Victoria Island
A Uniquely Abundant Terrain
The story of Victoria Island begins nearly 40 million years ago when a meteor nearly 5.5 kilometers in diameter—one of the largest ever discovered—slammed into what is now the Northern California San Delta. Named the Victoria Island Structure, it remains buried nearly a mile below our fields.
Prior to 1800, the California Delta was swampland inhabited by the Maidu Indians. Spanish explorers first arrived on the scene in 1772, and were followed by many others. Fur trappers introduced malaria in the early 1800s, which resulted in the death of many of the Maidu people.
Gold was discovered in the nearby California foothills in 1848, triggering a massive migration to the area surrounding Victoria Island. Early farmers settling in the Delta needed a way to keep their lands from flooding in the spring and winter, and thus began the construction of the levee system that defines the Delta today. A large population of Chinese laborers came to help build the earthen levees after the completion of work on the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.
Today the Delta covers nearly 738,000 acres interlaced with hundreds of miles of waterways. Much of the land is below sea level and relies on more than 1,000 miles of levees for protection against flooding. The Delta's land and waterways support communities, agriculture, and recreation, as well as continuing to provide essential habitat for fish and wildlife. Victoria Island is situated in the southern part of the Delta, and prior to the 1900s was accessible only by boat. The California Delta Highway, with historical bridges at either end of Victoria Island, was completed in 1912.