In July, 2004 The MRNC wrote a three part series of articles for the Lincoln News Messenger based upon research conducted by Bill Plumb related to the cultural history of the Lincoln area. Plumb talked with long-time Lincoln residents and historians including Jerry Logan, Wes Freeman and Bill Wyatt. We talked about the Maidu Indian inhabitants and their significant, yet mostly overlooked, imprint on our community. We shared the migration of European settlers after the discovery of Gold in 1849. We examined the railroad expansion through Lincoln and subsequent birth of the City of Lincoln. We explored the discoveries of coal and clay deposits.

This Lincoln history was researched and shared with the Lincoln community because the MRNC believes that the successful preservation of Lincoln's ravines and riparian habitats requires an understanding and preservation of our cultural history as well. Please go to our website history menu for the complete story as we wrote it in 2004.

An even more extensive look at the history of Lincoln has now been undertaken by Forty Niner Regional Occupational Program instructor, Ivan Bradley, and students within the 49er ROP Digital Video program at Lincoln High School. His historical film project was an outgrowth of workshops attended by Bradley in August and October, 2004, presented by Canadian Filmaker/Director Nikos Theodosakis, through the Placer County Office of Education.

Bradley himself initially created a 15 minute documentary interviewing local historian Jerry Logan, that focused on the theme “Preserving Your Local Culture.” The subsequent evolution of this project included the involvement of students in creating similar videos. A listing of potential interviewees was created along with subject areas to be focused on and questions to be asked of each interviewee. The students, in teams, interviewed local residents, including Jerry Logan, Bill Williams, Roberta Babcock, Esther Newcomb, Vic Belotti and Leroy Stevens. The students captured video of each of these interviews.

The instructor accompanied the students to each of the shoots. The students then edited and produced four short historical documentaries of 10 minutes. "Roberta Remembers" was created by students Marco Chavez and Orlando Recendez. "Esther’s Stories" was created by students Darren Lovejoy and Katie Richardson. "Lincoln Potters- Small Town Hard Ball" was created by student Don Hutchinson. "The Clay Man" was created by students Kevin Flores and Travis Newman.

These individual student videos were shown publicly for the first time, along with works from other high school film teams, at a “Showcase 2005- Festivale du Film,” on Saturday, March 5, 2005 in the newly renovated Lincoln Heritage Theater. This event was sponsored by the Placer County Office of Education. Awards and recognition, along with an address by Mr. Theodosakis, followed the film gala. This being the first year of the PCOE film festival, all of the students received awards of achievement. Starting in 2006 the student film festival will become a competitive judged event. 

The theme of the Festivale du Film this year, as well as in subsequent years, is entitled “Preserving Your Local Culture.” The Placer County Office of Education describes as follows their reasons for selecting this theme:

"In every town you will find historic neighborhoods that tell the tales of days gone by and remarkable old buildings that hold the secrets of our past. You may even find community members who possess memories from more than a century ago, all of which are in danger of being lost forever. Who will be left to impart the often awe-inspiring and sometimes humbling anecdotes of yesteryear? Who will be here to set the record straight when our history is distorted by failing memories and the passage of time? For these reasons and many others, the Placer County Office of Education is proud to announce the creation of 'Preserving Your Local Culture.' This film project program focuses on the importance of preserving local heritage by encouraging students, teachers, administrators, and local communities to help save their endangered local treasures by capturing their stories on video."

The four individual Lincoln student video documentaries have been edited together along with the original Bradley video, resulting in a 65 minute DVD. This DVD edition also includes a slideshow of 60 historical photographs of Lincoln. The DVD is now being sold for $20 at Lincoln High School and through Lincoln retail business shops including The Whispering Woods, Sweetwater Cottage and The Morning Glory cafe. All profits made from these DVD sales are being used to purchase equipment and supplies for the 49er ROP Graphic Communications, Digital Video, and Computer Animation classes at Lincoln High School.

The student's Lincoln historical DVD had it's premier public showing during the Second Annual 2005 Lincoln Creek Week, as one of the featured activities at the Community Forum on April 6th. The DVD presentation was followed by a question and answer session with four of the local Lincoln resident historians filmed in the video. Many questions were asked by the audience members wanting the Lincoln historians to personally elaborate on their childhood and their rememberances of our Lincoln cultural history. It was an absolutely memorable evening for all in attendance who were captivated by these recollections and stories.

The following is an outline of Lincoln's cultural history, as captured in the MRNC website history, and the Lincoln High School 49er ROP student video project.