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• Echos Of Solano's Past

  • '49er gold rush has golden tie to local man
  • 1850's news of the day came through Benicia
  • A Look Back in Time
  • A year in the life of Solano County's past
  • Adam Willis was a 'pioneer of pioneers'
  • After Depression hits, fruit industry the pits
  • After Mare Island stint, Farragut damned torpedoes
  • Agricultural tradition of Solano recounted
  • Agriculture boosts Rio Vista as major port
  • Air Base originally meant to house bombers
  • An 1879 tour saw a plethora of growers
  • Animal husbandry big business in Vaca
  • Area fruit growers faced prosperity, ruin
  • Armijo's holdings torn by ownership wars
  • At old hotels, you slept with your boots on
  • Attempted-murder plot shakes Vacaville
  • Becoming port of call put Rio Vista on map
  • Before it was Grizzly Island, was it 'Grisly'?
  • Beloved memories of growing up in Vallejo
  • Benicia a bustling, growing town in 1856
  • Benicia a vibrant business hub in 1800s
  • Benicia artist dabbled in oils and rescues
  • Benicia born as port, spurred by Gold Rush
  • Berreyesas inundated long before lake formed
  • Big top's fall doesn't ruffle circus audience
  • Bird's Landing finds strength as retail center
  • Boy dies after Green Valley wagon accident
  • Brandy and hides were Jose Armijo's trade
  • Bridges built over troubling waters in town
  • Building a bustling business in Vacaville
  • Buildings turn into dwellings and barrooms
  • Bustling with bachelors and much business
  • Carrying on family's agricultural tradition
  • Celebrations held all over county in 1868
  • Cement bonds community with work and play
  • Cement bonds community with work, play
  • Chandler clan lumberyards spark growth
  • Chinese a vital part of Solano history
  • Chinese enjoy long history in Vacaville
  • Chinese pioneers make it big at 'Big Camp'
  • Christmas trees become tradition in 1800s
  • Civil War becomes center of Solano life
  • Civil War-era Solano full of commotion
  • Cmdr. Farragut, Navy call Mare Island home
  • Commerce ebbs, expands in Solano past
  • Congregation locked out of its church
  • Cost of business in 1857 Benicia lowered
  • County abounds with sites to uncover region's past
  • County cash squeeze cut judge's, DA's pay
  • County cultural, economic scenes brighten
  • County grows and ruffians rile children
  • County grows, mellows and heats up
  • County rich with opportunity, thefts
  • County voters pick Fairfield as new hub
  • Crime accompanies prosperity in Davisville
  • Crime no stranger to early 1800s Solano
  • Davisville - nearly Veranda City - founded
  • Death, intrigue, scandal part of the times
  • Despite fires, Suisun thrives during 1860s
  • Dixon's 1897 began with a ball
  • Downtown landmarks date to the mid-1800s
  • Dried onions: Basic ingredient in K-rations
  • Early hotels were favorite gathering spots
  • Early Solano was off to races for holiday
  • Elmira a quiet town but for trains, gunfire
  • Elmira hotels, turkey shoots thrived in 1884
  • Elmira was center of activity, trade
  • Emigh recalls simple, fun times in Rio Vista
  • English teacher recalls days in the fields
  • Ex-Vacan recalls town's Japanese past
  • Family feud rocks Lagoon Valley settlers
  • Floods and fire made many idle roomers
  • Freitas recalls family's trek to Solano County
  • Fruit operations make a mark in Vacaville
  • Fruit-growers, robbers savor trains' arrival
  • Gas, murder and missiles in hills' history
  • Gen. Vallejo sets out to tame the territories
  • Go Long built a new life for his family in America
  • Grizzly Island slowly evolves to preserve
  • Guns cause chance, willful deaths in 1858
  • Hard-working Japanese find Vaca a magnet
  • Healing springs, fine hotels and plumbing
  • History centers, sites found all over county
  • History reveals itself to treasure hunters
  • Hoping for gold in them thar - rootops?
  • Horse racing popular in summer of 1856
  • Hotels flourished during Gold Rush period
  • Hunters flock to Solano County for ducks
  • In 1857, traffic accidents involved horses
  • Indian trails transformed into highway
  • Indians, grizzlies succumb to newcomers
  • Influx of Chinese prompts local response
  • John Lowe's father arrived in Suisun Valley in the 1920s
  • Juan Manuel Vaca: The don of Vacaville
  • Land in Collinsville only cost $5 deed fee
  • Lena celebrates 100th with Rio Vista memories
  • Life in 1860s flows along on land and water
  • Local ventures change hands as 1871 begins
  • Long family roots grew on Winters fruit ranch
  • Longtime Solanoan recalls family's past
  • Looking back on days of Vacaville childhood
  • Looking back on market past
  • Loss of Capitol, decline of port end dreams
  • Mail-order business was plumb hard work
  • Many catch fever for gold in California
  • Many manifest Solano's destiny
  • Many women helped build Solano County's character
  • Marble, healing water spring from Tolenas site
  • Mare Island had vital role in Navy history
  • Mare Island named for general's swamped steed
  • May air of 1883 filled with picnics, rain
  • Men and women of Solano County's past remembered
  • Montezuma outlasts scam, shady characters
  • Moreno family builds legacy in Vacaville
  • Musical chairs in Fairfield
  • New avenues aiding women in fruit picking
  • Newspaper editor gives scene of Vacaville
  • Newspapers tell varied tales of Solano County
  • Number of doctors grows in Solano
  • Nut Tree: American as Mom's apple pie
  • One shove destroyed original Vacaville jail
  • Oral histories hearken back to simpler times
  • Oral history gives look at Chinese culture
  • Orchardist prospers after early struggle
  • Papers swear, bicker over Union alliance
  • Parking meter roots deep for Vaca man
  • Pena Adobe has a colorful history
  • Pena Adobe: Monument to pioneer family
  • Pioneer prospered with cattle, stores
  • Plenty of attorneys to fill 'old courthouse'
  • Plenty of crime in Solano County in 1864
  • Pony Express riders rode through Solano
  • Port made Suisun City the county's hub
  • Prehistoric camels roamed Potrero Hills
  • Property disputes lead to anger, deaths
  • Prosperity causes changes in Vacaville
  • Quakes riddle county in 1800s and rock homes
  • Railroad brings Solano on track in 1860s
  • Ranch life full of drama
  • Ranch work: Hardest job a family ever loved
  • Ranchers carve homestead from wilderness
  • Reporters took probing tour into country
  • Rockville grew into crossroads for early routes
  • Rossi family steered Dixon for seven decades
  • Roy Mason continues ranching tradition with cattle, grapes
  • School, church, musical activities abound
  • Sermons, fruit and bicyclists engross town
  • Shipping built Maine Prairie; rail killed it
  • Silkworms, name 'Davisville' meet their fate
  • Silveyville rolls into Dixon when railroad arrives
  • Soft land, big fire and cars sink Suisun City
  • Solano celebrates post-Civil War era in 1865
  • Solano Christmas holidays festive in 1800s
  • Solano County communities bustling in 1871
  • Solano County communities busy in 1884
  • Solano County life goes on at its own pace
  • Solano County offers many ways to see past
  • Solano County's community news from 1870s
  • Solano enjoyed glorious spring in 1856
  • Solano locale for business, hectic activity
  • Solano no stranger to ghostly visitors
  • Solano sees violence at the polls, piers and prairies
  • Solano sprouted food, good times in 1864
  • Solano townships boomed, then went bust
  • Solano's arsenals ready for 'Dixie-ites'
  • Solano's base grows up quickly during war
  • Solano's citizens full of vigor in 1870
  • Sources on Solano County history abound
  • Steamboat travel, hunting bit of 1858 life
  • Steamers, trains provide Solano transportation
  • Strange medicines and standard crimes
  • Suisun booms in population and activities
  • Suisun City becomes 1880s commerce center
  • Suisun City becomes city of enterprise
  • Suisun City grows roots around it's businesses
  • Suisun City the business hot spot
  • Suisun newspapers face off over charges
  • Suisun ranks in top western train robberies
  • Sunday Law sets aside time for church
  • Suspected horse thief escapes lynch mob
  • Temperance preachers make the rounds
  • The Depression shuts down Big Camp
  • The fight for Suscol land turns deadly
  • Thieves targeted horses, mules and oysters
  • Town 'built around the shipping of fruit'
  • Town gains fame as fruit-growing capital
  • Town of Cordelia launched with high hopes
  • Township of Tremont never really took off
  • Tracing ranch ties through generations
  • Trade, growth boom in county
  • Tragic demise of "People of the West Wind"
  • Transportation major part of county
  • Uhl family's peachy start in Vacaville
  • Vaca business boomed during the late 1800s
  • Vaca businesses, families expanded in 1884
  • Vaca fruit industry blossoms in late 1800s
  • Vaca street named after early builder
  • Vaca streets named for earliest settlers
  • Vaca Valley's fruit industry comes of age
  • Vacaville downtown marked boon in 1884
  • Vacaville life in the '20s was picturesque
  • Vacaville thrives on ranching and farming
  • Vallejo booms while Benicia cheers Lincoln
  • Vallejo detained in revolt 150 years ago
  • Vallejo faces decline, gains business footing
  • Vallejo's shot as state capital is short-lived
  • Vallejo: Dignified in face of adversity
  • Vigilantes hung together in 1800s Solano
  • Wagons, buggies accent life in Suisun City
  • Water and wine fuel growth of Green Valley
  • Wild West lore and Democrats
  • Wolfskill family set tone for Solano's future
  • Woman recounts time living in Suisun Valley
  • Writers impressed with local area in 1860s
  • Writings reveal turn-of-the-century life
  • Young, Wood families part of Solano history

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About

This is an archive of the History Column "Echos Of Solano's Past" written by Kristin Delaplane Conti. These articles were written weekly during a 4 year span. Kristin retired from the column on September 26th, 1999. Her column has been replaced with "Solano: The Way It Was". Written by Jerry Bowen and Sabine Goerke-Shrode.

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Most recent entries

• Ranch life full of drama
• Long family roots grew on Winters fruit ranch
• Go Long built a new life for his family in America
• Marble, healing water spring from Tolenas site
• Rossi family steered Dixon for seven decades
• A Look Back in Time
• Many women helped build Solano County’s character
• Emigh recalls simple, fun times in Rio Vista
• Lena celebrates 100th with Rio Vista memories
• Vacaville life in the ‘20s was picturesque
• John Lowe’s father arrived in Suisun Valley in the 1920s
• Roy Mason continues ranching tradition with cattle, grapes
• Sources on Solano County history abound
• County abounds with sites to uncover region’s past
• Orchardist prospers after early struggle