Yolo County CA Archives History - Books .....A Period Of Disaster 1913
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Book Title: History Of Yolo County

CHAPTER XXV 
A PERIOD OF DISASTER

    An organization known as the Woodland Business Men's Association was
effected in May, 1889, for the purpose of protecting the local merchants and
fostering home industries. This organization gave way in after years to the
Woodland Chamber of Commerce. The latter body, however, did not fully take the
place of the original organization and in May, 1909, the merchants feeling again
the need of such an organization, formed the Merchants' Association of Woodland.

    In January, 1890, there occurred the most severe storm the people had
experienced for many years. Rain fell in torrents and was accompanied by high
winds. That section of the county bordering on the Sacramento river was flooded,
with much consequent damage to growing crops and improvements, and the same
conditions existed along the banks of Cache creek, where improvements of thirty
years standing and accumulation were swept away. It was impossible to get any
sort of an estimate of the damage wrought, as measured in dollars and cents.

THE FIRST FAIR

    Another industrial organization which gained considerable reputation
throughout the northern part of the state, the Yolo Agricultural Fair
Association, was organized in 1891 with the following directors: Hon. L. B.
Adams, president; M. Diggs, Charles R. Hoppin, W. B. Gibson, G. W. Woodard, S.
T. Mowder, Dr. Thomas Ross, C. F. Thomas and J. H. Doolittle. The first fair
held under their direction was in September, 1891, beginning on the first day
thereof, and it was a big success.

    Beginning August 29, 1893, another county fair was held in Woodland. The
state had in the meantime been districted by the state legislature, which body
evinced a keen interest in these affairs and lent them both moral and financial
support. Yolo county was designated as the Fortieth District. District fairs and
race meetings have been held from time to time in Yolo county ever since. In
late years the Pacific Horse Breeders' Association has aided materially in
giving these fairs.

TOWN IS BONDED

    In September, 1891, a bond election was held and carried for a municipal
building, purchase of the water works (then owned by a private corporation) and
for the installation of a sewer system in Woodland. The vote was quite decided
in favor of bonding, the various majorities being respectively, 340 for the
building, 370 for the sewer and 374 for the purchase of the water works.

    The site for the city hall or municipal building, corner of First and Court
streets, was selected in October, 1891, and construction was commenced soon
after. The building has been the source of considerable trouble and expense
since. According to the testimony of experts it appears that those who planned
the building made the mistake of putting on a roof too heavy for the supporting
walls. The building was pretty badly wrecked in the earthquakes of 1892 and was
afterward condemned as being unsafe for occupancy. The city offices moved out
and found office quarters in buildings uptown. However, some repairs have been
made on the building since and it is still occupied by the fire department on
the ground floor and by the city recorder.

    The city also experienced much trouble on account of the sewer, which was
put in soon after the election. The city trustees leased a quarter-section of
land about one and one-half miles east of the city limits for a dumping place
for the sewer and in due time the land owners in the vicinity brought suit
against the city to abandon the place on the ground that it was a public
nuisance. The suit was successful and the city was compelled to lease ground
some two miles farther east and extend the sewer to the new point. The sewage is
now covered in the rainy season by overflow water and washed away.

    The year 1891 saw also the establishment just north of Woodland of its first
and only woolen mill. The mill was destroyed by fire on January 29, 1896, and
its proprietors, Messrs. Shapherd and Collum, were arrested and tried for arson,
it being charged that they purposely fired the mill to obtain the insurance they
carried on it. Mr. Collum was convicted. Perhaps the fate of the first venture
has deterred any from attempting to start another such mill in the community.

    Despite the severe earthquake shocks in the spring of 1892 and the very
disastrous conflagration in July of the same year, there was unusual activity in
business circles in that year. Among other things there was an unusual shipment
of products from Woodland to the outside markets. An organization called the
Woodland Fair Association was organized for the purpose of preparing and
maintaining an exhibit of the products of Yolo county at the Chicago Columbian
Exposition. The cornerstone of the city hall was laid on August 6th, and the
building cost the city $24,000. A contract was let for the construction of the
Farmers & Merchants Bank at a cost of $29,908. Extensive improvements were made
in the Bank of Yolo. The construction of the sewer system was completed on
October 1st. The new German Lutheran Church on Cleveland street was dedicated
November 13th. Articles of incorporation of the Yolo County W. C. T. U. were
filed with the county clerk. On July 12th the deal for the purchase of the water
works by the city was consummated, the consideration being $25,000. That was one
of the wisest things the people of the city ever did, for this has been a source
of income ever since. The works have been operated at a profit and the residents
of the city have benefited materially in a reduction of tax rates. On December
13th the Woodland high school was located in Woodland.

EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE

    The year 1892 was also one of disaster. Yolo and Solano counties seem to
have been directly in the path of the severe earthquake which occurred on the
morning of April 19, 1892, and both were shaken from center to circumference,
although so far as damage was concerned Solano county suffered the most. In
Woodland, people who occupied large residences were badly frightened, in one or
two instances the fright amounting almost to panic. The shock was felt here
about 3 o'clock in the morning. Nearly every building in town showed some
evidence of a severe wrenching, although the damage was, comparatively speaking,
slight. Three days later another shake was felt in Woodland, this also being
quite severe, but fortunately the damage done amounted to little.

    The most disastrous conflagration in its history occurred in Woodland on
July 1, 1892, when two business blocks and one block of residences were
destroyed by fire. The fire originated in the alley back of Main street, between
First and Second streets. There was quite a heavy wind from the north and the
flames were carried to, and soon communicated with, the business block on the
north side of Main street. Among other buildings destroyed in this fire were the
opera house and the Exchange hotel. Sparks were carried over intervening blocks,
setting fire to and destroying a block of residences on South Third street
between Lincoln avenue and Oak street. Business was suspended during the fire,
which lasted the better part of the day, and every one able to do so responded
to the call for help. Telegrams were sent to Sacramento and that city sent an
engine and part of its department to the relief of her sister city. The trip
over was made on a flatcar furnished by the Southern Pacific Company in about
twenty minutes, which was some thirty minutes under the regular schedule of the
company. The loss to property was estimated at $200,000, and the loss of life
was confined to one brave member of the local fire department, W. W. Porter, who
was killed at his post of duty in the alley back of the opera house, by the
falling of the rear wall of the building.

    During the years 1894, 1895 and 1896 there was a marked depression in
business and social life felt throughout the country and of course Woodland was
affected with the other cities of the state. Very little in the way of public
improvement was done, the people settling down to a struggle to provide the
common necessities of life. Added to this the murder of Constable L. Todhunter
by outlaws in March, 1893, cast an additional gloom upon the people and in
January, 1895, the country was visited by another of those rarely severe storms.
As a result there were very few new business enterprises inaugurated in Woodland
and about the only thing along these lines was the consummation of plans
previously arranged. The Woodland Building and Loan Association was organized in
1893 and the Farmers & Merchants Bank, now the First National Bank, opened for
business January 2, 1894. E. B. Blowers, a pioneer of 1854 and one of the
foremost fruit growers of the community, died on May 11, 1894, and in the same
year the great railroad strike which culminated in death and disaster to Yolo
county began.

FAMOUS WORDEN CASE

    No doubt the famous Worden murder trial is still fresh in the memories of
Woodland people. Worden headed a gang of railroad strikers who wrecked a special
train at a small trestle about two miles north of Sacramento, killing the
engineer, Sam Clark, and several militiamen. Worden with some of the other
members of the party, Melvin Hatch, Harry Knox, and Tex Appleman, were arrested
on the charge of murder and tried in Woodland. Eminent attorneys were employed
and the trial was one of the sensational affairs of the day. All the men except
Worden escaped punishment, they being acquitted. Worden was convicted and
sentenced to be hanged, but President Cleveland commuted his sentence to life
imprisonment and only a few years ago Worden was pardoned by the Board of Prison
Commissioners and is now sojourning with a brother in Japan.

WINE INDUSTRY

    About the only business which did not suffer materially during these few
years of depression was that of wine making. During the early years of the wine
industry people who cultivated grapes prospered. In Woodland this industry
prospered in 1895, the output of the local winery being for the year about
150,000 gallons. About this time there first appeared the agitation about the
sugar beet industry and the people of Yolo county were made various propositions
in which it was promised that in the event of setting aside a certain number of
acres to the growing of sugar beets a factory would be built here. The
enterprise, however, was new and although the matter was urged again in after
years, the solicitors were unable to secure enough acreage to justify the
necessary expenditure for a factory and the matter was finally dropped, the
factory being located elsewhere. There is now a large acreage of beets planted
in Yolo county in the vicinity of Woodland and the growers are compelled to ship
their product to the factory.

    On March 1, 2 and 3 of 1896 the people of Yolo county were treated to the
unusual spectacle of seeing the foothills of the county covered with snow. On
January 15 of this year the new opera house was opened. It was built upon the
site of the old one and was financed with local capital. The W. C. T. U. began
the agitation of prohibition and a vote was taken in Woodland on the saloon
question, but for all data regarding the movement of prohibition in Woodland,
the author respectfully refers the reader to an article in this work written by
Mrs. S. A. Huston, which will be found comprehensive and accurate.

    The Woodland Athletic Club was organized April 22, 1897, with the following
directors: A. M. Britt, J. C. Crutcher, F. Woodman, Dr. Stevenson, W. L. Wood,
W. J. Parker, T. G. Hughes, D. C. Halsey, J. J. Ward, E. E. Gaddis and J. H.
Dungan. Quarters were leased in the old Y. M. C. A. building on Second street
and a splendid equipment of paraphernalia was purchased. The club thrived for a
while, but its members soon tired of the amusement and the paraphernalia was
afterward sold to Company F of the N. G. C.

    The business of grape growing had grown to such proportions in the vicinity
of Woodland that men engaged in the industry began looking about for better
facilities for marketing their crops. As a result of this agitation a company
was formed for the purpose of establishing a raisin seeding plant in Woodland,
which was completed in September, 1899. A few years after Guggenheim & Co., of
San Francisco, took over this plant and enlarged the fruit-packing establishment
until it is one of the largest and best equipped in this part of the state.

    In January, 1901, a bill was introduced in the state legislature providing
for the amendment of the charter of the city. The bill became a law in March of
the same year and brought about consolidation of certain city offices. The
offices of city attorney and city clerk were consolidated. The city treasurer
was made the tax collector. The city marshal was made license collector and
superintendent of streets, and other changes of minor importance were made.

    The Woodland Chamber of Commerce, mention of which has been previously made,
was organized February 1, 1900, and ten days afterward the first farmers'
institute was held in Woodland. These institutes were held at Woodland each year
until the state farm was established near Davisville. As the latter answered the
same purpose for which the institutes were held, it resulted in the abandonment
of the annual meetings of instruction.

    In 1902 W. W. Percival and W. P. Craig built and conducted the Woodland
flour mill. The building was erected on the Gibson tract one mile south of town.
A little more than one year after its construction the mill was destroyed by
fire. Messrs. Percival and Craig joined a company of San Francisco capitalists
in the construction of a new and modern mill in the city of Woodland, but
disposed of their interests to their partners, who were in turn absorbed by the
Globe Milling Company of California, of which company the local mill is at the
present time one of the best paying properties.

    One of the most important business transactions of the county occurred
January 27, 1903, when Joe Craig, acting for the Yolo County Consolidated Water
Company, bought the interests of the heirs of the Moore estate in and to the
Moore irrigating system. This transaction also ended long pending litigation
between the Moore people and other claimants of water rights from Cache creek.
The new company at once set about improving and enlarging the system and the
users of water got better service than they had received for some time. Since
the acquisition of this property, however, by the Consolidated Water Company the
area planted to alfalfa has so multiplied that even their more comprehensive
system has proved inadequate to the demand upon it for water and there has been
considerable complaint and a few law suits arising from the company's refusal or
neglect to furnish water to consumers.

    At the present time the people of the community have brighter prospects
ahead of them for irrigation than they have ever had. In June, 1912, the Yolo
Consolidated Water Company sold their interests to the Yolo Water and Power
Company, a syndicate of New York capitalists, which promises great things for
Yolo county in the way of water supply and the development of electrical power.

    The new owners of the system submitted a proposition to the people which in
substance was that if they agreed and pledged themselves to purchase water
rights to attach to their holdings at $20 per acre, the company would furnish
water thereafter at the rate of $1.50 per acre per year, providing acreage to
the amount of 50,000 acres was pledged. The proposition has been accepted and
the required acreage has been signed up. The company is now engaged in the
construction of a concrete dam near Capay, which will cost when completed
between $40,000 and $50,000. They intend also to build restraining dams above
Rumsey at the head of Capay valley and at the head of Cache creek on Clear lake,
also to levee Clear lake for the purpose of retaining the winter flood water,
after which will come the construction of a great system of irrigation which
will cover the entire county, also the construction of the necessary works for
the generation of electric power.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

HISTORY OF YOLO COUNTY CALIFORNIA
WITH
Biographical Sketches
OF
The Leading Men and Women of the County Who Have Been Identified With Its Growth
and Development From the Early Days to the Present

HISTORY BY
TOM GREGORY
AND OTHER WELL KNOWN WRITERS
ILLUSTRATED COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1913]


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