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How did ����ԭ�� become a city?

Most people think it took half the town burning down to convince residents of what was then ����ԭ��ville to incorporate 100 years ago.

“It was this day that created public sentiment to become a city,” Bob Bowen, a spokesman for the city of ����ԭ��, told a crowd at a showing of historical photos on March 28, the anniversary of the city’s incorporation.

The devastating blaze in 1916 destroyed half of downtown ����ԭ��, burning unchecked because the city had no pressurized water supply or fire department. ����ԭ�� residents could only futilely toss buckets of water on the inferno until a Southern Pacific train with a firefighting rail car arrived from Sacramento. Newspaper accounts from the time speculated the fire easily could have been stopped with proper water lines and a fire department — things that come with incorporation.

Just four months after the 1916 fire, ����ԭ�� residents voted to formally become a city (a 1911 vote failed 92-103).

Still, some historians say a pro-growth community spirit, and not a fire, convinced residents to vote to become a city.

“People buy a simple notion, which is a fire scared residents into voting to tax themselves,” said Professor Emeritus Dennis Dingemans, a former ����ԭ�� planning commissioner and the director of the Hattie Weber Museum.

He cited burgeoning industry in the town (an almond-hulling machine developed in Marysville was being manufactured in ����ԭ��) and a community of steadfast supporters, led by ����ԭ�� Enterprise Editor and Justice of the Peace William Scott.

Professor Emeritus John Lofland, who has written several books about ����ԭ�� history, wrote in 2004 that Scott was the town’s “booster-in-chief,” and cited one of his first editorials, which suggested people should always shop locally and never speak ill of their town.

“We were a town of boosters,” Dingemans said.

One hundred years later, city leaders say that spirit is still alive.

“����ԭ�� still has many, many boosters — individuals who have the desire and ability to improve the community and usually have a project or vision that is shared by many others,” said Lois Wolk, who served as a ����ԭ�� city council member and mayor before terms as a county supervisor and state legislator.

She said residents still strive to improve the town, citing as examples the 1993 construction of Sutter ����ԭ�� Hospital and the regional water treatment plant completed in 2016.

On a smaller scale, former city council member Bill Kopper cited volunteer-service organizations, community-supported art galleries and other efforts to help the less fortunate.

“����ԭ�� is in every way still a town of deep citizen involvement in the community,” he said. “Everywhere you look people are volunteering to help.”

This year, boosters and casual observers alike will mark the centennial. A week after the centennial date, ����ԭ�� city council members donned period costumes to reenact the first board of trustees meeting, complete with proposing ordinances to form a fire department and outlaw littering. The 2017 Picnic Day theme, “Growing Together,” acknowledged the centennial, and its parade featured former council members.

The city plans to dedicate a corner of Second and G streets as “Centennial Plaza,” with artwork and historical signs, and a time capsule is in the works. And not just history buffs are getting in the spirit: This spring Sudwerk Brewing Company developed a “centennial brew” as a limited-release beer.

Library celebrates city’s centennial

The UC ����ԭ�� Library shines a spotlight on the city’s centennial with its new exhibition, .

The exhibit features archival materials from the library’s Special Collections that illustrate the history of ����ԭ�� over the last century and runs through June 18 at the Peter J. Shields Library.

Unlike most exhibitions, which highlight a single collection, the centennial display draws from more than 15 collections, ranging from professional and personal photographs to the institutional archives of The Sacramento Union and UC ����ԭ��.

����ԭ�� history and culture also come to life through aerial imagery, promotional materials from three of ����ԭ��’ best-known residential developments and personal papers from historical figures including Harry Hazen, a student at the University Farm (now UC ����ԭ��). UC ����ԭ�� alum Norman E. Riley ’78 contributes photographs from 1982 to 2004.

— Jessica Nusbaum