Category: History

TRUCKEE, Calif. — Western stagecoach companies were big business in the latter half of the 19th century. In addition to passengers and freight, stages hauled gold and silver bullion as well as mining company payrolls. Stage robbery was a constant danger and bandits employed many strategies to ambush a stagecoach. Thieves rarely met with much resistance from stage drivers, since they had passenger safety foremost in mind. The gang was usually after the Wells Fargo money box with its valuable contents. Passengers were seldom hurt, but they were certainly relieved of their cash, watches and jewelry.  Before the completion of the transcontinental railroad over Donner Pass in 1868, the only transportation through the Sierra was by stage.  Rugged teamsters held rein over six wild-eyed horses as they tore along the precipitous…

Formally known as Georgetown Written by Dennis Buscher in January 2020 Sacramento County was divided into 13 Townships, Franklin being one of them, which was established on October 20, 1856 by the order of the Board of Supervisors. (Note the town of Georgetown in green area) The land was all agricultural or marsh land.  Because of the available water, early pioneers settled along the Sacramento River.  Those settlers included Joseph Sims (1849), J. B. Green (1849), J. C Beach (1850), Wm . Fry (1852), Joseph Green (1851), Truman Farsett (1852), George W. Hack (1855), R. Kercheval (1850), David Lufkin (1850), Jacob Miller (1853), John Reith (1855)Solomon Runyon (1850), Myron Smith (1853) and Adam Warner (1853).  Because of flooding of the Sacramento River, many of the early farmers had to move their…

The early settlers that migrated to the Florin area were generally of European and Asian descent. They worked on ranches, dairies, orchards and other fields of agriculture. In the 1850s, the world-renowned horticulturist, Mr. James Rutter, planted the prize winning 'Florin Flame Tokay' grape. For almost a century Florin, California was the center of the Tokay grape production. Because of the array of wild flowers blooming in open fields, Judge E.B. Crocker in 1864, named the town "Florin" (from the Latin word "Flora" meaning flower). However, the name did not become official until the opening of the train depot and the post office in 1875. In 1877, the first schoolhouse in Florin was built on McComber Lane. The Goddard Hotel, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Sugden's Mercantile were a…

The center of Elk Grove moved three times and some can even say that Elk Grove has now expanded so widely that there is no center, even though we still consider Old Town the real Elk Grove. Original location - 1850 The first Elk Grove was one building, a brick stage stop and hotel that was built by James & Sarah Hall in 1850. It was located in almost the exact spot where the replica has been rebuilt located at the beginning of the west entrance to the Elk Grove Park. It was actually a few yards west where the north lane of highway 99 built. This was exactly one mile south of the present Elk Grove Boulevard and Highway 99 intersection. Taken from the April 7, 1958 Elk Grove…

  The following was written by Lance Armstrong for the Elk Grove Citizen in February 2005: Historically, the building was constructed in 1948 and served as a cattle, horse and pig auction venue, owned by Ord Leachman, and later a movie theater (See: "HISTORY - Early Movie Theatre" under HISTORY TOPICS), which was owned by Elk Grove resident Carl Amundson.  The property also included the Wagon Wheel Restaurant and several animal corrals. It was located at the end of Webb Street on the east side of Old Town Elk Grove. Amundson said Leachman’s Cattle Palace Auction- which was originally know as the Cow Palace Auction, before it was forced to change its name to avoid confusion with the Cow Palace in San Francisco – was in operation until about 1959. …

The Lincoln Highway was one of the earliest transcontinental highway routes for automobiles across the United States of America.[1] Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 1913, the Lincoln Highway ran coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City west to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, originally through 13 states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California. In 1915, the "Colorado Loop" was removed, and in 1928, a realignment relocated the Lincoln Highway through the northern tip of West Virginia. Thus, there are a total of 14 states, 128 counties, and more than 700 cities, towns and villages through which the highway passed at some time in its history. The first officially recorded length of the entire Lincoln Highway in 1913 was 3,389 miles (5,454 km).[a] Over the years, the road was improved and numerous realignments were made,[3] and by 1924…