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| Landmark #597 | Sacramento County | Visited: March 22, 2015 | Plaque? NO. 🙁 |
| What is it? | The What Cheer House is now full of novelty stores! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: The celebrated hotel was constructed on this site in 1853. State offices were located here in 1855.
OTHER TIDBITS: During the Gold Rush, “What Cheer” became a common greeting in northern California, and What Cheer Houses sprung up in Gold Country as lodging and meeting places for miners and politicians! The Sacramento What Cheer House was situated in the perfect location to access steamboats on the river and stage coaches going to the gold fields! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: SE corner of Front and K Sts Sacramento, CA 95814 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~384mi (618km) — 6.4hrs |
| When should I go? | Enjoy the exterior whenever you like! |
I grew up in Whitehaven, Cumberland, (now Cumbria) England in the 1950’s / 60’s, where coal mining was one of the main industries. “What Cheer” was THE common form of greeting back then, so I wondered if there was a “Whitehaven miner” connection to California?? We visited Sacramento last week but were only there for a day so I couldn’t explore the connection – if any.
Hi Ken! There were lots of miners from England, Scotland, and Ireland rushing to California for gold in the 1840s, so it’s definitely possible that Cumbrian miners were among them and spread their traditional greetings around the camps!