OTHER TIDBITS: Wow! That description is a major letdown! What was China Slough? It was Sacramento’s Chinatown! Built on the banks of Sutter Slough (a slough is basically a marsh), later Sutter Lake, so many Chinese immigrants moved into this area that the white population started calling it China Slough! The white people thought it was wasteland, so they were happy to give it to the Chinese, who made it into a successful waterfront community known for its theatre!

Even though white folks were welcome to attend the performances, the Chinese were certainly not welcome in Sacramento! A string of mysterious fires started up around Chinatown, but after each one, the industrious settlers rebuilt. In July 1855, the fire department let one such fire burn as long as the wind kept the flames in Chinatown and away from the rest of the city, and then the city’s Board of Trustees passed an ordinance mandating that buildings could only be built from fireproof bricks, which they figured the Chinese could not afford. Afford it they did, and they rebuilt!

Finally, in 1909, the city of Sacramento drove all the Chinese folks out of China Slough, buried the remains, and built a railyard over it. Today, there is not even a plaque to commemorate these hard workers, without whom, the transcontinental railroad probably would not have happened at all!

China Slough might not get much credit historically, but the Southern Pacific Railroad depot on top of it made the National Register of Historic Places!

• Volunteer with the Sacramento History Museum!
• Donate to the Sacramento History Museum!
• Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!

ANNOTATIONS:
Yup! That’s correct!

From Los Angeles: ~384mi (618km) — 6.4hrs
From Sacramento: ~0mi (0km) — 0hrs
From San Diego: ~504mi (812km) — 8.4hrs
From San Francisco: ~88mi (142km) — 1.5hrs