A Few Major Curtis Park Events
from the Great Depression to the Present

On April 26, 1935, the Highland Park School, abandoned two years earlier and slated for demolition, burned down. A crowd of 10,000 gathered to watch the conflagration. (Bee, April 27, 1935, p.1.) The next year, in 1936, McClatchy High School was constructed.

The last street car ride was on January 4th, 1947. The trolley tracks were removed soon thereafter. The No. 6 line through Curtis Park was one of the two left at the time. The ubiquity of the automobile and stiff competition from General Motors buses caused the demise. (Sacramento's Street Cars, Sacramento County Historical Society (1987) Richard Rodda.) Mr. Rodda had the following observation: "On a personal note, I used to live in the Curtis Oaks area. At night, while in bed, I used to hear that outbound 21st Street car rattle and roar all the way from the time it crossed 21st and Broadway." (Ibid.)

In the summer of 1953 the DMV buildings on the west side of 24th Street were finished. The taller structure on the east side was completed in 1962.

On June 3, 1957, Carrie Cutter died at home. She was 91 years old. Her sister Edna had reportedly recently died also. (Bee, June 4, 1957.] On April 27, 1959, J.C. Carly died at age 87. His wife May Carly had died in 1952.
In the mid-sixties Highways 50 and 99 were built and delineated the northern and eastern borders of Curtis Park.

In 1973 21st Street was converted from a four lane two way artery to a three lane one way northbound artery.

In 1976 the Sierra Elementary School was closed after inspectors determined it was structurally unsafe. In 1979 Curtis Park neighbors realized the school, slated for demolition, could become a neighborhood center for cultural and educational activities. They created the Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association (SCNA), initially called the Sierra School Neighborhood Association, and saved the school.

In 1981 and 1982 SCNA led the battle against dust, noise, lights, and pollution caused by trailer to flat car loading operations at the railyard. In August of 1982 Western Pacific capitulated and moved the operation to Stockton. (Union, Aug 14, 1982, p. A1.) In October of 1983, Western Pacific closed the railyard. The railroad and the City disputed the effect of the original deed condition on use of the property for railyard purposes. In April of 1986 the City and Union Pacific, the successor of Western Pacific agreed to partner with the City in the development of the property. (Union April 23, 1986, p. A4.)

Discovery of toxic contamination at the yard delayed development and led to a protracted struggle between SCNA and Union Pacific over clean up. On March 16, 1999 railroad officials announced that their controversial land use application was "on hold." The railroad's announcement came just hours after a Senate Committee voted to approve legislation aimed at ensuring the full cleanup of the toxic land and the City refused the railroad's choice of environmental consultants to prepare the environmental study of the impacts of the land use application. ( Web Cite.)

In February 2003, Union Pacific sold the railyard to new owners. They will make a proposal in the Fall of 2003 to build about 480 houses and apartments on the 63-acre property.

On April 8, 2003, the City Council voted unanimously to develop an environmental impact report for a project to convert the Curtis Park portion of 21st Street back to a two way artery.

In September 26, 2003 light rail trains began running along the former Western Pacific right of way from south Sacramento to downtown.