Magalia to Stirling City

Dogtown, first settled in the early 1850’s, was the site of a major gold discovery in 1856. For a period of time there was a post office in the area named  Butte Mills that served the community. In 1857 an application for a post office in Dogtown was granted and the post office was named the Magalia post office. In 1870 there was a major fire in Magalia. The comunity rebuilt and continued to grow. In 1903 when the Diamond Match Company ran a rail line from the new company town of Stirling City on to Paradise and Chico, Magalia desided they would build a station along the route. In 1916, it was desided to build a reservoir to supply water for the area. The reservoir would flood parts of lower end of Magalia, The abundance of year round water brought more people and the town continued to grow. This book along with the book on Paradise, both written by Robert Colby, offer a comprehensive look at the development of Stirling City, Magalia and Paradise and the role Diamond Match played.