The West End: How Urban Reform Destroyed a Sacramento Neighborhood

Sacramento’s West End, located between the State Capitol and the Sacramento River. Its early 20th century reputation as a haven for liquor, sex work, and gambling made it a popular destination for many Sacramentans and a target of Progressive Era civic reformers. Sacramento’s business class considered a multiracial neighborhood at the gateway to the Capital City an undesirable liability, hindering the city’s ambitions for growth and development. Using land use policy based on institutional racism, combined with federal redevelopment incentives and highway programs, Sacramento’s leaders erased the city’s most vibrant neighborhood. Sacramento’s story was far from unique; in downtowns across the country, highways and mid-century development projects mark the graves of demolished neighborhoods of color. Today, how do we commemorate the history and legacy of a place that no longer exists?

William Burg has written seven books and approximately one hundred articles about Sacramento history. One such book, Wicked Sacramento, is about Sacramento’s long-gone West End neighborhood. He holds a Master of Arts in Public History from Sacramento State University, serves as President of Preservation Sacramento’s Board of Directors, and works as a historian for the State of California.