Sutter's Fort

Sacramento County · Sutter's Fort State Historic Park · location approximate

John Augustus Sutter, who was born of Swiss parents in Germany, arrived in New York in July 1834 and in California in July 1839. The fort was founded in 1839 by Sutter to protect his Mexican land grant of some 76 square miles. He called his empire New Helvetia. Of the original fort, there remains the two-story central building, made of adobe and oak. The fort's outer walls and rooms, which had disappeared by the 1860's, were reconstructed by the state after acquiring the property in 1890.

1971 register text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native people; the state's landmark listings still carry most of this wording, and the California Office of Historic Preservation maintains the program's current texts.

Many of these plaques have since been recast or their texts revised. The California Historical Landmarks program and its current texts are maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation. California Office of Historic Preservation ↗

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Marker data: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Historical Landmarks (1971)

More markers nearby

The Coloma Road, Sutter's Fortunder 1 mi
Pioneer Telegraph Station1 mi
California's First Passenger Railroad1 mi
Sacramento City Cemetery1 mi

See your own family's places through time.

Start with your family tree