Big Bend | |
Settlement Type: | Unincorporated community |
Pushpin Map: | California#USA |
Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in California |
Pushpin Image: | California Locator Map with US.PNG |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Type1: | State |
Subdivision Name1: | California |
Subdivision Type2: | County |
Subdivision Name2: | Butte County |
Coordinates: | 39.6983°N -121.4608°W |
Elevation M: | 704 |
Elevation Ft: | 2310 |
Big Bend (formerly, Bigbend) is an unincorporated community in Butte County, California, United States. It lies at an elevation of 2310 feet (704 m). A post office operated in Big Bend from 1883 to 1891.
Big Bend was the site of the Big Bend Tunnel Project, established in 1880 to dig a tunnel bypassing a large bend in the Feather River so that gold could be easily recovered from the dry segment of riverbed. The project, overseen by engineer Frank McLaughlin, constructed a tunnel thirteen feet by sixteen feet in cross-section, and twelve thousand feet long.[1] The project, however, was deemed a failure and was discontinued in 1887. The tunnel was later used as a part of the water supply to Pacific Gas and Electric's Big Bend Powerhouse.[2]