Rio Linda/Elverta Our Town & more.

The Rio Linda/Elverta community is located on part of the Rancho Del Paso Mexican land grant of 1844. In 1910, a Fruit Land Company of Minneapolis acquired 12,000 acres (49 km2) of the Grant and in 1912 the area was subdivided. Renamed in 1913 to Rio Linda, it was known as ‘Dry Creek Station’, a flag stop for the Northern Electric Railroad. Two families settled in Rio Linda by 1912, three more arrived in 1913 and nine more in 1914. By 1918 there were approximately fifty families in the community, mostly of Scandinavian and German descent. By 1920 poultry farming had proved to be feasible in the area which was advertised throughout several Eastern states during the 1920s. An association was formed in 1942 as the area became well known for its excellent poultry production.
The area now known as Rio Linda Elverta saw the arrival of the first pioneers in the 1850′s. In 1908 the town of Elverta was named and the Elverta Post Office was established. Very soon thereafter the founder of Sear’s Roebuck, Alvah E. Roebuck of Chicago, purchased a tract of land immediately south of Elverta and called it Rio Linda Colony. The land was subdivided but efforts to colonize by Roebuck failed. The Rio Linda land changed hands several times and eventually was purchased by Sacramento Suburban Fruit Lands Company.

This is probably when the traditions of Rio Linda were established as there are many early photographs showing wagons and farming equipment with large families and many animals including horses, chickens and sheep.

But chickens have a very special place in the history of Rio Linda. When it became evident to the early settlers that the land would not produce fruit as advertised by Sacramento Suburban Fruit Lands Company because a layer of hard pan just below the surface soil prevented adequate drainage, the enterprising Rio Lindans turned to chickens. They didn’t need any drainage and very soon there was more than one chicken in every pot in Rio Linda. So, Rush, it’s pretty fair to say that Rio Linda comes by its chickens and critters honestly from a long tradition.

The Rio Linda Poultry Producers Association was formed in 1920. The sister communities flourished and grew with deep rural roots and strong family values. Chicken ranching and egg production remained a significant part of the community into the 1960′s and early 1970′s.

In 1937 the Sacramento Air Depot opened with good paying jobs and many Rio Linda and Elverta residents left the farms for a better wage. By 1948 the Air Depot had become McClellan Air Force Base and employed many area residents. People moved to the Rio Linda and Elverta communities to enjoy a rural lifestyle and still be close to their jobs. Gradually the working farms and ranches shut down, the Air Force base was decommissioned and the two towns became bedroom communities with the majority of the residents working out of town but there was always a strong desire to maintain the rural flavor and feel that ran deeply through the history of the communities.

Residents of Rio Linda and Elverta still cherish their rural neighborhood and are reluctant to see it disappear. There is a strong spirit of community and efforts continue to keep it that way. (Excerpts from Images of America Rio Linda and Elverta by Joyce Buckland.)