About Weed

Weed is a city located in Siskiyou County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the town had a total population of 2,967, down from 2,979 in 2000. There are several unincorporated communities adjacent to, or just outside Weed proper. These include Edgewood, Carrick, Lake Shastina, Rancho Hills and Hammond Ranch. These communities generally have mailing addresses that use Weed, or its ZIP code. The total population of this area in 2007 was 6,318. Weed is about 10 miles (16 km) west-northwest of Mount Shasta, a prominent northern California landmark, and the second-tallest volcano in the Cascade Range.

The town of Weed gets its name from the founder of the local lumber mill and pioneer Abner Weed, who discovered that the area's strong winds were helpful in drying lumber. In 1897, Abner Weed bought the Siskiyou Lumber and Mercantile Mill and 280 acres (110 ha) of land in what is now the City of Weed, for the sum of $400. By the 1940s Weed boasted the world's largest sawmill.

Although historically reliant on logging, wood processing and forest-related products, Weed's economy has become more reliant on tourism as a source of economic activity. Weed's microbrewery, Mt. Shasta Brewing Company, relies on tourists for 92% of its business, according to co-owner Vaune Dillman.

Weed's historic lumber industry and manufacturing facilities made it a magnet for ethnic minority migration, that may not have otherwise been the case in this region of the country. A large number of Italian immigrants migrated to Weed, and other towns in southern Siskiyou County at the turn of the 20th century. While immigrants were a source of labor for the region, they were not always well treated, in fact in 1909 complaints from workers in the lumber industry reached the Italian consular. However, in time the Italian population came to be a cornerstone of Weed civic life. Many streets in the early Italian neighborhood bear names of Italian cities, such as Rome, Genoa, Como, and Venice. Annually since 1954, the town has held the Weed Italian Carnevale in June or July, although recently dropping "Italian" from its name while maintaining the Italian spelling of carnival and the traditional bocce ball tournaments.