Believe it or not—the swell and shrink

bars, churches, and modern changes

Most of us know the city of Orland, California as the small town you breeze through on your way to Interstate 5 to head north or south to more populous regions. You pass by the Sav-Mor on Walker Street, Andy’s Butcher Block, Napa Auto Parts, the Honeybee Discovery Center, and head out toward the freeway. Along the last stretch are a CVS, Walgreens, and the ubiquitous Dutch Bros. It’s mundane America at its best with a few local exceptions. Like all the “Westside” towns along Interstate 5 and Old Highway 99W, Orland has undergone many changes since the freeway was completed in 1965. Traffic that used to go through the western edge of town now bypassed Orland altogether. Long gone is the Arch Motel, Gardner’s Frosty, and Prince’s Trading Post. While nearby towns such as Corning and Willows eventually utilized the I-5 traffic by building gas stations, fast food businesses, and a huge truck

stop (Corning), for years the City Fathers of Orland wanted to keep the town insulated.

Back in the 1950’s and ‘60’s for example, Orland was a self-sufficient city. It had everything you needed right in the downtown area: JCPenney, SprouseReitz, three large grocery stores, an auto parts store, drug stores, a movie theater, and food establishments. Content to keep it that way, Orland moved along through the years as the slower moving, sleepy little town people enjoyed. Chico was a hectic, bustling, traffic-jammed metropolis in comparison.

As the years moved forward, people took their shopping to Chico in greater numbers. Eventually, stores and shops in Orland closed down. In the 1990’s a number of vacant buildings dotted the downtown area. It seemed lonely and sad to many, especially those who had grown up in Orland during the mid-century. Many wondered why Willows and Corning had taken advantage of I-5 by letting new chain businesses build along the freeway. Each town had fast food, gasoline stations, and other businesses catering to traffic flowing up and down the central corridor of the Sacramento Valley.

Residents began to question Orland’s seemingly self-chosen isolation. However, change did come about, and today we can see many new businesses along the freeway, along with a continuing revitalization of the downtown area with new shops and small businesses. Also, Orland has become a bedroom community for Chico, and homes can be purchased for much less. The “modernization” of Orland has continued, but an interesting facet of the area is Orland’s historic past.

One of the most intriguing examples of Orland’s past is its inclusion in the “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” series which was published yearly. In the early ‘60’s Orland had, per capita, the largest number of bars and churches in a town its size. Pretty incredible, right? This may not be the type of celebrity the townspeople desired, but there it was. These days, not one of those bars is in existence as a business: The Richelieu, The Orlando, The Orchard Club, and Dalton’s have faded into the past. However, most of the churches have survived and thrived: the First Christian Church, the Federated Church, St. Dominic’s, and the First Lutheran Church all hold Sunday services today. You could say the forces of good still reign supreme.

If you’d like to learn more about the history of Orland, there are publications to read and landmarks to visit. Among those are the Alta Schmidt House Museum, Colusa County Historical Society, and the Orland Historical & Cultural Society. Publications include The Land of Orland and Orland’s Colorful Place Names by Gene H. Russell and Orland’s Patriots by Gene H. Russell and Jay D. Russell. For a better historical understanding of Orland, I highly recommend each.

**Correction: In the February issue the Hicks-Chaney Building was called the Hicks-Charly Building.