The Whiskeytown Cemetery escaped flooding in 1962 only to face destruction by fire in 2018.
In 1962, some Whiskeytown buildings and its cemetery were moved to higher ground west of Shasta, Calif., to make way for the Whiskeytown Dam and reservoir.
On July 23, 2018, the Carr Fire erupted inside the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, eventually burning 39,000 of the park’s 42,000 acres. It reduced to ashes the old store and post office that had been moved to higher ground in 1962, consumed several cemetery graves and left others covered in blackened ash.
Within a month, 12-year-old Preston Sharp of Redding, Calif., had organized a clean-up of the cemetery by more than 100 men, women, and children with rakes and shovels. Sharp was already known for his dedication to honoring deceased veterans and their burial sites.
Before the fire, the cemetery had a festive décor, ranging from flowers, trinkets and toys to favorite snacks and even cocktails of the deceased buried there.
Whiskeytown was one of Shasta County's first gold mining settlements during the California Gold Rush of 1849, when it was first known as Whiskey Creek Diggings.
Sources: DuBois, Steve. "After the Carr Fire, Volunteers Restore Peace to Whiskeytown Cemetery." aNewsCafe.com Northern California’s Premier Online News Magazine, anewscafe.com/2018/08/21/redding/after-the-carr-fire-volunteers-restore-peace-to-whiskeytown-cemetery/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2018; "The Carr Fire at Whiskeytown." National Park Service, National Park Service/U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/whis/carrfire.htm. Accessed 20 Oct. 2018; "Whiskeytown, Calif." Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia, 29 May 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskeytown,_California. Accessed 20 Oct. 2018.
