Penryn, CA Real Estate

Penryn is an unincorporated community in Placer County. The story of Penryn begins in late 1864 when a Welsh immigrant by the name of Griffith Griffith established a granite quarry on quarter section of land leased from the Central Pacific Railroad. To simplify things and avoid the inevitable misspellings that were likely to occur, Griffith, agreed to drop the “h” from the original Welsh spelling and settled on the name, "Penryn". In May 1871, Penryn was designated a voting precinct by the County of Placer. Penryn granite is noted for its beauty and strength. Granite quarried in Penryn was used in construction of Stanford University and Alcatraz prison.

It was David Griffith's daughter, Enid, who left the quarry property to the people of the County of Placer when she died in 1976. In accordance with her wishes, the site of the Penryn Granite Works is now a 23-acre park. The surrounding park contains ruins of the first polishing mill built in California and some of the quarry holes from which the unique Penryn granite was taken. This site is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the California Landmark Program.

Elementary school aged children attend Penryn School, established in 1862. This school is part of the Loomis Unified School District.