Arcadia Publishing Sacramento's Land Park History Book

Sacramento wasn't always so proud of the area now called Land Park. In fact, due to a notorious roadhouse at Sutterville and Riverside roads, the city took great pains to distance itself from here in the early days, calling the roadhouse and environs a “foul plaguespot�?and a “sink of iniquity,�?and purposely excluding it from city borders! But times change and the 1911 death of hotelier and philanthropist William Land set the stage for Land Park's remarkable renaissance. A bequest in Land's will directed that some monies be used to find “a recreation spot for the children and a pleasure ground for the poor,�?and so began the pleasant area of homes, parklands and riverfront paths we know today.