OPEN SATURDAYS
& SUNDAYS
11 AM TO 3 PM
FREE ADMISSION
Step Aboard the Netherlands Route
An Evening of River History and Steamboat Travel
Tuesday September 8 • 5:30 PM • At the Schoolhouse • Free
Author Talk: Gordon Van Zuiden
The Netherlands Route
San Francisco to Sacramento Steamer Excursions
At the turn of the 20th century, Southern Pacific’s luxurious river steamers ran between the docks of San Francisco and Sacramento — 125 miles each way. Wide promenades, elegant salons, well-appointed staterooms, and fine dining made the passage an excursion to remember. Along the way, these boats stopped at river towns to pick up the Delta’s agricultural bounty and carry it to markets in San Francisco and Sacramento.
Step back to a bygone era, when the river was the road and the journey was the destination!
Community Meeting
A look at what the Schoolhouse has accomplished this past year, and what’s ahead.
Book Signing and Refreshments
Meet the author, pick up a copy of the book, and stay for conversation.
NOW ON VIEW
Students, families and friends gather for a group portrait at the Holland Union Gakuen, Clarksburg’s Japanese Language School, early 1930s.
This exhibit tells the story of Clarksburg’s Japanese American community through the voices, photographs, and personal histories of the families who built their lives along the Sacramento River. Drawn from the archives of the Holland Doshi Kai and from family collections, these materials offer a deeply personal view of a community shaped by migration, hard work, resilience, and continuity across generations.
Mitsuhei and Kaga Sakata
Executive Order 9066 authorized the forced removal and incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry, most of them American citizens.
Early Schools of the North Delta
In the second half of the 19th century, Gold Rush settlers rapidly transformed the North Delta from tidal marsh to farmland. As the population grew, so did the need for schools — mostly small, rural, and locally run, serving the children of settlers, farmers, and farm laborers. These schools reflected the region’s diversity, educating Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, Filipino, and Mexican American children alongside Anglo and Black settlers.
Freeport Elementary school, 1892
Welcome!
Meet Miss Ferguson! She takes you inside the 1883 Clarksburg Schoolhouse to share what it was really like to teach — and learn — back in 1912. Watch to see the Schoolhouse come to life!
Step back to 1912! Kids can grab a slate and take a seat at an antique cast-iron desk to get schooled the old-fashioned way — no smartphones, just chalk and cursive.
Dedicated to preserving the heritage and culture of our very precious and unique delta community.
As luck would have it, the second oldest school in Clarksburg, California, built in 1883, remained unnoticed and relatively unharmed at the Noah Adams Lumber Yard since the school closed in 1923. Its significance has made it a natural focal point for coalescing interest in the preservation of the rich history of our region.