Sacramento History Bike Ride Sunday June 28

For those who are interested in local history and bike riding, a group of CSUS Public History grad students are planning a “Sacramento History Bike Ride” this Sunday. The plan is to meet on the west side of the Capitol, pick out some interesting destinations, and bike around to historically interesting spots. We will share the stories of our favorite buildings and significant sites, the events that shaped the city, and little-known tales from Sacramento’s past. This is a participant-driven event, so if you have a favorite place downtown you can take a turn at being tour interpreter, or just go along for the ride. Route details will be decided the morning of the ride.

Sacramento History Bike Ride, Sunday June 28 starting at 10 AM until approximately 1:00 PM.
Meet us on the sidewalk on the west side of the Capitol (10th & Capitol) with your bicycle. Sunday is supposed to be hot, so bring sunscreen, a hat, and maybe some water.

Two events this weekend

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.
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Preservation Roundtable - Saturday June 13th
Category: Events & Workshops, Other News, The Roundtable.
9:00am to Noon at the Young Ladies Institute – 27th & N Sts.
Continental Breakfast * $5 donation

6/13/09 AGENDA:

9:00 Welcome & Introductions
9:10 Preservation Issues & Updates:
- CA State RR Museum Foundation - Kathy Daigle
- Capitol Dist. State Museum & Historic Parks-Pati Brown
- DOC (Devel. Oversight Committee) update
- City Preservation Office - Roberta Deering
– Hwy 50 HOV lane –Kathleen Green & Karen Jacques
– Minimum Maintenance for Historic Structures – Tim Brandt Preservation Commission Chair
- Capitol City Preservation Trust Awards –Kay Knepprath & Fred Turner
- Sacramento City School District’s Bldgs. on the block-i.e.-Jefferson School at 18th & N Sts.

10:30 Speakers – Budget Impacts on Historic Preservation –David Kwong and Roberta Deering-Questions & Answer session

11:50 Announcements
12:00 ADJOURN

Sponsored by:
Page & Turnbull, Architects & S O C A
and the Sacramento Old City Association (SOCA)

Next Preservation Roundtable meeting is Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009 at the School House in Old Sacramento

Riverboats in the stream of consciousness

I saw this story about a sunken riverboat in the Bee today--I am pretty sure that it is the same boat as one I photographed back in November while taking a cruise on the Hawaiian Chieftain. Apparently it has sunk, down to the top deck. The weird irony is that Sacramento will have a new river cruise operator, Hornblower Tours, starting next week. I wonder if they might be interested in a genuine Sacramento riverboat for their tour operations...

I have been reading a lot of old issues of Golden Notes lately, and there seem to be an awful lot of riverboat stories--no surprise for this old river town. Some are tragic, like the Washoe disaster (a boiler explosion) while some are funny, like the story of a steamboat that got stuck on a head of cabbage, and some are just weird--like the saga of the Delta King, stolen once and sunk twice. That last tidbit gives me some hope that this sad little riverboat might get back a bit of its glory someday, assuming the fates agree, and someone has the time and/or money to do it, and a bit of vision.

Speaking of riverboats and the Delta King, there will be a Riverboat Gambling event on board the Delta King this Friday night...it's not cheap but should be fun. I did a story on it for the May issue of Midtown Monthly, and plugged an edited version of the same story on Sacramento Press: http://sacramentopress.com/headline/8616/Riverboat_Gambling_on_the_Delta_King. Should be a good time.

Fake Plastic Trees

An interesting idea crossposted to Planetizen...fake plastic trees that generate solar power (via solar film in the leaves) and thermal power (via thermoelectrics) and even wind power (nano-piezoelectric generators in the petioles.) Made of recycled tires and recycled wood bits. Not quite ready for prime time, obviously, but an interesting idea...especially for use in places where trees are important.

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/clay-dillow/culture-buffet/pumping-green-power-fake-plastic-trees

SCSH Presentation: M Street and the West End

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. I had to shorten it, and even tone it down a bit, because the story of M Street and Capitol Mall is not very pretty. 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.

Golden Notes Online

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

Los Angeles citywide survey

Many people don't associate Los Angeles with historic preservation, but in many ways Los Angeles is really taking big steps to create effective preservation programs. They have an active preservation department, a preservation plan including mechanisms called Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (basically an enhanced historic district, each of which has its own citizen-organized neighborhood committee) and they are performing an extensive city-wide survey to document architectural resources in the city built as recently as 1980. Part of the purpose of the survey is to inform planning decisions: if historic resoures are already surveyed, the development process can be simplified because they don't have to take that step. All too often, the preferred method of "simplification" is to just knock it down...

The article from the LA Times:

The city's Office of Historic Resources page describing the survey project

Another LA organization I am growing very impressed with is the Los Angeles Conservancy. They are a very slick, very professional nonprofit organization whose website includes lots of great tools. They actively encourage citizens to become directly involved in research and nomination of properties, promote tours and cultural events, and have lots of neat educational and informational tools for the public.

Los Angeles Conservancy website

Los Angeles is kind of a different ballgame than Sacramento, but it is pretty impressive to see what they have done, and what could be done here in Sacramento. Considering that the city's preservation department consists of two people, and our own local preservation organizations are comparatively small, we have a way to go, although we can use Los Angeles' experience as a model for ways to promote local history, educate community and city staff and representatives.

Los Angeles is also doing other interesting things: they are spending six times the sales-tax amount per capita what we are (1 cent of each sales tax dollar, vs. 1/6 cent) on improved public transit, including rebuilding their interurban and streetcar network.