national register nomination for boulevard park historic
national register nomination for boulevard park historic
national register nomination for boulevard park historic
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Narrative Description (Continued)<br />
Boulevard Park Landscape Features<br />
The most distinct landscape features in Boulevard Park are a total of twenty-three median strips,<br />
approximately 16 feet wide and 150 feet long, located along 21st and 22nd Street. The medians are<br />
elongated ovals with rounded concrete curbs. These strips are planted with palm trees and grass, with<br />
sporadic use of other tree species and landscaping plants. Most of the median strips have a Canary Island<br />
date palm at either end, although in some cases the tree has been cut down or replaced. Other tree plantings<br />
on the median strips include Mexican fan palms, dating from the period of significance, and Ginkgo Biloba.<br />
The ginkgo trees in the street medians are more recent than the end of the period of significance, but older<br />
ginkgo trees planted adjacent to sidewalks suggest that Ginkgo Biloba was used as a landscape tree in the<br />
neighborhood during the period of significance. The landscaped medians and their rounded concrete curbs<br />
retain a high degree of integrity, with fully mature trees, and represent an immediately recognizable feature<br />
of the neighborhood. They were the first streets in Sacramento to utilize landscaped <strong>boulevard</strong>s, a common<br />
feature of “City Beautiful” neighborhoods.<br />
As part of its landscape design plan, Park Realty included cement sidewalks throughout the entire district,<br />
advertised as a total of five miles of concrete walks. Some portions of the sidewalks have been replaced in<br />
kind since the neighborhood’s construction. Local design guidelines require that sidewalk replacement is<br />
compatible with the <strong>historic</strong> sidewalk/street design pattern, including a landscaped strip in between the<br />
sidewalk and the street curb. The realty company also paved the roads within the district with macadam.<br />
These roads have since been paved with asphalt by the City of Sacramento. Streetcar lines on C Street and<br />
H Street were removed and repaved with asphalt, with overhead lines and power poles removed. The most<br />
common tree plantings on Boulevard Park’s sidewalks include palms (Mexican fan palm and Canary Island<br />
date palm), sycamore (aka London plane), and English elm. Palms are found as landscape elements on<br />
many of the larger building lots, while the sycamores and elms <strong>for</strong>m an overall tree canopy that shades<br />
sidewalks in summer, in some cases <strong>for</strong>ming a nearly complete tree canopy over the lettered streets. Other<br />
trees found on sidewalks include Zelkova, Magnolia, Ginkgo biloba, Cedar, Camphor, Chinese Elm, Mock<br />
Orange and Liquidambar styracifula. Examples of all of these trees dating back to the period of significance<br />
can be found in the <strong>park</strong>. Judging from the oldest and most prominent species of trees in the district,<br />
London Plane and English elm were selected as canopy trees on the sidewalks, with palms used as<br />
ornamental trees on <strong>boulevard</strong>s. Both reflect common choices of Cali<strong>for</strong>nia landscape architects of the<br />
period.<br />
Alley Parks<br />
Three of the four blocks between F, H, 20th and 22nd have central alley <strong>park</strong>s. The lot between, F, G, 20th<br />
and 21st was originally intended to have an alley <strong>park</strong>, but it was either abandoned by its adjacent<br />
landowners very early in the neighborhood’s history or never constructed. The other three <strong>park</strong>s were held<br />
in joint tenancy by a corporation of the property owners in lots adjacent to the <strong>park</strong>s. The <strong>park</strong> lot in the<br />
block bounded by 21st, 22nd, F and G was incorporated as “Boulevard Park Center,” the block between<br />
21st, 22nd, G and H was incorporated as the “Elm Park Club,” and the <strong>park</strong> lot in the block bounded by G,<br />
H, 20th and 21st was incorporated as the “First Park Center Club.” The <strong>park</strong>s have total dimensions of<br />
110x140 feet, and are accessed via alleys on either end of the block. Each has a gravel perimeter road<br />
allowing access to the rear of each lot, and many of the houses on these blocks have garage units located<br />
facing the alley <strong>park</strong>s. Boulevard Park Center’s access road is circular, with landscaping in each corner and<br />
within the circle, while the roads around Elm Park Club and First Park Center Club are rectangular, with<br />
landscaping within the inner rectangle of the <strong>park</strong> area. The <strong>park</strong>s are landscaped with grass and shade<br />
trees. A sewer drain with metal grate is located in the center of each <strong>park</strong>. All three <strong>park</strong>s were incorporated<br />
as private corporations in order to delineate the responsibility <strong>for</strong> care and maintenance of the <strong>park</strong>s, which<br />
was shared by the owners of the adjacent parcels. All three corporations have since been disbanded, but the<br />
owners of adjacent parcels still share in the responsibility of maintaining the alley <strong>park</strong>s, and they are still<br />
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