About Davis, CA

The inhabitants that lived next to the Putah Creek was tribe of the indigenous Patwin people known as the Puttoy, long before any white pioneers arrived. In 1832, these people were numerous and healthy. However, in 1833, their population was practically decimated primarily as the result of an epidemic. It has been speculated that this epidemic might have been a type of malaria that was introduced to the region by the trappers from the Hudson’s Bay Company, who were among the first white pioneers to completely explore the region.

Previously the home of a group of Patwin Indians, the immediate Davis region has an abundance of wildlife and plants that sustain both the human and animal inhabitants, Prior to the first pioneer agriculturalists, trappers, and hunters brought some significant changes. During the early 1850’s, the cultivation of the fertile plains in the West Sacramento Valley, along with the production of livestock were profitable enterprises, and numerous European immigrants as well as Americans, wanted title to a part the unconfirmed land grant upon which the majority of the University of California and the community of Davis are located.

Some of the early pioneers who were prominent in the area included Jerome and Mary Davis. They were the daughter-in-law and son-in-law of Joseph Chiles, who, in 1849, startled cattle business in the region. By 1858, the holdings of the Davis family were expanded and included some 12,000 acres. However, the Civil War, inadequate transportation facilities, high interest rates, disease, drought, and floods resulted financial hardships for the ranchers in California. The Davis family relocated to Sacramento, in 1868 after they had sold some 7,000 acres of the Davis ranch for $80,000 to developers of the California Pacific Railroad.

In 1868, the official plat for the settlement that Putah Creek and, covered a 32-block area that faced Putah Creek, was recorded. The population of what was known at the time as Davisville was 400 people in 1870. Property was donated for a churches and a schoolhouse, trees next to the streets were planted. Until the subsequent extension of the railroad that decreased the local volume of trade, a boomtown of prosperity existed. During the latter 1800’s the economy of the community as primarily related to the development of agricultural in the surrounding region.

The year 1917 brought the incorporation of Davis as a city. The form of government was a commission. Some of the most urgent civic improvements that were badly needed, included street paving, sidewalks, sewers, and fire protection. A mayor/council type of government was adopted in1928. The first administrator for the community was appointed in 1950, and the position of city manager was established in 1965. In 1925, a planning commission was organized, and, the first General Plan of the community was adopted in 1927.

In 1933 the University Farm was established, which is an institution of a four-year degree program. This resulted in explosive expansion for both the community as well as for the campus. In addition, there was the initiation of the first development plans for the long term. In 1949, the additions of the School of Veterinary Medicine and, the College of Letters and Science in 1951, were impetus for further development and growth, which was augmented when the UC Regents established that Davis would become a general campus for the University of California in 1959, which, embraced all major academic disciplines. Then, in 1962. the College of Engineering was established in 1962, and, in 1964, the School of Law was established, and, in 1968, the School of Medicine was established, and, in 1973, the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento was established. Davis is currently the largest of ten campuses at UC, with some 5,300 acres.