The Sacramento Old City Association hosts tours of historic buildings throughout Sacramento.  Some tours focus on buildings that have recently undergone a historic restoration, while some tours feature buildings that are in-need of a restoration.  Recently, SOCA has hosted tours of the Maydestone Apartment Building, Elks Building, and the Library and Courts Building.  Join SOCA and get exclusive access to tours of Sacramento’s most fascinatingng buildings!

Most recently SOCA hosted a behind the scenes tour of the recently restored Library and Courts Building.  See the photographs below.

Poverty Ridge Home Tour

Sponsored by the Sacramento Old City Association

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Join us for our 37th Annual Home Tour of historic homes and street fair. Tour hours are 10 AM to 4 PM

Admission: $20 in advance

$25 the day of the tour

Buy your tickets now! http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/251052

To volunteer, email us at info@sacoldcity.org

On Sunday, September 16, the Sacramento Old City Association (SOCA) presents its 37th annual tour of historic homes in Sacramento’s central city. Each year, we offer an inside look into the beautiful and historic buildings that line Midtown and Downtown streets, and some of the newest infill development projects in the city.

This year’s tour of the Poverty Ridge neighborhood, in the southern part of the central city between 19th and 24th, R and W Street, features homes in the Queen Anne, Craftsman, Colonial Revival and Classical Revival styles, and new infill housing. Delight in the architectural heritage of this amazing neighborhood in central Sacramento.  The Poverty Ridge neighborhood boasts some of the finest vintage homes in the city including a childhood home of Author Joan Didion, and the McClatchy family.

The tour starts at the corner of 22nd and U Street. A street fair along 22nd Street features local contractors and artisans specializing in historic home rehab and remodeling, local businesses, artists and crafters displaying their wares, local nonprofits, advocacy and history organizations. Local musicians will perform at the street fair, next to the historic Ella K. McClatchy Library an 22nd Street, one of the buildings featured on the tour.

Tour hours are 10 AM to 4 PM. The street fair will be on 22nd Street between U and V Streets. The street fair is free.

Tickets are available now for $20 and $25 the day of the tour. Buy Now! http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/251052

The Sacramento Old City Association would like to thank your 2012 Home Tour Sponsors:

Steph Baker

Rita Donahue

Councilmember Robert Fong

Center for Sacramento History

Linda Whitney

Mark Whisler

Below is an excerpt from a story that appeared in the Sacramento News and Review in December 2001 about the history of the name Poverty Ridge.

Names Tell Stories

Not a member? Join online here! https://sacoldcity.org/member-app.html

 

Until 2008, a network of “underground” resources in downtown Sacramento remained relatively unknown. Since then, the City’s 1860s and 1870s system of raised streets and hollow sidewalks has gained popularity as Sacramento worked to understand and raise awareness of its “subterranean” resources.

Sacramento’s collaborative effort to preserve Sacramento’s historic underground was initiated by the City’s Preservation Commission and City Preservation Staff. This network of underground resources was constructed during the 1860s and 1870s in downtown Sacramento as an early means of flood control. With help from the Capitol City Preservation Trust and State Office of Historic Preservation (OHP), who both contributed funding, the City hired Page and Turnbull to survey and document the city’s raised streets and hollow sidewalks. SOCA then hired an independent consultant, working with OHP staff, to develop a broader historic context and evaluate the underground resources as a cultural landscape; both studies found the resources eligible for listing on the Sacramento, California, and National Register.

Enthusiasm generated by the underground survey provided support for the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation and the California State Parks to establish the Underground Tour Program in Old Sacramento State Historic Park. The survey continues to help to ensure the impacts to these resources are considered during decision making on future development projects. Moreover, this effort has created a public awareness of Sacramento’s underground. Thanks to the City of Sacramento, the state OHP, and non-profit preservation organizations, people throughout the Sacramento region now understand the historic significance of the Sacramento’s underground resources.

 see the attached pdf for the full SOCA submittion to CPF with photos of Sacramento’s Raised Streets and Hollow Sidewalks. Enjoy!

CPF Preservation Design Awards submission.

Historic Context Cover Page

HCS Table of Contents

Historic Context Statement Dec. 2010

Individual Property forms (Sorry this file is too large to upload)

Raised Streets DPR523 A _FINAL

Raised Streets DPR523 E_FINAL

RSHS District Record_FINAL

Jane’s Walk USA is a series of free neighborhood walking tours that helps put people in touch with their environment and with each other, by bridging social and geographic gaps and creating a space for cities to discover themselves.  Since its inception in 2007, Jane’s Walk has happened in cities across North America, and is growing internationally. Sacramento’s Jane’s Walk series incorporates elements of urban planning, neighborhood advocacy, urban history, and architectural history, to demonstrate how a neighborhood’s physical form promotes its walkability, sustainability and economic and social vitality. All tours are free of charge. No RSVP is necessary.

In Partnership with the Old City Cemetery Committee, Sacramento Heritage Inc., Downtown Sacramento Partnership, Sacramento Tweed and Sacramento County Historical Society

                                                             Sacramento Jane Jacobs Walk Schedule: Saturday, May 5

Old City Cemetery: Police, Fire & Legal Lore      

10 AM – Noon

Tour Guide: Eric Bradner

Starting Point: Sacramento Old City Cemetery, main gate, 1000 Broadway

From the Gold Rush forward, Sacramento had a tremendous need for infrastructure. Not just roads and levees, but law enforcement, fire protection, and courts. Sacramento’s Historic City Cemetery is home to many pioneer lawmen, lawyers, judges and firemen, whose stories will be shared on this tour, along with stories of what happens when these systems do not function, as demonstrated by the February 1851 Vigilance Committee that hung murderer Frederick Rowe.

Downtown: Circling the Capitol

Noon – 2 PM

Tour Guide: Melisa Gaudreau, Sacramento Heritage Inc. Board President
Starting Point: Sutter Club, 1220 9th Street (9^th and Capitol Mall)

ArchitectMelisa Gaudreauwill lead a tour of historic hotels, apartments and clubs surrounding the California State Capitol.  Discussion will review social and architectural context of the past and inquire into current relevance of the buildings in the midst of theCapitolPark, State office buildings of the 1930s, 1950s Redevelopment, and new infill.  Tour brochure of the Capitol area by Sacramento Heritage Inc. included.

Midtown: Mixing Business with Pleasure

3 PM – 5 PM

Tour Guide: William Burg, Sacramento Old City Association President

Starting Point: Old Soul at The Weatherstone, 812 21^st Street

William Burg, author of multiple books on Sacramento history, will guide this tour of Midtown’s mixed-use business corridor and adjacent residential neighborhood. Topics discussed will include the historic function of mixed-use neighborhoods and their modern interpretations, how architects responded to Sacramento’s environment and climate, and Midtown’s legacy as a regional epicenter of creativity and art.

Downtown Rock & Roll Tour

6 PM – 8 PM

Tour Guide: Shawn Peter, Downtown Sacramento Partnership Guide

Starting Point: The Torch Club, 904 15^th Street, Sacramento

Downtown Partnership tour guide Shawn Peter will guide visitors on a tour of locations significant to the history of rock & roll music in Sacramento, from the auditorium where the Beach Boys recorded their first live album to the theater that still bears the footprints of Kurt Cobain’s sneakers after stepping in wet paint before a Nirvana show. The role of Sacramento’s musical history and musical venues, both local bands and national acts (and local bands that became national acts) will be discussed, and the tour will include visits to several local music venues and bars (all tour participants must be 21 or older with valid ID!)

                                                                 Sacramento Jane Jacobs Walk Schedule: Sunday, May 6

Seersucker Ride/Jane’s Roll    11 AM-5 PM

Tour Guide: William Burg, Sacramento Old City Association President

Starting Point: Marshall Park, 28^th and J Street

Sacramento’s “Tweed Ride” is putting on its summer clothes, known as the “Seersucker Ride,” a Victorian-era themed event that encourages period dress and a more relaxed style of riding. This tour will begin in Marshall Park, ride through the northern neighborhoods of the Old City and south along the Sacramento waterfront, turning east at R Street to follow the route of California’s first railroad to Alhambra Boulevard and the Libby Cannery. The tour will end at Mad Cat Bicycles, 33^rd and Folsom. The tour will visit Sacramento’s historic neighborhoods, and visit some of Sacramento’s most notable architectural, transportation and industrial landmarks.

Winn Park  2 PM-4 PM

Tour Guide: Kay Knepprath, SOCA Member Emeritus

Starting Point: 2620 P Street

Neighborhood activist Kay Knepprath, longtime SOCA member and leader of the Sacramento Jane Jacobs Reading Group, leads this stroll on the sidewalks of Winn Park. Kay will show how ideas discussed in The Death and Life of Great American Cities can be demonstrated by the built environment of Sacramento’s midtown neighborhoods

About Jane’s Walks

Jane’s Walk USA honors the legacy and ideas of urban activist and writer Jane Jacobs who championed the interests of local residents and pedestrians over a car-centered approach to planning. Jane’s Walk USA helps knit people together into a strong and resourceful community, instilling belonging and encouraging civic leadership.

All Jane’s Walk USA tours are given and taken for free. These walks are led by anyone who has an interest in the neighborhoods where they live, work or hang out. They are not always about architecture and heritage, and offer a more personal take on the local culture, the social history and the planning issues faced by the residents. Jane Jacobs believed strongly that local residents understood best how their neighborhood works, and what is needed to strengthen and improve them. Jane’s Walks are meant to be fun, engaged and participatory – everyone’s got a story and they’re usually keen to share it.

Thousands of people have taken part in a Jane’s Walk USA. Past walks have explored a wide range of urban landscapes, from social housing slated for redevelopment to areas with a rich architectural and cultural heritage, to teen hangouts and secret gardens.  Walks are led by individuals and small groups. Some are focused around historical themes more than geographical areas, for instance, some strolls have been built around ideas like the history of the bicycle, gay and lesbian history, places of relevance to the homeless, the history of ‘skid row’, and urgent planning matters facing certain neighborhoods.

About the Sacramento Old City Association (SOCA)

The Sacramento Old City Association was founded in 1972 by central city residents, to promote the well-being and livability of Sacramento’s central city. SOCA’s activities include public and private tours of Sacramento’s historic homes and neighborhoods, public workshops, presentations and movies. SOCA advocates for historic preservation, green building, adaptive reuse, affordable housing, public transit, better infrastructure for cycling and walkability, maintenance of our urban forest, and better compatibility between residential and commercial uses in mixed-use neighborhoods. While SOCA has traditionally focused on Sacramento’s central city, as the region’s largest historic preservation organization, we also work toward these goals on a citywide basis.

http://www.sacoldcity.org                            http://janejacobswalk.org/

Come join us for an exclusive look at this beautiful Sacramento landmark currently undergoing a complete renovation. The tour is free and open only to SOCA members, but invite a friend to join and bring them along. Membership is easy with PayPal at the SOCA website!

The Maydestone is located at the corner of 15th and J Streets in downtown Sacramento.

Not wheelchair accessible.

See the event flyer here:  Maydestonepreview

Living in the Central City, you probably live in an old house with original lath and plaster walls. And if your house is like the one my wife and I own, some of your walls may be cracked and in need of repair. In our case, we have a guestroom that had walls that were home to a spider web of cracks. And though they were annoying, they weren’t bad enough to put that project at the top of my “honey do” list –especially given what I’d heard about the work involved in repairing them correctly. So, year, after year, I ignored the cracks, focusing on other projects. Then, two things happened to get me motivated to fix up the room. First was the impending visit of a guest and the other was an episode of “Ask This Old House,” a show that answers viewers’ questions about old home challenges. I had to get the room ready for our guest and the show showed me how – using Big Wally’s Plastermagic.  I’m not a contractor, I don’t work for Ask This Old House and I’m not in the employ of Big Wally’s, but take it from me, this product works as advertised. It’s faster and easier than other approaches fellow home-improvers in the neighborhood I know have used.

Before talking about how this approach works, a quick old house anatomy lesson is in order. Before the days of sheetrock, drywall tape and joint compound, builders would create smooth wall surfaces by nailing literally thousands of narrow wooden boards called lath to the wood frame of the house and apply a cement undercoat to the wood lath.  The plasterer would apply the undercoat firmly using a trowel, forcing some of it into the gaps between each lath. The undercoat would spread out behind the lath and form “keys.” Once dry, the keys would lock the undercoat to the lath, forming a rigid surface that the plaster would cling to, hopefully indefinitely. Unfortunately, settling of the walls over time, and other factors, can cause the keys to break and when this happens, the undercoat and the plaster can pull loose from the lath, creating bubbles or cracks, or both. My guestroom suffered from the latter condition. Whether you’ve got cracks or bubbles, you can use Big Wally’s to rebond the lath with the cement undercoat, avoiding entirely the need to use permanent anchors or fiberglass mesh.

Before the advent of Big Wally’s, fixing debonded plaster walls involved drilling many plastic anchors into the lath on either side of a crack, or into a bubble. While this effectively rebonded the plaster with the lath, the approach then created a secondary problem: the need to apply layers of plaster on top of the anchors to hide them and create a smooth surface. Knowing this was what kept me from fixing the cracks in my guestroom year after year. As soon as I saw Big Wally’s demonstrated on This Old House, I recognized immediately this was an approach that would work and work fast.  Using a kit you can order in a variety of sizes depending on how many cracks you want to repair, here’s how the Big Wally’s approach works. Since my plaster and paint curled up slightly along the edges of the cracks, I started by slightly deepening and widening the cracks to remove the buckled material. Then, using a drill and a 3’16″ inch drill bit, I drilled holes through my plaster and its cement undercoat until the drill bit just touched the lath behind. I drilled into every other lath on both sides of my first crack.

Then, using the spray bottle and sealing fluid that came in the Big Wally’s kit, I sprayed a little sealer into each of the holes I had drilled and wiped off the excess. Then, using an ordinary caulk gun from Capitol Ace Hardware and one of the tubes of special glue that came in the kit, I injected glue into each of the holes. Blocked by the lath behind each hole, the glue was forced to spread into the gap between the lath and the plaster.

Next, I used drywall screws and plastic anchor washers (both came in the kit) to force the plaster and its undercoat back against the lath, placing the anchors on either side of my crack and screwing them into every other lath between the holes I had injected the glue into. As the anchors force the plaster back into place, you’ll often see excess glue coming out of the holes you injected it into. Simply wipe this off with a wet sponge or rag. 24 hours later, the glue will have set completely and you’re ready to back all the anchors out. Once you’ve backed the anchors out, you then sand down any rough spots. Then, using patching plaster or pre-mixed joint compound (I used joint compound because I’m used to working with it) and two drywall knives (5″ and 8″ should do it), cover the screw and drill holes, sand the surface smooth, and repeat as necessary until you achieve the surface finish you desire. I found that two or three very light applications of joint compound were sufficient and the amount of sanding was quite minimal, and certainly vastly less than would be needed if you use the old-fashioned permanent anchor approach.

Again, with Big Wally’s, you don’t need to hide any anchors, because there are none to hide. For more information about how this approach works, visit the This Old House website at http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,1628100,00.html or contact Big Wally’s directly at plastermagic.com or 802-254-1330.  Big Wally’s Plaster Magic: Plaster Repair Made Easy

Past SOCA Home Tour programs below:

2010 Home Tour Program: Bungalow Row: SOCA_2010_Home_Tour_Program

2009 Home Tour Program: Boulevard Park SOCA_2009_Home_Tour Program

2008 Home Tour Program: Winn Park   SOCA  2008 Home Tour Program