City Description
Known as the "River City" for its thousand miles of flowing waterways, Sacramento nearly lost its designation as California's capital soon after it was so named in 1854. Torrential winter rains in the late 1850s caused overflowing rivers to deluge the City, wreaking havoc on its citizens and businesses. Even after the rivers crawled back to their beds, there was no relief. Sacramento became an underwater realm plagued by fatal cholera outbreaks bred by the bacteria-infested standing water.
With the City's survival in question, most Californians agreed that Sacramento was a terrible choice for the state's capital and organized a significant movement to relocate the capital 90-miles east in the rapidly growing and flood-resistant city of San Francisco. In an effort to hold on to power, Sacramento's leaders proposed erecting ten-foot high brick walls along all streets and raising the city above the flood line, in effect reconstructing the entire city on top of a "basement." Former building front doors would now open into brick walls and prior second floors would become first floors.
While the "taller" city plan was finally completed thirteen years later, it left behind an underground world of tunnels and catacombs that harbored Sacramento's sordid side. Chinese opium dens, gambling outlets, prostitution rings, and outlaws, are all rumored to have flourished in the capital's dark side. Even today some of these passageways remain and are said to be haunted by spirits from the underground.
So for those of you in search of a running partner during your travels, Sacramento appears to have a limitless number of potential training buddies. We understand that the immortals can be a little cranky in the morning, so you might want to bring them a hot cup of joe.
