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Sutter's Fort: then and now

c. 1925 vs 2021 · Sacramento, CA

Sutter's Fort, 2021Sutter's Fort, c. 1925
NowThen
Then, c. 1925A square bastion with a tiled roof and a cannon poking out of its opening, next to an ivy-covered wall. The date is the one listed on Wikimedia Commons ('taken 1925').Photo: Historic American Buildings Survey · Public domain · Source · resized, from a scan
Today, 2021The same corner tower and white wall, with a paved path and trimmed grass where the lawn was.Photo: DestinationFearFan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source · resized

The story

John Sutter set up his settlement in 1839 and called it New Helvetia, or New Switzerland. Construction of the fort itself began in 1841, and it became a busy trading post at the edge of the frontier.

In January 1848, gold was found at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, and the fort was abandoned as the Gold Rush began. By the 1850s it was largely deserted and fell into disrepair.

In 1891 the Native Sons of the Golden West bought the fort and began repairing it, and the work was finished in 1893. The state park system took it over in 1947, and it is now Sutter's Fort State Historic Park.

Did you know? The fort stood at the center of Sacramento before the city grew around it. Today it sits in the middle of the city's busy midtown.
Historians argue about this. The "Then" date (1925) comes from its Wikimedia Commons listing. What you see today is a rebuilt fort, repaired in 1891 to 1893 and later, not Sutter's untouched original.

Fact or tall tale?

Sources

More: Look for historic photos at the Library of Congress

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Next: Tower Bridge. Written from the cited sources, not yet walked on site unless noted.