In the year of the founding of the Sacramento Turn Verein in 1854, the immigrant Heilbron family, having boarded a steamboat bound for Sacramento, arrived in the city between storms, greeted by torrential rains and muddy streets. Hermi Jacobs Cassady, in her book, Heilbron & Bros.: A Sacramento Story offers this description of the conditions under which the Sacramento Turn Verein founders lived and worked:

     The town was flourishing and consisted of about 500 brick and 2,000 frame buildings. Prior to the gold rush, all the activity had been at Sutter's Fort, about two miles distant, but with the discovery of gold, the community had switched to the Embarcadero area along the Sacramento River.
     After John Sutter's son, John Jr., founded the town upon suggestion of Sam Brannan, he employed Captain William H. Warner, a topographical engineer to make a survey in the fall of 1848. Warner produced a simple plan, 31 streets west to east using numbers and 26 streets north to south, each named after a letter in the alphabet. Prior to the first lot sale on the 8th of January 1849, Sutter Jr. deeded 10 squares for public use. At that time, the only residents occupied two cabins near the Embarcadero - one was a saloon and the other had a family named Stewart living there. By August of the same year the city consisted of 300 canvas houses with lot prices ranging from $600 to $20,000.
     As mining increased, Sacramento became the natural gateway to the northern mines and the town's early progress was a direct result of the Gold Rush. Recently the city has gained prominence because it has been designated as the permanent capital of the state of California.

From K Street, the Sacramento waterfront, 1849

     There was a rather large German contingent in town and what was characteristic of them - they were organizers - and in 1854 had started the Sacramento Turn Verein. The Turners always had some activity going and practically all meetings of any organization were held at their hall.
     Sacramento was a typical frontier town and the buildings were generally constructed of wood, although bricks were slowly taking precedence because fires were a serious problem. Whether by accident or incendiary, there seemed to be a blaze every day. The November 1852 holocaust had burned most of the town south of J Street below 2nd Street. Another major problem was the location of the town itself. The main streets seemed to be level or even lower than the river and flooding was common.
     Consequently, the first levees, although inadequate, were constructed along the Sacramento River from Sutterville north to the mouth of the American River, thence east to the high ground for a distance of about two and one half miles. This levee was three feet high, six feet wide at the top, and twelve feet wide at the base; however, this protection proved to be insufficient and a more elaborate system was devised. Sacramento became a town surrounded by levees.
     The main boulevard was J Street. In 1848, the streets had been laid out like a checkerboard, without any regard to elevation. Sutter's Lake, which was later called China Slough, was fed from the river, bordered I Street and the area along it became the Chinese section. The principle businesses were on Front Street (Embarcadero) and J Street. In winter the streets were a muddy mess.
     Often boards would be laid down so people could work themselves across the roadway and in summer these same thoroughfares would be the exact opposite, so dusty you couldn't see over them to the other side!
     The buildings were usually two stories, the business below with the living quarters upstairs. Many of the buildings had porches in front, which served as verandas for the second story. The world passed by these doors - the unknown, the famous and the infamous alike. The families who lived above these stores had a front-row seat to see it all. Even cattle were brought across the river on the steamer; they too were herded through the streets.

In 1857, the third year of the Turn Verein's existence, this was "Downtown" - on J street
     
In 1853, the first major street improvements were made by the planking of Front Street from "I" to "M," "J" from the river to 12th, "K" from the river to 8th, and 2nd and 3rd streets from "I" to "K." These boards were from Oregon fir and California pine, 3 and one-half inches thick in random lengths of 28 feet wide on Front Street and 26 feet wide on the other roadways.
     In 1854, the sidewalk ordinance was passed,specifying a construction of wood, stone, or brick, 14 feet wide on Front Street and 12 feet wide elsewhere. By now Sacramento had its first Water Works, a two-story brick building at Front and I Streets, which also housed the City Hall, Jail and repair space for the Fire Department. Two and a quarter miles of waterline and 50 hydrants had been installed by the end of 1855, at which time the Gas Works was completed at the entrance to Sutter Lake just north of the Water Works. With each new innovation the word "frontier" was left further behind.
     Sacramento had come a long way in six short years. Beginning as a city of tents, she had endured many disasters of repeated flooding, fires and epidemics of cholera and small pox, only to be rebuilt bigger and better each time.
     And she withstood times of civil strife, such as the Squatter's Riots of 1850.
     In 1855, on the 15th of June, the townspeople were quite excited when the schooner Joseph Hewitt arrived with the first rails for the new railroad to Folsom. Next day the schooner, Two Brothers, brought the locomotive"sacramento." August Heilbron was one of the many folks who gathered at the wharf to watch the activity of unloading the 400 tons of iron and the engine.
     When the 15-ton "Sacramento" was lifted up onto the wharf, a mighty cheer arose from the crowd which could be heard in the middle of town. Many people had truly believed the railroad was only talk, but with evidence like this, they were quite willing to admit their error.

The Turn Verein Movement, Beginning in Germany

It's 1854: German Immigrants Arrive in Sacramento

150 Years of the Sacramento turn Verein: 1854-2004

Turner Hall - Through 150 Years

Home • Events • Hall Rental • Sections • History • Contact Us • Search