Goumaz, California

Goumaz
Former settlement
Goumaz Location in California
Coordinates: 40°24′50″N 120°51′45″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Lassen County
Elevation [1]	5,203 ft (1,586 m)

Goumaz (also, Goumez)^[2] is a former rail station and settlement in Lassen County, California^[1] where a campground is now located. It was located on the Southern Pacific Railroad 10.5 miles (17 km) northeast of Westwood,^[2] at an elevation of 5203 feet (1586 m).^[1]

It is likely named for Philip J. Goumaz, who came to California and Lassen County in the 1860s.^[3]

The Fernley and Lassen Railway line along which the Goumaz station was located was built in 1912–14. The Goumaz station was completed as a water stop in 1913.^[4] In July 1917, a train car body was used as a living quarters for railroad employees assigned to Goumaz. By the next summer, seven railroad owned structures were on site. Two more tie houses were added in 1923, when a fence was also added around the section house because of the young families with children now living there. The buildings were taken down in 1957 after the local section forces stopped being used by the railroad.^[5][4]

The Fernley and Lassen Railway was abandoned in 1978, and the section along which the Goumaz station was located is now part of the Bizz Johnson rail trail. The Goumaz campground is now located there within the Lassen National Forest.^[6][7]

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Goumaz, California
2. Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 380. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
3. Gudde, Erin G. California Place Names, p. 125 (1960)
4. National Register of Historic Places, Registration Form, Fernley and Lassen Railway Depot, p. 13 ("Goumaz, a water station, completed in 1913"), p. 22 (Goumaz was abandoned in 1957) (2005)
5. Myrick, David. F. Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California, p. 127 (2016)
6. Goumaz, US Forest Service, Retrieved 14 July 2020
7. Not So Busy Times on the Bizz, High on Adventure (September 2016)