The original town site of Elk Grove was located at the intersection of Upper Stockton Road, present-day Highway 99, and Elk Grove-Franklin Road, present-day Elk Grove Boulevard, from 1857 to circa 1878. This site was part of that town site and was later home to Kirby Ranch, owned by Howard Kirby, an early rancher in the Elk Grove community. The site was later developed by the Tribble Brothers, who helped diversify agriculture in the region. In 1889, a ranch house was built here about 1,200 feet west of the first building constructed in the area, Buckner's Hotel, which had been the center of Elk Grove's historic town site before the town center moved east adjacent to the Central Pacific Railroad circa 1878. Around 1936, Capital Nursery acquired the property, expanding its businesses in Citrus Heights and Freeport and supplying plant materials to residents of the region.