California Nursery Company Historical Park (Fremont, California)

 park, plant nursery, historic landmark

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The nursery was established in 1865 by John Rock and was originally located at Wayne Station in San Jose before it was relocated here, on what was originally the Jose de Jesus Vallejo Ranchero, which was part of the Rancho Arroyo de la Alameda, in 1884. The property originally occupied a square mile of land, extending west to Rock Avenue and south to the railroad line. The California Nursery Historical Park is significant because of its role in growing and popularizing the use of palms in California and for having provided all of the palms for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, as well as trees for the 1939 World Exposition on Treasure Island.

George C. Roeding Sr., of the very successful Francher Creek Nursery in Fresno, purchased the California Nursery Company in 1917 to create one of the largest chains of nurseries on the West Coast - from Washington State to South America. His son, George C. Roeding Jr. took over at the beginning of the depression and expanded the nursery into a successful retail and mail order business.

After 1972, the former nursery grounds became a city park featuring the Vallejo Adobe, with the retail/wholesale yards being leased out over the years to various nurseries. The Roeding Family continues to operate the California Nursery Co. as a retail mail order business, but does not have any retail sales yards.

www.fremontica.net/CNCo
www.fremont.gov/325/Historic-Parks-Facilities
www.tricityvoice.com/articlefiledisplay.php?issue=2013-...