawrence Gardella, was brought up on a farm, attended the public
school, and remained home until he was twenty-one, assisting his father. About
1906, he began mining; and in building the first dredger he was associated with
his father. They constructed the L. & J. Dredge in Wyman’s
Ravine, and thereby worked out about one hundred acres. In this difficult enterprise,
Lawrence Gardella was successful, and he then
organized and incorporated the Kentucky Ranch Gold Dredging Company, after
which he, himself, built a dredge on Honcut creek,
and since 1908 he has dredged out over two hundred acres with each dredge. He
is the principal owner of the company, and as such is president and manager.
These two dredges have ceased to operate. He also built the Oro Vista Dredge,
which he operated three years, dredging some sixty acres, and this has ceased
operations.
Aside from his activities in connection
with company affairs, Mr. Gardella is
enterprising in ventures undertaken by himself. He is also dredging in Shasta
County on Clear creek, five miles south of Redding. There he built a dredge in
1915, and early in 1916 began to operate it. This proved a very successful and
satisfactory venture and he added a second dredge in May, 1918. In addition to
the foregoing , he owns a dredging-plant five miles
east of Lincoln, in Placer County, where he operates a large machine at Quartz
Flat, on land that was formerly placer and drift mines in the earlier days.
These dredges all have five-foot buckets except the two at Redding, which have
seven-and-a-half-foot buckets.
In 1915, this enterprising Californian
built the Gardella Block in Oroville, at the corner
of Montgomery and Huntoon streets, a structure
66x123 feet in size, and having two stores, the whole forming the finest
business block in Oroville. On the first floor of the structure the post office
is located.
Besides the foregoing interests, Mr. Gardella has invested in olive-growing, and has a ranch of
five hundred acres at Wyandotte; his nursery, however, is in Oroville.
A Republican in matters of national
political import, Mr. Gardella stands at all
times with his fellow citizens in loyal and active support of his home town and
its surrounding country, and is first and last for Oroville.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
04 November 2009.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1295-1296, Historic Record Co, Los
Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's
Butte County Biographies