As many as 100 people once lived there.[6] In 2018, KQED reported that there were "just a few old horse barns and a few dozen residents nearby".[3]
History
Prior to the arrival of settlers, the place that became known as Peanut was inhabited by the Wintu tribe.[7]
In the late 19th century, the area was referred to as Salt Creek.[2][6] It was a stopping point on the trail from nearby Weaverville to the California coast, offering fresh water and a natural spring.[3] With its cool, mountainous climate, the area is inhospitable to growing peanuts.[4]
The town used to be on Highway 36 until the highway was adjusted, straightening and improving the quality of its route – this was done to provide shorter travels between Red Bluff and the coast, and eliminate a detour into Eureka from Fortuna to Route 299.[8]
Origins of name
In 1898, settlers in Salt Creek, which had a general store called Cuff's, decided to apply for a post office.[9] At the time, the nearest post office was in Hayfork, a seven-mile journey by horse.[2] The name "Salt Creek" was deemed unsuitable because of a United States Board on Geographic Names rule which required single-word town names.[7]
According to California Place Names, the petitioners originally considered naming the town after Mrs. Cuff.[9] When they discussed their application with the postmaster at Weaverville, A. L. Paulsen, he suggested the name "Peanut" instead because it was unique; no other post office in the directory had its name.[6][9] The postmaster's own fondness of peanuts is also often cited as the reason for his choice.[6][9][10] According to the memoir of Salt Creek schoolteacher Joe McKnight, Paulsen was eating peanuts when he suggested the name.[2]
Although the town was too small to have its own saloon, during Prohibition bootleggers from Peanut became well known locally for supplying high-quality liquor.[6]
Peanut once had a sawmill which burned down in the 1940s,[6] or mid-1950s.[4]
In 1970, the owner of land where the town of Peanut once stood, Woody Smith of San Jose, put his 12-acre parcel up for sale.[6]
Popularity
Peanut became popular with tourists during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, a former peanut farmer.[4] In 1979, a local resident told the Sacramento Bee that tourists came looking for the Peanut post office, because they wanted to "mail a post card with the Peanut postmark."[4] They also said that road maps of the area often included Peanut purely due to the novelty of its name.[4]
^ abcdefGudde, Erwin Gustav (1998). Bright, William (ed.). California Place Names (4th edition, revised and enlarged ed.). University of California Press. p. 284. ISBN0-520-21316-5.
