Lost Sacramentos

Lost Sacramentos unearths historically erased communities in and around California’s capital, working to fill major gaps in the city’s memory and geography through historical and archaeological research.

We challenge flawed narratives that misunderstand and misrepresent Sacramento’s mid-19^th century land struggles, beginning our inquiry at a string of ruins marking the former confluence waterfront called Slater’s Addition. From that site, we will explore how both development and public amnesia buried the competing settlements that erupted in the city’s early years, as recently cataloged in the Sacramento Public Library’s book Lost Gold Rush Towns of Sacramento (History Press, 2025). The dominant devised historical narratives are all too resonant with the Trump era’s new war on social memory.

A growing body of research illuminates the construction and consequences of misleading historical discourses which only strengthen our era of rising misinformation. Our “re-visionary” approach will correct the record in order to empower efforts to build greater social and cultural equity in our city.