Delta Towns-Walnut Grove & Locke
Corrugated sheetmetal building in Walnut Grove, California
Instead of turning right at Ryde we turned left on Highway 60 to the next bridge and crossed over the river into Walnut Grove. We parked the car and went for a wander around the small town.
(Click on the images for larger versions)
Walnut Grove is one of the earliest settlements along the Sacramento River. At the start of World War II, the town was racially segregated with whites living on the western bank of the river and Asians on the left bank. The eastern side was segregated further into a Japanese section and a Chinese section. Today it is a sleepy little town. The main street is Market Street which is divided into two sections, historic Chinese town at one end and a historic Japanese town at the other end.
We walked around the China town first but there were not many businesses left. On the corner of the street was an Mexican restaurant which was open but not at all busy. Further along was a building with an adobe front with two large round windows which were blacked out. The rest of the building was made out of corrugated sheetmetal. On the opposite side was a old building with Chinese Free Masons on the front. There was a buildings with fading pictures of underwater scenes painted by children and a building with a sign proclaiming it to be the Pump House. Then I realized it was a fitness center. Japan town was more interesting. The first building had a wood veranda and a sign which read All Sure. It was only when I checked the internet when I got home that found out it should read A.L.L. Sure. It is a construction company which began operating in 1922 and is still a going concern. But looking through the window is misleading. On one of the windows is a very interesting newspaper article, dated January 1996, on the history of Walnut Grove, Courtland and Locke. There are also old tools and bottles and an ancient train set. One of the bottles is a Mason’s Root Beer with a small American flag stuck inside. Further along is Ben’s Drugs, which is a large room with work benches inside. Goodness know what they do now, for in the window is a set of false teeth and an old aerosol can of Colgate shaving Cream. All the buildings look a bit ramshackle.
At the end of Market Street is A Street. Here it was mostly houses but in the middle on the right is a community garden. It is divided into about
Old firetruck in Walnut Grove
twenty small plots with a variety of vegetables and flowers being cultivated. At the back was a large cat sitting. Behind the garden, we could see the back of the houses on B Street and on the roof of an upstairs veranda a pair of pigeons were engrossed in a mating dance. Also on this street was the Walnut Grove Market.
I could see Tom making a beeline towards something. A rusty truck had caught his attention. It was an old fire truck and he busy taking photos. I continued wandering along Grove Street and started all the dogs barking. I wasn’t too worried as they were behind fences and their tails were wagging. On the corner of Grove and C Street I spotted a really old tree and heavily coppiced tree. Half of it looked dead but it spread out a long way and all the branches were supported by a weird collection of wooden and metal props. On another corner, this time C Street and Tyler is the Kabuki Gallery. In the garden to the side I passed the time of day with a lady sitting in the sunshine, enjoying the moment. Just after that, Tom caught up with me and we returned to the car.
Downtown Locke, California. One of our favorite little towns.
Our next stop along the way was Locke. Now this is one interesting place and if you visit nowhere else in the area, Locke is one place you just have to go to. It was built entirely by the Chinese. Back in 1915, when a disastrous fire in Walnut Grove destroyed most of China Town, Lee Bing came to an agreement with land owner, George Locke, to establish a settlement. Until recently, the residents of Locke owned the buildings but not the land. There are only three streets in Locke – Main Street, which is just a few yards down from River Road, Locke Road and Key Street. All the shops and businesses are on main street and all the houses are on the other two streets. Finding Locke is not difficult but easily missed. It is only half a mile north of Walnut Grove. Watch out for a large boathouse on the left hand side. There used to be two roads into Locke but they have been turned into one way streets.
We parked right outside the Chinese School, which is now a museum. All the buildings on Main Street are two stories and narrow and most of them have verandas over the sidewalk with balconies above. All the supports don’t look sturdy or straight enough to hold up the balconies and some of the buildings look very unstable. Most of the buildings are shops with several galleries and one famous bar. The bar is called Als Place but it has the politically incorrect name of Al the Wops. The building has been a bar since it was built in 1915 and Als Place since 1934.
March 26 2009 | Special Places | 4 Comments »
