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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	OLD SACRAMENTO HISTORIC DISTRICT California
Location: Sacramento County, Sacramento; area bounded by the Sacramento River and Front Street on the west, Capitol Avenue on the south, Second Street between L and I Streets on the east, and the I Street bridge and its approach on the north. Old Sacramento State Historic Park Old Sacramento

Ownership and Administration. City of Sacramento; the Redevelopment Agency of Sacramento is purchasing properties from various private owners.

Significance. Founded in 1848 by John Augustus Sutter's oldest son on the lower Sacramento River not far from Sutter's Fort, headquarters of Sutter's agricultural colony during the period 1840-48, the city of Sacramento soon had a population of 10,000 and emerged as the great interior distribution and transportation center for the mines in the Mother Lode country. Beginning in 1858 it served as the western terminus of the national communication and transportation systems that linked the East and the West, including the Pony Express, the Central Overland Mail and Stage Line, and the first transcontinental railroad, the Central Pacific. Periodically razed by fires and floods, it was rebuilt time and again with locally manufactured brick. In 1854 it became the capital of California.

Sacramento, the present capital of California, grew from humble origins, as indicated by this 1850 lithograph. Beginning as a squatters' town near Sutter's Fort, within 1 year after its formal founding it had 10,000 residents. (Courtesy, Bancroft Library, University of California.)

Present Appearance. Old Sacramento has the largest collection of structures dating from the gold-rush days of any major city on the Pacific coast. Still standing in the Historic District are 44 original buildings—including banks, express offices, hotels, restaurants, saloons, various shops and stores, as well as a firehouse, newspaper office, and telegraph office. Many of the buildings have been altered over the years, but the basic structures are largely intact. Plans are now underway to reemphasize the historic character of this District by means of a State park and an urban renewal project. [28]

NHL Designation: 01/12/65