The Dresbach-Hunt-Boyer mansion, one of the few remaining early mansions in downtown Davis, was built between 1871 and 1875 for William Dresbach, a Prussian immigrant to the area. Dresbach was the town's first postmaster and is credited with naming Davisville for Jerome Davis, although some accounts dispute this. Dresbach owned a livery, a hotel, a saloon, a general store and a grain warehouse. Eventually, however, Dresbach lost the home to bankruptcy in 1879, and the property went through two owners before being purchased by Frank Hunt in 1899. Hunt sold the property to his brother, John, sometime the same year. John Hunt, a widower, lived in the home with his three eldest children until his death in 1919. Following the death of John Hunt, his two daughters inherited the property, and the oldest Hunt daughter, Mary Hunt Boyer, lived in the home with her unmarried sister until Mary's death in 1973.&nbsp; The home narrowly escaped demolition in the years following Mary Boyer's death, and the home was leased to numerous businesses over the years. The city of Davis eventually bought the property, which includes a tank house and the remnants of an orange grove. Currently the home is used by the Yolo County Visitors Bureau and by the Parks and Community Service office of Davis. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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The Dresbach-Hunt-Boyer mansion was built in 1875 for William Dresbach, owner of many of the community's early businesses and the city's first postmaster. The home is significant not only for its long history in the city, but also for its architecture as the only remaining Stick style Italianate home in Davis. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is now home to a non-profit business incubator. 

Dresbach-Hunt-Boyer Mansion

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This tour begins at some of the historic Victorian homes of Davis before making its way to the downtown area. The tour includes historic buildings and theaters in addition to museums and markers related to the history of the community. 

Joshua and Mary Ann Tufts came to California from New York in 1849. They originally lived in both San Francisco and Sacramento, but eventually settled in Yolo County in 1850.&nbsp;At the time, the city then known as Davisville was a small but growing community.&nbsp; Shortly after to moving to Yolo County, Tufts began to invest in real estate and transportation projects. He also served as Justice of the Peace and Postmaster, and was active in community service and the Presbyterian Church.&nbsp; In 1888, Tufts retired and moved to Davis where he built the home on J Street in 1890. The home is considered one of the finest examples of Victorian architecture in the city. In 1962, the Longview School began operating in the Tufts home, but moved to a new location in 1971. The home was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Joshua Tufts was an early and prominent resident of the city then known as Davisville. The Tufts home was built in 1890, after Tufts became a successful businessman. Tufts lived in the home until his death in 1914. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Tufts House 

The Williams-Drummond home was built in 1876 for William S. Williams. Williams owned the home for four years and sold it to John Craig Drummond in 1880. Drummond came to the Sacramento area in 1849 along with his brother and worked for a number of years as a Blacksmith to save money for a home. In 1881, Drummond bought 700 acres to the southeast of Davisville, becoming one of the community's largest landowners and a successful farmer and horse trainer. Drummond purchased the home so that his four daughters could attend school in town.&nbsp; After Drummond and his wife Sarah died, ownership of the home passed to their three remaining daughters. One of the daughters, Lillian Drummond Hafner, purchased the home from her sisters and kept it for a number of years, although she did not live in the home. In subsequent years, the home passed through a variety of owners. At present, the home is owned by Rhonda Reed and Ken Gebhart, who have been restoring the property since they purchased it in 1980.

The Williams-Drummond home was built in 1876 for William S. Williams and was purchased in 1880 by John Craig Drummond. Drummond came to the area with his brother in 1849 as part of the gold rush. Drummond eventually became a prominent farmer in the area. The home remained in the Drummond family until the early twentieth century.

Williams-Drummond House 

The Southern Pacific Railroad Station was built in 1914, replacing the original structure which was built in 1868. The building is architecturally significant because it is the only Mission Revival &nbsp;structure in the city and one of the city's only historic buildings.&nbsp; The current building replaced an earlier terminal built in 1868 for the defunct California Pacific Railroad. Eventually, the California Pacific was acquired by the Central Pacific, which was later bought by the Southern Pacific. The building still bears the letters "SP" on its outer facade.&nbsp; The building is currently in use as an Amtrak station and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.&nbsp;

The railroad is integral to the development of Davis, as the town, then known as Davisville, began as a train station. It was built by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1868. The current building was built in 1914 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Southern Pacific Railroad Station 

The current Varsity Theatre was built in 1950. It was built in the Streamline Moderne style by architect William B. David, who designed several other theaters in the state. The interior of the theater was adorned with Art Deco-style murals of agricultural scenes. by San Francisco designer Gale Santocono.&nbsp; From its opening in 1950 to 1975, the theater operated with a single screen.From 1975 to 1990, movies were shown on twin screens, a decision that was made in response to declining numbers in the 1960s and 1970s.&nbsp; In 1992, the Varsity stopped showing films and from that time to 2006, it served as a community theater. The Varsity was purchased by the city of Davis and functioned primarily as a venue for live performances with occasional movies. In 2006, the Varsity underwent another transformation, this time to an art house cinema.

Though there has been a Varsity Theatre in Davis since 1921, but the current Varsity dates back to 1950. It was designed by William B. David, who designed several theaters in California. It functioned as a movie theater for most of the twentieth century, until the 1990s, when it was purchased by the city of Davis for use as a community theater. More recently, the Varsity has reopened as an art house cinema.

Varsity Theatre 

The H.J. Hamel home, a fusion of both Colonial Revival and Crafstman styles, was built in 1920. It was the home of Henry Jacob Hamel, his wife, Lida, and their children. Hamel was the son of a German immigrant, Hartman Henry Hamel, who came to the area in the mid-1800s and became a prominent early citizen. The elder Hamel owned a large ranch outside the community. Currently, the Hamel home is used as a real estate office by Coldwell Banker.

The Hamel home was built in 1920 by Henry Jacob Hamel and his wife, Lida. Hamel was the son of a German immigrant to the area, Henry Hartman Hamel, who became a prominent early citizen of Davisville. 

H.J. Hamel Home 

The U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame was founded in 1986 in Somerville NJ, which is&nbsp;home of the oldest bicycle race in the nation: The Tour of Somerville. Pop Kugler, the founder of the tour,&nbsp;&nbsp;was the very&nbsp;first inductee into the Hall of Fame.&nbsp;In 2008, The Hall of Fame searched for a new location that would be capable of honoring over 130 inductees and displaying its vast collection of historic artifacts that span&nbsp;over 100 years of American cycling history.&nbsp;After a nationwide competition, Davis, CA was selected as the new home for the Hall of Fame. Davis is known for it’s commitment to cycling and is recognized as a “Platinum” Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.The U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame occupies an 8,000 square foot building in &nbsp;in downtown Davis.&nbsp;The U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame preserves and expresses the rich history of American cycling that spans&nbsp;from the champions of the 1880’s to today’s best athletes.&nbsp;It also&nbsp;recognizes all varieties within the sport of cycling including road, track, cyclocross, BMX, and mountain biking. Inductees include legends such as Greg LeMond, Juliana Furtado, Nelson Vails, Frank Kramer, Cheri Elliott, Alf Goullet, and Connie Carpenter-Phinney. During the early 20th century, bicycle racing was a more popular spectator sport than&nbsp;baseball. Successful cyclists such as&nbsp;Frank Kramer and Major Taylor earned more than the highest paid baseball players of their day, like Ty Cobb. Six-day races ran around-the-clock to sold out crowds and head-to-head racing filled venues to their capacity in urban cities.&nbsp;The U.S. has been a major player in the cycling movement since the invention of the first&nbsp;bicycle — from the world’s first mountain bike races held in California to its present-day success on the Olympic stage. For more information about how cycling provided mobility for 19th century women, click on the link to an article about early feminist Frances Willard and cycling at the bottom of this entry.&nbsp;

The U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization dedicated to recognizing American competitive cyclists and contributors to the sport. The Hall of Fame includes numerous exhibits that pay tribute to early cyclists and the importance of cycling to early Americans. The museum preserve the history of American cycling and also seeks to promotes cycling as both a sport and fitness activity. Although there are several exhibits dedicated to the ways that women enjoyed greater mobility thanks to bicycles, the main emphasis of the organization is to preserve the history of those who have achieved success in racing or have enhanced the sport of cycling through innovation and coaching.

United States Bicycling Hall of Fame

In 1908, the University of California at Berkeley established a satellite campus known as the University Farm on the land that had once been the Davis Homestead. The campus grew from its original 18 students&nbsp;and soon offered courses in liberal arts in addition to agricultural science. A four-year degree program was established at the University Farm in 1922. The institution's growth was recognized by a name change in 1940, to the&nbsp;College of Agriculture at Davis. By&nbsp;1959, the institution was formally organized as the&nbsp;University of California at Davis-a name that&nbsp;reflected its supporters confidence that it would become&nbsp;one of the state's flagship schools.

This historical marker denotes the center of the farmstead of early settlers Jerome and Mary Chiles Davis. In 1845 and at the age of 23, Davis was part of John C. Frémont's third expedition that surveyed what would soon become the state of California. Davis married Mary Chiles, daughter of Joseph B. Chiles, who had settled in the territory in 1841. Chiles had a large land grant of twelve thousand acres, allowing his daughter and son-in-law to establish a prosperous homestead at this site. The Davis farm suffered reverses as a result of a devastating flood followed by severe drought, and the family sold the land in 1867. With the coming of the California Pacific Railroad, the land that had once been part of Chiles' grant and home to the Davis homestead became the town of Davisville. Reflecting the importance of agriculture to the area, and Jerome Davis's role as president of the California Agricultural Association, this land would later become the center of the University of California's agricultural satellite campus, known as the University Farm. The college's incoming class of eighteen students could hardly know that there humble institution would grow into its own degree-issuing institution in less than two decades, or that it would become one of the most prestigious colleges in the University of California system.  


History of Davis California Walking Tour

Dresbach-Hunt-Boyer Mansion

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information