Vacaville stories hiding in plain sight
Think you've heard every story this city has to tell? Vacaville keeps oddities tucked into its past and streets, from naming blunders to produce gone wrong.
Some pieces of history still stand; others have faded into rumor. There are streets designed to impress, old buildings with long memories, and spills that stopped traffic.
Buried legends mix with orchard days and roadside icons that once drew stars. Even longtime residents might find these details unfamiliar, scattered across corners of the city.
Vacaville's name came from a land deal mistake
In 1851, Juan Manuel Vaca sold part of his Rancho Los Putos land grant to William McDaniel, who agreed to establish a township named Vacaville.
Vaca, who spoke little English, believed he was selling just one square mile, but the agreement covered nine square miles.
This misunderstanding gave Vacaville both its name and its unusually large early footprint.
The town grew rapidly from this start, attracting settlers drawn to the fertile soil of the Vaca and Pleasants valleys.
What began as a flawed land contract remains the official story behind the city's unusual name, still linked directly to the Vaca family ranch.
The Nut Tree became a roadside icon along Highway 80
The Nut Tree began in 1921 as a small fruit stand on the Lincoln Highway and expanded into a massive roadside destination by mid-century.
It offered a restaurant, bakery, toy shop, gift store, and even an aviary.
The property became famous among travelers and celebrities alike, with Ronald Reagan, Bing Crosby, and Shirley Temple stopping there.
The location also served as a gateway for pilots flying into the adjacent airstrip.
Though it closed in 1996, its reputation as one of America's earliest "highway stops" remains.
A modern shopping center with the same name stands today where the landmark once drew crowds.
A tomato spill once shut down Interstate 80
On August 29, 2022, a tomato truck crashed on Interstate 80 in Vacaville, scattering more than 150,000 tomatoes across the freeway.
The accident caused multiple vehicle collisions as cars skidded on the squashed produce.
Traffic was delayed for hours as crews worked to clear the fruit from the road.
The event received national and even international media coverage due to its unusual nature, with photographs of red pulp smeared across lanes.
The cleanup required heavy equipment to push the tomatoes off the highway.
Though there were injuries reported in the chain of crashes, the tomato spill is remembered for its sheer absurdity.
The Nut Tree Railroad once ran trains for kids and celebrities
In 1953, the Nut Tree built a miniature railroad to link its toy shop with the nearby airfield.
The Nut Tree Railroad featured scaled-down trains that ran along a half-mile track, complete with a tunnel and a bridge.
The ride became a highlight for visiting families, as well as for celebrities passing through Vacaville.
Famous passengers included chef Julia Child, Bozo the Clown, and Governor Pat Brown.
The railroad remained a central attraction until the Nut Tree closed in the 1990s, and a modernized version operates today within the Nut Tree Plaza, maintaining a nostalgic link to its past.
Vacaville was once known as the "Early Fruit District"
At the turn of the 20th century, Vacaville earned the title "Early Fruit District" because its fertile valleys produced peaches, plums, and apricots earlier than nearly any other region in the United States.
The climate allowed orchards to bring fruit to market weeks before competitors, making the area famous among agricultural buyers.
Special refrigerated rail cars shipped produce eastward, cementing the city's role in California's fruit boom.
Today, many orchards have been replaced by development, but the history of early harvests remains a distinctive chapter in Vacaville's identity.
The Peña Adobe is one of California's oldest standing buildings
Built in 1842 by Juan Felipe Peña, the Peña Adobe is a simple adobe brick home that remains one of the oldest structures in California's northern valleys.
It was constructed as part of Rancho Los Putos, a Mexican land grant, and later became a center of settlement in the region.
Today, the Peña Adobe is preserved within Peña Adobe Park and is open to visitors as part of the Mowers-Goheen Museum.
The site also includes a memorial garden and interpretive displays about early life in Solano County.
It stands as a rare surviving example of pre-statehood architecture in California.
Vacaville has a local legend of buried stagecoach loot
Local lore suggests that outlaws who once roamed the Vaca Valley buried stolen gold from stagecoaches in the hills around Vacaville.
No verified treasure has ever been found, but stories of hidden caches have circulated for more than a century.
These legends are sometimes connected to bandits who targeted shipments traveling between Sacramento and San Francisco during California's Gold Rush and post-Gold Rush years.
While unconfirmed, the stories of lost treasure continue to give Vacaville an air of mystery tied to its 19th-century past.
Vacaville lies between two major regions of California
Geographically, Vacaville sits at a unique junction where the Sacramento Valley meets the Coast Range foothills, specifically the Vaca Mountains.
This location places it about 35 miles southwest of Sacramento and about 55 miles northeast of San Francisco.
The positioning has historically made Vacaville both an agricultural hub and a convenient stop for travelers moving between California's inland farming regions and its coastal cities.
Today, its place on Interstate 80 makes it a major commuter city as well, bridging the Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan regions while still maintaining a distinctive identity tied to its valley setting.
Vacaville's Buck Avenue was designed as a grand boulevard
Buck Avenue, lined with large shade trees and historic homes, was named for the influential Buck family, who settled in the area in the 1850s.
The most prominent structure on the street is the Will H. Buck House, built in 1892 in the Queen Anne style and designed by architect George Sharpe.
The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The street itself was laid out with the intention of creating an elegant approach to town.
Today, Buck Avenue still stands out in Vacaville for its historic architecture and tree-lined setting, a contrast to newer developments.
The Vacaville Museum opened thanks to the Buck family
The Vacaville Museum: Center for Solano County History opened in 1984 after a major donation from Eva Buck, continuing the Buck family's influence on the city.
The museum focuses on local and regional history, with rotating exhibits that feature oral histories, artifacts, and photographs.
In 2015, the museum raised more than $90,000 through a community art auction called "We Know Jack," where fiberglass rabbit sculptures were decorated by local artists and auctioned off.
The museum remains the only institution devoted specifically to preserving the stories of Vacaville and Solano County, offering school programs and special cultural events.