Zamora in Spain and also in California

Since I was born in Woodland and many of my relatives live in the surrounding towns, one town always sounded foreign to me and I always wondered why.  Zamora.   I can imagine my grandmother roll her Spanish 'r' over the name as I type it here.

Zamora was formerly called Black's, Black's Station and Prairie and officials estimated its 2005 population at 61.  It is an unincorporated community in rural Yolo County, California, U.S. located on I-5 just west of Knights Landing.  It is in the northern part of the county and Zamora’s children attend schools to the south in Woodland; Zamora’s older children attend Woodland High School.  Zamora is served by its own post office and a volunteer fire department. There is one Catholic church and the town sits at an elevation of 52 feet.

As I continue my daily preparation for my trip to Spain, the town's name popped into my head due to the area I will be visiting.  Fuentesauco, Toro, Villamor de los Escuderos and Villaescusa are all villages smack in the center of the Province of Zamora.  

Imagination, curiosity and an abundance of questions centered on Zamora today and wonder how many Spaniards settled there and brought the name of Zamora to their new homeland.  So, instead of guessing, I did some research.  In actuality, the town's name was changed in 1906 to Zamora;  not after the Province of Zamora at all but the name of a specific soil!  So, I'll stop romanticizing Zamora as a place from whence they came but instead,, I shall enjoy the Province of Zamora in 12 more days!

Found on the internet:  

Zamora soils

The town lends its name to a type of soil which is classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as "a member of the fine-silty, mixed, thermic family of Mollic Haploxeralfs. Typically, Zamora soils have grayish brown, slightly acid loam A horizons; brown silty clay loam, neutral Bt horizons; and yellowish brown C horizons." They are found "Along the west side of the Sacramento Valley in central California and other parts of California" and are "used for growing orchards, row, field, and truck crops. Native vegetation is annual grasses and forbs and widely spaced oaks."