Welcome to a Town Called Wallace
 Wallace is a developing town in the California Gold
Country, part of the Mother Lode area. Wallace is nestled in the gold
country foothills, just south of Lake Comanche, 35 miles east of
Stockton. Wallace had a population of 403 people in the year 2010,
according to the census. It is on the western edge of Calaveras county,
in "Cowboy Country."
Want to Learn More About Wallace?
The City-data.com web site gives you all the scoop about Wallace. Check it
out! The web site links to a 10 day Wallace weather forecast, or go
directly to weather here.
On the History of Wallace!
Wallace was the
creation of the San Joaquin and Sierra Nevada Railroad and was named for
John Wallace, the railroad's chief engineer/surveyor. When the narrow
gauge S.J. & S.N.R.R. arrived in October 1882 on its way east from
Lodi toward Burson and Valley Springs, the railroad honored Wallace--who
located the line--by naming the town after him. The townsite was
officially recorded on January 16, 1883.
Wallace was born in
England in 1819 and came to California as a '49er. After years in
Sonora as engineer for the Tuolumne Water Co., he moved to Stockton and
in 1868 was elected Surveyor for San Joaquin County, a position he held
for several years.
Of note is that the town of Wallace has an
historical connection to Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution.
John Wallace's younger brother, Alfred Russel Wallace, was one of the
most famous naturalists, scientists and philosophers of his time. Other
than Darwin, he was the man most responsible for developing and
popularizing the theories of evolution and natural selection in the 19th
century.
John Wallace, who never lived in Wallace, died at age 76 on March 26, 1895, and is buried in Stockton.
--Sal Manna (November 2005)
Wallace Lake Estates
A significant portion of the people of Wallace live in Wallace Lake Estates, a 150 acre residential development started by Jimmie Winchell in the early 1900's. This development is nearly built out as of the end of 2011. The development includes Wallace Lake, a man-made lake of approximately 25 acres. The lake is surrounded by a walking trail of approximately 1.5 miles in length, providing a scenic walk in the protected open space of the development. |
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