Sacramento’s Alkali Flat

By the Special Collections of the Sacramento Public Library
Arcadia Publishing, $21.99, 127 pages

The Alkali Flat neighborhood in Sacramento is probably the least known and appreciated in the Sacramento area.  Yet, it is also the first real neighborhood of the city; it was where some of the first power brokers of Sacramento lived and raised their families.  It was also the site of the first industrial area with the Southern Pacific rail yards nearby.  The neighborhood fell into disrepair, and many of its beautiful Victorian homes were razed, though some were saved.  It was also the first home to KCRA television station, with its giant television tower.  The people might have changed from the powerful and wealthy to the working class immigrants, but the idea of Alkali Flats has never changed–a great place to live that is close to downtown Sacramento.

The people at the special collections of the Sacramento Public Library have put together a wonderful book that brings to life this long-neglected neighborhood.  Through the pictures that reach back in time we get a glimpse (however fleeting) of what life was like back then–from the stately Victorian homes to the Crystal Dairy company.  Alkali Flats was truly a place of contrasts.  This is a book made for local historians.

Reviewed by Kevin Winter