The first subdivision named for the Curtis family, Curtis Oaks, was surveyed and the subdivision map was recorded on January 19, 1907. It was carved from the northernmost part of the Curtis ranch. There were 204 lots, separated by alleys, most with a 50 foot frontage. The streets were unpaved.49/ Curtis Oaks, (click here for a map of subdivisions) consists of present day Portola, Fifth Ave, and the north side of Donner, from 24th Street to Franklin Blvd. Originally, Portola Way was called First Avenue, Fifth Avenue was Second Avenue, Donner Way was Third Avenue, 24th Street was Middle Freeport Road, and Franklin Boulevard was Lower Stockton Road. Fifth Avenue is ten feet wider that the other east west streets because it had to accomodate the street car track. It was also less dusty, because the 21st street car line had a water sprinkling car that wet the street daily in the summer.50/ It is manifest from the individualism of the dwellings that the lots were sold and built out piecemeal. The Levittown concept of cookie cutter building by a single developer was far off in the future.

The real estate company which marketed the subdivision was Hawk, Hawley & Carly Company. The successors of the firm had role in many of the Curtis Oaks developments, other Curtis Park developments, and in Land Park. The person of neighborhood interest in the firm was J.C. Carly. Carly was born in 1871. James Carly, his father, immigrated from England and worked for a lumber firm. His mother was the daughter of Captain Nathaniel Kidder, who came to Sacramento from Maine about 1849 and served as habormaster for some 24 years.

J.C. Carly farmed for a short time in Clipper Gap in Placer County and then returned to Sacramento to work in real estate.

William Curtis died on January 27, 1907, shortly after the Curtis Oaks subdivision map was filed. He was survived by two children (of five), his daughters, Enda and Carrie. George H. and Carrie Cutter resided at the Curtis Ranch at this time. The Curtis Ranch land was ultimately divided on a line running through the center of the present park. Edna obtained the west side and the Cutters the east side.

In 1908 the map of Curtis Park was as follows.

The second Curtis named subdivision, West Curtis Oaks, was a portion of the Moses Sprague Ranch used for dairying. [ Click here to see the Sacramento Bee, March 4, 1911, article on West Curtis Oaks) The subdivision was recorded in June of 1910. The map notes the property is from a tract of Hattie S. Walton. (Survey Map Book A, Map 89.) The subdivision includes the area from 21st Street (originally 21st Boulevard) on the west, the north side of Marshall Way (originally Third Avenue) on the south, 24th Street (originally 24th Avenue) on the east and 3rd Avenue (originally First Avenue) on the north. The tract contained approximately 145 lots generally on 40 foot fronts. All lots in this subdivision were accessed by alleyways. The owner of the subdivision was West Curtis Oaks Co., a corporation. Hawk and Carly were corporate officers and Hawk & Carly Co. was the realtor. Click here for some Hawk & Carly Co. West Curtis Oaks ads.

In July of 1910, the Bee reported that Carly was about to purchase the Eastern half of the remaining portion of the Curtis ranch land and would develop it as East Curtis Oaks. In November the Hickman and Coleman Company announced it would develop the rest of the Curtis ranch along the eastern border of the Western Pacific rail yard as South Curtis Oaks. The map for the West Curtis Oaks Addition subdivision, also owned by West Curtis Oaks Co., was filed in April, 1911. The tract contained approximately 91 lots and included the area of the south side of Marshall Way (originally Third Avenue) on the north, the Western Pacific Railroad right-of-way on the west, Portola Way (originally Fourth Avenue) on the south and 24th Street on the east. The lots generally have 44 foot frontage. The southern lots on Portola Way were the only ones with public alley access, all other properties bordered adjoining properties. Hawk was bought out by Carly and the ongoing marketing was by J.C. Carly Co.