Rumsey Town Hall
Why it's listed
Rumsey Town Hall is a white-painted wooden hall on California Highway 16 in the Capay Valley, Yolo County. Built in 1906 on its original site, it measures about 50 by 30 feet, with a stage addition from between 1906 and 1910 adding 17 feet. Its most distinctive exterior feature is an angled southwest corner entrance under a small roof, with a hand-painted sign giving the elevation and the distance to San Francisco. Inside are wood plank floors, wooden benches, a wood stove, and a hand-painted stage curtain and three backdrops by Woodland artist Joe Herms. The Rumsey Improvement Club raised construction money through ice cream socials and dinners, and local volunteers did the building. When finished, it was the largest public hall in Yolo County. It hosted meetings, local theatricals and traveling vaudeville shows, and sheltered harvest-time families. It continues to serve community groups, and its significance rests on its role as a rural social center.
Significance in brief: The hall was built by local volunteers with funds raised by the Rumsey Improvement Club to serve as a gathering place for meetings and social events. It was the largest public hall in Yolo County and hosted vaudeville and local stage shows. It is presented as a reminder of when town halls were the focal point of rural community life.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 72000265, listed June 19, 1972. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | CA 16 at Manzanita St., Rumsey |
|---|---|
| County | Yolo County |
| Listed | June 19, 1972 |
| Reference number | 72000265 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 20th Century; built 1906, addition between 1906-1910 |
| Areas of significance | Entertainment/Recreation, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still used for meetings by groups such as the volunteer firemen and 4-H club and maintained by the Rumsey Improvement Club; the form notes the original site and a largely original interior, in good condition. |
| Acreage | 0.3 |
| Coordinates | 38.88847, -122.23768 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 72000265.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q133571836
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.