Green Valley Road History Tour, Part 2

We continue our Green Valley Road history tour, Part 2. We are now on Malcolm-Dixon Road, which was the old route before the re-alignment of Green Valley Road. Just after turning onto Malcolm-Dixon Road, we come to the site of an old roadhouse named "New York." The New York House, located on the south side of the road near New York Creek, has quite the history.

The information for the New York House comes from Doug Noble's Green Valley Road history. The New York House, owned by Constantine Hicks, a carpenter from Vermont, had quite a reputation having been involved in a scandal concerning election fraud, as well as trying to claim "squatters rights" on 640 acres of surrounding land. He was defeated in part by the Central Pacific Railroad, which owned land intended for the transcontinental railroad, which eventually passed through Placer County to the north.

The story of Constantine Hicks gets brutal after this when his daughter eloped with a "hired hand." Hicks and friends overtook the man at the Rolling Hills house down the hill, horsewhipped him to death, then took the body back to the New York house and buried him on a hill across the road.

Live Oak School.

Continuing our journey, we come to the Live Oak School, which is still standing! The photograph at the top of the page shows the 1895-96 class with the teacher, Miss Donovan. L-R front row: Pete Leik, Annie Hughes(later Mrs. Louis Mettie), John Hughes, Frank Koffman, ___ Courtamarsh, &___Courtamarsh. 2nd row: Luke Avery, Maggie Hughes, Annie Leik, Lizzy Ricker, Lilly Orr, Cora Avery, Kitty Ricker, MamieGrace, and the teacher Miss Donavon.

The area around the schoolhouse has been approved for development by the county, with 2.2 acres around the school, as well as the building being preserved for history, while the rest will be developed.

The Green Valley Road History Tour

We now head up the old road where it will eventually lead us back to Green Valley Road, where we will turn left and head up the hill and the site of the Green Spring House, located on the south side (right side as your driving) of Green Valley Road, on a old alignment of the road. The Green Springs House was built by Rufus Hitchcock, who would run the place until 1851 when he died of smallpox. William Dormody ran it until he died in 1876 when his widow Sarah F. Dormody took it over. According to history, it was a favorite place to hold weddings.

Take Green-Valley Road towards Rescue, and our next stop on our tour, Deer Valley Road. We will discuss that in part 3 of our Green Valley Road history tour.

Tour map found here.

Sam Kyburz house, Clarksville

Pictured above is the old home of Sam Kyburz, located in Clarksville. Kyburz arrived in California from Wisconsin in 1846, just a couple of years before the gold discovery at Coloma. Kyburz was originally from Switzerland, and soon became friends with fellow Swiss emigre, John Sutter of Sutters Fort, in what would later be known as, Sacramento. Sam soon became Sutter’s foreman and may even have told Sutter that Coloma would be a great place to put a sawmill.

Kyburz operated the inn at Sutters Fort during the 1850s but fled to the nearby foothills when the disastrous floods of 1861-62 inundated Sacramento. Sam and his wife Rebecca found work at the White Rock Inn, just east of Clarksville. Either Sutter gave Kyburz 160 acres of land nearby, or he purchased it outright, the facts are not clear.

It was one of Sam’s sons, Albert, who purchased a resort along Silver Fork, east of Placerville. In his family’s honor, he gave the post office the name Kyburz.

The home pictured was built for the family by a Mr. Ball in 1868. This Mr. Ball would later marry their daughter. Samual Kyburz, Sr. was a charter member of the Clarksville Grange, one of the first Native Sons of the Golden West, a Territorial Pioneer’s of ‘49 and ‘50, and a Mason. Samuel Sr. died in 1898, and Rebecca died in 1903. Both Sam and Rebecca are buried in Folsom

10th Annual Clarksville Day’s, May 2, 2020

The annual Clarksville Days will be coming up on Saturday, May 2, 2020. Its an opportunity to visit this historic town, which lies behind locked gates. The Lincoln Highway Association and I will be there, helping to explain and show the famous old road that comes right through this historic town.

This year the focus will be on raising enough funds to repair the rock built Pony Express station that requires shoring up. The Clarksville Historical Society says,” securing the walls will be complicated and expensive, but it is considered one of the iconic remnants of the historic town. Please help us preserve this asset by donating, volunteering, and spreading the word about our efforts to protect what remains. We are seeking $30,000 in fundraising to make this happen! Please donate today.”

On the Lincoln Highway, headed down the Bass Lake Grade, towards Clarksville.

El Dorado Hills, as well as all history enthusiasts, have an opportunity to save and protect this iconic historic community in its back yard. Go here for more information about Clarksville and the Clarksville Days event.

Kentucky House, on the old Coloma-Folsom Road

The Austin T. Leachman "Kentucky House," located on the old Coloma-Folsom Road, was one of the first roadhouses one would encounter when traveling east from Sacramento County into El Dorado County. The Coloma-Folsom road is now known as Green Valley Road, and this roadhouse stood on the south side of the road at the junction with a path that led south to Clarksville in the present-day El Dorado Hills.

Leachman came to California by wagon train from Quincy, Illinois, in 1850 and 1859 married an Irish lady named Mary Sullivan, purchased the hotel and roadhouse then known as the "Red House," as well as 220 surrounding acres near present day's "Browns Ravine."

The Leachman House or "Kentucky House" called that as it was Leachman's birthplace, operated successfully as long as traffic in the form of stages and freighters came along the old Coloma-Folsom Road. The Kentuck House continued until 1869 when traffic started to slow along the old road.