Folsom's History Cont'd
Industry & Commerce
in 1856, the 22-miles of Sacramento Valley Railroad track linking Sacramento to
Folsom were completed, and the new town became the hub for commerce between
Sacramento and the foothill mining camps.
Because of its accessibility to the railhead, Folsom became the western
terminus for the Pony Express in 1860. The trail from Placerville to Sacramento
was rerouted through Rescue to Folsom, where dispatches were transferred by
train to Sacramento.
|Charles B. Miller was
born in a covered wagon as his parents were traveling to settle in the West.
Miller claimed that he was in Sacramento with his father when he was 11, and
it was time for the mail to leave, but there was no rider. His father lifted
him onto the horse and said, "He knows the trail. Ride like hell son!"
From On the Winds
In 1870, Horatio Livermore began an industrious project to dam the American
River that would provide power for Folsom's growing industry. His plan required
a cheap labor source, which was provided by convict labor from Folsom Prison.
The dam was completed in 1893. By this time, generators were producing electricity, and in 1895, the Folsom
Powerhouse began the first long-distance transmission of electric current,
lighting the streets of Sacramento, 22 miles away.
Theodore Dehone Judah (1826-1863)
In 1853 a group of Californians organized to build the Sacramento Valley
Railroad (SVRR). By 1854 Colonel Charles L. Wilson, president of the fledgling
SVRR, made a trip to the east coast to purchases supplies. While he was there,
Governor Horatio Seymour of New York introduced him to Theodore Judah, who was
eager to come to California to work on the railroad. His work on the Niagara
Gorge line in New York had secured his reputation as a top engineer.
Judah was an enthusiast for the transcontinental railroad project. "The
Pacific Railroad will be built," he stated, "and I am going to have something to
do with it." This must have been his major motivation for accepting Wilson's
offer for the SVRR. He would not have crossed an entire continent for the
purpose of designing a twenty-mile line across a flat valley.
At any rate, he departed with his wife, Anna, for California, and began the
survey. On May 30, 1854, fifteen days after he began work, he issued a report on
the preliminary survey and future business prospects of the SVRR. Judah
continued with the SVRR until the tracks were completed to Folsom in February
When the railroad was well under way, Judah set himself up as a consulting
engineer in Sacramento. During this time he also made several other railroad
surveys, attended Congressional sessions in Washington to lobby for a
transcontinental line, explored in the Sierras, and accepted employment from
Captain Joseph Folsom to survey and lay out the town of Granite Bay.
All this time Judah's uppermost thought was the transcontinental line. He
helped to raise $46,500 in subscriptions in the little town of Dutch Flat for
railroad surveys, then went to San Francisco to raise more money. Financiers
with heavy investment in stage lines, express companies and steamship lines
turned him down, ridiculing him. They even called him insane, and dubbed him
with the "Crazy Judah" nickname. Judah persevered, only to be more bitterly
disappointed once the railroad was under way in 1863.
The "Big four," Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins and Crocker, seemed to him to
be concerned only with taking the largest profit with the least risk. Appalled
at their tactics in building "his" railroad, Judah in September 1863, left for
the east coast with the intention of raising capital to buy them out. He never
accomplished this objective. In Panama he contracted yellow fever, and died at
37 years of age shortly after his return to New York City.
the early 1900's the Natomas Company began surface mining operations in the
Folsom area. Dredgers extracted over $100 million dollars worth of gold between
1906 and 1962. In the 1910's, Mather Air Force Base was established on dredger
tailing land, later becoming an important military training center.
Railroads once again played an important part in keeping Folsom prosperous
during the 1920's and 1930's. Orangevale and the surrounding area had grown to
be a major agricultural center. In the late 1940's, work began on Folsom Dam,
providing essential electrical energy and flood control, allowing for the
massive growth of the Sacramento Valley. The dam was completed in 1956 and has
quickly become one of the State's most popular year-round recreational facility.
are just some of the events that shaped Folsom--a living memorial to the human
sage of glory and tragedy that built California.
Besides the Nisenans, African-Americans, and the Chinese, many other ethnic
groups have played an important role in shaping the history of Folsom. The
Folsom Historical Society Archives can assist you with understanding how those
ethnic groups participated in Folsom's history.
Other historic events and information that shaped Folsom's history
Additional information is available on request by calling the Folsom History Museum,