Sutter Creek is very fortunate to have its unique Downtown Historic District located on both sides of Main Street from Church Street to Gopher Flat Road. Drawing a bath-tub line around this area at the elevation of the large Red Barn on the northeast side of town takes in all the historic area that meets our "Historic Sites Ordinance" that reads: "The purpose of this chapter is to provide conditions and regulations for the protection, enhancement and perpetuation of the old and historical buildings" that were started in 1850 and slowly grew until the deep Recession starting in 1929 and the Great Depression of 1932 that supposedly ended in 1936.

A new state highway from Amador City to Martell was adopted by the California Highway Commission on October 2, 1929 and approved for construction on May 19, 1930. In Amador City the culvert above Andrae's Bakery was constructed in 1931, as was the culvert at Highway 49 and Hyland Drive to Mount Pleasant. "1931" is embossed in the concrete head walls. The highway was not completed in 1933, but probably in 1934.

The old road was started at and went through the Amador City parking lot toward what is known as String Bean Alley and continued to the east over the old Sutter Creek-Amador City road joining the present route 49 (Hanford Street) at North Amelia Street. From Hanford and North Amelia the road remains the same through Main Street and south to Old Sutter Hill Road where it goes up the hill and joins Old Ridge Road in the area that was then known as "Summit California." From there it joined Highway 49 by going behind the Sierra Trading Post to the area of the Italian Picnic Grounds.

Prior to the new road, Sutter Creek had no road north of Hanford and North Amelia Streets. The Amador Trail is located behind the Days Inn Hotel. On the south side of town, the new road started at the intersection of Libby Street and Main Street going south ending at Old Ridge in Sutter Hill.

On the south side of town in the mid 1930's the Mount Pleasant subdivision was constructed with narrow streets and little formal surface drainage. The houses are small having stucco siding and small narrow porches with roofs protecting the front doors. The garages are single car located in the back yards. Many of the original houses have been extensively remodeled and enlarged. In later years there have been infill houses on the east and south sides of the subdivision.

Sutter Oaks was built after World War II and is west of Mount Pleasant. The streets are wider and have gutters. The houses are larger single level with attached garages on the side or front of the houses. There are no sidewalks. There was a small apartment house built in the rear of the subdivision.

The Sutter Terrace Mobile Home Park was the next subdivision built, and is located south of the Gold Quartz subdivision. The Gold Quartz subdivision is located adjacent to Mount Pleasant on the south. It is larger than the above subdivisions, containing single and two story homes as well as duplexes and manufactured housing.

The latest developed subdivisions are on the north side of Sutter Creek. Sutter Crest is on Gopher Flat Road and Crest View is on Sutter-Ione Road. They were sold as single lots without the severe restrictions of the Historic Preservation and Enhancement section of the 1994 Sutter Creek General Plan. Crest View was required to retain the green stonewalls.

The above mentioned subdivisions are representative of the period in the time they were built and should be preserved as such, from the first simple post depression subdivision to the latest and more elaborate developments that are a reflection of what people wanted and could afford.

The Gold Rush Subdivision is being considered for permitting by the city. It is the next stepping-stone in Sutter Creek's future. It is a large and more complex subdivision than those before it. It is over a mile from Sutter Creek's Historic Basin area, separated from the rest of Sutter Creek by commercial land in a non-historic area. The Historic Element should not be introduced into this project where no historic element existed and had no historic buildings. It should be developed with the style of homes the buyers want today.

Hopefully, "The no on Gold Rush" folks will review the long-term benefits of a golf course, a hotel, a small shopping center, residential subdivision sites, school district and local government sites as well as 300 acres of trail developed open space. Additional funds will be provided for sewer expansion, intersection improvements and other fair share funding costs.

As mentioned in paragraph one, the downtown Historic District is very important in the preservation of the city. The new highway in 1934 created a non-historic corridor road from North Amelia Street north to the City limits and from Libby Street to Ridge Road. Both of these areas were vacant lands with little or no development. If some of the Historic Corridor elements shown in the 1994 General Plan are used outside the Historic District it could create a Disneyland atmosphere.

Gold Rush has two streets providing ingress and egress on Ridge Road. One opposite Ampine Fiberform Road provides a direct entrance to the Amador Ridge Shopping Center. The other is in the area of Conductor Blvd. A third street connects to Valley View Way providing the way to the northwest Bypass. Old Highway 49 should see no additional traffic. TO get to Jackson, Gold Rush traffic can go west on Ridge Road to Highway 88 and turning left or east on Ridge turning right at the Ampine Fiberform Road, Halvorson Way or Highway 49.