Siskiyou County
Biographies
JACK R. WHITE
Jack
R. White is winning success in his new venture, known as “Jack’s Place—Airport
Station,” which is located at the high point between Dunsmuir and Mount Shasta,
across the highway from the new airport.
A more promising site could hardly have been chosen and all predict for
him abundant success here. Mr. White was
born in Missouri, on the 15th of November, 1881, and is a son of
Nathan and Amanda (Wells) White, neither of whom case west, but spent their
lives and died on the old homestead in Missouri. The father was a farmer and blacksmith and
also held the office of justice of the peace.
Jack
R. White was reared and educated in his native state and on coming to
California located in Glendora, Los Angeles County. There he engaged in the nursery business on
Foothill Boulevard, but a frost completely ruined his stock and he was
compelled to go to work. For two years
he served as a forest ranger in New Mexico and then went to Idaho, where he
spent four years. In 1919 he bought a
hay ranch, which under ordinary conditions would have been a good
investment. At the time he bought the
property, hay was selling at sixteen dollars a ton, but in the following year
it sold at eight dollars and in the next year at four dollars a ton, which
completely wiped out his investment. In
1923 he came to Siskiyou County and, locating at Weed, entered the employ of
the Long-Bell Lumber Company, being employed in the box factory for four
years. Later he worked for the state
highway department and in 1930 came to his present location and has here
installed a modern service station. He
leased a good sized piece of ground across the road from the new Siskiyou
county airport, and here he has not only arranged for automobile service, but
also sells cold drinks and lunches. He
has a well equipped repair shop and caters to the patronage of tourists. Over fifty thousand dollars will be spent on
the airport and landing field, and Mr. White is expecting to erect enough cabins
to properly take care of his trade. One
of the attractive features of his service is the bountiful and inexhaustible
supply of ice-cold mountain water which flows from Mt. Shasta. A remarkable view is afforded of the mountain
and surrounding country and this is one of the most attractive spots in this
section of the valley. Hunting and
fishing are abundant in every direction from this point and Mr. White has
already had tangible evidence of the wisdom of this location for his service
station. He handles the Shell line of
products.
Mr.
White is the father of three children, who reside with their mother in Azusa,
California. They are Lawren, who was
born in New Mexico; Verdie; and Bert, who has just finished high school and is
now working at the butchering trade.
Lawren and Verdie are radio entertainers with the Beverly Hill Billies and the Arizona Wranglers. They sing and play stringed instruments.
Politically
Mr. White is a Republican. He is a
member of the Glendora Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Glendora; the Knights of Pythias
at El Capitan, New Mexico; and the Neighbors of Woodcraft at Dunsmuir. He is an expert player of the steel guitar
and banjo and calls all of the old-fashioned dances which are frequently held
near his place. Hunting, fishing and
dancing are his favorite means of recreation and he is well liked by all who
know him because of his kindly manner and uniform courtesy.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J. W. Major, History of
Sacramento Valley California, Vol. 2 Pages 293-294. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden
Nugget Library's Siskiyou County Biographies