Birds Landing is a small, unincorporated community in Solano County, California. It is located on the western shore of the Sacramento River, about 5 miles south of Fairfield. Birds Landing was founded in 1859 and was originally named Endicott. It was renamed Birds Landing in 1876 after two brothers, Horatio and Frank Bird, who operated a landing along the river where steamboats stopped to load and unload passengers and freight. For many years, Birds Landing was an important shipping point for agricultural products from the surrounding area. The town’s population peaked around the turn of the 20th century but later declined as river transportation was replaced by railroads and highways. Today, Birds Landing remains a quiet agricultural community with deep historical roots along the Sacramento River.
Early History and Founding
The area around Birds Landing was originally inhabited by the Patwin, a Native American people of the Wintuan language group. The Patwin lived in the valleys along the Sacramento and Napa Rivers and their tributaries, fishing salmon and gathering acorns as their main food sources.
In 1848, the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill near Coloma sparked the California Gold Rush and brought an influx of settlers to the region in search of fortune. One of these early settlers was Nathaniel Wyckoff Endicott, a California pioneer from Massachusetts who received a Mexican land grant of 17,763 acres along the Sacramento River in 1852. Endicott established a ranch on his land and began shipping agricultural products from the location that would later become Birds Landing.
In 1859, Endicott surveyed and laid out a townsite on his land, naming it Endicott in his own honor. The new town was strategically located along the Sacramento River and near the terminus of the Sacramento Valley Railroad, linking Endicott to the markets in Sacramento and San Francisco. A wharf was constructed along the riverbank, allowing steamboats to dock and load the produce, grains, and wool raised on nearby farms and ranches. A general store, hotel, warehouses, and a number of homes soon sprung up to serve the growing river port town.
Early Growth as a River Port
During the 1860s, Endicott blossomed into a thriving shipping point for agricultural goods moving to market along the Sacramento River. In 1861, a post office was established in the town, further cementing its status as an important river community. The river also enabled easier travel to Endicott, bringing settlers, workers, and merchants.
Much of the wheat, barley, corn, potatoes, pears, grapes, and wool produced in Solano County passed through Endicott’s port on the way to Sacramento and San Francisco. Several warehouses were built along the river to store goods awaiting transport on the steamboats. During harvest times, long lines of horse-drawn wagons waited to unload sacks of grain and other produce onto the docks. At its height in the 1860s, Endicott had a population estimated between 200-300 residents.
The town continued to prosper in the 1870s and became an incorporated city in 1874. Improvements like wooden sidewalks and rudimentary street grading made Endicott more livable as it grew. Agriculture and shipping remained the twin pillars of the local economy through the end of the decade.
Birds Landing Name Adopted
In 1876, the town of Endicott was renamed Birds Landing in honor of two of its prominent businessmen and landowners – brothers Horatio S. Bird and Francis “Frank” Bird. The Birds had purchased property along the Sacramento River around 1870 and established a steamboat landing and warehouse complex. When the terminus of the Sacramento Valley Railroad was relocated further south, it made the Birds’ landing one of the primary stopping points for steamboats arriving from San Francisco and Sacramento.
With a monopoly over the local steamboat traffic, the Bird brothers exercised considerable economic control in the town. Both served multiple terms as supervisors of Suisun Township in the 1870s. When the Endicott Land Company was formed in 1876, the Birds decided to rename the town in recognition of their landing and prominence.
While many locals still referred to the place as Endicott for years after, the new Birds Landing name gradually became the common usage. The departure of Horatio Bird, who sold his interest in the landing in 1884, helped solidify the adoption of Birds Landing. A post office under the Birds Landing name opened in 1888, sealing its status.
Changing Transportation Modes
By the late 1800s, railroad transportation began to eclipse river travel as the primary means for moving people and goods through the region. In 1879, the California Pacific Railroad established a station at Birds Landing. While the steamboats continued making regular stops, they carried diminishing volumes of freight and passengers compared to the reliability of the iron horse.
The rise of automobiles and highway trucking in the early 20th century further reduced the relevance of Birds Landing’s location along the Sacramento River. The shallow depth of the river also limited the size of boats that could reach the port. With its transportation advantages greatly diminished, Birds Landing lost population and status through the first decades of the 1900s.
Though river shipping had largely ceased, the port facilities remained in use for some time. Warehouses were occasionally utilized for grain storage and wood processing. The durability of the old wharves allowed fishing boats to moor along the deteriorating docks. But this activity was minor compared to the former glory days when paddlewheelers crowded the river landing.
20th Century Decline
After peaking around 600-700 residents in the late 1800s, Birds Landing’s population steadily declined throughout the 20th century. With the port all but abandoned, agriculture became the community’s sole economic foundation. Unlike the booming cities to its north, Birds Landing languished as a quiet farm town.
By 1910, the population had shrunk to just 96 residents. Most local businesses either failed or moved to other communities with better prospects. The original schoolhouse built in the 1860s was torn down after a new consolidated school opened in Elmira in 1909. By 1920, Birds Landing was described as having “hardly the proportions of a hamlet.”
The Great Depression further strained the shrinking town as low crop prices hurt the local farm economy. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) provided some relief employment on construction of a new river levee. But aside from paving the main street through town, little public investment reached Birds Landing.
The town’s population fell to around 25 by the 1970s. The 2011 census recorded just 18 residents in Birds Landing. However, the community retains several historic buildings hearkening back to busier times, including the long-abandoned warehouse structures along the riverbank.
Historic Sites
Though small in size today, Birds Landing still holds ties to its fascinating history as a Sacramento River port that helped develop Central California’s agriculture industry. Several historic buildings and sites remain, giving a window into the town’s 19th century heyday.
– Petersen Ranch – This 2,100-acre ranch encompasses some of the earliest farmland around Birds Landing, with original buildings dating to the 1860s. It remains an operating ranch growing hay, grains, and produce.
– Birds Landing Schoolhouse – The original 19th century Birds Landing School building no longer exists, but a small wood-frame schoolhouse built in 1906 remains standing today. It is one of the only public buildings left from the town’s past.
– Sacramento River Levee – An earthen levee runs along the west side of Birds Landing, constructed by Chinese laborers in the 1870s. It has been maintained and expanded over the years to protect the town from Sacramento River flooding.
– Masonic Hall – Constructed in 1893, this wood-frame building once served as a meeting hall for the local Masonic Lodge. It is now used as a private residence.
– River Warehouse Ruins – Remnants of brick and wooden dock structures and warehouse walls still stand along the Sacramento River. These deteriorating ruins are some of the last traces of Birds Landing’s days as a bustling river port.
– Birds Landing Cemetery – Established in 1862, the cemetery contains graves dating back to the town’s early days. Numerous prominent early residents and families are buried here.
Though small, Birds Landing retains an echo of its once important role in California’s development. The old buildings and riverfront ruins stand as a testament to the industrious settlers who established the former port town.
Modern Birds Landing
Today, Birds Landing remains a tiny agricultural community surrounded by farms and ranches growing hay, corn, grains, sunflowers, safflower, fruits and nuts. Several of Solano County’s largest family farms operate around Birds Landing.
With no central downtown area, the town itself contains only a few structures – some historic buildings, a small community church, and several houses. The 2011 census officially recorded Birds Landing’s population as just 18 residents. There are no longer any commercial businesses located within the town limits.
Birds Landing consists of two small clusters of buildings located about 0.5 miles apart along Birds Landing Road. Near the southern end, Old Birds Landing Road branches west towards the Sacramento River, passing the historic warehouse ruins and old levee. But access to the original river landing site is now restricted, with the area closed off as private property.
The tiny Birds Landing Schoolhouse built in 1906 served as a public school until 1954. After its closure, it was used for some years as a private residence. The historic building underwent a full renovation in 2012 and is available to rent for events.
With no retail stores or services, most residents of the Birds Landing area travel to Rio Vista or other nearby towns to shop and work. The old town is sometimes described as a “ghost town”, with more abandoned buildings than operating homes and businesses.
But the settlement’s wheat fields, quiet country roads, and relics of the past offer a window into California’s early frontier development. Birds Landing remains a rustic remnant of a once-bustling river port that helped establish California agriculture.
Conclusion
The small town of Birds Landing has a historic legacy belied by its tiny modern size. Founded as Endicott in 1859, it served as an important Sacramento River shipping point for agricultural goods moving to market. Reaching its peak in the late 1800s, hundreds of residents lived in Birds Landing during its heyday as a steamboat port. The adoption of its current name in 1876 recognized the prominence of the Bird brothers’ river landing business.
Changing transportation modes and economics caused Birds Landing’s slow decline over the 20th century. With river shipping replaced by railroads and automobiles, the former port town lost its purpose. From a peak of 600-700 residents in the late 1800s, only around 18 people live in Birds Landing today. Agriculture remains the basis of the surrounding economy.
But the old town still holds on to echoes of its fascinating past. A few historic buildings, cemetery, and crumbling riverfront ruins allow visitors to imagine Birds Landing’s days as a Gold Rush-era shipping hub. Though now sleepy and small, the town represents an important part of California’s early settlement and economic development.