national register nomination for boulevard park historic

prominent features of both City Beautiful neighborhoods and Progressive campaigns for urban health. Both
were departures from earlier Sacramento suburbs, typically sold with graded but unimproved streets and
sidewalks and no connection to city sewer and water supplies. The need for connection to city water and
sewer systems was a primary argument for annexation of Sacramento’s original suburbs in 1911, but since
Boulevard Park was entirely within Sacramento’s city limits, no annexation was necessary to utilize city
utilities.
Alley Parks and Grant Park
City Beautiful advocates commonly promoted the value of public parks. While large regional parks were
preferred, small parks in existing urban neighborhoods provided islands of respite. The parks located in
alleys were intended as private areas to be utilized by the adjacent property owners, rather than public
parks. The legal issues complicating the use of the block now known as Grant Park probably spurred the
developers to return the block to the city rather than subdivide it to their original plan. While the creation of
Grant Park was probably not the original intent of the developers, it provided a public park at the least
valuable end of the property. This amenity suited City Beautiful principles not only in its function but also
its aesthetic symmetry, located at one end of the neighborhood between the two landscaped boulevard
streets.
Legal Disputes over Grant Park
According to a thesis prepared by John A. Patterson, the block that became Grant Park was involved in a
series of land disputes and court cases. In 1849, a group of Sacramento businessmen including Sam
Brannan challenged the legal basis of John Sutter Sr.’s title to the land upon which Sacramento was built.
William Mesdick, a former City Recorder, sought out John Sutter Jr. and proposed a scheme to return some
of the properties to Sutter Jr’s ownership by transferring lots to Mesdick for which Sutter had not been paid
by Brannan. One of these blocks was the Grant Park block. Mesdick returned to Sacramento and filed a
claim for the block, in order to challenge the legality of Brannan’s claim in court.
The first test case decided for Brannan, so Mesdick appealed to the California Supreme Court, who found
for Mesdick. The court also stated that third parties who had purchased their lots in good faith were
guaranteed retention of title. Mesdick then sold the property to a Mr. L.H. Foote in 1863. Mr. Foote sold
the property to Eli Mayo in 1868. In the same year, the State Agricultural Society’s racetrack property was
extended to include the park block.
Mr. Mayo filed suit against Robert Allen, operator of the Union Park racetrack. Mayo won the suit, but Mr.
Allen responded by leasing the property from Mr. Mayo for the sum of ten cents. In 1873, Allen and the
Union Park Association surrendered their interest in the racetrack to the State Agricultural Society, leasing
the track to a Mr. A.A. Wood. Mayo brought suit against Mr. Wood in 1874, but this time Wood won the
decision. The court claimed that Mayo had failed to prove right of possession, a decision that survived a
further appeal by Mr. Mayo. Mayo made a second appeal to the State Supreme Court, who found that
Mayo’s deed from the previous owner was legal, but that neither could have held legal title because the
square was deeded directly to the city in 1849.
Probably due to this complex series of legal proceedings, forgotten by 1905, the Park Realty Company
originally planned to subdivide the Grant Park block, but later recognized the city’s ownership of the lot.
The issue of this public square was raised in a Sacramento Union article entitled “Who Owns The Square?”
The following text is from the referenced article:
“In old Agricultural Park there were included certain public squares. When the realty companyu purchased
the park it was unable to find that the city ever deeded one of these squares to the Agricultural Society o0r
its predecessors. The land lies between Ba nd C and Twenty-first and Twenty-second streets. It was one of
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