Nearly alone in the Special Collections reading room of Shields Library, John Skarstad toils away at an exhibit that will tell the story of Davisville farmer George Washington Pierce Jr.'s pivotal role in the history of UC Davis.

Skarstad, the campus archivist, described Pierce as "an unheralded character" in the state's decision 100 years ago this week to pick Davisville — simply known as Davis today — as the site of the University of California farm, predecessor to UC Davis.

The Shields Library centennial exhibit on Pierce and Davisville is tentatively scheduled to open on Monday. The city of Davis organized its own centennial observance for 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, during this week's Picnic in the Park, with an official saying the start time would be 100 years to the minute after the state Farm Commission's decision.

"You can thank George Washington Pierce Jr." for the event's timing, said Skarstad, noting that Pierce kept a diary of his farming enterprise and other activities — and recorded the time on April 5, 1906, when Davisville emerged victorious.

Newspapers reported that the decision came just before midnight; there is no explanation for the discrepancy.

Pierce had been lobbying hard for Davisville for more than a year, starting March 19, 1905, the day after the Legislature authorized a university farm and set up the site selection committee.

He was "tenacious, like a bulldog," said Skarstad, noting that the "bulldog" description came from Davisville physician Walter Bates' recollections in 1931. On second thought, Skarstad said, Pierce was more like a sheepdog. "He never really bit people, he herded people in the Davisville direction."

Within a month, Pierce had secured 72-year-old Martin Van Buren Sparks' agreement to sell 730 acres to the state if Davisville prevailed against 70 or so other communities vying for the farm. Pierce used $10,000 of his own money to secure an option to buy Sparks' land for $120 an acre, or $87,600 total.

Also, Pierce "persuaded members of the Chamber of Commerce to purchase and donate the water rights to the Sparks tract," according to Abundant Harvest, the UC Davis history book by Ann Scheuring.

When not immersed in work on his own farm, Pierce sometimes kept three or four appointments a week to promote Davisville's UC farm bid, Skarstad said. He noted that Pierce "blew out a lot of tires" as he traveled country roads between Davisville, Woodland and Sacramento.

In February 1906 alone, Pierce's diary notes 13 appointments, including some on Sunday. He met frequently in the Capitol with his fellow UC Berkeley classmate, Gov. George Pardee.

Pierce's work did not end with Davisville's victory. "He had all these promises," Skarstad said. "Now he has to line it up, to make the promises solid. The very next day he's pulling the loose ends together."

Pierce collected money for the water rights transfer, gathered abstracts for the Sparks property and two smaller land acquisitions, and secured signatures on deeds — with all these activities recorded in his diary.

"On June 27, he went to Sacramento with the deeds and the abstracts," Skarstad said.

Foreman John Rogers unlocked the main gate to the University Farm at midnight Sept. 1, and the farm admitted its first students in 1907, though classes were postponed for a year to 1908. The Board of Regents designated Davis as a general campus in October 1959, and the first commencement took place in 1960.

The 100th anniversary of Davisville's selection as the state farm site is just one of many "centennial moments" for UC Davis, Skarstad said. Last year he presented an exhibit on the centennial of the farm legislation that Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Peter Shields pushed through the Capitol.

For Skarstad, part of what makes Pierce so interesting is why he took such an interest in promoting Davisville's bid. Skarstad noted that Pierce and neighboring farmer Eugene LaRue, who assisted the farm promotion effort until his death in January 1906, had the least to gain.

"They weren't merchants," he said, like others in the Chamber of Commerce.

Pierce and LaRue's interests "were, as far as I can tell, civic," Skarstad said. "This just comes out and seizes him (Pierce); it's something he takes on as a responsibility. Aside from being a train stop, if Davisville was going to mean something as a town, it had to have something of permanent value."

Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef recalled Shields' description of a gathering 100 years ago on an almost empty stubble field where university officials and Davis community members sought "something which would suggest a prophecy of greatness."

"If our forbearers were here today, I have no doubt they would judge their prophecy has come true," Vanderhoef said.