HISTORICAL FACTS YOU MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN ABOUT "YOLA" COUNTY
By Dave Rosenberg
Yolo County Supervisor, District Four
On February 18, 1999, Yolo County will celebrate its 149th birthday. Did you know that "Yolo" County was not its original name? Did you know that Woodland was not the original County seat? Did you know that in the early years, Yolo County was governed by "Judges," not Supervisors?
How about a brief history lesson on Yolo County’s government?
The State of California was divided up into counties by the very First Session of the California Legislature. That First Session ran from December 15, 1849 until August 22, 1850 in the city of Pueblo De San Jose.
The First Session established the "County of Yola" in Chapter 15, Section 14 on February 18, 1850. It was later amended by Chapter 61, Section 14 on April 5, 1850, changing the name of our County from "Yola" to "Yolo" and establishing the Seat of Justice in the Town of Fremont.
The new County of Yolo was not initially governed by a Board of Supervisors. That came later. From June 6, 1850 to approximately March 7, 1853, Yolo County was governed by a "Court of Sessions." The Court of Sessions consisted of a Judge and two Associates who were appointed by the Court and served for terms ranging from 3 to 7 months. Meetings of the Court of Sessions were held once each month and as needed.
On March 7, 1853, the name "Board of Supervisors" is first mentioned in a small minute book labeled "Board of Supervisors Minute Book A." The first election of members of the Board of Supervisors by districts is recorded in that small Minute Book A, page 130, dated September 1, 1855. From that point on, until the present, members of the Board of Supervisors were elected on a regular basis, or appointed by the Governor of California when a vacancy occurred.
From 1855 to 1867, there were only three supervisorial districts. Beginning in 1868, a total of five supervisorial districts were created. Those five districts continue today.
Only 98 people have served Yolo County as Supervisors. Some of the well-known names of Yolo County have served as County Supervisors, including J.T. Lilliard, George H. Swingle, W.J. Leinberger and A.R. Merkley. Some Supervisors served exceptionally long terms. F.B. Edson, from the Third District, served 40 years from 1907 to 1946; Betsy Marchand of the Fourth District served 24 years from 1973 to 1996 (and, by the way, was the first female elected to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors); and William Duncan of the Second District served 16 years from 1963 through 1978.
In recent history, the First Supervisorial District was represented by Arthur Edmonds, Clark Cameron and now Mike McGowan; the Second Supervisorial District was represented by (former Davis Mayor) Bob Black, (current Assemblywoman) Helen Thomson, Freddie Oakley and now (former Davis Mayor) Lois Wolk; the Third Supervisorial District was represented by David Barton, George DeMars and now Tom Stallard; the Fourth Supervisorial District was represented by Ray Bell, Betsy Marchand and now (former Davis Mayor) Dave Rosenberg; and the Fifth Supervisorial District was presented by Twyla Thompson, Ernie Pfanner, Cowles Mast, Frank Sieferman and now Lynell Pollock.
Happy 149th Birthday Yola (excuse me, Yolo) County!
[Former Clerk of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, Pete E. Lucas, researched much of the data in this article after his retirement in 1984.]