Sacramento History

Mather Field author talk at Historical Society, Tuesday Jan. 24

2012-01-23T06:28:36Z

Sacramento County Historical Society Presents

Images of America, Mather Field by James Scott and Tom Tolley

Tuesday, January 24, 7:00 PM
Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society Building, 5380 Elvas Avenue, Sacramento

Join us on January 24th at 7:00 pm, as historians James Scott and Tom Tolley present a history of Mather Field from prehistory
to closure and introduce their book: Images of America, Mather Field. Born from America’s need to train aviators for the Great
War, Mather Field has sat sentinel to the east of Sacramento for nearly a century. Overnight, the base transformed a lonely domain of cattle and vineyards into an aerie where fledgling “man-birds” were taught to fly and kill. Although readapted to focus on fire control and mail delivery between the wars, Mather still inspired, and was home to 1930 Air Corps maneuvers. World War II renewed Mather, as training bomber crews and repatriating veterans of the Pacific War helped create what was becoming a self-sustaining city of churches, schools, and burgeoning neighborhoods. Through two world wars and the tense years of the Cold War, this base has changed into a suburban mélange of aviation, business, and housing in the shadow of California’s capital city. Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing.

A native of Portland, Oregon, James Scott has been a librarian at the Sacramento Public Library for the last 11 years. He is a graduate of Marquette University and holds Master’s degrees in European history and library science. He is currently studying to become a certified archivist, and speaks and writes on antebellum Sacramento and the Central Valley’s World War One experience.

Tom Tolley has worked for the Sacramento Public Library for over 25 years, the last 12 as a library technician in Special Collections. A Sacramento resident since 1964 with an active interest in the region's popular culture and social history, he collects books and information on a variety of topics including motion picture history and genre fiction.

For more information about Sacramento County Historical Society, visit http://www.sachistoricalsociety.org

Disclosure: William Burg is vice-president of Sacramento County Historical Society.

Becoming an American at Lincoln School

2010-07-04T20:11:13Z

The following is an excerpt from Ernesto Galarza's autobiography, Barrio Boy, which tells the story of the Galarza family's immigration from Mexico to the United States. Ernesto grew up in Sacramento and attended Lincoln Elementary School, on the site of the PERS "Lincoln Plaza" building. Lincoln School's student body was primarily made up of immigrants who came to Sacramento from all over the world. In Barrio Boy, Galarza wrote much about how his school experiences helped shape his identity as an American. Here, he writes of his experiences starting first grade in Miss Ryan's class at Lincoln, shortly after arriving in Sacramento from Mexico:

'During the next few weeks, Miss Ryan overcame my fears of tall, energetic teachers as she bent over my desk to help me with a word in the pre-primer. Step by step, she loosened me and my classmates from the safe anchorage of the desks for recitations at the blackboard and consultations at her desk. Frequently she burst into happy announcements to the whole class. "Ito can read a sentence," and small Japanese Ito, squint-eyed and shy, slowly read aloud while the class listened in wonder: "Come, Skipper, come. Come and run." The Korean, Portuguese, Italian, and Polish first graders had similar moments of glory, no less shining than mine the day I conquered "butterfly," which I had been persistently pronouncing in standard Spanish as boo-ter-flee. "Children," Miss Ryan called for attention. "Ernesto has learned how to pronounce butterfly!" And I proved it with a perfect imitation of Miss Ryan. From that celebrated success, I was soon able to match Ito's progress as a sentence reader with "Come, buttefly, come fly with me."

'...Like the first grade, the rest of the Lincoln School was a sampling of the lower part of town where many races made their home. My pals in the second grade were Kazushi, whose parents spoke only Japanese; Matti, a skinny Italian boy; and Manuel, a fat Portuguese who would never get into a fight but wrestled you to the ground and just sat on you. Our assortment of nationalities included Koreans, Yugoslavs, Poles, Irish, and home-grown Americans.

'Miss Hopley and her teachers never let us forget why we were at Lincoln: for those who were alien, to become good Americans; for those who were so born, to accept the rest of us. Off the school grounds we traded the same insults we heard from our elders. On the playground we were sure to be marched up to the principal's office for calling someone a wop, a chink, a dago, or a greaser. The school was not so much a melting pot as a griddle where Miss Hopley and her helpers warmed knowledge into us and roasted racial hatreds out of us.

'At Lincoln, making us into Americans did not mean scrubbing away what made us originally foreign. The teachers called us as our parents did, or as close as they could pronounce our names in Spanish or Japanese. No one was ever scolded or punished for speaking in his native tongue on the playground. Matti told the class about his mother's down quilt, which she had made in Italy with the fine feathers of a thousand geese. Encarnacion acted out how boys learned to fish in the Phillipines. I astounded the third grade with the story of my travels on a stagecoach, which nobody else in the class had seen except in the museum at Sutter's Fort. After a visit to the crocker Art Gallery and its collection of heroic paintings of the golden age of California, someone showed a silk scroll with a Chinese painting. Miss Hopley herself had a way of expressing wonder over these matters before a class, her eyes wide open until they popped slightly. It was easy for me to feel that becoming a proud American, as she said we should, did not mean feeling ashamed of being a Mexican.'

SCHS Presents: Sacramento's Underground

2010-05-22T01:11:54Z

Sacramento County Historical Society Presents:
Sacramento's Underground, a presentation by Heather Downey

Date: Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: 5380 Elvas Avenue (Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society Building), Sacramento

All Ages--Open to the Public

Before the long-anticipated Underground Tours kick off this summer in Old Sacramento, SCHS will host a talk about the origins and significance of the city’s underground sidewalks and raised streets.

Sacramento is the only city in California with raised streets and the lingering architectural features known as the “underground.” On the surface, the raising of Sacramento’s business district offers accounts of mishap, controversy and, of course, the pioneer-entrepreneurial spirit that has come to define the early history of not only the city, but the Western United States in general. Additionally, the history of this construction project illuminates the opinions and experiences that characterized the first and second generation of Sacramento citizenry while underscoring the one thing they had in common: the desire to ensure that their city remained economically and politically viable. Such an interpretation of Sacramento’s “underground” opens doors to enrich and expand Old Sacramento visitors' understanding of the city’s history, while also connecting that past to larger trends in American Western and urban history.

This month’s speaker, Heather Downey, is a graduate of Sacramento State’s Public History program. She is the subject matter expert for Sacramento’s forthcoming Underground Tours, and has designed two interpretive displays describing floods and street raisings in Sacramento.The underground sidewalks, and the interpretive plan for the tour, are the subject of her Master’s thesis.

For more information about the upcoming underground tours, visit the Sacramento History Museum website:

www.historicoldsac.org/education/tours.asp

For more information about the Sacramento County Historical Society, visit the SCHS website:

www.sachistoricalsociety.org

Disclosure: William Burg is vice-president of the Sacramento County Historical Society.

"Sacramento's Breweries" Book Featured at Two Signing Events

2010-02-22T01:00:52Z

Tuesday night's regular Sacramento County Historical Society monthly meeting will not feature beer, but copies of Sacramento’s Breweries will be available for sale, and author Ed Carroll will sign books and give a brief talk on Sacramento brewery history.

In addition to the Golden Notes signing, the meeting will also feature James Scott and Tom Tolley, presenting their new book Sacramento’s Alkali Flat by Arcadia Publishing. They will also give a brief talk on their book, will have copies for sale and be present for signing. SCHS members can pick up their free copy of Sacramento’s Breweries early at this event; for non-members, copies cost $15.

Sacramento’s Breweries, by historian Ed Carroll, is the story of Sacramento’s breweries from the Gold Rush through Prohibition. Not long after the first settlers arrived in Sacramento, brewers took miners’ gold dust in exchange for golden lager. By the start of the 20th century, Sacramento’s breweries turned the grain and hops of the Sacramento Valley into beers enjoyed in Sacramento and exported across the West Coast, Central America and even Asia.

The book is illustrated with historic photographs provided by the Center for Sacramento History. If you are an SCHS member, you can pick up your complimentary copy of the book on February 23, and have it signed by the author! If you cannot make it to the event, we will mail the book to paid SCHS members starting in March.

Extra copies of the book will be available for sale for $15. The book is also available for sale at Beers Book Center, 915 S Street, Sacramento. For more information about the Sacramento County Historical Society, please visit www.sachistoricalsociety.org

The New Golden Notes Title
Sacramento’s Breweries
And The New Arcadia Press Title
Sacramento’s Alkali Flat
Book Release and Author Talks
Tuesday February 23, 7:00 PM
Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society
5380 Elvas Avenue, Sacramento

Disclosure: William Burg is President of the Sacramento County Historical Society.

City Council Approves Historic Plaque Program

2010-02-10T08:20:44Z

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/

Historic Holiday Display at 10th & L

2009-12-07T07:06:23Z

Those passing by Grebitus & Sons Jewelers at the corner of 10th and L Street this month will see a piece of Sacramento history in the window; a trio of life-size animated figures (a man, a woman and a dog) in front of a Christmas tree. The figures are products of the Gaffney Display Company, the family firm who created the figures for the Breuner's furniture store chain's annual Christmas window display.

The idea started at November's Sacramento County Historical Society meeting, where Mark Gaffney gave a presentation on the history of Gaffney Display Company and their years providing animated figures for Breuner's. Mark's parents started Gaffney Display in 1936, and Mark has carried on the family tradition. The Gaffney figures were used to create whole animated scenes, placed in windows throughout much of the Breuner's furniture store chain. The store was founded here in Sacramento, but at its height had about 40 stores throughout United States. New displays made their debut at the Oakland store, then were moved to Sacramento the following year, then to Reno, and so on to approximately a dozen stores that hosted holiday displays. The Gaffney family drew sketches to design the scenes, designed the mechanical workings of the figures, and built the figures with papier-mache exteriors, often using members of the Gaffney family as models for creating molds of hands and arms. The figures are not as slick as Disney animatronics, but maintain their own unique charm. Breuner's stopped hosting holiday displays in its store windows in the 1980s, and the firm went bankrupt in 2004. The stores are gone, although the company still sells furniture via the Internet. The Gaffney family still stores many of the display figures, and still works in the commercial display business, in addition to Mark's other career, winemaking.

After the presentation, an idea arose during the question-and-answer period: Why not re-create a Breuner's display in a store window downtown? The simple answer was that such a window would require two things--a window, and some money. Several ideas were fielded, but one person at the meeting took the extra step to turn an idea into action: Bo Grebitus, of Grebitus & Sons Jewelry. The Breuner's displays were a cherished memory for many Sacramentans over the years, including Bo and his brother Ted. They contacted Mark Gaffney and arranged to have a small display set up in the window of their jewelry store. Their location, recently relocated from inside Westfield Downtown Plaza to the corner of 10th and L, is located on a busy pedestrian corner where many people can see the display. The display is simple, consisting of a man and woman decorating a Christmas tree, while a dog jumps up for a bite of a decorative popcorn garland.

The Grebitus brothers had other reasons to be interested in the Breuner's displays. Their mother Elizabeth was the daughter of C.H. Breuner, president of the Breuner's department store. As the children of two families with deep roots in the city of Sacramento, hosting a display of the historic Breuner's displays was more than a piece of local history; it was also a chance to share part of their family history.

The animated figures operate during regular store hours, until approximately 6:00 PM. After the store closes, the figures must be turned off, otherwise their movement would activate the store's motion sensor alarm. They will remain on display through the end of December.

Old City Cemetery Tour and SCHS Fall Social

2009-09-24T06:45:43Z

The Sacramento County Historical Society presents its Fall Social & Barbecue Under the Stars in the Old City Cemetery

When:
Saturday, September 26, 2009 5:30 PM - 10:00 PM
Where:
Sacramento Old City Cemetery, 1000 Broadway

Sacramento's city cemetery was established in 1849 with a donation of 10 acres of high ground by John Sutter. Among its first internments were the victims of Sacramento's 1850 cholera epidemic. Some notable residents of the old city cemetery are city founder John Sutter Jr., our first mayor Hardin Bigelow, and Central Pacific founder Mark Hopkins. Thousands of other Sacramentants inhabit the cemtery, from all walks of life. Tour guides will introduce you to some of the cemetery's fascinating inhabitants, and explain some of the history of the cemetery, on two guided tours through the property. Bring a flashlight!

The evening will also feature musical performances by Agent Ribbons, Dead Western and The Freebadge Serenaders.

Admission for non-SCHS members is $10, FREE for SCHS members.
Dinner is an additional $15 for members or non-members; there is limited availability for dinners, please ask at the front gate.
Menu is BBQ brisket and chicken (veggie burgers on request), potato salad, cornbread, beans, coleslaw, soda and cookies, provided by JR's Texas BBQ.

The event will take place inside the Old City Cemetery; please park in the parking lot across the street near 10th & Broadway, as the cemetery's main gates will be closed by the time the event lets out and cars parked inside will not be able to exit! Gates will close at 6:30 PM so please arrive promptly.

This event is open to all ages.

Funds from this event will benefit the Sacramento County Historical Society (a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit) and the Sacramento Old City Cemetery Committee. For more information about the Old City Cemetery Committee, visit www.oldcitycemetery.com and for more information about SCHS, visit www.sachistoricalsociety.org

Note: This is not the same tour as the popular Lantern Tours given by the Old City Cemetery Committee in October. That tour is already sold out, so if you want the chance to experience the Old City Cemetery after dark, this is your opportunity!

Disclosure: William Burg is President of the Sacramento County Historical Society.

Sacramento Historic Bike Ride: Southside Park

2009-08-27T21:27:37Z

This summer, a group of Sacramento State graduate students and local history enthusiasts began gathering once a month to take a bike ride through Sacramento's historic neighborhoods and share their knowledge about local history, historic architecture and cultural heritage. Two rides have occurred so far. The next will take place on Sunday, August 30, at 9:00 AM, in the Southside Park neighborhood. Riders will meet at the site of the Robert E. Callahan Bandstand in Southside Park, near the corner of 7th and T Street, at 9:00 AM.

Built on a former slough, Southside was inhabited by generations of immigrants and working-class families. The neighborhood's many ethnic communities, including Portuguese, Italian, Mexican and Japanese, came together in Southside Park, the neighborhood's namesake. Whether for fireworks displays on the Fourth of July, for a trip back to Gold Rush days at Roaring Camp, or simply to paddle the lake in a rented boat, Southside Park provided a place of respite and recreation in this bustling city. The neighborhood surrounding the park faced many challenges as Sacramento grew, but its residents faced these challenges with a tradition of political activism, community participation, and a strong sense of civic pride that is still evident today.

The Sacramento Historic Bike Ride is a free-form event: riders will decide where the tour should go. There are several sites I hope to visit in order to tell the story of the Southside neighborhood's diverse history, culture and development, but there is plenty of room for everyone's participation. If you have a story about the neighborhood, a historic site, a significant person, or a good story, please feel free to share it! The tour will run until about 11:00 AM. There is no cost to participate in the tour.

For those that may be interested, I will bring copies of my books, Sacramento's Southside Park and Sacramento's Streetcars, for sale at $20 each, and will happily sign them for you.

Underground Sidewalks Update at Preservation Commission Meeting

2009-08-03T18:05:16Z

This Wednesday, August 5, Sacramento's Preservation Commission will hear an update on the "Underground Sidewalks" survey project. This survey has explored much of Sacramento's surviving underground sidewalk structures, and is preparing a detailed report on their current condition and historic context. An earlier meeting, held in March, outlined what the survey would do(sacramentopress.com/headline/5128/City_Will_Survey_Underground_Sidewalks) and this meeting will present the initial findings of the survey team and report their progress. The final report on the underground sidewalks should be completed by September of this year.

The meeting will be held at Sacramento's City Hall, 915 I Street, in the City Council chambers on the first floor. The meeting starts at 5:30 PM and the Underground Sidewalks survey will be the first of several staff reports presented at the meeting.

A complete agenda of the Preservation Commission meeting can be found here:

www.cityofsacramento.org/dsd/meetings/commissions/preservation/2008/PC_Agenda_8-05-09.cfm

Sacramento's underground sidewalks are a side effect of a massive street-raising project, executed from the 1850s to the 1870s and intended to keep downtown Sacramento above water during the region's frequent floods. Brick walls about 12 feet high were built at the street edge and filled with dirt, but the spaces between the buildings and the street were left open, and were the building owner's responsibility to cover and fill. Over the past 130 years, many of these spaces have been filled in or demolished by subsequent development, construction and sidewalk repair.

This survey, funded by a local nonprofit and a matching state grant, is intended to document all of the surviving "Underground Sidewalk" spaces in downtown Sacramento and research the methods used to build these structures. The survey will have many potential uses, possibly including the creation of a historic district, or facilitating an "Underground Sidewalks Tour" program similar to that found in Seattle and other cities. The public will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments to the Preservation Commission and the consultants conducting the survey.

The City Preservation Commission was created by the City Council. Its powers and duties include: to develop and recommend to the City Council preservation policies appropriate for inclusion in the General Plan and other regulatory plans and programs of the City and to provide oversight relative to the maintenance and integrity of the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources; to review, nominate, and make recommendations to the City Council on properties eligible for listing in the Sacramento Register as Landmarks, Historic Districts and Contributing Resources as set forth in the Historic Preservation Chapter, Title 17, Chapter 17.134, of the City Code; to review and approve preservation development projects of major significance and appeals of Preservation Director decisions per the Historic Preservation Chapter, Title 17, Chapter 17.134, of the City Code.

Meeting location: New City Hall
915 I Street- 1st Floor, Council Chambers
August 5, 2009 - 5:30 P.M.

Sacramento Zine Symposium

2009-07-08T21:21:01Z

The term "zine" is not just a contraction of the word "magazine." Zines are homebrewed magazines, produced by individuals or small groups, typically in small numbers and with limited distribution. The world of zines was inspired by Soviet-era samizdat networks (illicit duplication of forbidden literature via photocopies) and the science fiction fanzines of the 1960s and 1970s (mimeographed or Xeroxed small-run magazines sent to small groups of dedicated SF fans.) The heyday of zines was the late 1980s through the mid-1990s. A typical zine was created on a typewriter or word-processor or even handwritten, with hand-drawn or clip art illustrations. Music zines were probably the most common, but zines existed for many obscure topics not covered by large-scale press. Local copy shops, independent record stores and alternative distribution networks like Factsheet 5 made zines a simple way for individuals to speak their minds, share their ideas and communicate with others of like mind in their own community and around the world. Many zines were distributed by hand or via local record stores or bookstores, while others were traded by mail with other zine writers like pen pals. A few were picked up by magazine distributors like Tower Records, and exposed to readers around the world, but most zines remained obscure. The popularization of the World Wide Web made electronic expression easier and more practical, making zines seemingly obsolete.

In this month's Midtown Monthly, I wrote an article about Sacramento's zine history, profiling local zines from the late 1980s and early 1990s. I claimed that zines seem like an archaic form of communication today, due to the advent of the Internet. However, zines are alive and well in the 21st century, and KDVS DJ Sharmi Basu wants to prove it by hosting the first Sacramento Zine Symposium. It takes place this Saturday July 11th at the Brickhouse Gallery, 2837 36th Street, in Oak Park.

The Sacramento Zine Symposium is a showcase for all the alternative press that is underrepresented in the sacramento/davis/norcal community. It's a chance to make friends, network, and share your experience or lack thereof in the world of zines. Vendoring, food, everything, is FREE, featuring KDVS DJs and food by Food Not Bombs Sacramento

Schedule of events:
1-130pm: Intro [What is a Zine?]
130-2: Lunch
2-245: Workshops [Distro]
245-315: Break
315-4: Workshop [Binding/Screenprinting]
4-430: Break
430-515:Workshop [Alternative Press Culture]
515-545: Break
545-7: Dinner, Ending speech

Date: July 11th
Time: 1-10pm
Place: Brickhouse Gallery 2837 36th St. Sacramento, CA 95817

This event is all-ages, and admission is free.

SCHS Presents: Sacramento Rock & Radio Museum Tour

2009-06-22T20:00:52Z

The Sacramento County Historical Society Presents:

Rock and Radio Museum
Tour & Talk

With Dennis Newhall and Mick Martin

Tuesday, June 23, 2009, 7:00 PM

907 20th St., Sacramento (between I & J streets)

Longtime media producer and onetime KZAP disc jockey Dennis Newhall and KXJZ "Blues Party" radio show host Mick Martin will reminisce about rock for SCHS at the newly reopened Rock and Radio Museum. The museum is on the site of Sacramento's 1980s rock nightclub, the Oasis Ballroom.

Begun 10 years ago as a display of Newhall's collection of rock music memorabilia from the 1950s to the present , the collection has grown to over 2500 pieces and an informal museum. It is normally open to the public only during Sacramento's Second Saturday art walks.
When the Nakamoto studio relocated last fall, the museum shut down. However the Tucker Media Group (audio and video production) moved in this spring, and invited Newhall to re-hang the collection.

The museum reopened this month for Second Saturday. But the opportunity for a private viewing with Newhall and Martin is special.

Admission is free and all ages are welcome to attend.

For more information about the Sacramento County Historical Society:

http://www.sachistoricalsociety.org

Local author speaks on history of religion in Sacramento

2009-06-11T16:24:39Z

City of Man, City of God:
The Catholic Church and the Shaping of Sacramento

On Friday, June 12, 2009, SAMCC will unveil a new photographic exhibit, City of Man, City of God: The Catholic Church and the Shaping of Sacramento. The exhibit depicts the role that people of faith played in shaping Sacramento’s urban agenda, from the 1850s to today. The evening will include an address by Dr. Steven M. Avella on his recently released book, Sacramento and the Catholic Church: Shaping a Capital City. The event is free and open to the public. It begins at 7:00 p.m. at SAMCC, 551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd, Sacramento.

The Catholic Church, present in Sacramento from the city’s beginnings, has had an important influence on Sacramento’s culture and development. Yet the character of Catholic life has also been shaped by the city’s diverse social, cultural, and political makeup. The exhibit and lecture will examine the interplay between the city and one community of faith in the creation of Sacramento’s urban agenda. Topics discussed include the geography of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, the early struggle of assimilation by various ethnic groups, and the conflict between religious and secular forces over caring for the hungry and homeless. The evening is not a history of the Diocese of Sacramento, rather a look at Sacramento as a case study of the role a religious denomination played in the development of an American western city.

Dr. Steven M. Avella grew up in Sacramento and has written prodigiously about his hometown. Avella is the author of two recent books on Sacramento, The Good Life: Sacramento’s Consumer Culture and Sacramento: Indomitable City. He is on the faculty of Marquette University, where he teaches courses on religion and American life. He is currently engaged in writing a biography of Charles K. McClatchy, a former editor of the Sacramento Bee. Dr. Avella will sign copies of his book, which will be available for purchase that evening.

For more information please call (916) 264-7072 or visit the SAMCC website at www.cityofsacramento.org/ccl/history/index.html

Riverboat Gambling on the Delta King

2009-06-01T20:14:34Z

On June 5, the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation will host a Riverboat Casino Night on board the Delta King Riverboat, providing a colorful look at the world of the riverboat gambler. This event will feature authentic 1850s games of chance, including Chuck-A-Luck, Faro and Shut the Box, as well as more familiar games like poker and roulette. Also featured are a silent auction, live music and entertainment, and food and drink, all appropriate to the Gold Rush era. Re-enactors in period attire will add to the atmosphere of the event. While period attire is not required for those who attend, it is encouraged. Several stores in Old Sacramento, including Sacramento Dry Goods on Second and I Street, specialize in historic styles of clothing for those wishing to attend in full 19th century finery.

The event is a fundraiser for the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation and the Sacramento History Museum. Last year, the Sacramento History Museum split from the Discovery Museum and became part of the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation. Part of the change involves a dramatic renovation of the museum’s first floor, but part involves raising public awareness of the Museum with events like the Riverboat Casino Night. According to Museum public relations specialist Lindsey Meyers, “In the past our events have not necessarily tied in with Sacramento history, and that is exactly what we are trying to change. We want to focus on Sacramento history and the river is a huge part of how we became a city.” In order to highlight the evening’s focus as an educational event, authenticity and historic accuracy are the number one priority. “Even the food is historically accurate,” said Meyers. If the event proves successful, it could become an annual event on board the Delta King. As Sacramento’s last authentic riverboat, the Delta King provides an ideal site for an evening of Gold Rush era gambling and entertainment.

Riverboat Casino Night takes place on Friday, June 5, and starts at 6:00 PM on the Delta King Riverboat in Old Sacramento. Tickets cost $45 for Historic Old Sacramento Foundation members, $50 for non-members. Tickets can be purchased by calling (916)264-7059 or by visiting the Sacramento History Museum at 101 I Street. Guests must be 21 years of age or older. All proceeds will help support the exhibits and programs at the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation’s Sacramento History Museum.

SCHS Presentation: M Street, the West End, and Capitol Mall

2009-04-27T17:19:26Z

The Sacramento County Historical Society Presents:
M Street and Sacramento's West End
When: Tomorrow, April 28, 7:00 PM
Where: Sacramento Valley Medical Society Building
5380 Elvas Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95819

Cost: Free

What/Why: At this month's Sacramento County Historical Society meeting, SCHS President William Burg will present a historical perspective of the evolution of M Street/Capitol Avenue between the 1850s and the 1950s. Drawing on photographs mostly from the Sacramento Archives and Museum Collection Center (SAMCC,) the presentation will cover the area's early residential neighborhood, featuring the homes of prominent Sacramentans like Leland Stanford and E.B. Crocker, the industries along the waterfront, and the multicultural neighborhoods that formed in the 19th and early 20th century. Finally, the presentation will review the effects of the redevelopment era on the neighborhood, and its transformation from a neighborhood into Capitol Mall.

Ample parking is available behind the building and along Elvas Avenue.

http://www.sachistoricalsociety.org

This is a presentation I originally gave to a group of architects, developers and electeds last February, on the history of M Street and how it became Capitol Mall. This presentation will be an expanded version, with more of the story of who lived in the West End and why it became the target for redevelopment.

Local History Articles Available Online

2009-04-21T17:30:50Z

For over 50 years, the Sacramento County Historical Society has published articles and books on local history. Originally, these were small digest-sized publications, published under the title "Golden Notes." Many are long out of print, but contain articles and information about local history that is difficult or impossible to locate anywhere else.

In order to help promote local history and share information with researchers and the general public, the Sacramento County Historical Society has made over 40 years worth of SCHS "Golden Notes" books available online, in PDF format. They represent a valuable resource for those seeking information on local history on an amazing array of subjects.

The "Golden Notes" issues can be found here:
http://www.sachistoricalsociety.org/goldennotesPDF.cfm

Disclosure: I am the President of the Sacramento County Historical Society.

www.sachistoricalsociety.org

City Will Survey Underground Sidewalks

2009-03-27T16:47:23Z

Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Time: 5:30-7:30
Location: Historic City Hall, 2nd Floor Hearing Room, 915 I Street

On Tuesday, March 31, the city of Sacramento invites downtown property owners and community members to a Public Workshop to find out about the Raised Streets-Hollow Sidewalks Historic Survey. Join the Public Workshop, learn about the survey and ask questions.
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This survey, funded by a local nonprofit and a matching state grant, is intended to document all of the surviving "Underground Sidewalk" spaces in downtown Sacramento.

In the 1860s and 1870s, Sacramento's Board of Trustees undertook a project to raise downtown Sacramento's streets above flood levels by building brick walls at the edges of the downtown streets and filling those walls with dirt. This resulted in streets as much as 12 feet higher than their original level. Building owners either used teams of screw jacks to elevate their building to the new street level or simply made their second floor into the new ground floor. Because the building owners were responsible for the space between their building and the street, most built brick vaults over the sidewalk area, leaving the old sidewalk as a covered but accessible underground space. Most of the street raising was done between approximately I and L Street, from Front Street along the river to 12th Street to the east.

Over the intervening 130 years of development, new construction and redevelopment destroyed or damaged much of the original underground sidewalk areas, to the point where only a handful remain. This survey will document surviving remnants and research the methods used to build these structures. The survey will have many potential uses, possibly including the creation of a historic district, or facilitating an "Underground Sidewalks Tour" program similar to that found in Seattle and other cities. For those interested in learning more about the survey, the methods used, or those who hope to take a peek inside the history of Sacramento, this public workshop should be very interesting.

Sacramento's underground sidewalks have become the subject of local legend, and there are many myths associated with them. Most bear little resemblance to reality, but excite the imagination. They even appear in works of historical fiction, like James D. Houston’s Bird of Another Heaven:

"Soon another man spoke, his voice soft, almost a whisper. “I have heard of tunnels,” he said, “underneath the city of Sacramento and they are lined with the doors and windows of buildings, built there many years ago. I have not seen this, but I know a fisherman who is part white and part Indian. He was down there when he used to clean the streets. He tells me there is a city underneath a city, with streets and alleyways, built before the great flood, and dark as tunnels now. Anyone who died in the floods, this is where their spirits go.”

Hopefully, this survey will help us more fully comprehend a well-known but little-understood aspect of Sacramento history.

Sacramento: City of Saloons

2008-12-12T22:54:54Z

Talking to people who grew up in Sacramento in the 1930s-1950s exposed me to an aspect of Sacramento that I never expected. Despite its reputation as a place without much nightlife, Sacramento has a long history as a town that stayed open late, played as hard as it worked, and was seldom short of musical entertainment. At some point Sacramento got a reputation for being stodgy and unexciting, and most of us who grew up here assumed that was the case, but the historical evidence simply doesn’t back that up.

The best description of Sacramento night life in its early days comes from Mark Twain:

Territorial Enterprise, February 1866
LETTER FROM SACRAMENTO [dated February 25, 1866]
”I arrived in the City of Saloons this morning at 3 o'clock, in company with several other disreputable characters, on board the good steamer Antelope, Captain Poole, commander. I know I am departing from usage in calling Sacramento the City of Saloons instead of the City of the Plains, but I have my justification -- I have not found any plains, here, yet, but I have been in most of the saloons, and there are a good many of them. You can shut your eyes and march into the first door you come to and call for a drink, and the chances are that you will get it. And in a good many instances, after you have assuaged your thirst, you can lay down a twenty and remark that you "copper the ace," and you will find that facilities for coppering the ace are right there in the back room. In addition to the saloons, there are quite a number of mercantile houses and private dwellings. They have already got one capitol here, and will have another when they get it done. They will have fine dedicatory ceremonies when they get it done, but you will have time to prepare for that -- you needn't rush down here right away by express. You can come as slow freight and arrive in time to get a good seat”. –Mark Twain

While working on my Southside Park book, I spoke with Billie Kanelos of Old Ironsides. She described one of her favorite pastimes as a teenager, walking downtown to the Dairy Maid, an ice cream parlor, for banana splits. But this wasn't an activity that she did right after school, then home in time for dinner at 6 or 7 PM, but rather at about 11:00 PM after seeing a movie on K Street. The Dairy Maid, like a lot of other Sacramento eateries, was open until midnight or later, and occupied by people of all ages.

It wasn't the only place, either; K Street and J Street had dance halls, theaters, nightclubs and restaurants that were open well into the evening, some all night. Some of the most popular were the Trianon Ballroom above the Fox Senator Theater on K Street (one of about a dozen downtown movie theaters), and nightclubs like the Mo-Mo, Congo and Zanzibar Club along M Street. Many restaurants were open late or all night, with fare ranging from Italian dinners to Chinese food to waffles.

Sacramento had many breweries, the biggest of which was the Buffalo Brewery on 21st and P, and several wineries, including the California Winery just across R Street from Buffalo Brewery. Hop fields were plentiful around Sacramento, to meet the breweries’ demand. While much of the beer was exported (Los Angeles was a huge consumer of Buffalo Brewery’s beer) a plentiful amount was for local consumption. One of downtown Sacramento’s best known Victorian era buildings, the Ruhstaller Building on 9th and J, was the taproom for Captain Frank Ruhstaller’s brewery on 12th and H, the Capital City Brewery. Buffalo Brewery’s taproom, the Buffalo Club, stood on 19th and S Street until being demolished a few years ago.

Prohibition, the nationwide ban on alcohol in the United States from 1920 to 1933, slowed down the official production of alcohol, and closed many breweries and wineries, but even then, Sacramento was notorious as a “wet” town, with many speakeasies downtown and in the outlying farm communities. At one point, officers of nearby military bases forbade their soldiers entry into Sacramento, due to Sacramento’s reputation as an easy place to get a drink. When Prohibition ended in 1933, legendary tavern Old Ironsides received Sacramento’s first official liquor license after Prohibition. It should be noted, though, that by the time Old Ironsides opened its doors, there were already other bars operating that had not yet bothered with the formality of obtaining a liquor license.

Others I met during my research for the book talked about the K Street cruise, Sacramento’s original cruise. Although in the 1950s and 1960s downtown Sacramento was changing, largely due to the explosive expansion into the suburbs and redevelopment pressures, there was still plenty to do downtown.

Redevelopment had a profound effect on downtown Sacramento, including both its nightlife and its population. The Capitol Mall project destroyed most of the residential neighborhood along M Street, including the aforementioned Mo-Mo, Congo and Zanzibar clubs, while Interstate 5 destroyed whole downtown blocks. One objective of downtown redevelopment was to reduce the population of the central city from its 1950s level of about 32 residential units per acre to a more suburb-like 8 residential units per acre. To accomplish this, 75% of downtown’s population had to be removed. Many of the remaining 25% could not afford the limited number of garden apartments that replaced earlier multi-story apartment buildings, rooming houses, and other residential buildings, resulting in an almost complete shift in the neighborhood’s population.

By the end of the redevelopment era, Sacramento’s downtown was almost depopulated, except for the several thousand residents of the old waterfront residential hotels. These hotels were closed, and either demolished or converted into non-residential structures as part of Old Sacramento. Because redevelopment-era case workers did not consider single individuals to be residents, working only with families, they were ineligible for relocation assistance or alternate housing. So they moved from their old homes into other hotels along K Street, some of which are still used as residential hotels.

One unintended effect of this depopulation was the elimination of most of the customers that came downtown, either on foot or by streetcar, to eat, drink and be entertained. Remaining businesses suffered because their customers now lived much farther away. Sacramento’s middle class had moved to the suburbs, and car-centric places like shopping centers, suburban movie theaters and drive-ins, and new indoor malls were more convenient than driving downtown to shop on K Street. Parking was limited, the streetcars were gone, and walking was no longer practical. Before long, downtown Sacramento had changed dramatically. Without customers with money to spend, the handful of remaining businesses had little reason to stay open late, or to stay open at all. New businesses focused their attention on the remaining market, mostly office workers who left at night. It was this era that gave Sacramento its reputation as a place that rolled up its sidewalks at 5:00 PM.

The R Street levee

2008-10-14T10:02:18Z

R Street has been a railroad corridor for almost as long as Sacramento has been a city, but it was once part of our flood protection system. In 1854, engineer Theodore Judah planned the first railroad in California, the Sacramento Valley Railroad (SVRR), using R Street as its main line through town on its way to Folsom. However, in the 1850s, flooding was a regular occurrence in Sacramento, and our complex series of levees and street raisings was only beginning. In order to keep the new railroad line above water, a levee was needed along R Street.

The original map of Sacramento included plans for streets as far south as Y Street (now Broadway), but when the SVRR was built there were few homes south of R Street. The levee stretched from R Street at least a mile to the east, gradually meeting the higher ground to the east. In addition to keeping the railroad high and dry, the levee protected Sacramento from flood waters coming from the south. However, in 1861 the R Street levee accidentally contributed to Sacramento’s most destructive flood.

On December 9, 1861, Sacramento’s northern levee along the American River broke. As flood waters poured into the city, they were stopped by the R Street levee. Instead of protecting the city from flooding, the levee stopped water from leaving the city. A hole had to be punched in the R Street levee in order to allow the waters to drain.

By 1900, a new levee system was in place throughout the Sacramento Valley. The railroad route along R Street was still important, but the levee was no longer needed. In 1903, the levee was removed, and the tracks relaid at their current level. Today, the only remnant of the R Street levee is at the cross streets near Third, Fifth and Sixth Streets, where the street rises and then drops at R Street. This elevated section was needed to keep tracks on R Street level, and to permit the tracks to rise up to the level of the wharves along Front Street, where the riverfront levee still keeps the waters at bay.

Removal of the R Street levee made development south of the tracks far easier. Within a decade, a beautiful new neighborhood was built south of the old levee, with a new city park, Southside Park, at the neighborhood’s center.

William Burg is the author of Sacramento’s Streetcars and Sacramento’s Southside Park, both by Arcadia Publishing. His new book, Sacramento: Then and Now, will be released on September 30, 2008.