Sloughhouse - It's Not All About the Corn

If you were to take Jackson Road-Highway 16 out of Sacramento, while traveling mostly east, but a tad south for a half hour or so, you would come upon the delightfully rural community of Sloughhouse.

Although the community is quiet and somewhat small, it does enjoy rich history.

As Sacramentans and other visitors to the area shuffle through Sloughhouse today, they often stop at the Davis Ranch Farmer's Market for ears of corn, which is prized among locals as being the best available. The area is a popular stopping off point for Sacramento County folks hoping for a pleasant drive up the highway further to Gold Rush Country. A few miles beyond Sloughhouse, you can take Highway 49 (the Gold Rush Highway), and travel on through Amador City, Sutter Creek, Jackson, and destinations beyond - making for a delightful day trip.

Sloughhouse is a verdant valley which acts as a floodplain for Deer Creek and the Cosumnes River. Prior to becoming known for its corn growing capacity, its land was mainly tended for the growth of hops. Traveling back in time a generation or so, would have you revisiting the area and finding trellises of hops growing up V shaped wires 20+ feet or so.

Early history records that on a summer evening in 1840, William Daylor, one of John Sutter's cooks became one of the first noted white men to visit the area. Daylor came upon the valley while conducting a search for some of the livestock belonging to his boss.

The area was found populated by Miwok Indians. Daylor later returned to the area with a friend, Jared Dixon Sheldon, who in 1844 acquired a Mexican land grant of approximately 20,000 acres. Sheldon had a reputation for getting along with the Indians.

For more history on the area you can click on the following link: Sloughhouse History