Courtland, CA

Courtland is a Sacramento Delta community on the east bank of the Sacramento River, about 17 miles south-southwest of Sacramento. The 2020 census counted 326 residents. James V. Sims laid out the town around a pear ranch and named it for his son, Courtland. A post office followed in 1872, and the riverfront became a shipping point for pears, asparagus, and other farm goods. Courtland’s early Chinese American community farmed, worked on rail lines, built levees, and ran businesses near the wharf; the North Courtland Chinese Commercial District remains an important part of the town’s past.

ATTRNoah_Loverbear / CC BY-SA 3.0

The town is still easiest to understand through its agricultural calendar and its levee-road setting. The annual Pear Fair fills Courtland with a parade, food, crafts, and Bartlett pear pride on the last Sunday of July, while the Courtland Town Association raises money for local schools, scholarships, and community programs. Courtland Market and La Posada serve as familiar stops in the small commercial center, and the old Courtland Auditorium preserves part of the school-era town. Sacramento is close enough for regional errands, but Courtland’s day-to-day map is river, orchards, levees, and the few blocks where the Delta community gathers.