Year: 1874

Railroad builders discovered the Sc


cret of making land valuable some


years ago, and they have populated


vast tracts which, without theirassist-
ance, would have remained an unin-


habited region for the next half cen


tury. The upper portion of the San


Joaquin valley is now a fair illustra-


ton of.what they are able to do. When


the alternate sections were donated to


the railroad the land was wild and


valueless except for pasturage. Tim


ber was scarce and the expense ofhaul-


ing lumber sufficient to build a small


house in some parts of Fresno county


was so great that few men cared to


incur it. Fencing was out of the
question. Nor was this the only diff
ficulty to be encountered. The dis
tance to market was so great that
| though the soil was of the richest and
and most productive, the expense of
transporting grain to a market was so
great as to destroy all prospects of a
profit to the producer. Hence no one
thought of growing more grain than
required for home consumption. In
consequence the land was considered
comparatively worthless, no one en-
We'd the railroad company the posses
sion of the alternate sections. But
Messrs. STANFORD & Co. knew how to
make their land valuable. They built
railroad through the valley and thus
enabled the farmer to obtain lumber
at cheap rates and in large quantities.
| The road also afforded him cheap
and rapid transportation of his farm
| products to market. Land advanced
rapidly in value and in short time
the company's alternate sections were
sought for at five, ten and
twenty dollars per acre. Some
shrewd gentleman saw that the rail
road plan of making land valuable
might be used in settling up many
large tracts which the farm purchaser
could not reach. The plan was tried
on the Lompoc grant, with what sue
cess we all know. A company pur-
chases a large tract of land, which
they wished to sell offin farms, but it is
far away from school facilities and
town advantages, and men of families
seeking homes are slow about pur-
chasing. These difficulties must be
met and overcome. The company see
the Importance of providing schools
and building n town. They mark out
a mile square in the centre of the
tract, and this they divide into town
lots, reserving public squares, loca-
tions for school and society buildings.
| The lots are sold and a certain per
cent. of the proceeds is an endowment
for college. Around the town site
another section is sold off in lots of
one or more acres for gardens and
suburban homes. A percentage of
this is set apart to det'ray the expense
of erecting the college building. Then
the remainder of the tract is sold off
. - - '..sHfa II the land iS sold an the
installment plan, aud the result is the
funds for a college building are raised
and an- endowment is secured sufli-
cient 10 keep the school going and the
nucleus for the town is formed at the
same time hundreds of farms are
made and thousands OF people furnish
ed with homes. This is the plan on
which the Lompoc tract passed into
the hands of the people and this is the
| plan on which the Centinela Company
propose to dispose of q large area o1
land lying between this city and tho
ocean. o''.H4 4" @i.t'at 4