Treasure Chest Thursday - Sacramento Valley Museum



Famous Willams archway
April 14, 2012

 Williams, California holds a special place in my heart.  I lived there a mere 18 months during fourth and fifth grade but it was an eventful period.  I learned how to do fractions, ride a bike with no hands, and swim.  My brothers and I had lambs named Boomer, Tiny Tim and mine, Daisy, which I fed with a bottle and watched her being sheared for the first time.  The ranch house where we lived was surrounded by walnut and almond orchards. 

My husband and I recently spent the day in Williams going down memory lane.  The population is now over 5,000.  A large housing development is now on the east side of town.  Downtown is not the same as in "my day" mostly due to the building of Interstate 5 in the late 1960's.  The Tidewater gas station where my father worked is now a vacant lot but two doors down Louis Cairo's restaurant is still there serving Italian meals.


The highlight of the day was our visit to the Sacramento Valley Museum.  We were cheerfully greeted by Kathy Manor, the Museum's Director, who explained the layout of the exhibits.  The exhibits are located on two floors with the main area being on the upper level accessed by stairs.  The floors creeked as we walked through each exhibit room, a sound that added to the ambience of an old building.  Kathy cranked up a huge music box for us and other visitors.  The sound was clear, crisp and very pleasant.  



Williams High School  1911
Source: Sacramento Valley Museum



Sacramento Valley Musum
April 14, 2012



The museum's website is very informative; here's an excerpt:

The building that houses the Sacramento Valley Museum was built in 1911 to serve as Williams Union High School.  The school graduated classes until 1956, when a new high school was built.  It sat dormant for six years until Sacramento Valley residents took up its cause [and began renovations].

The 16,000 square foot building that houses the SVM collection contains multiple rooms of exhibits that represent the Sacramento Valley from the mid 19th through the mid 20th century.  Exhibits that have been completed in the last couple of years are a 19th century dry goods and a room representing businesses that could be found in Colusa County in the late 19th century, including hotels, barber shops, and hot springs resorts.  Newer exhibits include a room dedicated to those who represented the Sacramento Valley in military wars and conflicts from the Civil War to the current generation.  SVM staff and volunteers plan on updating popular current exhibits as well.  First on the list is the room representing a 19th century general store and another room representing an apothecary and pharmacy.

The Reading Room is how the public can connect with the larger collection that is not readily available through exhibits. The new Reading Room is under construction but researchers still have access to the collection.  Research is by appointment only.  To make an appointment, contact the Museum Director.
A return visit is in my future to do some in-depth research.  It's only one hour north of Sacramento. Contact the museum  for more information:

Sacramento Valley Museum

1491 E Street

Williams, Ca 95987

Ph: (530) 473-2978

Email: sacvalleymuseum@frontiernet.net

Website: www.sacvalleymuseum.org



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Treasure Chest Thursday is one of several themes suggested by Geneabloggers created by Thomas MacEntee.  What's your treasure? Share it with us by commenting on this post or send it to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.  

posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond

Treasure Chest Thursday – Magdalena May (TRUNKENBOLZ) SHUMAKER

Magdalena May (TRUNKENBOLZ) SHUMAKER

b. 1904

d. 1996

Lena's Christening Photograph

Lena is Bob Shumaker's mother.

Lena's Christening dress is a family heirloom.

Submitted by Lois Shumaker
Posted by Ron Setzer

Treasure Chest Thursday – Gladys Elizabeth (MURRAY) FULLERTON

Gladys (MURRAY) FULLERTON

b. 1905

d. 1996

Gladys was Lois Shumaker's mother

Caption reads:

Gladys was brought up in a strict Methodist household – no work on Sundays, even needlework, no using tools, even scissors. At age 11 or so, in a moment of Sunday defiance, she knitted this little purse (4 in. x 3 in.) on hatpins, so she could keep her project from being discovered.

Submitted by Lois Shumaker
Posted by Ron Setzer

Treasure Chest Thursday — Family Artifacts

The Geiger Family Cement Mixer

As gold mining continued its decline during the early 1900s, the growing Geiger family (George Geiger, Amelia Rutishauser, and small children) looked for a more stable occupation. In 1925 they purchased a small dairy ranch in Galt. As the eleven children became teenagers, the tiny ranch house and top floor of the tank house became insufficient. So George Geiger and relatives built a new larger house. It was at this point they likely acquired a cement mixer. That house burned down about ten years ago. But its concrete foundation and now water-filled basement remain.

When the family children entered in their late teens and early 20s, the Geigers sold the Galt ranch and purchased a much larger dairy ranch in Rio Linda (1943). The parents retired in 1948, leasing the ranch to the four oldest brothers. They called it the Geiger Brothers Dairy. And thus the cement mixer was passed to the second generation. A year later the Geiger brothers and one in-law relative doubled the size of the feed barn, using the cement mixer to build the foundation and pavement. The work was done in their "spare time" - evenings and weekends. The project took a year and large quantities of bottled beer to complete. The Geiger Brothers Dairy is now a county park, the Dry Creek Parkway. Although the barn is now gone, its concrete foundation remains.

The Geiger brothers eventually decided that they didn't want to be dairy ranchers and, one by one, left the ranch for careers where they didn't have to get up at 3 a.m. in the morning to milk cows. In 1954, the last two remaining brothers sold the ranch to the LDS Church. The brothers took the cement mixer with them, each of them plus in-laws later using it to do concrete work at their homes. Dayne Hanson, my father, also borrowed that mixer and I was drafted to do the highly technical job of shoveling in the correct proportions of cement, sand and gravel.

The cement mixer eventually ended up in the back yard of Earl Geiger (one of the the original Geiger brothers) for thirty years. A couple of years after his death it was passed on to Bill Geiger, the third generation and one of my army of cousins. I have eleven Geiger uncles and aunts.

Submitted by Rick Hanson

Posted by Ron Setzer