Sharpe's Landing was the first established settlement in the Sacramento River Delta.

When Sharpe died in 1880, other towns had been established in the Delta, (Rio Vista, Isleton, Courtland, Hood and Freeport), but Walnut Grove was the largest and most visited owing to its location midway between Sacramento and San Francisco. Steamers traveling between the two cities docked here.

In the 1880s, Alexander Brown was the first American to successfully grow asparagus as a marketable product. Every year the first pickings of the asparagus crop were rushed to the Plaza Hotel and Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

Asians outnumbered Caucasians who lived in homes facing the Sacramento River. Asians lived in Chinatown and Japantown, both of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Source: NRHP nomination submitted in 1990.