Elk Grove Stage Stop & Hotel

The Elk Grove Historical Society had its beginnings in 1962 when four local women came together with the thought of preserving our rich heritage. The Historical Society was established in 1976 as the Bicentennial Committee to save the Rhoads School. Once the school was moved to the Elk Grove Park, saved and restored the Bicentennial Committee became the Elk Grove Historical Society. Our General Meetings, which usually includes a speaker to give a talk regarding the history of the area, are held on the third Monday of each month and begins at 7:00 P.M. The meetings are held at different locations so please call (916) 685-8115 to get the location for the month. Our Board of Directors meetings are held the fourth Monday of each month at 4 P.M. at the Elk Grove House Stage Stop Museum. We currently operate the Elk Grove Heritage Park and the Rhoads School. The Rhoads School is a restored Prairie school that originally sat near Sloughhouse and provides school age children with a living history program of what school was like in the 1800s. Each day the school bell rings and a class of students spend a school day back in the late 1880s. They dress in period clothing, play period games and learn from the same books our ancestors used. The school is located just down the road from the Elk Grove Heritage Park in the middle of the beautiful Elk Grove Regional Park. The Elk Grove Heritage Park currently contains two buildings open to visitors; the reconstructed 1850 stage stop, Elk Grove House Stage Stop Museum and the original San Joaquin Township Justice Court, the original jail and courthouse to serve Elk Grove and San Joaquin Township. The original stage stop was built by James Hall founder of Elk Grove in 1850. The San Joaquin Township Justice Court is unique in that it holds the last two remaining cells from the original Sacramento County jail built circa 1850. Recently moved to the Heritage Park is the 1853 Foulks House, the oldest remaining residence in Elk Grove and the 1884 Reese School, one of the last one room schools in our area. Restoration of both buildings is set to begin by early spring.