Historic park in Old Sacramento gets a new name

(FOX40.COM) — A small park with a lot of history in Old Sacramento has a new name in honor of a woman business owner who owned the land when the capital city was a small railroad town.

Mary Gregory Park is the new name for the park on the corner of J St. and Firehouse Alley.

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The Center for Sacramento History, which maintains historical records for the city, requested the change and said that it “is an important step toward recognizing the contributions of Gregory and other Gold Rush-era women whose role in the development of Sacramento has been largely overlooked.”

Today, the park contains a stairway, an arch, several columns and other items from the city’s past.

The name change will require new signage to be installed at a later date. The park was formerly known as Pioneer Park.

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A staff report presented to the city council said the English-born Mary Gregory moved to California with her French husband, Julius Gregory, ultimately ending up in Sacramento in the mid-1800s.

They eventually ran two stores in the town and, after Julius’s death, Mary continued with the business.

She also purchased another building and built a three-story building on several lots she owned that was used for shipping products across California and the country.

Mary Gregory died on May 29, 1898, and is buried in the Old City Cemetery, the staff report said.

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