History

Marv's Drive Inn "My mom and stepfather, Luana & Marvin Goodman left their federal government jobs to open Marv's Drive-Inn in Florin, California around 1959. They leased the property for the drive-in from Jerry and Vivian Kara. The Kara's we're very nice people. The Kara's lived on Florin Road across from the drive-in. Their daughter Judette (Karr ’67) Rippetoe was a fun friend and classmate of mine. Years prior to the drive-in being built the Kara's built the housing track that was behind the drive in. Running the drive-in was all consuming. It was open seven days a week with hours of operation 10 am to 9 pm. My parents and two older siblings worked there, and I babysat my little sister. I started working there too when I was 14.  Not…

              There’s another chapter of the Elk Grove High School story, and this one was written by a woman. She was Harriet G. Eddy, Elk Grove’s principal from 1906 to 1909, and she was a woman with a vision. Just as there ought to be books about Dr. James McKee and Joseph Kerr, there should also be one about Harriet Eddy. For reasons that you will soon know, the book about her should be in every library in Elk Grove. But there isn’t, so through the story that follows, at least the people of Elk Grove will know about Miss Eddy and her role in a most significant event in the story of our high school. Harriet G. Eddy, you see, is a key…

(Compiled by many, i.e. Florence Markofer, Tom Russell, Jim Entrican, Elizabeth Pinkerton, Dennis Buscher, Louis Silveira and Barbara Claire to name just a few) 2,000 BC Native American camps along the Cosumnes River 1800’s 1807 Spanish Explorers visit the area, determine it is too wet to establish missions. "Laguna, Laguna, Laguna!" 1808 October 6 - Lt. Alferez Gabril Moraga discover the Cosumnes River and named it San Francisco. 1839 John Sutter arrived in Monterey, became a Mexican citizen, and was given a huge land grant in Central California. Ultimately, constructed his Fort in Sacramento 1841. 1841 May 28 - William Daylor discovered the Cosumnes River Valley Jared Sheldon settles in area 1843 October 15 - Land Grant: Rancho de los Omochumnes granted to Jared Sheldon (he had settled there in…

Elk Grove Union High School was the first union high school in the state of California. Sixteen elementary districts voted to tax themselves for a high school, and they all remained as separate districts until the entire K-12 district unified in 1959. The high school opened its doors in 1893 at its first site on Main Street (now Derr Street and Elk Grove Boulevard in Old Town - down the street from present day Herburger Funeral home). In 1922 a new brick building was constructed where the Joseph Kerr campus is today. In 1964 the school moved to its present site as a three year high school (senior high) with grades 7-9 at the junior high. Elk Grove is the second oldest high school in Sacramento County, and until 1977…

Carl Amundsen II and wife, Joyce arrived in Elk Grove in 1946 and bought a house at the end of Short Road (Off of Calvine Road, about a half mile from Highway 99) where they lived their entire life and raised their three children, Bonnie, Carl III, and Charlene. The whole family was very involved in many aspects of the Elk Grove community, especially in the preservation of history. Carl & Joyce were instrumental in having the Rhoads School moved to the middle of the Elk Grove Park in 1976, created the first Elk Grove Historical Society, became "Citizen of the Year" in 1979, and have a park named after the family at 8730 Heritage Hill Drive in Elk Grove dedicated in 2008.  (FYI - Carl passed in 2006 and Joyce…

In January 1876 the Elk Grove Building Company was incorporated and began building structures in Elk Grove. Elk Grove, California Business in 1880 Elk Grove had a population of 400 and sat on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad, sixteen miles for Sacramento 2 - Hotels * "Railroad House" built by M.H. Davis in 1876 * "Elk Grove Hotel" built by Elk Grove Building Company in 1976 1 - Elk Grove Flour Mill built by H.S. Hill in 1976 - Ran by steam power and produced 80 barrels of flour per day 2 - General Merchandising Stores 1 - Hardware Store opened in 1977 1 - Tin Store opened in 1877 - A.J. Longenecker, proprietor 1 - Meat Market - J.W. Martin, proprietor 1 - Furniture Manufacture - D.J.…

In 1850, Elk Grove was just a one building stage stop on the dusty Upper Stockton Road joining Sacramento to Stockton. That all changed eighteen years later in 1868 when the train came through town and the town moved 1 mile east to where the railroad was built. Now the farmers and ranchers had a quicker way to get their produce to market, businesses could receive goods, and residents could travel to their destinations often within an hour. This beat the horse drawn buckboard and wagons that they were using that took hours and days to arrive at their destinations. In 1910 two more rail lines came to the area; On the western side of town, the Western Pacific line ran through Franklin and Galt and on the east side…

Surrounded by pastures, nestled just outside the small northern California town of Galt, sits the Richard A McGee Correctional Training Center. Today, the facility houses the Basic Correctional Officer Academy and other staff training. Since 1983, thousands of correctional officer cadets have made their way through the academy. But originally, the school trained priests. Correctional Training Center early years According to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, “St. Pius X Minor Seminary relocated (from Humboldt County) to Galt in 1961, housing 200 students a year … until its closure in 1977.” St. Joseph Parish in Elk Grove credits Father Patrick Gilligan with securing the land to construct the seminary. “(He) was also responsible for a sizable donation of land given as a gift to the Diocese for the purpose of…