A proposed Shasta County courthouse will be built where the Adolph Dobrowsky house sits at 1720 Yuba St. in Redding, Calif. The historic Craftsman style home was built in 1927.
Pioneer Ernest Dobrowsky was born in Czechoslovakia. He emigrated in 1849 during the California gold rush, mined for awhile and then established a store and gunsmith shop in Old Shasta, now a state park. He also sold jewelry and repaired watches. He married Anna Mary Bystle in 1868.
As business in Shasta waned in the 1880s, Dobrowsky moved his store to Market Street in Redding. His nephew Frank had another jewelry store in the Golden Eagle Hotel.
When Dobrowsky retired, his son Adolph took over the business and built the Dobrowsky house that’s now in the way of the proposed courthouse. Later, Adolph’s son Baird ran the business, followed by his son Barry, who shut it down in 1993 and sold it in 2002.
The McConnell Foundation recently purchased the home and will move it out of the way of the new courthouse.
Sources: Smith, Dotty. "The Dobrowsky House History." Shasta County History. 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2015. http://shastacountyhistory.com/dobrowsky_house_history; So, Ericka. "Last chance to save historic Dobrowsky house." KRCR News. Bonten Media Group, Inc., 24 Feb. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.
