SHASTA: Shasta County | California CA | International Jewish Cemetery Project

- - Old Shasta: West of Redding California, the cemetery dates back to Gold Rush and immigrant times and is in very bad repair. Part of Highway 299W was built right over it. The Shasta County Historical Society was informed of this a couple years ago; however, since this area has few Jews, care or reclamation is not a priority. Source: Don Robinson, Just west of the town, perhaps half a mile or so west of town, is a highway historical marker that describes the "grave of the Jewish baby". The marker says that Highway SR 299 was built right over the Jewish cemetery many decades ago. Some protest was lodged so one grave was saved. This was the grave of a Jewish infant who died some distance away during a winter blizzard. The parents had a very difficult journey to be sure the baby was buried in a Jewish cemetery. It seems this touching story inspired the state highway bureaucrats to save this one grave, but the others were paved over. A path leads perhaps a hundred feet or so downhill to where the grave is surrounded by a wrought iron fence. Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
  - column written by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. about the burial site. Pioneer Baby Grave, California Registered Landmark No. 377 ., a half mile west of the town of Shasta. [January 2001]
  - UPDATE: Historical marker: "Charles, infant son of George & Helena Cohn Brownstein of Red Bluff died December 14, 1864. He was buried near land established by the Shasta Hebrew Congregation as a Jewish cemetery in 1857, one of the earliest such cemeteries in the region. Since there was no Jewish burial ground in Red Bluff, Chales' parents made the arduous journey to Shasta to lay their baby to rest. Concern for the fate of the grave led to the rerouting of Highway 299 in 1923. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 377. First Registered July 28, 1940. Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in Cooperation with the Shasta Historical Society, Kevin Hollis Moss Historical Fund and Trinitarianus Chapter 62, E Clampus Vitus, July 28, 1990" Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [September 2006]