national register nomination for boulevard park historic

along H Street, terminating at East Park on 31st Street. The streetcar helped visitors reach the fairgrounds,
but also drove residential development along the streetcar route. Some of Sacramento’s most prominent
homes, including that of Albert Gallatin at 1526 H Street (later the California Governor’s Mansion) were
located along the streetcar line. Electrification of the streetcar lines in the 1890s, and the growth of
Sacramento’s industrial waterfront, accelerated the growth of middle-class streetcar suburbs towards the
eastern end of the city.
In 1905, the California State Fair relocated to a new, larger site on Stockton Boulevard. The Park Realty
Company, under the management of Clinton L. White, purchased the racetrack property from the State
Agricultural Society. Subdivision and sale of the property was promoted by the real estate firm of Wright
and Kimbrough. Demolition and grading of the park took place shortly after the conclusion of the 1905
State Fair. The property was originally intended as an entirely residential subdivision, with no nonresidential
lots. Prices for Boulevard Park lots varied widely. The smallest 40 by 80 foot lots on the north
end of the property, adjacent to the busy Southern Pacific railroad tracks, cost $300. The four blocks on the
south end, from F to H Street between 20th and 22nd, featured the largest lots, 60 by 100 feet, selling for as
high as $1,725. These four blocks also had additional deed restrictions. They were to be used exclusively
for residence purposes, only one house was to be erected per lot, the house would cost no less than $2,500
and two stories in height, no relocated old buildings, no flats or double houses, and no fences in the front
yards. The houses also had to have a 25 foot setback from the house to the sidewalk, at least 11 feet from
the front porch steps to the sidewalk, and no building nearer than three feet to the adjoining lots on either
side. All four blocks were originally platted to have small 100 by 140 foot parks located in the center of
each block, but only three of these alley parks were created. For unknown reasons (possibly due to the
construction of Grant Park) one of the parks was never created and the property was added to the back lots
of the adjacent property owners.
Sale of lots in Boulevard Park began on July 17, 1905. According to Wright & Kimbrough advertisements
printed on July 19, thirty-five lots, primarily along 21st Street, were sold on the first day of sale. According
to the same article, Henry C. Stevens, electrician with the Central California Electric Company, purchased
the first lot. According to a July 22 advertisement, only six lots remained on the 21st Street boulevard.
Construction of new houses on the Boulevard Park lots began in late 1905, according to Sacramento
building and plumbing permit records. On August 12, 1905, an advertisement promised a 5%-10% rebate
to any purchaser who completed a house on the lot prior to July 1, 1906. The amount on the rebate was
based on the expense of the house constructed on the lot; more expensive houses received a larger rebate.
On September 1, 1905, Wright & Kimbrough offered reduced prices for a lot on 20th Street, reiterating
their rebate offer. This hard-sell strategy suggests the developer’s interest in seeing the neighborhood
develop quickly. Wright & Kimbrough’s construction of many buildings on the lot, rather than waiting to
sell the lots to individual customers, reinforces this desire to quickly fill the neighborhood with homes.
Despite this hard-sell approach, the sale of all of the unimproved lots took years.
In September 1907, the Northern Electric Railway, an electric interurban railroad, began operation between
Chico and Sacramento. Its main freight line ran down C Street through Boulevard Park. As a condition of
its street operation permit, Northern Electric operated a local streetcar that served Boulevard Park,
providing service to downtown Sacramento and to McKinley Park, approximately one mile to the east of
the district. While freight traffic on C Street may have been somewhat disruptive to Park Realty’s future
development plans, the trains were smaller and shorter than Southern Pacific’s main line, which ran on an
elevated berm on B Street a block away, and the second streetcar line provided an amenity to make up for
the increase in noise and street traffic. Sacramento Northern’s streetcar and interurban line started operation
in October 1907, but through freight traffic did not begin until 1910.
In 1909, another railroad, Western Pacific, entered Sacramento running between 19th and 20th Street.
While this railroad operated outside of the Boulevard Park district, the operation of a steam railroad half a
block away from the district, and the resulting increase in industrial uses adjacent to the railroad, meant the
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