Typical day in 1957

A typical day in the summer of 1957 would find me walking north on 15^th street toward the state capitol building.  The site for the capitol building was girded by 9^th street on the west, 15^th street on the east, L Street on the north and N street on the south.  The actual building and rotunda is centered on 11^th street and only covers about three acres, but is surrounded by almost 50 acres of manicured park.  If the weather was hot I would take a path through the park and through the building, just to enjoy the cool air inside.  A massive and beautiful sculpture of Queen Isabella and Columbus is on display in the Capitol Rotunda.

On this typical day I was probably on my way to watch the excavation for the new Macy’s department store that was being built at 4^th and “K” streets.  What made it so interesting, back then, was the discovery of another city beneath the existing streets!  At some point around the turn of the century, because the city flooded so often in the rainy season, it was decided to raise all future development above flood level.  I’m not sure if it was a conscious effort or whether the area was silted in during one the flood episodes, but the old masonry and adobe walls of the original structures as well as many artifacts were left in place.  It seems like they just built a new town on top of the old one.

When the ruins were exposed it was possible to see entire street scenes and old storefronts of structures built during the days of the gold rush.  One small section of “Old Town” has been excavated and is used, today, as a tourist attraction but during the construction of Macy’s in the 1950’s, I witnessed the exposure of an entire city block!  I could clearly see relics sticking out of the soil and wanted to do some scavenging, but the authorities had already moved in and the site was well guarded.

Another attraction for me in that area of town was the old second floor pool hall and the adjoining pinball arcade where I could mix with Sacramento’s finest.  As close as I can remember, it was near the intersection of 3^rd and “J” streets, just two blocks from the waterfront and 1 block from the train station.  It was near Sacramento’s “Chinatown” and an area frequented by hobos and winos and there was usually at least one or two of them sprawled on the sidewalk drinking from brown paper bags.  When we were teenagers, these winos were very helpful to us.  For the cost of a 3 dollar bottle of Gallo Port wine, they would purchase all of our beer and other liquors.

All of that old flavor is gone today.  The slum area around the train station has been cleaned up, new interstate freeways have sliced through some of the old neighborhoods, and a new freeway river crossing has relieved the congestion on the old “I” Street and Tower Bridges.  Sutter’s Fort is surrounded by new apartment buildings and seems almost forgotten, buried in the urban sprawl.

Along with John Sutter, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker, Mark Hopkins, and Collis P. Huntington are all big names in California history.  Except for John Sutter, all of them were investors in the Central Pacific Railroad and involved in bringing the transcontinental railroad to it’s terminus in Sacramento, and all of them spent some time in Sacramento.  Their names are synonymous with the town and are attached to street names, schools, libraries, banks, and other public buildings.  Knowing the changes I have seen in my time, I wonder what they would think if they could see their old “stomping grounds” today.

As a sidenote, I want to thank my friend Ray R. for enlightening me regarding the story and history of the Transcontinental Railroad.  It is a fascinating tale and a major turning point in the development of our country.