Smiths Gardens, Sacramento Showplace of a Century Ago
(c) 2012, Mike Barkley
From:
http://www.sachistoricalsociety.org/userfiles/File/GN_V5No1_Oct1958_Smith's%20Gardens_red.pdf
Smiths Gardens, Sacramento Showplace of a Century Ago
Sacramento Historical Society, Golden Notes, Vol. 5, No. 1, October 1958:
7 pages of commentary on Smith's Gardens, from which the following flood
commentary is quoted:
[p. 2]
At the time of Smith's purchase from Sutter, the site of Smith's Gardens was
considered as high ground, well above normal flood levels. In fact, the place
[p. 3]
did escape any damage in the great flood of 1852 and all subsequent midwinter
floods of that decade. But in January, 1862, the American River rampaged as
never before and spread its devastation over the whole area between the present
State College site and the Thirty-First Street (Alhambra Boulevard) levee
at the eastern city limits. At Smith's Gardens the flood swept away the house
and many of the work sheds as it undercut and washed away some 500 feet of
the property along the riverbank. Nearly all the fruit trees except the pears
and apples were killed, and from one to six feet of flood silt covered the
orchards and gardens. Damage and loss was estimated at more than $100,000,
and the place was never the same in spite of the owner's courageous attempt
to rebuild and restore it to a semblance of its former glory. . . .
--Mike Barkley, 167 N. Sheridan Ave., Manteca, CA 95336 (H) 209/823-4817
mjbarkl@inreach.com
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