Etna - formerly "Rough and Ready"

In 1836, Steven Meek, (a trapper and guide,) was among the first "white men" to visit Scott Valley or "Beaver Valley," as it was then known.

In 1853, a Mr. Bauer and others built a sawmill near the center of the present town, operated by way of a ditch from Etna Creek. In 1855 a flour mill, known as the Rough and Ready Mill was built where the City Hall now stands. A town by the same name grew up around the mill.  

Disasterous floods in 1861 and 1853 destroyed another town of Aetna Mills, which had been situated about one and a half miles south of town. Many of the survivors of the flood moved to Rough and Ready, bringing their post office with them.

Much confusion ensued from the fact that the town was called Rough and Ready, while the post office remained Aetna Mills. Soon the town became called Aetna Mills, then in 1874, Etna Mills. In 1940, the legislature officially named the town simply "Etna."   

 

                  (click to enlarge)