Great post!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by wburg
The Colonial Theatre opened in 1940. It was designed by Herb Goodpastor, who also designed the Tower Theater. Supposedly, Goodpastor's contract for the Tower required that he design no theater within three miles of the Tower, a circle covering all of downtown Sacramento. According to local legend, the Colonial Theatre's site was chosen because it is three miles and one foot from Tower as the crow flies.
The Colonial opened to great fanfare in 1940.
|
Loved that post, the Colonial is a great theater , and thankfully it still survives. And Mexican restaurant on right side used to be the "Circle Club"
Amazing how communities names get forgotten in time like Colonial Heights, been here my whole life and never heard of Colonial Heights. But thanks to learning more about my city
Quote:
Originally Posted by wburg
Here are a few Sacramento Bee articles about places of interest in Colonial Heights, along Stockton Boulevard. In 1940, a streetcar ran from 55th Street and 21st Avenue downtown via Stockton Boulevard, making Stockton a prime business street and Colonial Heights a popular suburb.
In 1954, the Movie Club became the Circle Club.
Farther down Stockton Boulevard was Frasinetti's, owned by the Frasinetti family, whose vineyard in Florin dates to the 1890s. Frasinetti's opened in 1936 and operated at the prominent corner of Stockton Boulevard and San Francisco Boulevard, the "main street" of the Colonial Heights subdivision, recognizable by its two rows of palm trees, accessible from the Stockton Boulevard streetcar line, which ran until 1946.
In 1954, Frasinetti's became Burich's, owned by the Jim Burich family. Burich was also the operator of a long-standing downtown Sacramento bar, the Equipoise Cafe near 4th and K Street, notorious as a site for underground gambling dens. Burich's was farther out into the county, and could have been a more "family-oriented" place given its location in a suburb--or maybe it was just that much farther from the prying eyes of police who worked the West End? |
And glad to see the Frasinetti/Burich building has survived as well, although some remodeling over the years
wburg thanks so much for sharing, really enjoyed the post
The unheard history is very interesting as well, the underground gambling etc. The stuff you never hear in the normal history tours is always very cool to me and understand Sacramento has quite a history with that going back to prohibition and speakeasys
Very interesting stuff