Colusa County, California

My fifth California County visit was to Colusa County. Colusa was established in 1850 as one of the original 27 counties. The name comes from two Mexican land grants: Coluses (1844) and Colus (1854). Population is currently 18,804 in an area of 1,151 square miles.










I visited the county’s second largest city: Williams, despite the county seat being Colusa. Williams is located along Interstate 5, 70 miles north of Sacramento, and is known to many travelers as the site of Granzella’s restaurant. On October 11, 2007, Granzella's restaurant burnt down to the ground. It was Colusa County's second largest employer. Open since 1976, the restaurant, deli, sports bar and bakery has been a popular stop for travelers for 30 years. Granzella’s is family owned and also includes a 43-room motel. On July 21, 2008, Granzella's reopened. Read about it: http://www.sacbee.com/102/story/1097632.html. We enjoyed our lunch but had some concerns about the other patrons salvaged from the fire (see below…)

Another landmark restaurant in Williams is Louis Cairo’s. Around the corner from Granzella’s, Louis Cairo’s is THE place to go for prime rib and Italian food and is still operated by Louis’ family, now the third generation has the helm.

I was thrilled to read that the Williams Public Library has recently expanded their hours. They boast more than 7,000 titles and provide services to more than 4,000 visitors a year. So many libraries in rural communities are cutting back but this information hub seems to be hopping.

The first settler, William Bryant, came to Colusa County in 1846. I can’t find any proof that the city of Williams was named for him but I chose to believe so. The first hanging (presumably not of Mr. Bryant) was in 1856. The first newspaper, the Weekly Colusa Sun, was published in 1862 and the first telephone in the county was introduced in 1878.