In 1879, the Sonoma Valley Railroad built a station and named it Schellville, CA , after Theodore L. Schell who had settled on a 1000-acre ranch nearby in 1860. When the Southern Pacific Railroad laid tracks in the same area in 1887, they named their station Shellville. Around this time a townsite was laid out and lots were advertized in the Schellville Ray, the local newspaper. Soon the town had several hotels, a lumberyard, general store, post office and school. At the turn of the century, Sonoma Creek filled with mud and large vessels could no longer reach Embarcadero and the landing moved downstream, so the town faded away.
