History
Loleta is a small town in Northern California which it's name, Lo Le Tah, came from three Wiyot Indian words meaning "a pleasant place at the end of the water." It's former name was Swauger's Station named so after the railroad depot built on land owned by rancher Samuel Swauger. The name Loleta was adopted by the community in 1897.
James Jensen, a long time Loleta resident said, "In the early 1900's Loleta had three General Stores, three Saloons, two Hotels, two Livery Stables, two Blacksmiths, two Harness Shops, one Meat Market, one Drugstore, one Lumber Yard, one Plumbing Shop, one Creamery, one Doctor and one Dentist." Exerpt taken from Swauger's Station Cookbook printed in 1982.
Ads posted in the back of the Swauger's Station Cookbook printed in 1982 include: Loleta Meat Market - Louis and Larry Biondini, Stoneware Potters - David and Bosha Struve, "The Future" Loleta Cheese Co. - Bob and Carol Laffranchi, Fidjeland Farms (Potatoe Farm) - Don and Dave Fidjeland, Foremost-McKesson Loleta Grocery Products Division, McColl's Dairy Products Co - Jim Pedrotti Ice Cream Distributor, Jacks Loleta Grocery, Wagon Master of Fortuna - Stan Smith Sr & Stan Smith Jr, Marvin Fork General Contracting, Familiar Foods Inc of Loleta, Ken's Shell Service - Ken Wells, Loleta Volunteer Fire Department, The Gilded Rose & Friendly Corners Dining - Gildesgard's Prop. and Les Stanley, Bank of Loleta, Kennebac Potatoes by James S O'Neil and James M. O'Neil, O'Neil Construction - Jeff O'Neil, and Loleta Chamber of Commerce.
1908 Table Bluff Rancheria established, 20 acres gifted by a local church. 1953 Tribes terminated via Public Law 280. 1981 Rancheria recognized;102 acres purchased nearby by federal government as part of a lawsuit settlement. 1982 Established tribal constitution.
A historic bank building, Bank of Loleta. 358 Main St., Loleta. Historic Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering. Architect, builder, or engineer: Georgeson,Franklin T. Architectural Style: Classical Revival. Area of Significance: Commerce, Architecture. Period of Significance: 1900-1924. Owner: Private. Historic Function: Commerce/Trade. Historic Sub-function: Financial Institution.
Title of Event: D'Arcy Fallon presents So Late, So Soon: A Memoir. When: Monday, August 9, 2004 7:30 PM. Location: Annie Bloom's Books. Description: D'Arcy Fallon offers an irreverent, fly-on-the-wall view of the Lighthouse Ranch, a Christian commune she called home for three years in the mid-1970s. At 18 years old, when life's questions overwhelmed her and reconciling her family past with her future seemed impossible, she accidentally came upon the Ranch during a hitchhike gone awry. Perched on a windswept bluff in Loleta, a dozen miles from anywhere in Northern California, this community of lost and found twenty-somethings lured her in with promises of abounding love, spiritual serenity, and a hardy, pioneer existence. What she didn't count on was the fog.
Hermetic Science played a surprising number of live shows in northern California between April 1996 and May 1998, after which they withdrew from the arena of live performance in order to devote themselves single-mindedly to recording their second CD. Working with engineer Tim Gray at Big Bang Studios near Loleta, California, the band recorded much of the album in late September and October 1998, the remainder in May 1999. With the release of their second CD, Prophesies, in September 1999, once again under the auspices of the Magnetic Oblivion label, Hermetic Science definitively emerged as one of the most original and accomplished progressive bands of the second half of the 1990s.
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700 Loleta Dr. PO Box 547
Loleta, CA 95551
Phone: (707) 733-5705 Fax: 733-5367