Fairfield, California (Images of America Series)

Now a fast-growing city of over 100,000, Fairfield was once the home of the Patwin Suisuni Indians, whose famous Chief Solano became one of the few native landowners in California in the 1830s. Halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento on the route to the gold fields, the town was founded by clipper ship captain Robert Waterman. A shrewd trader, Waterman offered the new Solano County government free land and cash to relocate to his new city, making it the county seat. Soon the railroad, and later the state highway, chose a route through Fairfield, creating an urban center for the beautiful agricultural valleys that surround it.

Journalist, scholar, and former curator of the Vacaville Museum, Sabine Goerke-Shrode adds her insightful commentary to the photographic treasures of the Vacaville Heritage Council and the Vacaville Museum in this delightful journey into the history of Fairfield and its short-lived satellite community, Cement City. She has many writing credits, including her bimonthly history column, "Solano--the Way It Was," in Vacaville's Reporter.