100 years ago: Ghost town beginnings

50 years ago Population 3,179 (U.S. Census 1960 and 1970) Lights City Council members are currently considering the addition of 10 more lights to the city's street lighting system. The lights, which will cost the city $700 annually, were recommended by Councilman Louis DeArcos after a survey he and Mayor Mick McCartney made was reviewed with Pacific Gas and Electric representative Bob Schisler. The council is expected to take action on the matter Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Lights suggested to be added include on 1st Street at the railroad crossing on the northwest side, on 3rd Street on the west side of the tracks and north side of street, on 6th Street between G Street and the railroad tracks on the south side of the street, 7th Street on the west side of the tracks and north side of the street, on the north west corner of East Avenue and East 12th, on H Street between 1st and 2nd on the west side at midblock, at 1st Street and Hollingsworth Drive on the north side of 1st Street, Hollingsworth and Brookside at the intersection and between 6th and 7th Streets on the east side of L Street. 75 years ago Population 2,410 (U.S. Census 1940 and 1950) Censorship President Truman's recent order to civilian agencies connected with the defense effort to withhold information which they may feel is secret, confidential or restricted, illustrates the dangers of unwarranted censorship that must be fought unceasingly by the press and the public. Neither American newspapers nor the American people want facts published which would endanger national security. But the President's order leaves it up to bureaucrats and politicians in the various agencies to determine what shall or shall not be given out. This is a made-to-order cover up for mistakes and incompetence. Any information which might prove embarrassing to an agency would certainly find its way into the confidential or restricted file. James S. Pope, Chairman of the American Society of Newspaper Editors Committee on Freedom of Information, points out that "there is no authority constituted in this order to which the newspapers can appeal, except to these same government officials who created the order." It seems to us that a joint board composed of top newsmen and government officials should be set up to work out the problem. The board could define in general terms the type of information to be withheld. It could also serve as a board of appeal in individual instances. Unwarranted press censorship from within is just as great a danger to the nation as the threat of armed attack from without. 100 years ago Population 1,324 (U.S. Census 1900, 1910 and 1920) Raid The Sheriff's office came down in full force Thursday and took up the trail that leads out into the Mt. Pleasant district. They located a booze cache and two stills on the ranch of Joe B. The place was in charge of a young man named S.B, whom they took into custody together with all the equipment on the premises. It's hard business, but they seem to keep it up. More Lincoln History When a town dies and nobody lives there anymore it has become a "ghost town." Lincoln, however, has the unusual reputation of having started its existence in this deserted state. There was great hoopla in 1859 when the town site was surveyed, mapped, named, and the lots were put up for sale in Sacramento on November 23. It was planned as an important station on the Sacramento-Folsom-Marysville section of the California Central Railroad. But let us backtrack a few years. It was 1854 when the New York Times reported: "The first railroad in California has been commenced under favorable auspices. It is called the Sacramento Valley Railroad, and will lead from the city of Sacramento into the heart of the gold region, a distance of some seventy miles. Col. Charles L. (Lincoln) Wilson, the president of the company, sailed from here (New York), per last California steamer, having purchased and shipped the iron, locomotives, cars, and a complete outfit for the road." The road as far as Folsom opened January 1, 1856. At this point Col. Wilson re-organized the company as the California Central Railroad to push on to Marysville. The financial panic of 1857 delayed the work and the purchasing of materials. In April of 1858 Wilson was able to let contracts, and the line finally in late 1859 reached "Auburn Ravine Station," the first recorded name of the site that was soon to be named Lincoln (Col. Wilson's middle name). Until the line could be extended, this was a strategic spot. It was the nearest spot on the railroad to Auburn, Grass Valley, Rough and Ready, etc. Meanwhile the newspapers predicted a bright future for Lincoln as a temporary terminus of the railroad. Hotels, stables, stores, shops and dwellings would be needed. Stage lines from north, east, and west would converge here to meet the trains. Service to and from Lincoln was expected to start in early January of 1860. People rushed to erect buildings and be ready for the coming business. Forty-six lots had been sold the first day they were offered. By February of 1860 John Chapman had built the Pioneer Hotel near the southeast corner of 5th and G Streets. He was building a larger hotel, the Phoenix, right on the corner and adjacent to the Pioneer. Several other buildings were being built near the center of town. But Chapman and others went bankrupt. It was a full nineteen more months before the trains actually started running on the tracks to Lincoln and before the hotels and other businesses actually had customers. So, the buildings stood empty, and Lincoln in 1860-61 was an unusual ghost town. Instead of old and collapsing buildings, the place consisted of brand new, but uninhabited, structures facing silent, dusty streets. The first train arrived October 13, 1861. Business immediately started booming. Stages carried passengers and baggage from the depot and from the hotels to many important points in the mining areas and to the Oregon Territory. Immense freight wagons awaited goods from the railroad cars and hauled them to stock the stores of localities far and near. The streets of Lincoln were now filled with busy people and vehicles. The town echoed with the clanging of locomotives, the crack of whips wielded by the stagecoach drivers, and the jingling of bells attached to the collars of the teams of mules pulling the huge "prairie schooners" — the name given the giant freight wagons. The ghost town had come to life. Note: This is an excerpt from "Lincoln Area History, Tales from the Archives, A Scrapbook" written by late Lincoln Historian and Lincoln Area Archives Museum co-founder Mr. Jerry Logan. This book and others written by Mr. Logan are available for purchase in the museum gift shop. The museum is open Thurs-Sat 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 640 5th Street (in Beermann Plaza). Come in to see exhibits featuring Lincoln and area history, maps, photographs, etc. New items have just arrived, courtesy of the permanently closed Roseville Telephone Museum. If you are seeking something fun to do, consider volunteering, no experience necessary. Come in to apply, call 916-645-3800, or go to laamca.org. Thank you for reading the Lincoln News Messenger! MBO