About Rancho Cordova, CA

Rancho Cordova California is part of the Sacramento Metropolitan Area. The community is located in the County of Sacramento. In 2003, Rancho Cordova was incorporated. According to the census that taken in 2010, the population of Rancho Cordova was 65,776 people. In the Sacramento area, Rancho Cordova is the largest employment sub-center, in the region, and attracts more than 50,000 commuters.

Initially, the settlement was known as Hang Town and Mayhew’s Crossing in the days of the gold rush. The name of the settlement known as Hang Town was renamed to Mills Station and Mayhew’s Station around 1900. The settlement itself was named after the Cordova Vineyard. The initial names of the settlement were Cordoba Village and Cordova Vineyards, prior to it being named Rancho Cordova when, in 1955, when a post office was opened in the community. For Several years, Rancho Cordova was the community simply known as the Mills, which was located in the easternmost portion of Brighton Township. As early as 1893, it was known as Mills reportedly as the result of the fact that the old grist mills were next to the river.

As the prospectors left Sacramento to search for gold in the foothills, way stations were established next to the first dirt trails, and sometime later more formal roads, that ran to the east. Stations, hotels, and commercial establishments, were developed at one mile intervals next to the route. Several of these stations eventually became the US Post Office for the area and many of these early settlers served as postmistress or postmaster.

The Coloma Road ran north next to river that runs to Coloma and the mines in the north, rather close to its current location. The southern road went to the southern mines and White Rock. The region was originally called Hang Town Crossing. There were also way stations next to the Coloma Road. The early settlement of the Mills region had a two story inn owned by a man named Louis Lepetit in 1852. Four lines of stagecoach ran through the area, and then split, with two following the river that runs to Coloma and two going in a southeasterly direction to Placerville. the river to Coloma. In the 1880’s a fire destroyed the inn, and Mr. Lepetit had to rebuild.

A strong community of orchards and vineyards had grown up from the 1850’s throughout the 1880’s. A man named John Studarus was one of the early pioneers. He had 13 children. The eldest, named Charles, took care of the family farms. John Jr., who was the second eldest, bought some five acres of property at Hang Town Crossing, close to Mr. Lepetit’s location. He also constructed a hotel. He also constructed the current Mills Station in 1911. It was a grocery store, a tavern and a general commercial building. In the late 1970’s, Mr. Studarus passes away and his wife Hellen passed away in 1882. Mr. Studarus also helped his father run the store, selling gasoline, hardware, and groceries. The County formed a branch of the free library before the war, which local residents also remember.

A couple named Mr. and Mrs. Lerch purchased Mills Station in 1949. In 1950, their daughter, named Mrs. Doris Lauridson, held her wedding reception on the second floor of the ballroom. The gas station, library, and general store, all continue to serve the community. Numerous young were returning home after WW II and wanted to find a place to raise their families, buy a home find, employment, and settle down. Two men named Glenn Ahlstrom and Roland Federspiel formed a partnership to build homes on land that had formerly been vineyards.

From 1961 through 1978, attempts were made to incorporate Rancho Cordova. The effort in 1978 remained alive for the next 20 years. Finally, the year 2002 brought the incorporation of Rancho Cordova.