August 26, 1889 On this day in 1889, Sacramento Mayor, Eugene J. Gregory, called attention to the dilapidated condition of Sutter’s Fort during a weekly meeting of the Sacramento Board of Trustees. All that remained of the old fort was the large adobe structure known as the Central Building. Mayor Gregory moved that if no action by an organization took place to preserve the building within the next three months, the Board of Trustees would order the destruction of the Central Building and extend 27th Street from K to L Streets through the property. Local citizens took action, spearheaded by fraternal organizations like the Native Sons of the Golden West and the Sacramento Pioneers Association, to raise funds to purchase the Sutter’s Fort property from Benjamin Merrill, the owner of the site. In November 1890, the Native Sons purchased the property for $20,000 and transferred it over to the State of California for managing its future reconstruction. The Fort’s reconstruction was fin...