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2007 STROLL THROUGH HISTORY GUIDED WALKING TOURS

SOUTHSIDE TOURS

EVOLUTION OF STYLE: WOODLAND: Part 1 (1870-1910) New Tour
Woodland has an impressive variety of historical houses spanning the period 1870 to 1950. Part one of this two-part stroll will focus on Woodland's architecture from the Victorian period, starting in 1870, to the advent of modern architecture, influenced by the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright, circa 1910. The history of the families who built these wonderful homes will also be highlighted. Architectural styles to be examined include Gothic Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Shingle, Renaissance Revival, and Prairie.

8:30 AM Tour starts at S/W corner of First & Lincoln Streets
Docents: David Wilkinson & Roger Klemm

EVOLUTION OF STYLE: WOODLAND: Part 2 (1910-1950) New Tour
Part 2 of the Evolution of Style stroll will begin with the Craftsman period (c1910), move through the revival styles of the 1920s, including Tudor and Mission Revival, and conclude with gracious Ranch and International style homes from 30s, 40s, and 50s, from classic neighborhoods that have never been featured on the Stroll.

10:30 AM Tour starts at N/W corner of College & Pendegast Streets
Docents: David Wilkinson & Roger Klemm

WOODLAND'S PAINTED LADIES New Tour
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.

10:00 AM Tour Starts at N/W corner of First & Lincoln Streets
Docent: Don Easton

VICTORIAN CRAFTSMANSHIP: THE STORY BEHIND THE GINGERBREAD New Tour
Most everyone loves Victorian architecture, drawn to the imaginative application of brackets, friezes, spindles, finials, shingles, rosettes, sunbursts and other "gingerbread" that comprise these "wedding cake" style houses. James Sibley opened the steam-powered Yolo Planing Mill in Woodland in 1869 and before long he and several other local craftsmen were churning out the redwood gingerbread for the Victorian homes we see today. Join preservation architect, Roger Klemm, for a lively stroll as he discusses the technology, ingenuity, and craftsmanship behind this dazzling architecture from a bi-gone era of homebuilding.
1:30 PM Tour Starts in front of Gable Mansion at First and Cross streets
Docent: Roger Klemm

CITY PARK New Tour
Starting on Lincoln Avenue, Strollers will take a short loop around the Victorian section of Walnut Street and learn about one of the town's early luminaries, A.D. Porter, before heading south past an eclectic collection of restored vintage homes from many styles leading to City Park. Circle the neighborhoods surrounding City Park, the community's first public park, and marvel at the giant ancient Valley Oak trees that have been preserved in the park sanctuary and provide glorious shade on a warm day.

11 AM Tour starts at N/E corner of Walnut & Lincoln Streets
Docent: Ron Pinegar

ELM STREET & DINGLE SCHOOL New Tour
This "educational" tour winds its way up Elm Street past Victorians 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, while at the end of the tour charming Tudor and rambling Ranch style houses await strollers.

10 AM Tour starts at N/W corner of Elm & Lincoln streets Docent: Chris Campbell

THE VICTORIAN & CRAFTSMAN AGE
Stroll popular College Street to Pendegast and view classical Italianates and picturesque Queen Anne homes and also Woodland's first modernist home. Step forward in time along the Pendegast loop to the Craftsman era of fine homebuilding using natural materials. 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 & 1 PM Tour starts at S/E corner of Collage & Lincoln streets
Docents: Kellie Casas & Barbara Graham

FABULOUS FIRST STREET
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 exhibits a stunning collection of eclectic architecture spanning the period1860 to 1940, epitomizing Woodland's extraordinary social and architectural heritage.

9AM & 11AM Tour starts at Downtown Heritage Plaza
Docents: Christian Laughlin & Larry Parker

SECOND & THIRD STREET LOOP New Tour
Near the start of this leisurely tour strollers will see a lovely Arts & Crafts Gothic Revival Church designed by a Berkeley master architect and later on a rare Gothic Revival home. Scattered throughout this tour are terrific homes of many styles, shapes, and sizes, many from the 20s and 30s, including a classic Art Deco home nicknamed "the boathouse" and an incredible ancient Valley Oak tree with a bench providing shady respite on warm days.

1 PM Tour starts at S/E corner of Second & Lincoln streets
Docent: Kevin Bryan

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. This year, strollers will visit the site of the old Woodland Winery and many Chinese wash house locations. The Alley was where historic downtown Woodland began. 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. Strollers will also view the work of Sacramento sculptor Gary Dinnen. 13 whimsical ceramic cats are now installed along The Alley as part of the Woodland Art Center's D.C.A. Nine Lives Project. These strategically placed felines add to the many mysteries of the infamous Dead Cat Alley.

9:00 AM Tour Starts at Downtown Heritage Plaza
Docent: Dino Gay

DOWNTOWN WOODLAND RENOVATION TOUR New Tour
Founded in 1861, Woodland features a classic Main Street downtown, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Main Street evolved from its horse and buggy origins to a busy State Highway to its present-day period of pedestrian-oriented revitalization. In recent years several venerable historic buildings have been renovated for modern-day uses housing a variety of interesting shops and restaurants-with more to come. Downtown renovator extraordinaire, Tom Stallard, will lead strollers on an insider's look at several of the historic buildings he has creatively renovated and others along Main Street that are in various stages of rehabilitation and will soon be re-opened, contributing to Downtown Woodland's Renaissance.

10:30 AM Tour Starts at Downtown Heritage Plaza
Docent: Tom Stallard

HOLLYWOOD COMES TO WOODLAND
Lights, Camera, Action! Woodlanders have been enjoying motion pictures in downtown Woodland for almost a century. Many of the earliest movie theaters are now lost to memory, including the Elite, Dreamland, Air-Dome, and the Strand where people watched the "silent flickers" and dreamed their cares away. Larger, fancier theaters like the Grenada, National, Bill's, Porter, Yolo, and State theaters prospered in the golden era of the 30s-40s, some tragically wiped away by fires. Today, only the art deco State Theatre remains, minus its iconic neon tower, but miraculously still showing first-run films seventy years since its electric grand opening in 1937.This tour will re-trace the locations of all known downtown theaters and resurrect those by-gone days with historic photos, featuring the photography of Paul W. Hollingshead, movie ads, and descriptions of personalities who developed and operated the theaters. The tour will conclude at the State Theatre. Strollers are encouraged to share stories and memories of their experiences of downtown movie theaters

1:30 PM Tour starts at Downtown Heritage Plaza
Docents: David Wilkinson & Bill Hollingshead

NORTHSIDE TOURS

NORTH THIRD STREET
On the North Third Street tour strollers will see an impressive historic neighborhood in a state of transformation. While there are many classic homes of several styles that have been restored, there are also several Victorians in various stages of restoration by dedicated owners. The tour takes you to the gateway of Beamer's Woodland Park and along the way you will learn about the pioneer Beamer family and view an impressive Victorian Italianate home and garden originally belonging to one of the Beamers.

10:30 AM Tour starts at Downtown Heritage Plaza

BEAMER PARK
Shortly before World War I, the young UC Berkeley-educated developer, Hewitt Davenport, subdivided the old Beamer homestead and hired prominent landscape architect, Mark Daniels, to design an upscale, master planned enclave of Woodland with a gateway, fountain, round-about, public park-and pricey home lots. A private train was chartered from Sacramento to promote the grand opening of Beamer Park in June 1914. The complete build out of the Park took more than 40 years and, thus, a broad range of housing styles are represented constructed by several Woodland master builders, including William Fait and Joseph Motroni, whose works will be highlighted on this tour. Planned improvements to Beamer Park landscape will also be discussed.

12 PM Tour starts at Beamer Arches at Third & Beamer streets