Chapter McKinley Park - Sutter Park Neighborhoodsutterparkneighborhood.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Park...garden contains over ... along what is now Elvas Avenue was built in the

McKinley Park

Sacramento Park Neighborhoods

Chapter 04

Park_NeighborhoodsFQ6.qxd:Layout 1 2/1/10 3:32 PM Page 48

1850’s 1860’s 1871 1900 Today1901 1902 1910 1911 1916-1923 1918 19221922 1930’s 1936 1994 2002

Early development begins alongAlhambra Boulevard.

Casa Loma Terrace, the first housing development bordering McKinley Park, is platted.

McKinley Park neighborhood annexed by the City.

After WWI ends, development around McKinley Park begins in earnest.

Wright and Kimbrough begin construction of the southern Parkside Tract.

Wright and Kimbrough begin construction of the eastern Parkside Tract.

More than 2,500 McKinley Park residents rejuvenate the McKinley Park Village playground with donated time and money.

The McKinley Park neighborhood has matured beautifully and boasts an abundance of large, maintained

shade trees. An extremely active neighborhood association ensures

that the park and greater community are meticulously maintained.

McKinley Park

Beets and asparagus grew along McKinley Boulevard prior to development.

Regularly flooding Burns Slough occupies the current site of McKinley Park.

East Park goes out of business. The owners try unsuccessfully

to subdivide the park.

The City buys the East Park property and it is renamed McKinley Park.

The City operates a public auto camp in the panhandle area of McKinley Park to generate revenue. Long-term squatters stifle development.

h i s t o r i c t i m e l i n e o f e v e n t s

The Sacramento Street Railway lays tracks for horse-drawn trolleys from downtown to a 30-acre

parcel at what is now McKinley Park to build a recreational park. East Park is constructed.

The McKinley Park rose garden contains over 150 varieties of roses.

Funds bequeathed from Mrs. Florence Turton Clunie and the City of Sacramento are used to create the Florence Turton Clunie Memorial Building in McKinley

Park to replace the old clubhouse.

McKinley Park is nominated as one of the ‘Great Public Spaces’ by the Project for Public Spaces, New York.

N E I G H B O R H O O D D E V E L O P M E N T H I S T O R Y

The area east of the original city limits to the American River was farmed

as early as the 1850s, despite regular flooding before any levees or flood

control. Development was limited to family farms before the first levee

along what is now Elvas Avenue was built in the 1860s. Burns Slough,

roughly aligned along what is now McKinley Boulevard, carried excess

floodwater through the McKinley Park area to the east until the early

20th century when additional flood measures were put into place.

In 1871 the City Street Railway laid tracks for horse-drawn trolleys

from downtown to a 30-acre parcel at what is now Alhambra Boulevard

and H Street to build a recreational park, to be named East Park, for city

residents to use on weekends. East Park was strictly a for-profit business

venture and featured a 10,000 square foot building which housed a saloon

and room for private parties. There were grounds for playing baseball,

picnic grounds, shooting alleys, a dancing platform, room for concerts,

and a zoo.


Chapter 04

Downtown Sacramento

Oak Park

Land Park

Curtis Park

N

MCKINLEY PARK

East Sacramento

7 6' AV E R A G E T R E E H E I G H T

L O C AT I O N & P R O X I M I T Y

The McKinley Park neighborhood is generally considered bounded by Alhambra Boulevard to the west, Union Pacific Railroad

tracks to the north, 39th Street to the east, and H and I Streets to the south. The neighborhood is adjacent to Midtown

Sacramento and the American River.

McKINLEY PARK

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Chapter 04PAG E 50

3 0 N U M B E R O F A C R E S O F O R I G I N A L PA R K PA R C E L

Park DevelopmentFrom 1916–1923, to generate revenue, the City operated a public auto camp in the panhandle

area of the Park, where the Shepard Garden and Arts Center is today.

Courtesy of CSH.


Access to East Park, renamed McKinley Park in the early days, even with

trolleys was not easy. There were no paved streets, and often these streets

were mud-filled ruts largely impassable except for the trolleys. Drainage

was still poor (causing a continual mosquito problem), and sewage removal

was nonexistent from downtown to the park and beyond. The Burns

Slough, which flowed northeast through the heart of the park, often pooled

water rather than moving it toward the river. Today’s McKinley Park Lake

is a remnant of this early slough.

Maintenance costs at the turn of the century were too much for East

Park to handle. As the business of East Park was struggling, the owners

of the trolley car companies tried unsuccessfully to subdivide the park

into small tracts for development. Local residents and the City interceded

and bought the property in 1902, years before the city annexed the area

and years before any coordinated development occurred. The park was

slowly improved, including deepening Burns Slough to provide water for

the park and its newly developed pond.

Early development began along Alhambra Boulevard, east on J Street

and on the north of McKinley Park after 1900. The park itself was a

natural starting point for development with its long established trolley

line from downtown. Though there were individually built homes on

small lots before city annexation, larger scale tract development did not

begin until city annexation in 1911.

The development of the McKinley Park neighborhood is an extension

of early developments in East Sacramento as a whole, but with the

added attraction of the East Park recreational area of the late 1800s. The

exceptions are the houses along H Street facing the park and the small

bungalow neighborhood directly to the north of the park. For the most

part, McKinley Park development did not begin in earnest until after

World War I.

M c K I N L E Y P A R K


Chapter 04PAG E 51


Development around the park was slow. From 1916-1923, to generate

revenue, the City operated a public auto camp in the panhandle area of

the Park, where the Shepard Garden and Arts Center is today. The auto

camp included electric lights, showers, and basic shelters for transient

travelers. Unfortunately, many turned the area into a long-term residential

camp, effectively stifling residential development. Once these services

were terminated, the area surrounding the park boomed, with Wright

and Kimbrough’s Parkside tract starting construction as early as 1922.

Early development in the McKinley Park neighborhood was piecemeal

as individual tracts were purchased. Several tracts were quite successful,

both architecturally and as cohesive neighborhood units, such as the

Parkside tract. The Parkside tract, directly east of the park, did not begin

until the early 1930s.

The parts of the McKinley Park neighborhood that were not cohesively

planned and developed suffered architecturally and in investment value

for decades. Photographs of the period often reveal a hodgepodge of

residential and commercial uses, reflecting a more rural aspect than a

suburban one. The more unified whole that is perceived today has taken

many decades of infill development and redevelopment to occur – a

process that continues today, lot by lot.

The fragmented development that emerged from the platting of dozens

of small parcels, almost all of which were family-owned farming or dairy

operations, prevented most large-scale housing development. Ironically,

this may have led to better economic stratification in the area as high-

end custom housing on the south side of McKinley Park sits comfortably

with modest bungalows on the north side of the park and middle-class

Tudors on the east side. The economic diversity of the area probably

contributed to its long-term success since residents could move up the

economic scale as families developed and as mature residents were able

to downsize households as well.



Chapter 04PAG E 52

for amateur sports enthusiasts, baseball fields, horseshoe pits,

a soccer field, and tennis courts are available at McKinley Park.

Haven


C H A R A C T E R A N D S C A L E

The McKinley Park neighborhood is located at the edge of East

Sacramento and enjoys a unique identity and sense of place, centered on

beautiful McKinley Park. The neighborhood is predominantly residential

with a number of mixed use and retail businesses located along

Alhambra Boulevard.

Though primarily single family residential, McKinley Park has a variety

of rental properties interspersed. Small apartment buildings developed

along J Street and rental bungalow courts were built on both the north

and south sides of McKinley Park. Park McKinley, built in the late 1930s,

was a concierge-staffed Deco apartment building next to McKinley Park

that attracted business owners and wealthy retirees, some of whom

moved there from the Senator Hotel and Sutter Club downtown.

C O M M E R C I A L

Commercial land uses are mostly concentrated west of Alhambra

Boulevard. Small retail stores along C Street service surrounding

residences and the Cannery Business Park on the north side of C Street.

Additionally, a number of residential mixed use and residential office

uses can be found along Alhambra Boulevard.

PA R K S A N D P U B L I C A M E N I T I E S

McKinley Park, at 32 acres, provides many amenities including a pool,

tennis courts, horseshoe pits, baseball fields, soccer fields, a jogging track,

picnic areas, a large pond, community garden, art center, library, and

clubhouse. The stunning rose garden draws visitors from the greater

Sacramento region and the entire park has been nominated as one of the

‘Great Public Spaces’ by Project for Public Spaces, New York.



Chapter 04PAG E 53

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Chapter 04PAG E 54

The McKinley Park neighborhood is located at the edge of East Sacramento

and enjoys a unique identity and sense of place, centered on beautiful McKinley Park.


S T R E E T S C A P E

The shape of McKinley Park streets was largely determined by existing

roads that extended from the downtown grid, primarily J Street. This

major east/west street altered the way that residential streets developed,

as few houses were built facing this major arterial; most homes maintain

an east/west orientation for this reason. Those on corner lots faced the

north/south grid. The only major streets running north/south at this

time were Alhambra Boulevard and 39th Street, which connected

McKinley Park with Oak Park.

McKinley Boulevard was built from the park east to Elvas Avenue at the

railroad level. As a result, most pre-World War II development was on a

north/south grid between these streets, arranged in a traditional

‘gridiron’ pattern. Block lengths in this area are the traditional 320'

square. The remaining portions of the McKinley Park neighborhood

utilize a ‘fragmented parallel’ street pattern, with the block lengths

becoming longer and narrower, facilitating the east/west home orientation.

The primary streets, H Street and Alhambra Boulevard, typically have an

80' wide right-of-way. Interior streets have right-of-ways that range from

42'-50' and most feature detached sidewalks with generous landscape

buffers. The streets have a clear line of sight through the neighborhood.

This regularity of line is reinforced by rigid lot line setbacks from the

street, regular placement of planetrees at the street, and placement of

streetlights. These streetscape features create a street level that is both

linear and symmetrical.

There are virtually no front fences or walls in the McKinley Park

neighborhood, a testament to the area’s stability. Most houses have front

lawns complemented by foundation plantings. Garages are almost

completely to the side and rear of residences. Driveways are almost

always single width, with many houses maintaining their original

concrete tire strips.



Chapter 04PAG E 55



Chapter 04

Dist inct ive Architecture

McKinley Park’s distinctive architecture, tree-lined

streets, and proximity to Downtown Sacramento and

various recreational outlets has made it one of

Sacramento’s most desirable addresses.

$150,000 A M O U N T F L O R E N C E T U R T O N C L U N I E W I L L E D T O T H E PA R K AT H E R D E AT H I N 1 9 3 5

PAG E 56


S T R E E T T R E E S

Although development around McKinley Park was piecemeal, the

predominant species planted along H Street, McKinley Boulevard, and

residential streets surrounding the park were planetrees – both Oriental

and American. English elms were also planted but few remain today.

Other species include Modesto ash and elms with accent species including

redwoods, sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), and ginkgo (Ginkgo

biloba). Current species include all of these plus zelkova, deodar cedar,

magnolias, and Chinese pistache. McKinley Park is the smallest of the

sampled neighborhoods and has the least species diversity.

The trees are predominantly mature with few new plantings. Average

diameter at breast height (DBH) across all planting configurations

was 28 inches, with average height and crown diameter at 76' and 56',

respectively. Tree crowns tend to be wider than lot widths and also

arch to meet over the streets.

Much of McKinley Park’s planting space is in front yard lawns rather than

landscape strips. McKinley Park provides a unique opportunity to examine

similarly aged trees of one species – mature planetrees planted 70–95 years

ago – in two different planting strip configurations of 5' and 15' widths.

North of McKinley Park, D Street has the largest remaining planting

strip designed in early Sacramento history – 15'. The planetrees on D

Street represent some of the oldest and largest planted in the McKinley

Park neighborhood.

The trees in the smaller planting strip, however, have smaller DBH and

are nearly 20' shorter on average. This was a typical observation

throughout small planting strips in McKinley Park. Trees in the smaller

landscape strips have a higher replanting rate and tend to not be as

healthy.

There are few utility conflicts in McKinley Park, and all trees have

reached heights above houses and other vertical objects. Overall, trees are

generally well cared for and properly maintained in the McKinley Park

neighborhood.



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Chapter 04PAG E 58

$12,500 T H E C I T Y ’ S P U R C H A S E P R I C E F O R T H E 3 6 A C R E M C K I N L E Y PA R K PA R C E L I N 1 9 0 2 1 J O G G I N G C I R C L E D I S TA N C E , I N M I L E S

Many of these houses have beautifully detailed leaded glass windows, some with

Moorish arches and some with subtly arched Tudor frames.

Complementing the Streetscape


R E S I D E N T I A L A R C H I T E C T U R E D E V E L O P M E N T H I S T O R Y

Parkside and East Terrace Tracts

Developed by Wright and Kimbrough in the early 1930s, the Parkside

and East Terrace tracts are some of the most architecturally cohesive

developments of the day. Most houses, as built, range from 1200 to 1500

square feet and are popular among homeowners who today have made

additions typically anywhere from 500 to 1200 square feet. Most houses

are carefully detailed brick “Cotswold” Tudor cottages. Some examples

have a heavily-troweled stucco exterior that emulates a “wattle and daub”

effect. They are found throughout McKinley Park and East Sacramento and

can be found in Curtis Park and even as infill in Midtown Sacramento.

Examples can be found in early rural developments in the county as well.

The Sacramento Cotswold generally is a cross-gabled one-story cottage,

typically with two or three bedrooms and one bath. The roofline is

extremely high-pitched, sometimes emulating a “thatched” roof either in

wood shingles or composition shingles. These houses are popular today

because they can easily be adapted to hold a second floor, often opening

to the rear of the house, thus preserving the historic façade of the front

as well as maintaining the historic appearance of the street. The houses

vary considerably, even though they are mostly of the Cotswold Tudor

style. They feature a great range of gable orientation, roof heights,

surface cladding, and individualized surface detail that complement the

regularity of the streetscape.

Many of these houses have beautifully detailed leaded glass windows,

some with Moorish arches and some with subtly arched Tudor frames.

They generally have a mixture of casement and double-hung windows.

Entries are generally at an angle to the street with entry from a front

covered porch. Doors tend to be wood and beautifully executed, opening

into a small entry before entrance into an adjacent living room. Detail,

though carefully articulated, tends to be understated, without the

flourishes that often can be found on Land Park houses of the period.



Chapter 04PAG E 59


Documents

Chapter McKinley Park - Sutter Park Neighborhoodsutterparkneighborhood.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Park...garden contains over ... along what is now Elvas Avenue was built in the