A Timeless California Enclave Fears a City’s Sway

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By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN
MARCH 14, 2014

MODESTO, Calif. — Farmers and other residents of the rural district known as Wood Colony refer to the 110-year-old arboreal landmark in their midst — a gigantic walnut tree of Grimm’s fairy-tale proportions — as, simply, the Tree. To many people in this unincorporated community, settled more than a century ago by a religious group called the Old German Baptist Brethren, the mighty tree is a kind of tabernacle, a living testament to the district’s deep roots, fertile soil and unshakable resolve.

The colony, just under a two-hour drive from San Francisco, is little known to outsiders, which is just the way residents like it. Many of the Brethren, a plain Anabaptist group somewhat akin to the Amish and Mennonites, are fourth- and fifth-generation farmers who tend an unspoiled landscape of bee boxes and walnut and almond orchards.

But a recent skirmish with the city of Modesto over plans to bring about 1,800 acres of Wood Colony under city jurisdiction, which many residents regard as a blueprint for development, has forced this reticent community into the public eye. In a place where “Oh, gracious!” is a common expletive, “Pray for Rain” signs along the district’s two-lane byways have been joined by ones urging citizens to “Keep Wood Colony Green” and “Save Wood Colony: Almonds, Not Asphalt.”

“My granddaughter still lives in the ranch purchased by my great-grandfather,” said Alan Cover, an almond and walnut farmer who also raises prized lambs. “That’s a thread that runs through this community.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/15/us/rural-spot-settled-by-religious-group-in-california-fears-a-citys-encroachment.html

Slideshow at link.

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1. These communities fascinate me.

I wish them luck in their endeavor. Some things are worth preserving and some cultures should not be extinguished.