You may have noticed I’ve been gone for a while. Or maybe not. Anyway, I was called north to help my dear friend and former wife recover from a heart attack. It was a bad one, nearly costing her life. I won’t go into great detail other than to say she is doing well back home now in Boise.
Part of her recovery time was in Sacramento at a friend’s home in Land Park. They let us stay there in exchange for watching their home and dog while they were in Mexico. After my friend Susan and her daughter left for Boise, I stayed there until my friends got back. I had some time to kill so I wandered around downtown Sacramento and into Old Town Sacramento, now a State Historic Park.
Old Sacramento dates back to the 1800’s. It was built right along the Sacramento River. Before Sacramento's extensive levee system was in place, the area flooded quite regularly. Because of this, the city's streets were raised a level and wooden sidewalks were built along the streets. As the city grew and eventually became the California State Capital, old Sacramento fell into disrepair and disrepute.
I lived and went to high school in Sacramento back in the early 60’s. Back then, no one in their right mind would be caught dead in that part of town. It was inhabited mostly by winos, hobos, indigents, and the homeless. About the only businesses there were cheap bars that sold cheap booze to its unfortunate inhabitants.
After I left Sacramento and went off to college, a major effort began to secure the area's future as an outdoor living history center similar to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. Several historically significant buildings were moved or reconstructed. Those that were beyond repair were demolished. To make a long story short, Old Sacramento lives today as a monument to the past…and a major tourist attraction much like Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco and Cannery Row in Monterrey, to name just two. While I remember the old Fisherman’s wharf of my younger days with fond memories, I can’t say the same about Old Sacramento. Even though Old Sacramento might be termed a “tourist trap,” it is a far cry better than it used to be. And I think the word “trap” is too strong in this instance.
While the architecture from this period is commonly attributed to Victorian gold miners, characteristics of West End, such as multi-storied buildings, large arched doorways, full-height balcony windows and the use of decorative wrought-iron balconies, were most often seen in parts of Spain and the Spanish colonies. This influence may be attributed to the fact that during the period of Spanish rule in California, Sacramento enjoyed immigration from Eastern United State and from all over the Atlantic, including Spain and the Canary Islands, and the Spanish colonies. The founding of Sacramento itself was a direct result of the discovery of gold in 1848.
Today, Old Sacramento houses several different kinds of restaurants (no fast food joints), plenty of gift shops, unique clothing stores, arts antique dealers and more. There are also buggy rides, a railroad museum and an old riverboat housing more shops and restaurants. Old Sacramento continues to hosts the annual Jazz Festival over the Memorial Day weekend as it has for many years. So, as you can see, the joint is jumping! And I am sure glad they preserved the wooden sidewalks…they give the place a lot of character.
I enjoyed seeing it again for the first time in many years. The sketch shown here is from a digital photo I took while sitting outside drinking a cup of coffee. It was a nice way to spend part of my day, just walking around and enjoying the scenery. In a way, it was all new to me as I have not been there in many years and it has definitely changed since the last time I was there. I did live for a few years in the Sacramento area in the 80’s and early 90’s. But I left for the last time in 1992. But even during that time, I never spent much time in Old Sacramento. I was glad for the visit.
(To see a larger version of this image, just click on it)
To see more of my work, both in photography and digital painting, please visit my website, www.corkrum.com…or visit my Flickr Page
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