MY MEMORIES OF ROCKLIN
By Uno J. Hebuck

August 1971

Mr. Hebuck was born in Rocklin on September 25, 1897, the fifth child of
Henry A. and Sofia (Haaga) Hebuck, who settled in Rocklin just prior to
1890. The other Hebuck children were:

Lewis Matt a stonecutter and headstone business and a band musician.

Sulo a stonecutter, band musician and baseball pitcher.

Henry R. a quarryman, band musician and baseball player.

Lempi (Mrs. Toivo Aro, remarried – Mrs. Antti Penttinen).

Harvey a Chief Clerk, Southern Pacific Co., San Francisco.

Elvira Mrs. Peter Zavattero, Oakland.

Ason Gust died 1903

Twin boys:
Johnny and
Tommy (both deceased).

This writer,
Uno J. a Southern Pacific Depot Clerk 1917-1962; band and orchestra
dance musician 1912-1969;
baseball 1911-1968;
Roseville City Councilman 1942-1946;
member Roseville City Charter Committee 1954-55.

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The town of Rocklin got its name when the Central Pacific Railroad was
building their railroad through Rocklin in the early part of 1864
account of the granite quarries that were operating in Rocklin at that
time and of the rocky terrain of the surrounding land. The two main
quarries in operation in 1864 were the Demon-Brady and Hathaway quarry
at the lower west end of Rocklin and the John Taylor quarry located on
the hill, today known as the Ruhkala Brothers quarry. The east end
portion of the Brady quarry pit has been filled by the highway for
purposes of widening Taylor Road; the rest of the pit is used by a
lumber mill Before the railroad reached Rocklin, the State Capitol
building was under construction at Sacramento and a lot of Rocklin
granite was used in this construction. As there were no railroad as yet,
the stones for this construction were hauled by giant oxen teams to
Sacramento over a route that followed Ruhkala Road, passing a hundred
yards or so back of the present Sunset Plaza shopping center, then
veering to the left, passing those old fig trees that one can see off of
present I-80 Freeway, crossing the Secret Ravine, thence up a gentle
grade, passing the lower Roseville reservoirs, then crossing Miner�s
Ravine and over Rocky Ridge, crossing Douglas Blvd. and joining the old
Sacramento-to-Auburn road known today as the Old Auburn Road. Today, one
can trace the old wagon wheel marks at many locations on this route.

Some of the first families to located in what is Rocklin were: the
Michael Bolton family, the Levi Hawes family, followed by the Bradys,
Hathaways, Demons, Taylors. On March 22, 1859, a baby boy was born to
the Levi Hawes family, named Levi Melcher Hawes; this baby was recorded
as the first �white� baby to be born in Rocklin.

On account of the abundance of pine and oak trees in the Rocklin area,
the Indians settled in Rocklin long before the �white� people and today
there are many granite bounders that have dentures in them where the
Indians would grind their pine nuts and acorns into a flour for making
their bread. The last Indian family to be residing in Rocklin was around
1904. Their large wigwam home was located across the alley from the old
Nassi home on High Street. As a small boy this writer saw this wigwam
home several times. Then there was an Indian burial plot located just
east of the present Aguilar Road about 200 yards south of Rocklin Road.

The first Finnish family to locate in Rocklin was the John Mantyla
family, who came from Finland where he learned the granite trade. He
conducted the Taylor quarry but his main source of granite came from his
large pit located on the northwest bank of Secret Ravine about one-half
mile south of the famous Copp�s quarry. Finding that the granite
business was a good business, he was instrumental in writing to his
friends in Finland of his good fortunes, hence many Finnish families
left Finland for Rocklin to make their future homes. Naming a few ere:
the Pernus, Wickmans, Hebucks, Hills, Alexsons, Halonens, Peter Johnson,
John Kannasto, Matt Johnson, Matt Sandel, Hendrockson Brothers, Kesti
Brothers, Wallen Brothers, Oscar Haavisto, John Pisila, Matt and Mike
Ruhkala, Matt and Esa Palos and many others.

As GOLD was discovered in 1848 at Coloma, it started a big rush of
easterners to California to try their luck in mining and making their
�stake.� As the gold was found to be mostly in the rivers, small
streams, etc., hence a lot of �creek� miners with their sluice boxes and
pans were mining the small streams. The Secret Ravine, the Miner�s
Ravine, and the Antelope Ravine had their share of these miners. Secret
Ravine must have had many of them because in the national elections of
1856, there was a voting precinct named �Secret Ravine.� There was no
place called Rocklin in 1856.

The Central Pacific Railroad reached Rocklin in 1864 and when the
railroad was completed, the town of Rocklin, being at the foot o the
climb over the Sierras, was selected to become an engine terminal for
their railroad. The trains were made up at Sacramento and the small
valley type locomotives would be used to bring the trains from
Sacramento to Rocklin. At Rocklin, engine crews would change and the
larger mountain type locomotives were used to take the trains to Blue
Canyon. After the railroad was moved from Rocklin to Roseville, the
engine helper terminal was moved to Colfax. Hardly a day went by that a
switch engine from Rocklin was sent down to the halfway point between
Rocklin and Roseville to assist the Sacramento to Rocklin train into
Rocklin as the small locomotives could not make the grade. Wood was used
first as fuel for the locomotives which created lot of employment tot he
wood choppers. Then coal came nest; at Rocklin the railroad constructed
wooden coal bunkers where carloads of coal were shunted up to the top,
unloaded into bins and from the bins the coal was supplied to the
locomotives. Today one may find a couple of the concrete piers of the
bunker building on the ground between the westbound and the eastbound
tracks about a few yards south of Midas Avenue. Oil followed the coal
and the railroad constructed a large oil storage tank on a location that
is today occupied by the shell Oil Co. distribution yard.

From Southern Pacific records the wages paid to depot employees VIZ:—in
1908 the agent at Rocklin received $100 per month and then in 1917 he
received $110 per month. The telegraphers at the Rocklin depot in 1908
$80.50 per month; in 1917 there were no telegraphers at Rocklin; they
moved to Roseville where they were paid $115 per month. This writer�s
first job for the railroad was at Orland depot; monthly salary was $60
per month; you worked 12 hours per day and seven days a week; never
heard of time and a half, Sundays off and vacation in those days.
Southern Pacific quotes that in 1906 at Rocklin they had some 300
employees and the monthly payroll was around $30,000; over half of the
employees were in the roundhouse. The roundhouse had 26 stalls and they
serviced some 1200 engines per month. The old, small turntable was taken
up in July 1910 and shipped to Placerville. In the year 1912 the
railroad reported that a total of 1955 carloads of granite and 37
carloads of other classifications were shipped out of Rocklin. Many have
said that the years from 1900 to the time they moved to Roseville were
the best years of the railroad business in Rocklin and along with the
granite business, Rocklin never had it so good.

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FIRES

Rocklin had its share of disastrous fires VIZ: on November 5, 1869 – the
Trott Hotel had a fire and a roomer, Mr. Henry Schmidt, lost his life in
this fire. Today, the Trott Hotel is occupied by Bottomley Store on
Front Street. Also on this same day, fire destroyed the Freeman home in
Rocklin.

On June 27, 1870 the Van Trees Hotel was destroyed by fire. It was
located across the street from the Catholic Church in Rocklin and next
to the railroad tracks. There was a street crossing and a street that
crossed the tracks and joined Taylor Road. Today one can still see the
excavation for a basement at this location.

March 29, 1887, Rocklin Front Street had its first big fire which
destroyed the Rocklin Hotel, Mullnix Saloon, Soute�s Candy Store, the
O�Farrell Shop, Williams Saloon, Cook�s Livery Stable, Jodoin�s Barber
Shop; the Isadore Levison�s General Store was saved. On August 1, 1887
the new Burchard Hotel was built on the location where the destroyed
Rocklin Hotel had stood.

May 25, 1893, the second big fire to hit Front Street in Rocklin,
destroyed some 25 establishments and a girl, Miss Alice Irish, lost her
life in this fire. The buildings lost were: the Davis Hotel, Levison�s
Store, Burchard Hotel, Wm. E. Cook�s dwelling, Clow�s Blacksmith Shop,
Ertle�s Wagon Shop, DeWitt Porter�s Stable, DeWitt Porter�s Saloon,
Mullnix Saloon, Clark�s Saloon, Dan Hart�s Saloon, Jodoin�s Barber Shop,
Jodion�s residence, DiSano�s Boarding House, Bobbie�s Market,
Lonnergon�s Candy Store, Mrs. Hay�s residence, Mrs. Smeder�s Boarding
House, Dobbas & Lovejoy�s Butcher Shop, and some other minor buildings.

March 31, 1891, the railroad depot, owned by Mr. John Sweeney, was
destroyed by fire. He was the railroad�s depot agent. This was quite an
odd set-up, where the depot agent built and owns the depot and the
railroad rents it from him and gives him the depot agent job.

September 7, 1906, the beautiful new Locomotive Fireman�s Hall on Front
Street, next door to the Lonngergon home, was destroyed by fire; it was
one of the first halls to have a spring dance floor.

December 1, 1906, the E.C. Fellows rooming house was destroyed by fire
and a roomer, Mr. John Bargain, lost his life in the fire. The E.C.
Fellows formerly conducted the store business in what is now the
Bottomley Store.

June 1909, a big fire on Railroad Street in Rocklin destroyed the Dr.
Ford�s General Store, Freeman�s Hardware Store, Freeman�s Undertaking
Parlor, Mory�s Saloon, a rooming house, the large Crocker Building on
the corner of Railroad Street and Rocklin Road and other small vacant
store buildings; also the Smiley Parker�s home.

October 4, 1912, a fire did extensive damage to the buildings and quarry
equipment at the Delano Quarry.

May 3, 1914, the last big fire to hit Front Street in Rocklin destroyed
the Burchard Hotel,

Morgan�s Saloon, Mrs. Beasmore�s Candy Store, the Porter�s Saloon, a
barber shop, the Porter�s Livery Stable, the large Porter�s Hall
(upstairs over the stable), Hislop�s Funeral Parlor, the Clark Building
which housed the Kannasto Moving Theatre, and a vacant building next to
the two story granite building that is there today.

October 30, 1915, the beautiful John Kannasto home on South Grove Street
was destroyed by fire; Mrs. Verner G. Kokkila is their daughter.

July 4, 1917, the August Bynny General Store on the corner of Rocklin
Road and Taylor Street was destroyed by fire.

September 27, 1917, fires destroyed completely the two story Gus
Halonen�s former home on Winding Way.

June 17, 1922, the last of the big fires of Rocklin was on Railroad
Street and south of Rocklin Road, facing the railroad tracks. Complete
losses were the Holmes Saloon, a restaurant, Kannasto�s Ice Cream
Parlor, a barber shop, an old rooming house, and then the large two
story Southern Hotel on the corner; jumping the alley it destroyed the
large Blackwell and Hendrickson�s Livery Stable and their blacksmith
shop, which was located at the corner of Rocklin Road and Taylor Road.

April 16, 1923, fire destroyed the old Fogarty home, it being one of the
oldest houses in Rocklin. It was moved to Rocklin from Pine Grove by the
Waddell family in 1866.

June 30, 1930, fire destroyed the original Pleasure Hall which measured
100 x 100 dance floor and was owned by Steve Subotich and Eugene Tuttle.
Immediately they commenced rebuilding and completed the new Pleasure
Hall on November 15, 1930.

November 1, 1930, fire destroyed the beautiful country home of John and
Fannie Whitney which was located across the street from the present
Rocklin Little League baseball park.

September 9, 1933, fire destroyed the August Boesse home and his dairy
located across the tracks from the present Pleasure Hall; Mr. Boesse
lost his life in the fire.

September 9, 1940, fire destroyed the former Hebuck�s Sauna Building on
South Grove Street; for years the Hebuck�s conducted a �sauna� or
Finnish steambath business. This building was a portion of the former
Ertle-Hebuck home prior to 1905 when the Hebucks had it moved and
constructed their new home in 1905.

Other fires in Rocklin were: The O.W. Pekuri Grocery Store on the corner
of Rocklin Road and Railroad Avenue, the Rocklin Rochdale Store on
Rocklin Road, the old Isadore Levison home and many small residences.

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FRATERNAL CIRCLES

In the fraternal circles, Rocklin had a Masonic Lodge called Granite
Lodge No. 222, which was instituted October 19, 1872 with Mr. John T.
Kincade as the first Worshipful Master. Their meeting hall was
constructed over the one story brick Isadore Levison�s store building on
lower end of Railroad Street. The hall portion cost the Masons only
$4600; today it would have cost ten times as much, maybe more.

On June 26, 1915, Granite Lodge of Masons conducted their last third
degree, the candidate being Mr. Peter G. Jacobs, who was principal of
the Rocklin School. On May 29, 1919 the lodge consolidated with the
Roseville Masonic Lodge #432; wishing to have a lower number, Roseville
Lodge exchanged their number 432 to 222.

Heber Chapter #181 of the Eastern Star was instituted in Rocklin and
later moved to Roseville, where it is today.

Odd Fellows Lodge #337 was instituted in Rocklin in 1888 and it has been
consolidated with Auburn Odd Fellows Lodge #7.

The Finnish Lodge #5 of the Kaleva was instituted in 1905; was an active
organizations until World War One.

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CHURCHES


In the churches, there were the Catholic Church, as today; the
Congregational Church and the Methodist Church, along with two Finnish
churches.

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BASEBALL

Rocklin had a baseball team in 1894 and played their games on a diamond
between High and North Grove Streets, in the first block. The players on
this 1894 team were: Kelley, Deming, Clydesdale, Waters, Givens, Neely,
Burchard, Bradley, Ertle, John Lee and Green. Outside of Mr. Green, all
the others are from prominent, old time Rocklin families.

In 1898, Rocklin changed their diamond to a diamond laid out on the
inside of the race track and it was used until 1911. The first game on
this new diamond was played May 30, 1898; score was Lincoln 11 – Rocklin
14. Rocklin had Ertle as their pitcher and Kelley as their catcher.
Rocklin teams from 1898 thru 1905 played independent games. Those years
Rocklin had a player by the name of Menefee who they say was as good as
professional players were; he sure could hit a long ball and field his
position.

In 1907 to be formed in Placer County was six teams; Auburn, Newcastle,
Loomis, Rocklin, Roseville and Lincoln; which was called the Placer
County League. On the Rocklin team were players: Tom Newton, Porky
Flynn, Jimmy Lee, John J. Cox, Dutch

Congdon, Jake Pfosi, Chas. Halonen, Lee Tudsbury, Eddie Mason, Mike
Elred, Terry

McCaffery, Wiley Gazelle, Chub Crates, Buck Reeves, Tiny Poorman, Roscoe
Shuler, Cy Crosby, Johnny Freeman, Newbert, Reichert, Fisher, Kelley,
Lewis and Cunningham.

From 1908 to 1916 Rocklin had a local team during which period saw many
home town players performing, namely: Chalres, Gust Walter and Albert
Halonen, Nick and Del Alexson, Sulo-Henry and Uno Hebuck; Peter Johnson,
Toivo Kokkila, Louis Aho, Lawrence and John Lonnergon, George Nelson,
Howard Fox, Charles Clough, John Freeman, Cy Crosby, Roscie Shuler, Lee
Tudsbury, Jake Pendleton, Fenn Laird, Mac Winton, Irvin Elliott, Ed
Lehtola, Chas. Turner, Peter Jacobs.

In 1913, after playing the 1912 season on the Loomis diamond, the
Rocklin team leased from the railroad company the vacant land behind the
old roundhouse and laid out a ball diamond. Games were played off and on
on this diamond until a new one was laid out in back of the Pleasure
Hall in 1927.

In 1922, this writer organized and managed a Rocklin team playing
several games, but the outstanding performance was when Rocklin defeated
the strong Roseville Tiger Team at Roseville in May 1922; score 2 to 1 –
yes Roseville took it on the �chin� that day.

In 1927, this writer, with the financial help of Mr. Subotich and Mr.
Tuttle, organized a Rocklin team and entered it in the Placer Nevada
Baseball League. The club was called the Rocklin Owls. It was in the
league 1927-1928 and 1929, finishing second every year. The players:
Arvo and Waino Minkkinen, Bob Palo, Alex and Del Alexson, Sulo and Uno
Hebuck, Bill and Alex Haggman, Emil Suhonen, Rueben and Gideon Ruhkala,
Lory Hendrickson, Albert Johnson, Dave Roderick, Uno Liikola, Ed Lehtola,
Irvin Elliott, Hal Brainerd, Vince Del Torchio, Roy Falltrick, Pete
Moon.

In 1933 Rocklin had a home town club and played their games in a field
adjacent to Ira Allen�s home; in later years, City of Rocklin laid out a
playing field in the Rocklin City

Park and a club of Rocklin players played several seasons.

Since 1968 local baseball in this area seems to have died down and for
the future, no one can tell when it will come back.

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THE GRANITE QUARRIES

Prior to the big granite workers strike for higher pay in 1915, the
granite business in Rocklin was a very successful business. As mentioned
before, the S.P. Co. quoted that in 1912 there were 1955 carloads of
granite shipped out of Rocklin, indicating it was a good business. After
the railroad moved in 1908, the granite business kept the town in
prosperity but that strike of 1915 spelled the doom over Rocklin. The
strike was never settled; workers held on as long as they could then
they were forced to leave Rocklin to other locations for employment,
leaving their homes for sale at what prices they could possibly get for
them. Some homes sold as low as $800. A lot of the quarry owners lost

and many closed down their plants, so today there is only one quarry
operating and that is the Ruhkala Brothers. One can say that the 1915
strike killed the granite business in Rocklin, and after World War One
the town became known as a �bedroom town� for people who worked in
Roseville and elsewhere.

Rocklin had two big quarries, the Delano and the California Granite Co.
These quarries had modern machinery and tools and were able to bid on
big jobs such as buildings, dry docks, etc. They employed the bulk of
the granite workers. In the cities they would use granite curbing for
their sidewalks until the day came when concrete curbing was a lot
cheaper and quicker installation. For years prior to the big strike of
1915, many small quarries went into operation for producing granite
curbing. Some were partnership affairs who performed all work; others
were one owner firms with 3 or 5 men hired at union scale of pay. Others
were family affairs where father and son performed the work.

Cities used a lot of paving blocks on their streets as a solid base and
Rocklin produced a lot of them. Also the railroad was a good customer
for granite rip-rap or the waste rock that they used to bulkhead their
track beds, especially during heavy rains and floods.

The operation of a small quarry producing curbing, the good old horse
became an important factor. Those quarries that did not have steam
hoisting power engines, the hoisting of stones was done with horse
power. a �whim� was a wooden affair built with strong timbers and having
a round wooden drum to which the cable would wind around when hoisting
stones by the use of an extended wooden arm or boom to which a horse was
used to go forward in a circle about 40 feet in diameter. When hoisting
was to be stopped a command to the horse to stop and hold. When
lowering, it was performed by a foot brake. On the lighter stones from
the cutters shed a horse would hoist the stones by a straight-a-way pull
and would back up when lowering. Most quarries had two derricks; a pit
derrick was the strong one on account of it had to hoist the heavy
stones from the pit to the bank. On the bank the stones were sliced to
curbing size and then the shed derrick would place them in the shed
where the cutters could perform the finished product. In the pits, holes
about two inches were drilled, some 5 to 10 feet, then blasted apart by
use of black powder, based on how the seams in the granite run. A
carload brought about $450 and a small quarry could produce about 2 or 3
carloads a month of granite curbing.

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SCHOOL


In former days, Rocklin had two school buildings, located along Pacific
Street; the smaller building had two classrooms containing the first and
second grades, the larger building had four classrooms containing the
upper grades. It used to be nine grades but later around 1910 it was
reduced to eight grades. A youngster of six generally spent two years in
the first grade, the �B�, then to the �A� first grade. The school
buildings had no electric lights, no modern plumbing, no air
conditioning, no modern heating. There were many days when it was dark
and raining that the students suffered from insufficient lighting. In
the school yard, which was divided; one side for the boys and the other
for the girls, there was the outdoor restrooms, one building for the
girls in their yard and one for the boys in their yard. For heating, it
was by cast iron heating stoves burning large chunks of oak wood; the
stove generally on one side of the classroom. There was a large woodshed
located in the boys side of the school yard and us kids used to help the
janitor in carrying the wood to the classrooms. We did not have any of
those fancy cooled water drinking fountains; all we had was a large oak
barrel with a spigot attached and many tin cups where the student could
draw their own water for drinking.

In the school yard, the popular games for the boys were shooting marbles
and a game called �tag-out;� a little baseball was played on the street.
The girls popular games were jumping the rope and hop-scotching. No
school busses those days; everyone walked to school. The streets in
Rocklin those days were dirt and there was no cement sidewalks. When it
rained those sidewalks and streets became a sea of mud. Almost everyone
took their lunch to school. The school took up at 9 A.M. and was in
session until 12. However, there was a 20 minute recess period. In the
afternoon, school was from 1 P.M. to 4 P.M.; also with a 20 minute
recess period.

The schools did not furnish the stationery and pencils in those days;
also the books. The parents had to purchase all these from local stores.
Graduating from one class to the other was by merit as determined by the
teacher, but in the high grades it was by written final examination as
prescribed by the County Superintendent�s office.

Oh yes, there was a Truant Officer. It was his job to check on the
absent students with the parents and if found to be A.W.O.L. then he
would proceed to locate them and return them to school principal for
proper discipline.

In February 25, 1870 issue of the Placer Herald of Auburn, it quotes the
names of the �honor� students of the Rocklin School and herewith wish to
quote their names: Emma Harris, Ida May, Addie Crosby, Frank Crosby,
Ernie Smith, Isabelle and Laura Smith, Albert and John Kincaide, Henry
Rogers, Sallie and Ellen Ryan, Tom and Martha Carlton, Charles,
Jacqueline and Louise Butterfield, Washington and Tillie Madden, Ida
Buzzels, Mary Freeman, Elizabeth Royals, Charles Connor, John Trott,
John and Fred Jones, Tom Hickey, Jim West.

Yes, today with all the modern conveniences, the air conditioning, free
transportation, school lunches, all free text books, pencils and
stationery, band instruction, school ground playing equipment, and other
concessions, the present school students just don�t realize how
fortunate they are to be going to school today than it was in the olden
days.

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THE RACE TRACK

At Rocklin race track, where horse racing and baseball games were held,
large crowds would attend these functions, arriving there in horse and
buggies. The last horse races were on May 3, 1914. The track was a
half-mile course, oblong. Inside of the tracks across from the
grandstand was the baseball diamond. The grandstand was a two story
affair; the top portion had the stands where the spectators got a good
view of the racing on the track. The lower portion was divided – a beer
bar on one side and a restaurant, ice

cream and soda on the other side. The man who held the bets had a small
cubbiehole for his office. In front was a small starters or judges
stand. The horse barns were in the back a little to the north of the
grandstand. There was only one entrance where everybody paid and it also
served as the only exit. There was a long, high wooden fence surrounding
the west side of the track. On the inside of the fence they had a little
overhead roof protection from the sun, where the people who came by
horse and buggies could park them into stalls provided with water and
feed available. At the conclusion of the races when everyone started to
make their departure, it used to be quite a traffic jam of horse and
buggies and people on foot trying to leave the park through that only
one exit. On race days, it was generally arranged to have a baseball
game in the morning and the races in the afternoon, so as to make it an
all day affair for the spectators. The Rocklin Echo Band was always
engaged to furnish lively march music between innings of the ball games
and between races.

Half mile race tracks were located at Rocklin, at Auburn, at Grass
Valley, at Nevada City and at Placerville. The one mile track was at the
Sacramento State Fair Grounds. Like auto racing today, in those days it
was the sport of making a winner of your own horse, so when races were
held in any of the above towns, if you had a race horse you would try to
enter your horse. In Rocklin were many horse racing owners such as:
Martin Tuttle had his �Ramona,� Alex Levison had his �Jewell,� Ed Pfosi
had his �Frank Bates,� B.N. Scribner had three horses – �Stamrock�,
�Stam Bee� and �Lady S,� John McQuigg had �Nan Patterson,� Richard T.
Cook had �Etta Logan,� Wm. J. Doyle of Roseville had

his �Prince,� Chas. Leena of Auburn had his �Mickey-Free,� Henry Hebuck,
Sr. had �Moko-Boy,� and there were many others.

In later years, the motorcycle arrived on the scene and after the horse
racing was over, the race would be motorcycle race. Leonard Layton had
his twin Indian motorcycle and George Nelson had a single cylinder
�Thor�; they would race each other.

Sometimes there would be a jockey race after the harness races; also
sometimes there would be bronco-busting to entertain the crowd.

It is too bad that Rocklin race track was closed out of existence. Today
with auto races, drag races, etc., and if a one mile blacktop track
could have been constructed on the outside rim of the old half-mile dirt
track, maybe Rocklin could have become the �Sports Racing City of
California.�

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RAILROAD STORY – THE FIRST RAILROAD IN CALIFORNIA


February 22, 1856 at Folsom. The Sacramento Valley Railroad Co. was the
first railroad to be built in California. It was built by Mr. Theodore
Judah from Sacramento to Folsom, a distance of 22 miles and was
completed on this date. The owners planned it to extend over the
mountains to the east but when they got to Folsom, their finances ran
out. One of their first timetables shows two trains operating both
directions: at 7:30 A.M. a train would leave from Folsom to Sacramento
and the other train would leave

Sacramento for Folsom. Then in the afternoon at 5 P.M. the trains would
leave both locations returning to their �home� base. The depot at Folsom
today is on the same location as the original depot (looking at an old
picture), but in that open space of ground just south of the depot was
many buildings that housed the shops of the new railroad. At that time
the new railroad did a big business as there were 21 stage lines meeting
the trains at Folsom and those stages went every direction. The railroad
slowly started extending its line towards Placerville but when they
reached Shingle Springs in June 1865, their finances ran out. The
Central Pacific before 1870 had acquired the whole Sacramento Valley
Railroad and took over the job of extending it to Placerville. On March
29, 1888 was when trains started operating to Placerville.

In 1857 people up at Marysville were anxious to have railroad service so
they incorporated the California Central Railroad on April 21, 1857 to
complete the line from Folsom to Marysville. Work commenced at Folsom
and the big job was the construction of a bridge over the American
River. A steel truss bridge supported on two high granite foundation
piers was made to cross the river. Today, the present Rainbow Bridge,
which carries the highway into Folsom, uses these two piers to support
their bridge. On the Folsom side of the highway bridge if one will look
up on the hillside they can still see a granite abutment that was used
by the railroad. After crossing the river, the railroad had a station
called Ashland. Today there still remains a wooden freight warehouse of
the railroad just behind the present Chevrolet dealers new and used car
lot. From Ashland the railroad proceeded on a grade up to that big cut
that is an extension of Orangevale Avenue. Prior to the extension of
Greenback Lane, the old highway traffic was routed through this cut.
After the railroad passed through this cut, it turned on a curve to the
right and followed that little stream and practically on a NW direction,
the railroad came into what is Roseville on the present Folsom Road.
From the map, this railroad crossed what is Oak Avenue about 100 yards
east of Hazel Avenue and crossed Hazel Avenue about 100 yards north of
Oak Avenue and on a line to where Cirby Way joins the Old Auburn Road,
thence along Cirby Way until it turns to the left. From there it ran on
a line passing just north of the Roseville Hospital site, through the
Roseville Square shopping center and then to Folsom Road. In Roseville
at Vernon Street and Folsom Road, the line went straight through the
present railroad depot yard and under the present Sierra Blvd. overpass.
From there to the north it is on the present Southern Pacific railroad.

Continuing on the Sacramento Valley Railroad, people up in Auburn wanted
a railroad to connect up with the Sacramento Valley Railroad at Folsom.
It was to start from the Ashland depot (where the Chevrolet car lot is)
and proceed up towards Auburn, following the north banks or north side
of the American River. Grading was done for several miles when it was
abandoned because word reached Auburn that the new Central Pacific was
to start constructing a railroad over the mountains through Auburn.
Years before the Folsom Dam, the main road from Folsom to Allens and
thence into Roseville over Rocky Ridge road was known as Placer County
Road #89 and then to Road #10. At the junction of #89 and #10, road
number #10 followed the railroad land fill or grade of this proposed
railroad to Auburn, for a short distance then turned to the left for
about a quarter of a mile, turned right where it joined the present
Folsom to Auburn Road, just a few yards south of that large trailer
court on the left. That junction of #89 to #10 was stated above today is
buried in the waters of Folsom Lake just where Beals Bar Park is today.

Continuing the railroad story, the Central Pacific was incorporated on
June 28, 1861 to build the western portion of the proposed railroad from
Missouri River to the Pacific Coast. They engaged Mr. Judah to survey
the railroad from Sacramento to and over the Sierra Nevada Mountains and
east. In the fall of 1860, Mr. Judah spent a lot of time with Mr. D.W.
Strong of Dutch Flat, who conducted a drug store business there and they
together, in the little drug store at Dutch Flat, drew up the profile
maps of the proposed railroad over the mountains. Congress passed the
Pacific Railroad Bill in June 1862, granting the railroad a 400 foot
right of way, also a land grant of 20 miles on each side of the 400 foot
right of way. Work started at Sacramento on the Central Pacific Railroad
on October 26, 1863. The railroad reached Roseville on April 26, 1864,
crossing the California Central tracks in the present depot wye. The
railroads changed the name from Griders to Junction. In 1868 the Central
Pacific acquired this California Central and the railroad from Folsom to
Roseville was abandoned and the rails taken up. The California Central
had built its railroad as far as Ostrom when they gave up and the
Central Pacific acquired it and completed the line into Marysville on
June 1, 1869.

In the meantime, the Central Pacific was on the move and building their
railroad eastward from Roseville. On November 30, 1864 it reached
Newcastle; then on May 13, 1865 it reached Auburn; it reached Colfax in
September 1865; Dutch Flat in July 1866; Cisco in October 1866; Summit
in November 1867; Truckee on April 3, 1868. Reno was reached June 19,
1868 and in May 10, 1869 it reached Promontory Point in Utah for a union
with the Union Pacific Railroad that was building west from the Missouri
River.

Building that cut out on the sides of Cape Horn, five miles east of
Colfax, is just amazing and unbelievable considering what construction
equipment they had to do the job with.