national register nomination for boulevard park historic

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