The Central California Traction Company also ran an interurban rail line from Downtown Sacramento to Stockton, CA. The line headed through Oak Park along Sacramento Blvd, then 2nd Ave, finally turning South at Stockton Blvd. and running down the Eastern edge of Oak Park towards Stockton, CA.
Joyland caught fire in 1920 and never reopened. In 1927, Valentine McClatchy purchased the land and gave it to the city to become a city park,named in honor of his father James McClatchy, the founder of the Sacramento Bee.
Most of the lots sold in Oak Park in 1887 were still vacant in 1891. During the period 1891-94 when the Central Street Railway became a viable transportation system, Oak Park finally began to grow slowly.
When it was established in 1889, the Central Street Railway had a second objective; and that was the formation of an eight-acre picnic and entertainment park in the old oak grove on Doyle's land. They built a pavilion for picnics, private dances, band concerts and other amusements. They built an electric plant on the site so that it could be lighted in the evenings. There would also be no alcohol sold on site to help create an atmosphere of safety for families. The street car company ran lines directly into the park. The idea of the park was to make the prospect of living in Oak Park seem more attractive. However, to get the point across they needed to give Sacramento residents reasons to make the trip out to Oak Park and to make that trip convenient.
Other developers who were stimulated by the Oak Park subdivision began buy up small and large tracts in the surrounding area. Other pioneers in the Oak Park area were H.J. Goethe and Michael J. Dillman, who established subdivisions in the east and southeast of Oak Park.
In the 1890s, development throughout the Sacramento area was curtailed due to a nationwide depression and financial panic that began in 1893. Growth languished from then until the turn of the century. Due to financial problems in these years, the Oak Park Association was forced to dissolve and distribute its remaining undivided lands among its major investors, chiefly L.L. Lewis and William J. Landers. Both of them soon launched subdivisions between 4th and 5th Avenues and Franklin Boulevard and Sacramento Boulevard. However, Oak Park had the infrastructure in place to support growth and as prosperity returned, growth returned to Oak Park as well.
In 1903 the street car company was reorganized as the Sacramento Gas, Electric and Railway Company and that led to the park being turned over to a franchise operator who was more knowledgeable and had money to invest in public entertainment. An outdoor theatre was added to the park that featured free vaudeville acts and the popular new entertainment of motion pictures. On Labor Day in 1903 the holiday crowd was estimated at 20,000 by a local newspaper. The increased popularity of the park soon led to addition of a roller skating rink and a miniature scenic railroad.
As attendance at the park grew, businesses began to grow up near the park and along the line of the street cars along Sacramento Boulevard between 31st Street and 35th Street, and along 35th Street between Sacramento Boulevard and the park] and residences and businesses began to appear in the general area around the park. Oak Park's first business was opened by John Steen in 1893 on a double lot on the northwest corner of 35th Street and Cypress [4th Avenue]. His saloon became known as Steen�s Corner and it was housed in a two-story wood frame building that no longer exists.
The community of Oak Park grew rapidly between 1900-1910. Its first two churches, the Oak Park Baptist Church and the Oak Park Methodist Church were organized around 1900 and by 1901, the community finally established enough identity, critical mass and business support for a weekly newspaper, The Sacramento County Ledger.
In 1906-07 the trolley company began preparations for the move of the State Fair Grounds to Stockton Boulevard to the east of Oak Park. A trolley line was built down 2nd Avenue all the way to the Fair Grounds. This line was eventually controlled by the Central California Traction Company. A second extension was made by Padific Gas & Electric that branched off of its 35th Street line and followed 4th Avenue to the Fair Grounds.
The 1911 City Directory describes Oak Park as having five churches, two elementary schools, two fire houses, a pottery production plant, two lumber yards, a knife and tool factory.......