Elk Grove · CA
Old Town Elk Grove: Neighborhood Guide
Old Town is the original railroad-era main street on Elk Grove Boulevard, with homes from the 1880s onward on the side streets around it.
What is Old Town Elk Grove?
Old Town Elk Grove is the business district the town built beside the railroad, plus the streets of houses that grew up around it. The City of Elk Grove places it on Elk Grove Boulevard between Elk Grove-Florin Road and Waterman Road. It calls the area one of the oldest western settlements in the Sacramento region.
Most of Elk Grove went up after 1990. Old Town is where the older houses are. Shops, services and restaurants fill buildings along the boulevard, many dating to the late 1800s, and the side streets carry homes from the 1880s through the 1940s and later. The mailing ZIP is 95624.
Talk With Maggie About Old Town
How did Old Town Elk Grove grow up?
The railroad made Old Town. The city's 2012 Historic Context Statement, written by Page & Turnbull, explains that the Sacramento-Stockton rail line opened in 1868. Nearly every business then moved east from the old crossroads at Upper Stockton Road, today's Highway 99, to a new spot next to the tracks.
A depot went up immediately south of what is now Elk Grove Boulevard. Local farmer Julius Everson helped start the Elk Grove Building Company in January 1876 to put up the first commercial buildings. The same report estimates the town held no more than about 400 people in those years.
On July 7, 1892, sparks from a train lit the dry grass along the tracks. The town had no fire department. The depot, two general stores, a hotel and the Odd Fellows Hall, all west of the tracks, burned. The Elk Grove Hotel at 9039 Elk Grove Boulevard, known today as Bob's Club, made it through. Most homes, which sat farther from the tracks, survived too.
Rebuilding came in waves. The report counts a post-fire boom, a second push around 1910 when electric power arrived, and a third in the 1920s. Wine warehouses rose beside the railroad. Even so, the town only grew from about 400 to about 800 people over those three decades.
What kind of homes are in Old Town Elk Grove?
Expect variety, one house at a time. The Historic Context Statement says the town grew along Elk Grove Boulevard and then onto Grove, Walnut, School and Kent Streets, with narrow alleys running between blocks. Some of those alleys are still in use.
Homes from 1868 to 1892 lean toward vernacular and late Victorian designs. Homes from 1893 to 1926 move from ornate Victorian toward plainer Craftsman and vernacular styles. The Pierce/Allen house at 9087 Grove Street dates to 1881. Several houses were moved over the years, such as the Lillico house, relocated around 1924 to Gage Street.
More than 40 buildings in Old Town form a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the city. The 1988 nomination drew its edges roughly at Gage Street on the west and Grove Street on the south. In 2024 the City Council added 54 buildings to the Local Register of Historic Resources, including the 47 in the district.
What is there to do in Old Town Elk Grove?
Old Town Plaza at 9615 Railroad Street is the open-air gathering space. Its site describes 47,000 square feet of space, a 9,000-square-foot covered pavilion and nearly 200 free parking spaces. It hosts markets, concerts and festivals through the year.
Elk Grove Regional Park sits on Elk Grove-Florin Road. Its story starts in 1903, when Jennie McConnell sold $5 shares to save a grove of oaks from being cut for lumber, according to the Cosumnes Community Services District. In 1936, residents formed the Elk Grove Park District, the first park district in California. Today the CSD runs all 127 acres, with a 7.5-acre lake, a disc golf course, a dog park and a 1.4-mile trail.
How do you get around Old Town Elk Grove?
Elk Grove Boulevard is the spine. It runs west to Highway 99, the old Upper Stockton Road, which carries most trips north to Sacramento and south toward Lodi. Elk Grove-Florin Road and Waterman Road are the north-south routes at each end of the district. Inside Old Town, the short blocks and alleys put the boulevard within walking distance of many side streets.
Which school district serves Old Town Elk Grove?
Old Town Elk Grove is served by Elk Grove Unified School District. Confirm the assigned school with the district directly.
What draws buyers to Old Town Elk Grove?
Buyers are drawn to age and walkability, in a city that has little of either. A buyer here can live a few blocks from the plaza and the boulevard's shops, in a house with a century of history and an alley behind it. In most of Elk Grove, the choice is a home built since the 1990s.
Price data exists only at the ZIP level. Redfin put the median sale price for ZIP 95624 near $630,000 for the three months ending September 2026. That ZIP covers far more than Old Town, so it says little about any one street here. We price Old Town homes from the closest true matches, which are often few.
What should sellers in Old Town Elk Grove know?
Find out early whether your house is on a historic register. Sacramento County created the Old Town Special Planning Area in 1985, and the city has updated it several times since. It sets design standards and a public review process for new development. The city restarted an update in 2025 under the name Historic Main Street. Buyers planning an addition will ask what is allowed.
Older homes bring older systems. A pre-listing inspection of the foundation, wiring, plumbing and sewer line lets you price and disclose with the facts in hand. When the house came to you through an estate, see our page on probate and trust sales in Elk Grove.
Surroundings, a real estate and lending brokerage, is led by Maggie B. Hopkins, a real estate and mortgage broker first licensed in real estate in 2006 and a Certified Probate & Trust Specialist. Start with selling your home in Elk Grove, or talk with Maggie about your street.
More Elk Grove neighborhoods near Old Town
If you are comparing Old Town with newer parts of the city, see Sheldon to the east, Laguna to the west, or the full Elk Grove guide. If you are buying here, read buying a home in Elk Grove.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Old Town Elk Grove?
Old Town runs along Elk Grove Boulevard between Elk Grove-Florin Road and Waterman Road, east of Highway 99. The city describes it as one of the oldest western settlements in the Sacramento region.
When was Old Town Elk Grove founded?
The business district grew up after the Sacramento-Stockton rail line opened in 1868, when businesses moved from the old Upper Stockton Road crossroads to sites beside the tracks. A hotel and stage stop had opened at the earlier crossroads in 1850.
Is Old Town Elk Grove a historic district?
Yes. More than 40 buildings form a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the City of Elk Grove. In 2024 the city added 54 buildings to its Local Register of Historic Resources.
What happened in the 1892 Elk Grove fire?
On July 7, 1892, sparks from a train set fire to grass along the tracks and burned the depot, stores, a hotel and the Odd Fellows Hall west of the railroad. The Elk Grove Hotel, today known as Bob's Club, survived, along with most homes.
Can I remodel a historic home in Old Town Elk Grove?
Often you can, but design review may apply. The Old Town Special Planning Area sets design standards and a review process for new development, so check with the City of Elk Grove Planning Department before you plan exterior changes.
What styles of homes are in Old Town Elk Grove?
Late Victorian, vernacular and Craftsman homes are common on the older streets, according to the city's 2012 Historic Context Statement. Later infill adds bungalows and postwar houses.
What school district serves Old Town Elk Grove?
Old Town Elk Grove is served by Elk Grove Unified School District. Confirm the assigned school with the district directly.
The method
How we do it in Old Town Elk Grove
More of Elk Grove
Ready to make your move with Surroundings?