Like California, the valley town of Ripon owes it beginnings to early adventurers. A group of Mormons looking for the "Promised Land" in 1846 were the first Europeans to settle along the Stanislaus River near Ripon. In 1850, another adventurous early pioneer, William H. Crow, settled in the region, and the first school to be established in the county was subsequently named for him 12 years later, in 1862. William H. Hughes purchased 1,300 acres in 1857, and in 1872, he gave the railroad a right-of-way and provided land for the depot known as Stanislaus Station. Amplias B. Crook, postmaster of this station, proposed in 1874 to rename the community in honor of his hometown, Ripon, Wisconsin. Hence California's Ripon was established on December 21, 1874.