HISTORIC CORE CITIZENS NATIONAL BANKLEGACY OF PARKINSON AND BERGSTROM CROCKER BANKLEGACY OF THE CROCKERS

Charles Crocker was one of the four principal investors along with Mark Hopkins, Collis Huntington and Leland Stanford (also known as the Big Four) who formed the Central Pacific Railroad the company that built the western half of the Transcontinental Railroad in North America which united the Atlantic and the Pacific and opened up a new highway between Europe and Asia. Crocker managed the actual construction of the railroad. He overcame shortages of manpower and money by hiring Chinese immigrants. He set records for laying track and finishing the project seven years ahead of the government’s deadline.

With this success, Crocker’s business activities reached a new level. He became president of the Central Pacific Railroad, helped connect San Francisco to Portland by rail, became involved in banking and northern California industry, and made even more money as a real estate speculator. He was an early proponent of the massive irrigation projects which eventually transformed California into a fruit and vegetable growing center.