ONLY -- Survivor of the Fire of Nov. 1852 - Lady Adams Building
N 38° 34.940 W 121° 30.319
10S E 630187 N 4271488
The historic Lady Adams Building is the only remaining building to survive the November Fire of 1852 and is also the oldest building in Old Sacramento.
Waymark Code: WMND30
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 02/17/2015
Views: 2
Located in front of the Lady Adams Building is a plaque that reads:
THE LADY ADAMS BUILDING
BUILT IN 1852 BY THE LADY ADAMS MERCANTILE CO.; NAMED AFTER THE BRIG WHICH BROUGHT THE PARTNERS AROUND THE HORN.
SHE HAS SURVIVED FIRES, FLOOD AND BEING LIFTED ONE STORY. SHE HAS SERVED MERCHANTS, BANKERS AND AS A "ROOMING HOUSE" AND HAS BEEN FLAT BUSTED MORE THAN ONCE.
THE ONLY SURVIVOR OF THE FIRE OF NOV. 1852. SHE WAS NAMED CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL LANDMARK NO. 603 ON MAY 22, 1957 BEFORE WE GOT AROUND TO IT. E CLAMPUS VITUS
NEW HELVETIA NO. 5
AUG 7, 1976 |
In addition to this plaque, the current storefront, Evangeline's, has a writeup on this historic building and it reads:
The Lady Adams Building was built in June of 1852. It was named after the ship Lady Adams that brought goods and its first owners, two German merchants, around the Horn and up the river. They began their business in a tent, and later hired men to build a store, mostly out of the ship itself. It is the oldest building in Old Sacramento. The mast was later used as a “backing-up” place in the gutter for horses and wagons to back up to. The bricks used to build Lady Adams acted as ballast in the ship. The building's original owners were importers and wholesale merchants, and also bankers.
It was one of only four buildings that survived the fire in November of 1852, which swept through the downtown area. It survived because of its heavy brick roofing.
By the 1950's “Old” Sacramento was a teeming skid row, and the Lady Adams building was used as a brothel and a flophouse. Eventually, the building was unused and fell into disrepair. In August 1970, the heavy roof caved in, causing part of the building to collapse. Shortly afterward, however, the building was carefully restored as the city worked toward creating the Old Sacramento we know today.
The Lady Adams building is registered as California Historical Landmark No. 603.
The Library of Congress website (link below) has this to say about the building:
Significance: Built as wholesale and import house for four German immigrants who arrived on the brigantine "Lady Adams." Ballast brick said to have been used in structure. Only building to survive fire of 1852 undamaged. A group of Germans arrived in California in 1849 on the ship "Lady Adams" and started a wholesale business under that name. This building was erected in 1852 at a cost of $29,000, and is one of the few that survived the fire of 1852. It was raised to its present level in 1865. The building was occupied by Fogus & Coghill in 1861 and by Mebius & Co. in 1868. In recent years it has been used as a lodging house. It is registered as California Historical Landmark No. 603. Julius Fiedler was the building architect.