Anyone driving through the Herald area will see a large stand of Eucalyptus trees with many lovely homes built among them. That grove is 100 years old, or so say the natives of Herald.
Sometime between 1900 and 1908 the Sacramento Valley Improvement Company acquired eight sections of land around the site of Clay Station, CA. The Company planted demonstration farms of Eucalyptus and Mission and Tokay grapes. They then subdivided the land into two-to-ten acre parcels and sold them to private parties. The advertisements were placed in eastern papers and magazines. The eucalyptus grove was described as trees from which furniture could be made from the wood, and medicine could be derived from the leaves. The railroad offered the convenience of shipping grapes from Clay Station, CA and Herald to other parts of the county.
A gentleman from St. Louis Missouri, W. A. Brandenburg, was a part of the Sacramento Valley Improvement Company. He had a large two-story home on Clay Station Road. History records that his mother, a very friendly lady, would visit during the summer, and teach the children of Clay to swim in the Laguna Creek swim hole that was located on what is presently known as the Silva feedlot.
John Duffy, a former Texas Ranger and expert horticulturist, was hired by the Sacramento Valley Improvement Company to supervise approximately 500 German and Irish men who planted the eucalyptus and the grapes. He is described as a tall man who always wore a Stetson hat and who believed strongly in a day's pay for an honest day's work. He forbade drinking on the job, and they tell us that he demanded that no liquor be sold at the Steele Store during working hours.
The idea of using Eucalyptus wood for furniture was not a successful venture, since the wood tended to split and twist as it grew. The grapes were good, but the yield at harvest time was not. Soon the farmers who had purchased these land parcels discovered that they could not make a living on these farms, so they moved. The Sacramento Valley Improvement Company eventually dissolved, and the grapes were removed during the '30s and '40s. The entire venture would be lost to history except for the grove of eucalyptus trees that are a living reminder of early entrepreneurship in this area.
Last edited 13 September, 2007
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