Dave is completing his second year as president of the West Side
Pioneer Association, which operates the museum. During our
conversation, he mentioned that the second decade of the 20th
century — 1910-1919 — was certainly a productive one for Tracy.
Forming a high school district was just one of the major
milestones. It didn’t take long for us to agree that those years
could go down in our town’s history as a time of greatest change
and development. The population of Tracy in 1910 was 996, and by
1920 it had jumped to 2,450. What triggered that population
growth and how Tracy responded to it are the key elements of
what Dave and I were talking about. Let’s take a look at that
active decade: • 1910 — Tracy becomes a division point and
terminal for the Southern Pacific Railroad, bringing many new
S.P. employees and their families to town. • 1910 — Tracy voters
approve incorporation of the city of Tracy. • 1912 — The city’s
first water and sewage systems are completed and placed into
use; the Tracy Fire Departme