Discover Solano Summer 2022

Page 40

Discover

SUISUN CITY

P

ossibly the most mispronounced city in the county, Suisun City’s roots date back to the 1850s. Things have changed in those 170-years plus. Yet, there’s still plenty of history. The city dates back to 1850 when Josiah Wing, a schooner captain, found an island in the Suisun Marsh and built a wharf and warehouse there. It soon became the major agriculture shipping point for the farms and orchards in the Suisun Valley and Green Valley areas. A train depot was built. Suisun City was bustling with several hotels along Main Street. Fairfield was the smaller of the two towns, but that changed with World War II and with construction of what’s now Travis Air Force Base and Interstate 80. After that, Suisun City’s

growth tapered off. The train station on Main Street opened in 1914. Historic homes line the old part of town. The Lawler House, home to an art gallery, is one of them. It was built in 1857 as a ranch house on the land now occupied by Dover Terrace South. It was moved to its present location by a truck and barge in 1979. Suisun City has weathered some tough years. In the early 1980s, a survey of San Francisco Bay Area communities called the town the least attractive place to live in the area, which spurred thenMayor Jim Spering to take on an ambitious redevelopment effort. Waterfront properties were redeveloped and a crime-ridden neighborhood was razed and replaced with a Victorianstyle development. Improvements continued with the construction of a senior center, community center and library.

Suisun City’s new face earned it accolades such as Sactown magazine’s description of it as “a sweet and delightfully surprising vacation spot.” The city now includes the modern Kroc Center near the library. The old and the new merge in both locations as the Kroc Center has come to serve as a community center. The downtown area hosts the city’s events such as an annual Waterfront Festival and Christmas celebration. Downtown is also home to many popular restaurants. A state-of-the-art Blue Devils Bingo Center operates in the Marina Shopping Center. An alliance of local and regional performing arts groups now offer performances at the Harbor Theatre on Main Street and the historic train depot wrapped up its facelift recently. One of the city’s best-kept secrets

Chamber of Commerce: Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce, 1111 Webster St., Fairfield; 707-425-4625, www.fairfieldsuisunchamber.com; Suisun City Historic Waterfront Business Improvement District: 707-631-5029, www.suisunwaterfront.com 40 |

Discover Solano

SUMMER 2022


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