On Tuesday February 9 the Sacramento City Council authorized the use of the Sacramento city seal for use on plaques to be fabricated through the Historic Properties Plaque Program, a project of Sacramento Heritage, Inc.

Sacramento Heritage Inc. is a nonprofit organization incorporated by the city of Sacramento to promote and preserve Sacramento's architectural heritage. The Historic Properties Plaque Program allows owners of properties that are either listed Sacramento landmarks, or contributing buildings to Sacramento historic districts, to purchase bronze plaques for display on their properties. The cost of the plaques will be paid by the property owner, should they choose to participate. Plaques will be available in two sizes--a smaller size for residences and a larger size for commercial buildings. Many other cities use plaque programs to highlight their historic buildings and districts, promoting heritge tourism and interest in local history. Plaques in other cities vary in construction, from simple metal and enamel signs to cast bronze. Sacramento's program will use cast bronze. Other plaque programs are state-sponsored, like the California Historic Landmarks program, or privately funded, like the plaque programs of the Native Sons of the Golden West or E Clampus Vitus.

Now that the program has been approved, the Sacramento Heritage Inc. website will soon add information on how to order a plaque. Lists of the city's official landmarks and historic districts can be found via the City of Sacramento's Preservation Department webpage:

www.cityofsacramento.org/dsd/planning/preservation/

Lists of landmarks and contributors are found in he Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources, downloadable as a PDF document on the Preservation Department page above. Buildings that are not currently landmarks (criteria for nominating buildings as landmarks are on the Preservation Department website) cannot receive plaques unless the building is nominated and approved by the city of Sacramento. In order to be eligible, the historic value of the building must be documented and presented to the city--not every building can make the grade, and simply being an old building is not enough to make a building historic! Current owners of listed landmarks and contributing buildings should be able to order plaques once ordering information is finalized and modifications to the website are made.

At Tuesday night's City Council meeting, the item was pulled from the consent calendar by Councilmember Steve Cohn for discussion by the City Council. He supported the project, but took a moment both to acknowledge the program and to point out that the current City of Sacramento city seal seems outdated, and that the city might consider redesigning the seal. After a brief discussion about the seal, the measure was passed unanimously by the City Council. Details of the project and decision can be found via the City Council website:

sacramento.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=8&clip_id=2196&meta_id=191152

More information about Sacramento Heritage Inc., including the Historic Plaque Program and other programs, can be found on their website:

sacramentoheritage.org/