It was on this hill that Dr. Dean Jewett Locke and his brother Elmer H. Locke built the first cabin of this section in 1851. Disturbed by grizzly bears, they spent their first nights in the oak trees. Dr. Locke, physician for the Boston and Newton Joint Stock Company, left Boston on April 16, 1849, crossing the plains. Arriving at Sacramento, Sept 16 1849 he built and maintained a ford across the Mokelumne River and because of this fact his wife Delia Hammond Locke, in 1859 named the town he laid out on his ranch,

LOCKEFORD

Luther Locke, his father, was postmaster of the first postoffice established in 1861.
Dr Locke was born in Langdon N.H. April 16 1823, and died at Lockeford May 4 1887.

Dedicated by Stockton Parlor No 256, Native Daughters of the Golden West.
July 18 1936