Solano, The Way It Was

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Flood of 1849 forced residents to rooftops

Snowpack melt created torrent in Sacramento

This winter has not yet brought much cold or rainy weather, so that my holiday letter to shivering friends in Germany includes photos of roses in bloom.  Yet this weather can change quickly, turning into heavy winter rains, such as Luzena Stanley Wilson and her family experienced in 1849 in Sacramento.

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Sunday, December 23, 2007

Vallejo had short-lived stint as state capital

Historic site, built in 1852, is now long gone

The next time you are in the area bounded by York, Santa Clara, Maine and Sacramento streets in Vallejo, you will be near a long-gone historic site. Back in 1852 a two-story building sporting two flags dominated a hill that was centrally located between those streets.

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Sunday, December 16, 2007

Christmas customs of the past

Creating a well-cooked feast was one of the holiday’s highlights

There are few recordings of how early Solano County settlers prepared for or celebrated the Christmas season. Customs surely varied widely based on each family’s immigration background. Taking a day off from work and having the means to create a well-cooked meal likely were the highlights for early pioneers.

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Sunday, December 09, 2007

Could schools of the past teach us something?

Three courses described from Solano of 1911

This is the last in a series on the early rules of grammar school education. The subjects discussed were penmanship, bookkeeping and current events, as taken from the 1911 Solano County Course of Study. I’m not so sure that they are still pursued in depth in many of the schools of today to any degree.

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