Complete List Of Free Walking Tours
Free guided walking tours are small groups led by trained docents who are able to explain the stops on the tour and answer any questions. Wear comfortable shoes and bring your camera. Tours last approximately 60 - 90 minutes. All terrain is flat. All tours begin at Heritage Plaza at Main & 2nd streets unless otherwise *noted.
SOUTHSIDE TOURS
WOODLAND: THE FORMATIVE YEARS (1860-1890) New Tour
Carved out of an old growth oak forest, the small village of Yolo City became a town in 1861 when Frank Freeman secured a post office and his wife, Gertrude, named the town Woodland. Gradually, a commercial sector arose along Main Street and with the arrival of the railroad in 1869 Woodland developed rapidly into one of the wealthiest towns per capita in the United States by the 1880s. A few of Woodland’s earliest buildings from the 1860s remain and others are gone, but not forgotten. This tour will trace the rise of Woodland from its earliest days to its Victorian grandeur focusing on the architecture of the period. Photos and maps from the era will help us imagine Woodland in its formative years. Special attention will be paid to Victorian architecture in the neighborhoods near downtown, studying the basic elements, including doors, windows, columns, and porches.
8:30 AM Tour starts at Heritage Plaza
Docents: David Wilkinson & Roger Klemm
ELEGANT COLLEGE STREET VICTORIANS
Stroll elegant College Street to Pendegast and view classical Italianates and picturesque Queen Anne homes and also Woodland’s first modernist home. Many of these early Woodland landmark homes have been exuberantly restored and painted by their owners. Learn the history of Woodland pioneer families that settled this area, including the Pendegast family, Hesperian College and the first public high school.
9:30 AM Tour starts at S/E corner of Collage & Lincoln streets
Docent: Barbara Graham
W0ODLAND’S PAINTED LADIES
Have you noticed how Woodland’s Victorian neighborhoods have brightened up in recent years? Inspired by the colorist movement sparked by San Francisco’s “Painted Ladies”, several Woodland owners of these vintage homes have added multiple exterior paint colors to accentuate architectural detail. Woodland-based house painter, Don Easton, has painted several of these charming “Painted Ladies” in recent years, working closely with homeowners on selection of colors. He will lead a tour of several of these Victorians discussing exterior house colors and what’s involved in prepping and painting century-old houses. Learn special techniques used then and now to preserve the integrity of some of Woodland's architectural treasures.
10 AM Tour Starts at N/W corner of First & Lincoln streets
Docent: Don Easton
FABULOUS FIRST STREET’S ARCHITECTURAL TREASURES: PARTS 1 AND 2
Richly diverse with a wide array of Victorians, including the California State Landmark Gable Mansion and a Great American Home Awards Grand Prize Winner for restoration work, First Street also contains a stunning collection of eclectic architecture spanning the period1860 to 1940, epitomizing Woodland’s extraordinary social and architectural heritage. This tour will be divided into two parts to capture the grandeur and beauty of the entire street.
Part I--9 AM & 11:30 AM Tour starts at Downtown Heritage Plaza ending at Cross St.
Docents: Patrick Talbott & Larry Parker
Part 2—10:30 AM Tour starts at First and Cross streets in front of Gable Mansion ending near Marshall Street New Tour
ELM STREET & CRAFTSMAN BUNGALOWS New Tour
This “educational” tour, led by Woodland architect, Chris Campbell, winds its way down Elm Street with charming Victorians and bungalows to a very historic school site that began with Oak Street School in 1889 and continues today as Dingle School, originally built in 1924 as Woodland Grammar School. There is a colorful mural on the new multipurpose building. The Dingle neighborhood features many fine examples of Bungalows from the 1910-20 period, while at the end of the tour classic Craftsman Bungalows along Pendegast St. await strollers.
1 PM Tour starts at N/W corner of Elm & Lincoln streets
Docent: Chris Campbell
DOWNTOWN TOURS
DEAD CAT ALLEY
In 1873 Sam Ruland had the misfortune of being robbed on Dead Cat Alley. Even before that time, the infamous alley had already become one of Woodland’s most interesting landmarks. Today, most visitors are alarmed at the unusual name of the passage, but personal tales of "The Alley" bring its history to life. 2009 strollers will visit the site of the old Woodland Winery and many Chinese wash house locations. Strollers will also learn the history of the Catholic churches on Walnut Street. Historic downtown Woodland began on The Alley. Originally known as Yolo City, Woodland was born in 1853 when Henry Wycoff built a small store on the southeast corner of what is now First Street and Dead Cat Alley. Commercial buildings spread from that site to accommodate travelers and farmers. Woodland's original railroad crossed Dead Cat Alley where the Midtown Theater Building now stands and China Town flourished in the area behind Sears and Chicago Cafe. The work of Sacramento sculptor Gary Dinnen will also highlight the tour. 13 whimsical ceramic cats, at ten locations, are installed along The Alley as part of a Woodland Art Center public art project.
9:00 AM Tour Starts at Downtown Heritage Plaza
Docent: Dino Gay
THE STONES OF WOODLAND
In 1893 three elegant sandstone buildings designed in the latest architectural style were constructed on Main Street near Second to replace the rubble left in the wake of the 1892 fire. Each building’s front façade was built with a different color of sandstone supplied from three different California rock quarries, including one located in Yolo County. In 1903 a fourth sandstone building, the Yolo County Savings Bank, was developed at College and Main sculpted from Colusa sandstone from the Sites quarry, which was also the source for noted San Francisco stone landmarks such as the Ferry Building and the St. Francis Hotel at Union Square. This fascinating tour will explore the intersection of geology, nature, and architecture embodied in Woodland’s stone buildings. Learn about the rock quarries that supplied the stone for these Woodland treasures and sample stones recently retrieved from these quarries, as the history of these buildings are discussed. The story behind the Yolo County Courthouse and the Porter Building, constructed of architectural terra cotta, granite, and marble will also be featured as will some of Woodland’s brick buildings shaped from clay bricks supplied by Woodland’s own kilns.
11:30 AM Tour starts at Downtown Heritage Plaza
Docents: David Wilkinson and Peggy Perazzo
NORTHSIDE TOURS
BUNGALOW TOUR
While Woodland’s wealthy were building their mansions south of Main Street, the everyday folk were building a variety of vernacular cottages, smaller bungalows, and period revival houses to the north. This 12-block tour travels up First Street to Beamer Street and returns via Second Street, taking in a mix of classic, restored working-class homes along lovely shaded streets.
9:30 AM Tour starts at Downtown Heritage Plaza
Docent: John Hancock
NORTH THIRD STREET New Tour
[Tour Description Forthcoming]
10:30 AM Tour starts at Downtown Heritage Plaza
Docent: Meta Bunse