History

In the “gold era “ the land along the Cosumners River was called Bridge House. There was even the post office Bridge House form 1901 until 1918.

One of the first settlers here was Elitha Donner, daughter of Donner Party leader. Rescued in 1847 from the mountains, she married Perry Mc Cook and they live in his adobe cabin in north bank of Cosumnes River, what today is the part of RM.

In 1848, days after the signing the Treaty of Guadalupe - Hidalgo that ended the Mexican war, gold was discovered and triggered a large migration to Sacramento area.
Looking for gold John Driscoll from Ireland came to California in 1853.
His daughter Mary married Robert Granlees , who came to Bridge House in 1871, where he purchased ranch.
Mary Granlees bought then land from Emanuel Pratt , another miner who lived in the house, where today is the parking area.
In 1915 Mary Granlees deeded her land to her 3 sons and about 50 years later in 1970 the brothers sold 2,200 acres for a million and a quarter to the Pension Trust Fund of Operating Engineers Union Local 3 .
The heavy equipment operators chose this site along the Cosumnes River as a training school.
"We ripped out the streets . We did the excavation for the pipe -- everything here is underground, as it should be -- and we built the six lakes. ... We did it with trainees, and they were learning to build things. They weren't just pushing dirt around”.
“We have a saying in the Engineers -- 'They'll never build a monument to the Engineers. We build our own.' "
With their work, the land became Rancho Murieta.
The first homes appeared in the mid-1970s, and development of the community continues.