Page "Walnut Grove, California" Paragraph 12

Established in 1850 by John W. Sharp, Walnut Grove is one of the earliest settlements along the Sacramento River.

Sharp journeyed west from Ohio with his young family and chose the site of Walnut Grove because of the abundant walnut and oak forests in the area.

The town quickly prospered as an agricultural center and riverboat stop ( the forests were timbered for steamboat firewood ) and a major shipping port by 1865 for agricultural produce, and fish, with the Bartlett Pear as its primary product.

By 1870, it was a thriving town full of small businesses ( many owned by the Sharp family ), a school, post office, and Union Guard Armory.