The Shasta County Homestead Declaration Database
~Understanding Its Background and Development~

The Shasta County Historical Society (1449 Market St., Redding, CA 96001) is the repository of Shasta County's historical Homestead Declarations records. These documents were maintained by the County between 1861 and 1941 and contain approximately 1,650 Declarations. Before discussing these legal documents and the database, it is important to understand what the Homestead Declarations are and what they are not.

"Homesteading" consisted of physically occupying land that was controlled by the federal government and not owned by any person. (Please refer to "Homesteading—A Short History.) After occupying un-owned land, a legal land description was determined, a Claim was filed with the applicable Government Land Office, and any applicable fees were paid. In the earliest homesteading days the nearest Land Office was in Marysville. Later on an office was established in Redding. Shasta County's historical Homestead Claims are currently housed in the Bureau of Land Management offices in San Francisco. The Shasta County Historical Society does not have access to these historical Homestead Claims.

Legally, the process of "homesteading" also insured guarantees that the land in question could not be foreclosed upon in many situations. Consequently, many (but not all) families that filed a Homestead Claim also recorded a County Homestead Declaration. By doing so, they made a formal legal request to acquire exemption from land forfeiture or lien in the eventuality of insolvency. Consequently, Homestead Declarations are not the same thing as Homestead Claims. In many cases families that made Homestead Claims also acquired Homestead Declarations; however, this was not always the case.

Homestead Declarations contain a wealth of information regarding Shasta County's history. In 2005 all of Shasta County's Homestead Declarations were reviewed and important historical items gleaned and placed in a database, including:
1.
 Name (Applicant)--Sometimes both husband and wife's names were given but often only the man's name was given (only rarely was the woman's name solely used)
2.
 Record Type—This is usually "Homestead" but may be "Abandonment of Homestead" or "Setting Apart of Homestead". It is possible that more than one Declaration was filed for a given family. For instance, filing an "Abandonment of Homestead" for a given land parcel might occur when a parcel was sold. Another Homestead Declaration application was often made for that family at a different location—suggesting that a new parcel was purchased after the first parcel was sold.
3.
 Filing Date—The date for which the Homestead Declaration was filed with the County
4.
 Town-Location—Either the name of a community where the land is located, such as "Shasta" or "Fall River Mills", or "County" if located in a rural area
5.
 Book—The County book number that contains the Homestead Declaration
6.
 Page—The page(s) of the County book where the Declaration is located
7.
 Site Description—Either a survey legal description (e.g., Township, Range, Section) or a list of geographic features adjacent to the Homesteaded parcel
8.
 Comments—Miscellaneous information occasionally stated in a Declaration, including: family member's names, names of adjacent landowners, and the number of children the family had, etc.