History
Westwood - is a community in Lassen County, California, United States. Westwood, California sits nestled in pine trees on the southeastern slope of Mount Lassen. The coordinates for Westwood is Latitude 40.26 & Longitude -121.12. Westwood has a total area of 14.4 km² or 5.5 mi². The community of Westwood has a total land area of 14.3 km² or 5.5 mi² and about 0.1 km² or 0.04 mi² of it is water. Westwood is elevated 5,125 feet above sea level.

The community of Westwood had a population of 1, 998 as of the year 2000. This figure could be further subdivided to 795 households, and 520 families who are counted among the residents of Westwood. There were 140 people per square kilometer living in the Westwood community. Majority of Westwood’s residents are White Americans who make up 88.39% of Westwood’s population. The rest of Westwood’s residents are from other racial descent namely: 5.26% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.55% Pacific Islander, 2.70% from other races, and 2.85% from two or more races. Westwood’s residents with Hispanic or Latino ancestry were 8.51% of the population.

Westwood’s population could also be divided by gender. Male residents make up 50.2% of Westwood’s population which corresponded to a total of 1,002. Female residents accounted for 49.8% of Westwood’s residents or 996 of the community’s 1,998 residents. The median age of Westwood’s residents was 36 years. Households in Westwood have a median income of $24,148. Families that reside in Westwood have a median income of $30,195. Male residents of Westwood have a median income of $29,219 as compared to $23,646 for females.

Once a major lumber center, the community of Westwood had its beginnings in 1912, when the Red River Lumber Company crafted Westwood from the remote Robbers Creek wilderness. Westwood’s Red River Lumber Company was the world’s largest pine lumber mill in the world from 1913 to 1956. The fifth richest man in the world during the time and owner of the Red River Lumber Company, Thomas B. Walker, emptied the timber stock in Minnesota and purchased nearly 750 million acres of virgin pine forest in Northern California to provide for the mill town he planned to establish. This was the community of Westwood. Over the next few years, more infrastructure sprang up which included an opera house, a hospital, a skating rink, scores of bunkhouses, and all the businesses needed for Westwood to be self-contained. Central to the town of Westwood was a massive pine mill. In the 1930s, the Guinness Book of World Records cited Westwood as having the largest pine timber mill in the world. Ripley’s Believe It or Not featured the Westwood's mill as having the world’s largest pile of sawdust, used to fuel Westwood’s central boilers for steam heat. Before long, more than 10,000 people lived in Westwood. With low crime rates, year-round work, and guaranteed health care during the time, Westwood must have indeed seemed a paradise. The conservative Methodist Walker family looked after Westwood’s growth, overseeing everything from church attendance to liquor consumption. Eveline Walker left a bowl of change outside her front door so that no resident of Westwood would go hungry.

Westwood is also the home of the mythical lumberjack, Paul Bunyan. Westwood’s Paul Bunyan was given birth when the Walker family hired a cousin and former logger, William Laughead, to lead marketing for the Red River Lumber Company. In 1914, Laughead made Paul Bunyan the company’s mascot. He elaborated on the stories he’d heard about Bunyan in timber camps and printed them in pamphlets sent out with shipments of lumber. Laughead named Bunyan’s ox, Babe. By 1940, the Red River Lumber Company had printed eleven editions of Paul Bunyan stories, totaling tens of thousands of copies. People wrote to Westwood from around the world requesting the stories. Westwood also houses the world’s largest wood statue carved from a single tree. De Martimprey, a local entrepreneur, persuaded the Westwood Chamber of Commerce to commission the statue from a chainsaw artist at Burlwood Industries to celebrate Westwood’s 75th birthday in 1988.

Today, Westwood is known as a tourist spot. Westwood is visited for its Paul Bunyan Mountain Festival and Blues Festival held annually every July. The Walker Mansion, which was originally the home of Thomas & Eveline Walker, is now a cozy inn where Westwood’s hospitality is excellently displayed. Westwood also celebrates Oktoberfest annually.

Westwood is quite a historically abundant community that offers a serene and unhurried lifestyle. However, despite the mellow feel of Westwood it is a town with a huge potential for growth and development. Westwood boasts a school district that has earned the Distinguished Schools Award from the California Department of Education as well as having very active sports and extra curricular programs.

Schools
Education in Westwood is overseen by the Westwood Unified School District. Westwood Unified is in charge of 1,124 students from 6 schools. These schools are: Fletcher Walker Elementary School, Horizon High (Continuation), Westwood High School, Westwood Charter School, Red River Community Day, and Westwood Community Day. Westwood Unified School district can be found at Fifth and Delwood Sts., Westwood, California.

Perhaps the most notable of Westwood’s educational institutions is the Westwood Charter School. Westwood Charter is one of the few schools in Los Angeles to be given the charter school status. This means that Westwood Charter is independent in terms of designing the school’s curriculum even though the school operates under a school district. Wetwood Charter caters to the needs of children in the elementary level. As of August 2006, Westwood Charter has 1,676 enrollees. Westwood Charter has 48 teachers in its employment, giving the school a 34.9:1 student- teacher ratio. Westwod Charter offers child-centered facilities which include:

• 35 classrooms, each with a ratio of one computer to every six students, a printer, and a teaching screen.
• Well-maintained playground for grades 1-5.
• Separate Kindergarten play yard.
• Cafeteria with indoor eating area.
• Covered outdoor eating area.
• Auditorium with stage.
• Library which is fully staffed by volunteers and a part-time Library Aide.
• 12 landscaped outdoor classrooms and garden education areas.

Other interesting trivia that make Westwood a community worth visiting are:

• Westwood was once featured on Ripley’s Believe it or Not for being a town that had more dogs than people.
• Westwood has a MOW (Maintenance of Way) station for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. There is also a siding in Westwood that is used to store BNSF snow fighting equipment.
• Westwood had steam-heated sidewalks.

DR. JOHN CHAVES
5312 Comercio Lane, Suite A
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
Phone 818-999-2707
Fax 818-703-1998
appointment@cosmeticdentalservices.com