On January 6, 1856, construction of the Pacific Stables building on the west side of Second Street between K and L was finished at a cost of $20,000. W.B. Carr and Company were the owners and financers of the building, however, by 1857 the building was under the ownership of H.R. Covey and Company. The building was 42 by 100 feet and two stories tall, in addition to a basement. The first floor was fitted with offices, harness rooms, and 32 stalls for horses. The second story had a large hall and a section of it was used as an armory. The Sutter Rifles, formed in 1852 and named after John Sutter, had their headquarters on the second floor in the late 1850s. The floods of 1861-1862 badly damaged the building and the unprofessional raising of the building in 1866 to the new street level left the building very structurally weak. It did not help that the armory, that was housed on the second floor for many years, caused the floor to sag. Then owner Frank S. Malone tried to solve the buildi...