Constructed in 1857, the building that originally stood at this location was the headquarters for The Sacramento Bee newspaper, until the building was demolished in 1957 to make way for the construction of Interstate-5. Prior to the building's demolition, The Sacramento Bee headquarters was located within the area that became the Old Town Sacramento National Historic District, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. Today, an original building fragment is still visible underneath the Interstate-5 overpass. Consisting of a wooden door framed by red brick, this remnant is all that remains of the original building. Now located at 1601 Alhambra Boulevard, The Sacramento Bee is the flagship publication of the McClatchy Company, which owns thirty daily and almost fifty non-daily newspapers.
A plaque mounted on the corner of the California Fruit Building commemorates the exact location where gunfire broke out between two groups of Sacramento citizens on August 14, 1850. Though the Fruit Building would not be built until 1914, a line of rebellious squatters formed across 4th Street at this intersection and, by most accounts, opened fire upon a similarly armed posse led by Sacramento’s Mayor Hardin Bigelow. Though the squatters were dispersed and many arrested in the following days, the dispute over land rights would have long-standing effects on the development of the city. The 1982 plaque lists those who were killed in the gunfight, in the violence of the following days, or subsequently of their wounds.
Constructed in 1926, this historic railroad depot features a mural that depicts a celebratory scene of the construction of what would become the western terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad. Since 1971, the station has served Amtrak customers and remains one of the busiest American rail depots. The land where the station stands was once home to Chinese immigrants who were forced out of the area in the early 1900s.
Completed in 1999, this federal building was named for the late Robert T. Matsui (1941- 2005), a Japanese-American politician who served Sacramento for twenty-six years as a Democratic U.S. Congressman while representing California’s Fifth Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. The sixteen-story federal building contains the Sacramento Division of the U.S. District Court for the State of California. It also houses several other federal agencies and offices, including the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, U.S. Pretrial Services, U.S. Trustees, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California. The interior contains notable works of art by painters such as George Miyasaki and Tony Berlant, as well as by the poet Rita Dove.
Completed in 1917, the Sacramento Hall of Justice is a Beaux Arts/Neoclassical building designed by the architectural firm of Shea and Lofquist. Built at the height of the City Beautiful Movement, the steel frame building was constructed from stone and brick with ornamental terra cotta details. Throughout the 20th century, it served as a police office, a city courthouse, a prison, an emergency hospital, and a laboratory. The Sacramento Hall of Justice was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. In the early 21st century, a major adaptive reuse project included a four-story addition built with steel and glass, successfully juxtaposing the modern with the classical.
The St. Andrews African Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1850, making it the oldest African American church on the Pacific Coast.
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Completed in 1938, this federal building was designed in the Neo-Classical style by the architectural firm of Stark and Flanders. The monumental building initially opened in 1933 with a U.S. Post Office on the ground level, along with two elaborate courtrooms on the fourth floor, and office space on the floors in between. Additional wings were added a few years later in 1938, making this structure the third largest federal building in the state of California. In 1980, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the U.S. Post Office, Courthouse, and Federal Building. Currently, it is known as the Sacramento Federal Building, and it contains the offices of several government agencies providing services in Sacramento and Northern California.
Completed in 1918, Sacramento's Central Library was funded in the early 20th century by Andrew Carnegie. In the 19th century, the Sacramento Library Association was founded by the city's early civic leaders, with Sacramento’s first public subscription library established in 1857. After purchasing a building on I Street with a furnished first-floor library in 1872, the Association transferred ownership to the city in 1879. The Sacramento Free Public Library opened at this location, becoming the Central Library in Sacramento's city and county library systems. After Carnegie allocated $100,000 to improve the building in 1914, it reopened to the public in 1918. Today, Sacramento’s city and county library systems include over two dozen branches, in addition to the Central Library. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 as part of a multi-property nomination for California's Carnegie Libraries.
Frank Ruhstaller was a Swiss immigrant who came to Sacramento as a young man. In 1881, he founded the Ruhstaller Brewery, which became one of the city's leading breweries. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This small historical marker at the pedestrian entrance to the city hall parking garage commemorates a former fire station constructed in 1858. Following the city's incorporation in 1849, the Sacramento Fire Department was established one year later as an all-volunteer department. Organized in 1855, the Young America Engine Company No. 6 was an all-volunteer unit of firefighters formed by residents of Sacramento's Third Ward. A firehouse for Engine Company No. 6 was constructed in 1858, with the cornerstone dedicated on the first day of that year. In 1872, the city launched its new Sacramento Paid Firefighting Department, and volunteer units were replaced by paid professional firefighters and this became a city fire station. Although the original firehouse is no longer standing, a historical marker was added to the site on January 1, 1933, marking the 75th Anniversary of the Young America Engine Company No. 6.
This historic Sacramento building became the tallest in the city when it was completed in 1926 at a cost of $1.5 million. The 242-foot structure was designed by local architect Leonard F. Starks who complied with the request of Elks Club members that their building surpass the height of the California State Capitol by five feet. With the completion of Elks Tower, several states and municipalities passed laws which stipulated that private construction projects could not exceed the height of government buildings. The structure’s Italian Renaissance styling makes Elks Tower a recognizable feature of the downtown skyline, even though the Order of Elks was forced to sell the iconic structure in the 1970s as their membership and influence declined. Some of the building's interior underwent a hasty remodel in that era, but current owners and tenants such as restaurants, offices, and lofts have supported a gradual restoration of the building's historic interiors. In addition to its architectural significance, Elks Tower reflects the influence of leading fraternal organizations and the construction boom of the late 1920s.
The Sacramento Masonic Temple was completed in 1918 and was designed by Rudolph Herold. The building is largely unaltered from the time of its construction and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Built from 1886-1889, the ornate Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament was, at the time of its construction, the largest cathedral west of the Mississippi--and though currently dwarfed by Sacramento’s downtown skyscrapers, at a towering 216 feet it was also the tallest structure in the city for a time. The cathedral was the brainchild of Catholic Bishop Patrick Manogue, who had previously mined gold in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains to pay for his church education. John Mackay, owner of the famed Comstock Lode silver mine in Nevada, was one of the cathedral’s key financiers. Built intentionally near the State Capitol, it has held inaugurations and funerals for mayors and governors through the decades. A recent $34 million restoration has reopened the iconic dome to the public again for the first time since the 1930s.
Built in 1924 in the Renaissance Revival style, Sacramento's grand Hotel Senator has long been an integral part of city life, in one capacity or another. For decades, it functioned as a hotel, hosting both politicians and celebrities. Since the 1980s, the building has housed offices used by lobbyists, giving them easy access to the capitol, which is across the street.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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With a dozen landmark buildings and a few additional entries dedicated to historical events within downtown Sacramento, this walk starts at the location of the Sacramento Bee and works its way east and then south to conclude at Hotel Senator.
