national register nomination for boulevard park historic

and sidewalks, and street tree plantings. As built, the north end also featured close access to a streetcar line
and a city park.
One block, between 21st, 22nd, B and C, was originally platted for homes until Park Realty encountered a
problem. Originally designated as a city park block by John Sutter Jr., the lot was sold to a private party by
Sam Brannan, but Brannan never paid Sutter for the land. Decades of court battles over the land title were
ignored while the racetrack was on the lot, but legally the block belonged to the city of Sacramento. Faced
with a potential quagmire, Park Realty surrendered the block, now known as Grant Park, to the city of
Sacramento for its use as a public park.
Boulevards
21st and 22nd Street are the primary streets of the district, designed as boulevards. While the Boulevard
Park development generally followed the gridiron street pattern laid out for the city of Sacramento, these
boulevards are unique. Sacramento streets were originally designed for a width of 80 feet from curb to
curb. 21st and 22nd Street within the district are 100 feet wide, with a 16 foot wide landscaped center
median. Medians were typically landscaped with grass, with Canary Island date palms planted on each
intersection. Smaller trees of various species, including Ginkgo biloba and Mexican fan palm, are located
on some street medians, generally on the inner portions of the median nearest the alleys with varying
species of low-lying shrubs and ground cover plants. Lots in Boulevard Park were oriented towards the
landscaped boulevards, unlike the rest of the central city, where lots are oriented towards the lettered
streets. This deliberate design maximized the number of lots with aesthetically pleasing street frontages.
Boulevards of this type were common features of City Beautiful neighborhoods, and intended to denote the
most desirable and elegant neighborhoods of a city.
Landscaping and Street Trees
Street trees, located between the street curb and the sidewalk to provide shade and aesthetic relief were
already an established tradition by the time of Boulevard Park’s development. Elms proved the most
popular tree for planting in Sacramento, along with East Coast varieties promoted by Sacramento’s most
successful nurseries, Smith Gardens and the Bell Conservatory, both of which had origins on the eastern
coast of the United States. English elms and sycamores are the most common street trees in Boulevard
Park, with limited use of Mexican fan palms and Canary Island date palms. Other trees found on sidewalks
include Zelkova, Magnolia, Ginkgo biloba, Cedar, Camphor, Chinese Elm, Mock Orange and Liquidambar
styracifula.
According to local newspapers, the Sacramento city government considered extending the landscaped
boulevards outside the boundaries of the project due to positive response to the boulevards from city
residents. The plan was not carried out, per newspaper accounts, due to concerns over the loss of street
parking and streetcar right-of-way on the affected streets. According to an article published in the
Sacramento Union on February 21, 1906, some of the trees planted along 21st, 22nd and 23rd Street were
planted by the Sacramento Woman’s Council in a ceremony attended by Mayor Charles Beard and
California Governor George Pardee. The article mentions that some of the trees planted were provided by
the National Nursery in the vicinity of Mount Vernon, selected by Trueman Lanham, superintendent of the
nursery, and planted in accordance with his suggestions.
Sidewalks and Paving, Sewers and Plumbing
All of Boulevard Park’s sidewalks and streets were fully paved prior to the opening of sale. All lots were
plumbed for access to city water supplies and city sewers. All lots included a perpetual easement for access
to maintain city sewer and water supplies. Provision of sewer and water, and paving of streets, both reflect
the emphasis on sanitation and the remediation of dust and dirt in the early 20th century city, and were
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