Sutter County, California

Lying in the heart of the Sacramento valley, Sutter County would be almost a level plain but for the Sutter buttes, that rise to a height of 1,000 feet and form the great landmark in the valley. The county is enclosed between the Sacramento and Feather rivers, and the soil is alluvial material of exhaustless fertility. Where not cultivated, it supports a heavy growth of oak; and it has been cropped from year to year in wheat and other grains without showing any decrease of yield. The area is 610 square miles, and there is almost no waste land. The census of 1880 gave a population of 5,159, but the estimated population to-day is 7,000. The county seat, Yuba City, is situated on the Feather River, directly opposite to Marysville, in Yuba County, the great trading-post for a half-dozen counties. Other towns are Nicolaus, Meridian, Live Oak and Pleasant Grove. The chief industry in Sutter is farming, and the county is noted for the size of its wheat ranches and the wealth of their owners. With the single exception of Colusa, its ranchmen have clung more closely than any others in the state to their original possessions, and the great crops of wheat and barley they raise every year have made them rich. Within a few years fruit-growing has been introduced, and promises to be a great industry, as the soil and climate suit nearly all varieties. The assessed valuation of 1889 was $10,100,000, which makes Sutter the richest county in the state, as far as average wealth is concerned.

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Source: California State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1890, Volume II, R. L. Polk & Company, 1890.