City Council might rename a historic park in Old Sacramento after a Gold Rush-era woman

(FOX40.COM) — The City Council could rename a small, historic park in Old Sacramento on Tuesday in honor of a woman business owner from the 1850s.

The Center for Sacramento History, the group that maintains historical records for the city and county, is requesting the name change from Pioneer Park to Mary Gregory Park.

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“The contributions made by Gregory and other women in establishing the city of Sacramento have generally been overlooked by the historic record of the Gold Rush era in Sacramento,” a staff report says. “By renaming the park for Mary Gregory, the city is taking an important step in recognizing the contributions of women in the economic, social, and political development of the area.”

The small park is located at the corner of J St. and Firehouse Alley, between Front and Second Streets. Today, it consists of an arch, a stairway, several columns and items from the city’s past.

The city staff report says that in 1850s Sacramento, men outnumbered women as much as 10 to 1, which has historically left out the important contributions from women to the city’s development.

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Mary Eugene Gregory was a native of England and ran a hotel and restaurant in San Francisco with her French-born husband Julius Gregory before they moved to Sacramento, the staff report said.

Within a few years, they were running two stores in the then-small town of Sacramento. After Julius died in 1871, Mary continued running the businesses and purchased a building and several lots in the neighborhood.

She later demolished several structures to build a three-story building used to ship products from California to the rest of the country. Gregory died on May 29, 1898, and is buried in the Old City Cemetery.

If the city council approves the name change, there is expected to be a small cost to changing the signage and later introducing additional signage that tells the history of Mary Gregory.

The city council will take up the issue at their meeting at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

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