Yolo County CA Archives History - Books .....Woodland Becomes The County Seat 1913
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Book Title: History Of Yolo County

CHAPTER XXII 
WOODLAND BECOMES THE COUNTY SEAT

    During the few years of the existence of Woodland great changes had been
wrought in the interior of the county. Immigrants had found that there were
fortunes to be made in pursuits other than mining and cattle raising. The
wonderful fertility of the soil of Yolo county, together with the advantages of
its mild climate and its long summers, had opened the eyes of the inhabitants,
many of whom had followed farming as a livelihood before leaving their eastern
homes. As a result these hardy pioneers began breaking the virgin soil and
planting crops. Their success attracted others and about the time of the closing
of the preceding chapter the country in the vicinity of Woodland had developed
into quite an important agricultural center and was perhaps the most thickly
populated portion of the county.

    Woodland at that time also enjoyed the trade of all that portion of the
county lying to the north and west, because of its closer proximity. People
therefore very naturally began questioning the wisdom of having the seat of
government at Washington, situated, as it was, in an isolated position in the
extreme southeastern corner of the county, and added to that the flood of 1861-2
demonstrated more thoroughly the necessity of a more accessible point for the
seat of justice and the transaction of the county's business.

    The question of moving the county seat to Woodland was therefore agitated
upon logical and economical grounds for argument and resulted, quite naturally,
in the passage of a bill by the legislature, authorizing a vote in Yolo county
as to whether the county seat should remain at .Washington or be moved to
Woodland. The people decided in favor of the latter town, although the vote on
the proposition was not by any means overwhelming. The old records show the vote
to have been as follows: Woodland 968, Washington 778.

    The records also show that the people of Washington were loath to relinquish
the prestige and advantages derived from having the seat of government in their
town. They contested the election before the board of supervisors, but there
appearing no good grounds for the contest the county legislators refused to set
aside the will of the majority of the people of the county, as expressed at the
polls, and decided in favor of the contestees and so it came to pass that the
records of the county were removed to Woodland on May 10, 1862, and Woodland
became in fact the county seat of Yolo county and has ever since retained that
proud distinction. The first courthouse in Woodland was the small frame building
on First street, afterward occupied by Otto Schluer as the Woodland bakery and
which is still standing.

AN ERA OF PROSPERITY

    With the acquisition of the county seat and substantial evidence of the
advent of the railroad (the grading of the old Vallejo Railroad having been
completed as far as Woodland) the town entered upon an era of business and
social activity. Buildings were erected rapidly, business developed and new
people sought a home in the thriving new town. Among the first to engage in
business after the acquisition of the county seat was J. D. Lawson, who opened
the first livery stable on the southeast corner of Main and Second streets in
1862. L. Dietz started a harness shop in the fall of the same year. Dr. J. L.
Downing established the first drug store in Woodland. E. H. Baker built and
managed its first hotel, the building being located near the northeast corner of
Main and Second streets.. This building was subsequently destroyed by fire and
the same fate befell the building which was erected upon the site of the older
one. In November of the same year a steam flour mill was erected in Woodland and
about the same time the bridge across Cache creek, some five miles to the north,
was completed.

    F. S. Freeman, who seems to have taken a prominent part in all movements of
advancement in Woodland, recorded the first plat of the town on June 25, 1863.
Up to this time there had been but one street in the village, that upon which
nearly all the business of the town was transacted and which constituted the
dividing line between the property patented by F. S. Freeman in 1862 and that
patented by T. M. Harris in June, 1863. Mr. Freeman's plat divided the northern
portion of what is now Woodland into blocks, lots and streets, and following
that there was some system as to the location of buildings. In after years
additional plats were recorded as the town grew in population and its limits
were extended. These plats were recorded by men who happened to own adjacent
property and resulted in somewhat irregular streets with jogs and turns. The
city has been to considerable expense in late years condemning private property
for the purpose of straightening these streets and opening new ones so that
there might be a continuity of its principal thoroughfares, and even yet there
are a few such streets which need remodeling.

    On September 19, 1863, the cornerstone of the present courthouse was laid
under the anspices of the Grand Lodge of Masons, Hon. I. Davis presiding during
the impressive ceremonies. Only about six years elapsed before it was found
inadequate for the purposes for which it was designed and the board of
supervisors let a contract to Turton & Knox, of Sacramento, to raise the
building eight and one-half feet and put under it a new and more substantial
foundation. This work was completed in 1870.

    The year 1863 witnessed, among other things, the organization of Woodland's
first brass band, John E. Taylor being the first who sought to appease the
savage breast with the charm of Orpheus. This pioneer musical organization was,
however, short lived, for it happened that the following year proved to be one
of disaster. It is remembered and talked about to this day as the "dry year of
1864." As most of the business of the community was dependent directly and
indirectly upon the success of the farmers, the scarcity of rainfall that year
resulted in short crops and a corresponding depression in all branches of life.
Under the circumstances the people thought it expedient to dispense with the
luxury of music and the members of the band, becoming discouraged, scattered and
the band was no more.

    It was not until 1872 that another effort was made in Woodland to start a
band. In that year A. Dinzler organized one with eight members, this lasting
nearly a year. In 1873 L. Ellis came, by invitation from Auburn, to organize and
instruct a band and successfully maintained the organization under the name of
"The Ellis Brass Band" for a number of years.

THE FIRST NEWSPAPER

    The first newspaper published in Woodland made its initial appearance on
June 11, 1864, under the name of the Woodland News. This paper had previously
been published in Knights Landing under the name of the Knights Landing News,
and in Cacheville under the title of the Yolo Democrat, the first issue of which
came off the press in the spring of 1857. At that time William L. Jernagan and
Everts were the proprietors and publishers and for a while Samuel Ruland, of
Woodland, was the editor. This paper was published about one year. It eventually
became the property of M. P. Ferguson, who revived the publication in 1858 under
the name of the Cacheville Spectator, but after a few months of such trials and
tribulations as must have attended his efforts to maintain a small paper in a
sparsely populated community, he relinquished the title and management of the
sheet to T. J. Howard, who formed a company, moved the plant to Knights Landing
and published just one issue of the Knights Landing News. About two months later
S. W. Ravely acquired the property and revived the enterprise at the scene of
its untimely demise, under its old name. The first issue of the revived
publication appeared under date of November 5, 1859. He continued the
publication of the paper at Knights Landing until June, 1864, when the plant was
removed to Woodland, where the name was changed to the Woodland News, as has
been previously mentioned.

   In August, 1865, H. C. Grover and Charles E. St. Louis purchased the paper
and changed its political complexion. Up to that time the paper had always been
Democratic in its party affiliation, but under the new proprietorship it became
an advocate of the principles of Republicanism. A. A. DeLong was employed as
editor and retained that post until November 16, 1867, when the property was
purchased by the Democrat Publishing Company and the name Woodland News was
abandoned. On the 23d of the same month the old name of the Yolo Democrat was
again assumed with W. A. Henry, afterward police judge of Sacramento, as editor.
It continued under his management and direction until May 1, 1869, when S. P.
Hall assumed the editorial duties and responsibilities. His reign lasted until
he got the sheet involved in a libel suit with the Yolo Mail, a paper which had
been started in the meantime, when he lost his job.

   William Saunders and H. C. Grover purchased the interests of the company
which consisted of Judge M. C. Woods, John M. Kelly and H. C. Grover and the
last issue of the old paper under the old management was dated October 2, 1869.
William Saunders soon afterward acquired the interests of his partner and became
the sole proprietor of the paper. Under his management the paper was enlarged
and on June 1, 1877, he commenced the publication of a daily under the name of
the Woodland Daily Democrat, at the same time enlarging the weekly from
twenty-eight to fifty-six columns.

    The successive owners of the Democrat have been Ruffner & Lee, Wick B.
Parsons, Lee & Maxwell, and the present owner Ed E. Leake, a newspaper man of
wide experience and extraordinary ability. Mr. Leake has recently enlarged the
paper to eight pages of five columns each and has added new departments. He is
ably assisted by his two sons, Ed I. Leake and Paul Leake. Politically the paper
is, as it has nearly always been, Democratic. The able editor has always been
able to see enough virtue in the platforms of that party, as enunciated at the
National conventions, to remain conscientiously a strong advocate of its
principles and he has a strong following not only in the city of Woodland, but
throughout the county, where his paper has a large subscription.


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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