Alturas is the county seat and only incorporated city of Modoc County, occupying a corner of far northeastern California where the Modoc Plateau meets the Warner Mountains. The city sits at roughly 4,370 feet above sea level at the confluence of the north and south forks of the Pit River, within the sparsely populated Shasta Cascade region. Modoc County's 2020 population of about 8,700 makes it the state's third-least-populous county, and Alturas — home to roughly 2,700 residents — functions as its administrative, commercial, and educational center. The settlement traces its origins to the mid-nineteenth century, when it was known as Dorrisville. When Modoc County was created in 1874, the community became its county seat, and it was formally incorporated as the city of Alturas in 1901. Construction of the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway depot in 1908 tied the town to regional timber and agricultural markets and spurred steady, if modest, growth. The economy has long rested on ranching, farming, and logging — industries that still shape the working landscape around the city today. Alturas remains a deliberately quiet, high-desert community. Historic storefronts line the downtown streets, and residential blocks and ranch properties spread outward toward open rangeland and the Pit River. Its isolation is part of its character: this is a place defined by wide skies, clean air, and the rhythms of a rural county seat rather than by metropolitan convenience. The Warner Mountains, part of Modoc National Forest, rise to the east and supply the snowmelt that feeds the Pit River as it threads through the valley — the same water that sustains the Modoc National Wildlife Refuge on the city's southeastern edge. For newcomers, the appeal lies in small-town schools, a walkable historic core, and direct access to public land. The city functions as the region's service hub, drawing shoppers and visitors from the surrounding ranch country and from travelers on U.S. Route 395, the high-desert highway that connects the community to the Oregon line and, to the south, toward Susanville and the Reno area. Alturas suits people who value self-reliance, open space, and a slower pace of life over urban convenience.