Tuesday, September 16, 2008

California Historical Landmark #608

Site of the Orleans Hotel
California State Historical Landmark #608

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This landmark is located at 1018 2nd Street, Sacramento, California. There are 57 other California State Historical Landmarks in Sacramento County. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 38° 34.952 W 121° 30.264.

You can log your visit to this landmark at waymark.com.

 

This hotel, erected in 1852, served as a depot for stage companies and others.

Beginning almost as soon as the Gold Rush itself, stagecoach owners began to offer passenger services for people to travel among California towns. James Birch started the first stagecoach line from Sacramento in 1849. It carried passengers to stops along the American River, including Sutter’s Mill. The fare was $32, payable in cash or gold dust. Other lines began to offer stage services from Sacramento to such growing towns as Placerville, Marysville, and Shasta City. In 1853, Birch and several other stage owners joined together to form the California Stage Company, which had its headquarters at the Orleans Hotel.

Since May 2007, developer Lloyd Harvego has been building a $12 million building on the site that will be a re-creation of the former Orleans Hotel. The building is almost done. About half the cost of the reconstruction of the Orleans is being subsidized by the city. The building will have ground-floor retail and three stories of apartments.

The city since the 1960s has been maintaining and developing the Old Sacramento historic district. In 2003, the city of Sacramento went looking for replacement buildings to fill four vacant lots. Any projects have to be historically accurate to what was built on the site, and construction has to be handled delicately because many of the neighboring buildings are more than 150 years old.

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