Firehouse Fundraiser Yard Sale: Saturday, June 9th

Support a Great Cause

It's that time of year again!  The Rocklin Historical Society is holding its annual Fundraiser Yard Sale this Saturday, June 9th! This year’s yard sale proceeds will be dedicated to building the 1893 Firehouse replica in Rocklin’s Front Street Heritage Park.

Where and When

The Yard Sale will be held at the Johnson House (5200 5th Street) located at the intersection of 5th Street and Rocklin Road next to Johnson Springview Park.  The sale runs from 8am to 4pm, this Saturday only!

Donations Appreciated

To donate your unwanted items, please contact Marg at 624-2378 before Wed., June 6th to arrange for drop-off or pickup.  Donations are tax deductible!

Preparations are already underway:

Margaret Johnson covers the display tables.

Janet Currieri sorts sale items.

Ready for Sale!

Here's a great way to support a good cause right here in Rocklin.  We'll have free brewed coffee. Come, shop, socialize, and enjoy the fun!

Historical Society Establishes Fund to Forever Preserve Rocklin's Heritage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Historical Society Establishes Fund to Forever Preserve Rocklin’s Heritage

The Rocklin Historical Society is proud to announce the establishment of the Rocklin Heritage Fund at the Placer Community Foundation.  This endowed fund supports the Society’s efforts to promote public awareness and enjoyment of Rocklin’s history—a history that is based in Rocklin’s native Nisenan population, and in its late nineteenth and early twentieth century granite quarries, railroad roundhouse facilities, and ethnically diverse ranches.

The Historical Society chose to establish this fund at Placer Community Foundation because it offers an effective way for the community to contribute.  Gifts can be made today or through bequest and, because the fund is endowed, the principal is invested. This allows the fund to grow over time, using only the earnings to support public education programs and preservation projects around Rocklin’s rich history.

“The Rocklin Heritage Fund was an important and necessary step to continue and build upon our work as our community continues to keep pace with the explosive growth we’ve experienced during the past fifty years,” states Chris Gebel, President of the Rocklin Historical Society.  “Gifts made to this fund will support entertainment and educational programs at the Rocklin History Museum and projects such as the maintenance of the Old Saint Mary’s chapel, and the effort to save and restore Rocklin’s granite processing sites and artifacts.”

One of the Historical Society’s near term projects intends to preserve much of the site of Rocklin’s Capital Quarry, known recently as the Big Gun Quarry, near the corner of Pacific Street and Rocklin Road. In the 1860s that quarry provided granite building materials, mainly granite blocks, for California’s State Capital building in Sacramento.   

“Through public awareness, the Rocklin Heritage Fund will build community pride and engagement for the many new families in the area,” states Veronica Blake, CEO of the Placer Community Foundation.  “This impressive group of dedicated, forward-thinking volunteers is taking action today to ensure future resources are in place to protect Rocklin’s heritage.” 

To make a gift to the Rocklin Heritage Fund today, or for information about supporting this fund in your estate plan, visitwww.placercf.org or call 530.885.4920.

About Rocklin Historical Society

Rocklin Historical Society is a tax exempt, all-volunteer organization of 160 members.  Their mission is to generate community interest and support for preservation of the history of Rocklin and to promote and encourage volunteerism and charitable gifts for these purposes.  They operate the Rocklin History Museum, which educates and entertains history buffs and supplements the history curriculum for 750 of Rocklin’s third graders each year. They also maintain Rocklin’s oldest public building, the restored Old Saint Mary’s Chapel in the heart of Rocklin’s Front Street Historic District. 

Save Our Sheds Update and Information on the Referendum Process

The following is an editorial written by RHS member Dani Loebs. The opinions expressed are her own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Rocklin Historical Society.

Dear Rocklin History Supporters:

Tonight the City Council unanimously voted to "proceed with the demolition of the remaining sheds in order to render the site safe. Salvage whatever wood we can, pending the results of the demolition."

It is important to understand that this may not be the end of this process. When I asked, the city attorney was not sure if this type of resolution was applicable to the referendum process, but he said that it probably was and Mayor Magnuson agreed. We will need confirmation on that. Assuming it is applicable, please read on to learn more about the referendum process.

About a century ago, some great men and women here in California worked very hard to amend our state constitution to grant additional rights of grassroots democratic process. Most of us are aware of the initiative process at both the state and local level. However, far fewer are aware of the referendum process available to us at the local level.

The referendum powers that we have at the city level here in Rocklin grant us the right to force the city council to have their controversial and unpopular decision be ratified by the voters of Rocklin. What's more, the city council has the option to repeal their unpopular decision and avoid the measure being sent to the voters at all. The latter is the ideal outcome, but both are good.

Since Rocklin is a general law city, the laws governing the local referendum process are within the CA Elections Code. The important sections of the Elections Code are 9235, 9237-9243, 9114-9115, and 9210. You can find the table of contents to the Elections Code here:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=elec&codebody=&hits=20

The last report of registration for Rocklin is 30,752 registrants.
You can find it here:
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ror/ror-pages/ror-odd-year-11/
And specifically here:
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/ror/ror-pages/ror-odd-year-11/politicalsub.pdf

So what this means is that a successful petition for referendum will require 10% of the registrants' signatures. That would be 3,076 needed signatures. It is best to gather about 12% to insure that more than 10% remain after the invalid signatures are removed by the officials when they verify the petitions. So somewhere in the vicinity of 3600-3700 is likely the goal. (That can be verified with the City Clerk, the County Elections office and the individuals that led the successful Clover Valley signature-gathering process a few years ago.)

The number of signatures sounds high, but the Clover Valley folks were able to collect about that amount of signatures in just 20 days! The law allows us 30 days. I was not involved with the Clover Valley fight personally, but we can also speak with them to get the nuts and bolts info on the process.

Lastly, if you read through the sections of the code I referenced above, you will notice that there are significant delays created by the process. First there is the regular 30 days of any ordinance or resolution. Then there is the time the city/county officials are granted to verify that a sufficient number of signatures have been submitted. That can take 30-60 business days. Then if the Rocklin city council decides to repeal their original decision, that requires them to not readdress the issue for at least one year. If they opt to send the referendum to the ballot, then it will take another couple of months before the special election. As you can see, there are many strategic delays involved in the process.

We've got nothing to lose. Will the Historical Society be willing to collect signatures for a referendum? Who will volunteer to talk to the City Clerk tomorrow? I'd do it if I didn't have to work, but we need someone as soon as possible to ask about starting the paperwork! I would be happy to help in any way that I can if the Historical Society decides to move forward with the signature gathering (and assuming that the referendum process applies to the type of resolution adopted by the city council tonight).

This may not be over yet!

All the best,
Dani Loebs

Save Our Sheds! City Council Meeting Agenda Threatens Demolition of Historic Landmarks

Big Gun Sheds to be Lost

This year a number of considerations have come to light suggesting that we re-look at the plan that would result in removal of the Big Gun buildings: Citizen polls show that the community wants our historic structures included in downtown; professional opinions indicate that the Big Gun buildings can be rehabilitated.  And, we now realize that removal of the buildings prematurely,  will limit the options available to potential developers -  effectively eliminating consideration by those that would incorporate the heritage structures in their project.  From both practical and heritage standpoints the advantages of allowing  the structures  to remain in place for a period of time appear significant. 

At the Sep 13 council meeting,  Skip Gebel, President of The  Rocklin Historical Society, addressed the Council and formally requested that the City delay plans to remove the Big Gun Buildings. (To allow the community time to reconsider the fate of the Historic Quarry Sheds  in light of recent information indicating that rehabilitation of the structures and  their use in a commercial setting may be desirable and practical.) Council members received  packets of information including:  John Chase’s artist rendering of  rehabilitated Big Gun Sheds as the common area  of a Quarry Village; a 13 point justification for recommending  delaying removal of the sheds;  a petition/poll in support of a one year delay signed by 310 persons.  Vice Mayor Storey, Council Members Hill, Ruslin and Yuill were present.  Eight  presentations were made by Citizens in support of the request for a delay.  Vice Mayor Storey brought up an additional concern.  Rather than referring the issues to the Citizens’ Redevelopment Advisory Committee or City Staff for consideration and  guidance, the request for a delay was denied on the spot and direction given to proceed immediately per the plan to remove the Sheds.

Unbelievably, we are clearly on the path to losing the only surviving structures representing the very essence of our community’s heritage – sacrificed by rigid adherence to scrape and wait planning of the past.   Led by our City, that by California Law is charged with stewardship of our heritage, we will be destroying what is arguably Rocklin’s  most valuable cultural asset.

I am convinced that the City of Rocklin and the Community at large can pull together, as we have in the past, and, somehow avoid this tragedy.  

Gene Johnson

Chairman, Rocklin Historical Society Big Gun Committee

Tel 916-624-2378

e-mail marg.n.gene.rocklin@starstream.net

What you can do to help:

Attend the City Council Meeting Tonight (Tuesday 9/27) at 6pm in the Council Chambers and show your support for Saving Our Sheds.

The Historical Society will be making a presentation to the Council at the meeting and needs a large showing of support.  If you cannot attend, share this with those who can.

Heritage Trail Days This Saturday and Sunday

The Placer Herald did a great feature on us for our Heritage Trail event this weekend. Come one, come all!  Details are in the article below:

Century-old home houses Rocklin's history, memories

Visit Rocklin History Museum during Heritage Trail

Gloria Beverage, Placer Herald Editor

Rocklin History Museum/Special to the Placer Herald Since opening the Rocklin History Museum in 2002, thousands of photos and newspaper articles have been donated to the museum’s archives, including this 1907 photo of Front Street donated by Ione Grindell Frederick.

Rocklin’s History Museum will be open for touring during this weekend’s Heritage Trail event, which features 18 museums from Roseville to North Lake Tahoe.

The museum is headquartered in a house built around 1905 at the corner of Rocklin Road and San Francisco Street. For many years, it was the residence and office of Dr. Henry D. Fletcher, the Southern
Pacific Railroad’s district surgeon.

A portion of the museum display areas are housed in what used to be the doctor’s waiting room and examination areas.

Rocklin business owner C.A. Moon purchased the house in 1936. While he and his family lived in the house, Moon used the basement as a storage area for his grocery business, which was located in the granite building (Rocklin’s city hall) on Rocklin Road.

Members of the Rocklin Historical Society began planning for a museum in 1988, finally realizing their dream of a location to showcase the city’s history in late 2000.

Through the efforts of the Historical Society’s membership and several Scout troops, the 1,000-square-foot residence (along with the 500-square-foot basement) and the gardens were renovated and opened to the public in 2002.
Longtime volunteer Jean Day reports the museum collection includes more than 30,000 items that offer a glimpse of the early days in Rocklin’s history.

A good portion of the displays focus on Rocklin’s granite quarries. In fact, the first two stories of the California Capitol building and several locations in San Francisco feature granite mined from Rocklin’s quarries. A slab of Rocklin granite has been used for the countertop in the kitchen, added Day.

In addition to a sizeable collection of historic photos in the archives, the museum’s collection includes a 1900-era stove, a coffee grinder, a butter maker and an old telephone as well as tools and equipment used at the quarries.
According to Roy Ruhkala, one of the founders of the Historical Society, the oldest item in the museum is a drilling machine dating back to the 1870s.

Another exhibit tracks the history and culture of the Native Americans, including the Nisenan, who lived throughout this area.

One of the newer displays pays tribute to the San Francisco 49ers, who set up their summer training camp at Sierra College from 1981 through 1997.

“They won 73 percent of their games during those years, including 16 National Football League playoff games and five Super Bowls,” writes Quarry Quarterly newsletter editor Gary Day. “Their Rocklin years brought them from obscurity to greatness and they have returned to obscurity since leaving.”

During this weekend’s Heritage Trail event, docents will be on hand to share stories about Rocklin’s history. Ruhkala is scheduled to demonstrate granite cutting at 10 a.m. on Sunday. A video of Ruhkala working with granite will be shown throughout the weekend.

In addition to operating the museum, Historical Society members open the Old St. Mary’s Chapel for viewing during the Front Street Friday Festivals through October.

Thanks to their efforts, the chapel was saved from demolition in 2005, moved to its present location and restored to pristine condition. It is now available for weddings, memorials and other public events.
Plans are underway to restore Rocklin’s Front Street corridor and the Big Gun Quarry, the largest quarry owned and operated by the Ruhkala family’s Union Granite Company.
The society is hoping to save some of the granite processing artifacts on the rim of the 90-foot deep quarry pit.
________
Heritage Trail Day At Rocklin History Museum
When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday
Where: At corner of San Francisco and Rocklin Road
Featuring Roy Ruhkala demonstration of granite cutting at 10 a.m. on Sunday
Admission: free

The July Quarry Quarterly is Out!

Attention all members: check your mailboxes for the July issue of the Quarry Quarterly.

The six page, all-color issue is rich with content, and will be posted on the Rocklin Historical Society's website shortly.  If you aren't a member and would like to know what the fuss is about, I will be posting articles from the Quarterly on the blog this week.  

President's Message

by Skip Gebel, RHS President

Welcome!  Now that summertime is here and because our next general meeting will be in September I thought that it would be a good time to highlight our accomplishments thus far.  Membership continues to grow; we're now at 139 people.  That's the highest number to date.  New volunteer docents have been trained and they've begun their duties at the History Museum.  Our website content continues to grow, attracting inquiries from more local residents as well as people throughout Northern California.  

The Children's Tile Project was completed in May by Brent Clark, a Rocklin Boy Scout.  Completion of this community service project enabled his advancement to the rank of Eagle Scout.  It's the highest position in the Boy Scouts organization.  The tile panels were installed on the grounds of the History Museum.  After the replica of Firehouse Number 1 is built in Heritage Park they'll be moved to and permanently installed there.

A committee was recently established to assist the City with its plans to develop the Big Gun Quarry.  The plans include an area within the existing property to construct an interpretive center.  The center will house relevant and useful artifacts gathered from the site so that the story of Rocklin's granite rock quarrying industry can be accurately told.  Committee members have recently been on-site, identifying those items so that they can be set aside and moved to the newly built structure.

The Rocklin Chamber of Commerce has recently completed a "Welcome to Rocklin" DVD.  It includes a brief introduction by me and a short segment by Roy Ruhkala talking about our granite quarry heritage.  We'll show it at one of our upcoming meetings.  Thanks to everyone for all your efforts and contributions for our success thus far.

Have a great time this summer and see you at the pot luck dinner in September.

More articles will be featured in the coming days.  To get a Quarry Quarterly delivered to your home, become a member of the Rocklin Historical Society!  The cost is only $20 per household.

Big Gun Quarry Slide Show Now Available!

For those of you unable to make the May 16th meeting at Old St. Mary's Chapel, Gene Johnson's slide show presentation of Big Gun Granite Quarry: Past, Present, Future is now available to view online!

To view the slides, simply click here.

In other news, Rocklin Historical Society now has a Twitter page.  Click here to follow us today!

Fountain Dedication at Old St. Mary's Celebrates Rocklin Third Graders

Rocklin Third Graders sit by the newly dedicated spinning ball fountain at Old St. Mary's Chapel which they donated though neighborhood fundraising.  Photo Courtesy Ronna Davis.

ROCKLIN, April 28, 2011- The Rocklin Historical Society welcomed 78 third graders from Valley View Elementary School to Old St. Mary’s Chapel for the dedication ceremony of the chapel courtyard’s spinning ball fountain.  The funds for the fountain were raised by third graders from the Rocklin Unified School District over a period of three years via neighborhood coin drives spearheaded by Valley View third grade teacher, Nancy Lohse.

“The schools sent the coins to Valley View and we counted them - a feat in itself!” said Lohse.  She further explained that transporting the coins with the help of the Rocklin Historical Society was quite the sight, “there was always a big spill on the way to the parking lot!”

2011 RHS essay contest winner Emma Navarre unveils the plaque at the dedication ceremony.
Photo courtesy Ronna Davis.

At the ceremony, a plaque for the fountain was unveiled by Emma Navarre, the winner of the 2011 RHS essay contest.  Emma’s essay detailed her class trip to historical sites around Rocklin. 

“My favorite area was St. Mary’s Church that my teacher Mrs. Lohse helped move to its new location,” Navarre wrote in her essay. “The church was amazing.  My class got to ring the big, shiny bell.”  The essay also discussed what the class learned at the Rocklin History Museum:  “When ladies did not want their gloves to shrink, they put them on wet!”

Members of the Rocklin Historical Society discovered at the ceremony that the museum trip had a lasting positive effect on many of the third graders as well when a young artist presented a picture she painted of Old St. Mary’s.

Young artist with her rendition of
Old St. Mary's Chapel.
Courtesy of Ronna Davis.

“When the class came to the chapel on their tour a few weeks back, I showed them photos, including the water color painting that Geri Wittbrod had given the Historical Society,” stated Rocklin Museum docent, Ronna Davis.  “I said, ‘You could do something like this’ and lo and behold, one little girl showed up Thursday with a nice painting of the chapel! “ 

Nancy Lohse was recognized for her years-long leadership in the fountain fund raising drive with an award presented at the Rocklin Historical Society Recognition and Installation Dinner held in January.  Lohse and the third graders of the Rocklin Unified School District have left a wonderful legacy for the Historical Society; the fountain is a delight to all who view it and will continue to be enjoyed by visitors for years to come.

Children enjoy fountain while Lohse (in yellow)
pauses for a picture with Emma Navarre.
Photo courtesy of Ronna Davis.

Read Excerpts from Emma's Essay:

"Rocklin history is terrific.  The city of Rocklin is a amazingly important area.  Let me tell you outrageous Rocklin history that rocks!

Just days ago my class went on a Rocklin history field trip where we learned all about Rocklin history.  First off my class went to Joel Parker Whitney's tomb.  We all admired the granite beauty!  A cool fact is that the rock plaque was donated by Rocklin's third graders.

Next we hopped on the bus and went to the brick house where Joel Parker Whitney's house used to be, but sadly they tore the amazing sight down!

...then we all traveled down to see the doors of Joel Parker Whitney's house at the Sunset Whitney Country Club.  Those are some terrific doors!

I love Rocklin.  Hopefully you can explore Rocklin history someday!"

Monthly Meeting and Ice Cream Social May 16th!

Get ready, the last monthly meeting before our summer break is upon us and we saved the best for last!  


Join the Rocklin Historical Society 7pm Monday May 16th at Old St. Mary's Chapel for a fantastic meeting followed immediately by our traditional ice cream social.  Bring your friends and neighbors: all are welcome.


The presentation will feature Mr. Fix-it himself: Rocklin Historical Society's Gene Johnson!  Gene will be providing a Power Point presentation all about Rocklin's largest and most productive quarry titled, "Big Gun Quarry: Past, Present and Future."


About the Speaker:

Gene’s grandfather, Anders Wickman, immigrated from Finland to Rocklin in 1890.  Anders became a granite quarry owner,  councilman and mayor.  Gene’s father, Ray Johnson, operated Spring View Dairy on property now known as Johnson-Springview Park.  Ray also served as councilman and mayor.  Gene’s mother, Florence, served as a member of the Rocklin School Board.

Gene attended Rocklin Elementary School, Roseville High, Sacramento Junior College, and UC Berkeley.  After a career in Aerospace and Semiconductor Manufacturing Engineering, Gene retired to Rocklin in 1996 with his wife, Marg.  Gene and Marg were married in 1964, they now live in the family farmhouse at the corner of Rocklin Road and 5^th St.  Both are active in the historical society–Marg as a museum docent and  Gene as Mr. Fix-it. 

A little background for the presentation:

The Big Gun Quarry, as it is now known, was also called the Capitol Quarry in the 1860’s when Rocklin granite was used to build the State Capitol in Sacramento. During the 1970’s, the quarry, which is right behind the city administration building that houses the council chambers, processed 6,000 tons of Bear River Quartz used to build the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. The large rock crusher used for the quartz still resides on the property.

Ice Cream Social!

After the meeting, we will be holding our annual ice cream social to welcome the summer, come on out and enjoy!

Regards,

Danielle Loebs

External Publicity






(Gene Johnson pictured above sitting in Old St. Mary's Chapel courtesy of Ronna Davis.  Ice Cream photo courtesy of google images.)

Team up to Clean up

Rocklin Historical Society, Rocklin Kiwanis and Scout Troop 349 Pitch in for April 30th Day of Service

Eagle Scout candidate Mitchell Ryan’s crew helped the Rocklin Historical Society move tons of granite rock to clean up  Heritage Park on Front Street in Rocklin on Saturday, April 30th.  Nearby resident Mike Clark, owner of M.S. Clark Roofing and Bucks Barbeques, brought heavy equipment to move the largest rocks.  Two containers of debris were removed – the remaining rock will be stored near the back edge of the Park for future use.  Members of the  Kiwanis Club of Rocklin coordinated the project with Ryan, who is a member of Scout Troop 349.




(Photo courtesy of Kathy Ryan, and includes Mitchell Ryan, Mitchell Lopez, Duncan Lopez, William Dowden, Wyatt Dolan, Nathan Dolan, and Mike Clark.)