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ENLARGE
In 1948, the Cedar Ridge Post Office was right next to the Cedar Ridge Grocery, visible here left of the door. Residents pick up their mail from Postmaster Lillian Monian, standing in the doorway of the tiny office. Others in the photo are, from left, Bill Vanderberg, an unidentified woman, Monian, Audrey McBurney and son Bob, who recalls the grocery's earlier years.
“I've lived here 63 years, and to my memory, there's always been a grocery store on the Colfax Highway in the middle of town,” said Bob McBurney, a second-generation Cedar Ridge Christmas tree farmer and a retired grocer.
Going back to 1948, the town's store — then owned by H.M. Sorensen — was called the Cedar Ridge Grocery. It fronted the highway and sold “Meats-Groceries-Fruits-Vegetables-Gas-Oil-Beer,” according to a business directory listing of that year.
“Directly across the street from Sorensen was a general store operated by Mr. Steinberg who sold hardware and the like,” McBurney recalled.
A succession of owners followed.
Around 1961, Joe Gatti acquired the business and named his grocery Joe's Country Store. The name remained when he sold to Aubrey Dunbar and was the name longest associated with the Cedar Ridge grocery.
After Dunbar came Ray and Pat Seghezzi, who successfully operated the store in the late 1960s and into '70s. The Seghezzis retired, selling the business to Pat Lane.
Under Lane's ownership, the name remained Joe's Country Store until she sold to Fredd Tarp, who renamed the business Fredd's County Store. It stayed Fredd's until some months ago when the store was purchased by Surjit Singh.
The grocery was called the Cedar Ridge County Store when it was destroyed by a suspected arson fire in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 12.
Over its 60 years, the store has been a focal point for Cedar Ridge, which also has an interesting history.
The Colfax Highway to which McBurney refers was a Nevada County maintained road until 1964, when the state took control of the 13-mile-long artery and designated it State Sign Route No. 174. The two-lane road begins at Interstate 80, at Colfax in Placer county, crosses the Bear River into Nevada County, then through Chicago Park and on to Peardale, Cedar Kress, Cedar Ridge ending at the Grass Valley city limits where it becomes Colfax Avenue.
The town's name is the outgrowth of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge railroad's Kress Summit station, originally built in 1876 about a mile south of the present town near the intersection of Brunswick Road with the present highway.
George Kress was a fruit farmer who lent his name to the station due to his 200-acre spread, which encompassed land adjacent to both the railroad and the present town.
The station's name was eventually changed in the 1920s to Cedar Kress, and today that location is shown on government maps as Cedar Crest. The area uphill from Cedar Kress or Crest then logically became our present day Cedar Ridge.
Going back to 1948, the town's store — then owned by H.M. Sorensen — was called the Cedar Ridge Grocery. It fronted the highway and sold “Meats-Groceries-Fruits-Vegetables-Gas-Oil-Beer,” according to a business directory listing of that year.
“Directly across the street from Sorensen was a general store operated by Mr. Steinberg who sold hardware and the like,” McBurney recalled.
A succession of owners followed.
Around 1961, Joe Gatti acquired the business and named his grocery Joe's Country Store. The name remained when he sold to Aubrey Dunbar and was the name longest associated with the Cedar Ridge grocery.
After Dunbar came Ray and Pat Seghezzi, who successfully operated the store in the late 1960s and into '70s. The Seghezzis retired, selling the business to Pat Lane.
Under Lane's ownership, the name remained Joe's Country Store until she sold to Fredd Tarp, who renamed the business Fredd's County Store. It stayed Fredd's until some months ago when the store was purchased by Surjit Singh.
The grocery was called the Cedar Ridge County Store when it was destroyed by a suspected arson fire in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 12.
Over its 60 years, the store has been a focal point for Cedar Ridge, which also has an interesting history.
The Colfax Highway to which McBurney refers was a Nevada County maintained road until 1964, when the state took control of the 13-mile-long artery and designated it State Sign Route No. 174. The two-lane road begins at Interstate 80, at Colfax in Placer county, crosses the Bear River into Nevada County, then through Chicago Park and on to Peardale, Cedar Kress, Cedar Ridge ending at the Grass Valley city limits where it becomes Colfax Avenue.
The town's name is the outgrowth of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge railroad's Kress Summit station, originally built in 1876 about a mile south of the present town near the intersection of Brunswick Road with the present highway.
George Kress was a fruit farmer who lent his name to the station due to his 200-acre spread, which encompassed land adjacent to both the railroad and the present town.
The station's name was eventually changed in the 1920s to Cedar Kress, and today that location is shown on government maps as Cedar Crest. The area uphill from Cedar Kress or Crest then logically became our present day Cedar Ridge.
Bob Wyckoff is a retired Nevada County newspaper editor, publisher and an author of local history. Contact him at bobwyckoff@sbcglobal.net or P.O. Box 216, Nevada City, CA 95959.
