Curtis Oaks news items in the Bee indicate that grading work and street
construction commenced on South Curtis Oaks in 1911. Various maps during the
teens show a street grid for South Curtis Oaks, albeit without William Curtis
Park and with no structures shown. Nonetheless, the first South Curtis Oaks
subdivision map I have been able to find was not filed for almost a decade.
Doubtless, WWI put a damper on development.
On October 1, 1913, Adolph Heilbron died.
The 1913 map of Curtis Park was as follows.
On Tuesday, September 12, 1911 the then "suburbs," including the area
that later became known as Curtis Park was finally annexed into the City of
Sacramento. An earlier annexation election had been unsuccessful because of the
opposition of suburban saloon keepers loath to be subject to city restrictions.
The successful annexation effort was supported by the Curtis Oaks Improvement
Club, our original neighborhood association. The vote of the five suburban
districts, Riverside Road, Highland Park, Oak Grove, Oak Park, and East
Sacramento was 808 in favor 355 against. (Sacramento Bee Sept 13, 1911, p. 1.)
In 1916 the street names were changed to the present ones to clear up
inconsistencies in addresses and street names between the various annexed
subdivisions.
In January of 1918 we almost became Land Park. (That would
probably have left Land Park to be named Maple Park.) William Land had left a
fund for the purchase of a park. The Curtis Oaks improvement club supported and
lobbied hard for using the money to purchase land from the area that became the
South Curtis Park subdivisions. (Bee, Jan. 4& 7, 1918] However, the Parks
Commissioners turned us down and on Jan. 8, 1918 voted to purchase instead the
Swanson McKevitt Tract of 238 acres, the present site of Land Park. (It appears
the City later tried to back out of the deal. Bee, p. 1, July 1, 1919)
On March 7, 1918, the Curtis Park Improvement Club named a committee to preserve "the beautiful oak trees around the streets in this district [that] are the community's most valuable asset." "Some of the oaks have died, but it is said that the others, if properly treated, will live for a hundred or more years." (Bee, March 8, 1918.)
In 1918, Curtis H. Cutter the son and only child of George H. and Carrie served in the Navy in the Great War. While home on leave from that service, he married Leita Carly, the daughter and only child of J.C. and May Glenn Carly.
On June 16, 1919, J.C. Carly and the Hickman Investment Company (to whom Edna Curtis had transferred her interest in the Curtis Ranch lands) proposed a conditional gift of land for a park to the City. The land was a strip 2740 feet long and 300 feet wide. The conditions contemplated that the City would pay for development of the park. [Bee, June 17, 1919.] A negotiation process ensued. A modified proposal was offered on August 12, 1919. The Oak Park Business Men's Association adopted a policy of opposition to the proposal on August 20, 1919. The Sacramento Retail Merchants Association was also opposed. (Bee, p. 1, Aug. 22, 1919.) Both groups thought the development costs were unwarranted.
On October 17, 1919, it was reported in the Bee that a truce had been arranged between the Sacramento Aviation Company and Western Pacific employees. The aviation company had leased a tract in south Curtis Park as a landing field. The railroadmen short-cutting across the tract: "had to look sharp to avoid being struck by airplanes flying low. Some of them claimed to have been knocked down." The Public Health and Safety Commissioner, after an investigation, ruled the trainmen were trespassing and would have to cross the lot at their own risk.
On October 18, 1919 the City, by a seven to one margin, approved a major school construction bond, including $2,304,000 for new elementary schools. The vote at the Highland Park School was 320 yes, 31 no.
On November 3, 1919, the Cutters purchased 70 acres of land south of Curtis Oaks adjoining Franklin Boulevard for $70,000 from the William Curtis Company. (Bee Nov. 3, 1919) J.C. Carley said this was for the purpose of getting matters into shape for a imminent subdivision on the Curtis Tract south of Curtis Oaks and West of Franklin Boulevard. He announced that his company planned soon to commence building 20 dwellings, each with "a different elevation and distinctive architectural lines." (Union, p.1 , Nov. 4, 1919.]
On November 29, 1919, the Cutters and the Hickman Investment Company granted the land for William Curtis Park to the City of Sacramento. The deed prescribes the use of the land as a park conditioned, among other things, upon the City expending specified funds for its improvement for that purpose. (Deed Bk. 515, p. 294 et seq.)
| The Cutters filed the subdivision map for South Curtis Oaks No. 1 on January 26, 1920. The tract was bounded by Donner Way on the north, Franklin Boulevard on the east, 6th Avenue on the south and William Curtis Park on the west. The lot sizes returned to a standard 50 foot frontage, which prevailed thereafter. With the exception of the alley west of 24th Street, there were no more alleys thereafter. | 
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In January of 1921, Curtis H. Cutter, was secretary of Carly Company.
He lived at 2757 Marshall Way. (1921 Sacramento City Directory)
In
May of 1921, the City Board of Education approved preliminary plans for
two new Curtis Park elementary schools, Bret Hart and Highland Park
School. (Bee, May 11, 1921.) On May 18, 1921, the Board authorized an
agreement with the Heilbron heirs for 6.23 acres for the new Highland Park
School at 24th Street and Fourth Avenue for approximately $5,500 per acre.
(Bee, May 18, 1921)
On April 11, 1921, the Board, after several weeks of controversy over location, accepted a proposition of J. C. Carly to sell the east five acres of South Curtis Oaks, Subdivision No. 2 for $27,500, for use as the Bret Hart School. (Bee, April 12, 1921.
The schools were constructed during 1922 and 1923. At the request of the community association, the new Highland Park School was named the Sierra Public School. The old Highland Park School continued in use for another dozen years or so.
In June of 1921, the civic improvement club was reorganized. The Curtis Oaks District Improvement Club boundaries were expanded to include all of present day Curtis Park except the Western Pacific railyard and points west. (Bee, June 14, 1921.)
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