Dunsmuir Historic Commercial District

Dunsmuir's downtown commercial core sits in the upper Sacramento River Canyon, beneath steep forested ridges and within view of Mount Shasta. The district takes in about four blocks along Sacramento and Dunsmuir Avenues, which run parallel to the river and the Southern Pacific tracks, with Dunsmuir Avenue about fifty feet higher on the hillside. Its 43 buildings are mostly one or two stories of brick or concrete, with parapets, aligned facades and recessed entries. Buildings on lower Sacramento Avenue date largely from 1903, rebuilt after a fire that destroyed nearly all of the business section. Those on Dunsmuir Avenue went up in the 1920s, when the town grew rapidly. Thirty-two buildings contribute to the district's character, while eleven do not, often because of storefront alterations. Public features include three fountains, one a World War I memorial erected in 1923, along with early iron handrails on steep sidewalks.