From Orangevale to Citrus Heights: Local history advocate returns to his roots

By Sara Beth Williams–
After more than three decades living in Orangevale, Citrus Heights Historical Society President Larry Fritz and his wife have officially returned to Citrus Heights with a cat and six pet turkeys in tow.

Fritz, who serves as president of both the Citrus Heights Historical Society and the San Juan Alumni Association, recently purchased a home on Glenn Avenue. along with his wife Maria. Fritz paid $105,000 less than the original asking price when the home was first listed in November 2024. After a year on the market at $950,000 the home dropped in price three times before landing at $865,000.

“We had been looking for something newer, but with just a bit more space,” Fritz said in a recent interview. “This house had everything we were looking for.” The two-thirds-acre lot coupled with a modern interior was a major draw.

“It’s like a park back there,” Fritz said, describing the backyard. “We needed more space because of our turkeys, and this gives us plenty of room.”

Online maps show Cripple Creek runs through the property. A bridge has been constructed across the creek to the adjoining land on the property, which Fritz recently mowed down to make room for a large turkey coop.

Fritz’s family moved to Citrus Heights in 1965 when his father was transferred to McClellan Air Force Base as a civilian employee. After graduating from San Juan High School in 1973, attending college elsewhere, then returning in 1977, Fritz bought a home in 1990 in what is now Orangevale. At that time, Citrus Heights was not incorporated.

When the eastern boundary line for Citrus Heights was drawn a few years later during the city’s incorporation process, the border should have gone straight down Kenneth Avenue all the way to Greenback Lane, Fritz says.

“Someone was afraid that residents in the southeast corner would not vote in favor of cityhood, so they pushed the boundary back to Fair Oaks Boulevard,” Fritz said.

Indeed, the border between the two jurisdictions now currently runs north to south from Old Auburn Road just northeast of Wachtel Way to Kenneth Avenue and Elm Avenue in the south, then takes a sharp turn west through the middle of residential housing until it reaches Fair Oaks Boulevard.

“My house [in Orangevale] really should be in Citrus Heights. I have therefore maintained that ‘I live in Orangevale, but it’s not my fault.” Fritz said.

Fritz said before this move, he and his wife spent the past three years trying to build another home on a piece of land they owned in Fair Oaks. However, the process proved difficult due to several protected oak trees on the lot.

“We really struggled with the plans, trying to squeeze the house between the trees,” he explained.

He and his wife finally closed on their new home in Citrus Heights at the end of April and are finishing settling in.

Now retired, Fritz says both he and Maria are home full-time, since she works remotely, and her mother has also moved in with them. Add a cat and the aforementioned turkeys, and the household is a busy one.

With the purchase of their new home finalized, the land he owned in Fair Oaks is now for sale, Fritz confirmed.

The Citrus Heights Historical Society was formed in 1993 and is a volunteer organization that participates in and offers programs and special community events in an effort to raise awareness of historical locations such as the Historic Rusch Home, Sylvan Cemetery, and the Wheeler House and the need to preserve them for future generations.