History of Folsom

Folsom has a rich and wonderful history dating back to the 1800’s. Its first inhabitants were the Maidu Indians, hunters and gatherers who lived Indian grinding rockpeacefully along the American River. With the onset of the Gold Rush era, their population, land and native products began disappearing as miners and commercial growth settled in the area. In 1827, Jedidiah Strong Smith led a group of trappers through this area leading the way for other trappers to hunt and settle along the American River. In 1844, California Governor Manual Michaeltorena granted 35,000 acres of land along the American River known as “Rancho Rio de Los Americanos” to William Alexander Leidesdorff, a San Francisco trader. He became owner of the land on which Folsom sits today.

In 1849, Joseph Libby Folsom, a captain in the U.S. Army, arrived and purchased the land from Leidesdorff’s mother who owned the land after Leidesdorff passed in 1848. Upon his purchase, he hired Theodore Judah and two other engineers to survey the land near the mining camp of Negro Bar for a railway and township called Granite Bay. Folsom passed away in 1855, before he could see his land developed and before their first railway, The Sacramento Valley Railroad, was laid. In 1856, the Sacramento Valley Railroad completed its first train excursion from Sacramento to the new town of Folsom, renamed from “Granite City” in honor of Joseph Libby Folsom.

With the new railroad, Folsom became a major stop for stage and freight lines running throughout the Gold Country. Sutter Street became known for its merchants, hotels and commerce and soon became the terminus for the Pony Express from July 1860 to July 1861. The Folsom Telegraph Historic Folsom Powerhouse published its first issue in 1856, and continued to be the city’s leading newspaper. 

In the years following, Folsom saw continued development that brought the establishment of the Folsom Prison in 1880 as the second penitentiary in the state. The Folsom Powerhouse completed the first transmission of electricity from Folsom to Sacramento in 1895 and remained in operation until 1952.

Folsom has experienced tremendous growth in recent years and continues to be a city with community traditions, economic development, celebrations and abundant recreation.