iKBR Scrapbook Close-Up: Knightsen, CA "Welcome to Draft Horse Country"

KBR Horse Net
Close-Up Feature:
Welcome to Draft Horse Country

The farmer behind the drafter is still Knightsen's symbol

Knightsen officially bcame a town in 1898 when the G. W. Knight family, local growers, established a general store and an application was granted to operate a U.S. Post Office at the store counter. According to historians, the Knights never applied for rural free delivery (RFD) service so that residents would have to keep coming into the store each day! So, if we want our mail delivered here, it has to come from from the neighboring towns; Oakley or Brentwood!

Located on the Santa Fe main line, Knightsen was a major shipping point for agricultural products until the 1930s. By the 1960's virtually all commodities were shipped by trucks. The old walnut loading station still exists, but the tracks have been removed from under it and large trucks take the loads.

If you know where to look, you can still find Belgian Drafts, a few Percherons and a Clyde or two in the area. Most are used for show or pleasure, however a few still work regularly at the demonstration farm located at Ardenwood Park in the South Bay area.

Some of the "locals" enjoying a midday snooze
And yes, we did get a bit of rain from El Niņo. Illa-Ann Lockwood decided to go boating in the roadside retention pond along the shoulder of Knightsen Ave. (February, 1998.)

We hope these big guys, along with all the saddle horses, remain Knightsen's most prevalent livestock commodity for years to come!

(For those of you who don't know where Brentwood and Oakley are, get out your map and draw a line between San Francisco and Stockton. Just about 3/4 of the way to Stockton, you'll find Brentwood just above your line on State Route 4.)


Other Knightsen Links

Knightsen Town Website

Oakley-Knightsen Firefighters' Association Home Page


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