Downtown Sacramento centered around K Street -- known as "The Kay" --  from the time of the Gold Rush to the late 20th century. After a period of decline, the stretch of K Street that connects the Sacramento Convention Center to the Downtown Plaza mall is once again alive with restaurants, theaters and nightlife. If you haven't been down here in a while -- it's time to come back.

Historic Downtown Sacramento - then and now

The photo above on the left was taken in the 1950s and is a part of the Center for Sacramento History's Ernest W. Myers collection (1989/041/1871). The building on the right in the foreground is F.W. Woolworth Co., and you can see the Crest Theatre and the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on the left. The second photo, taken in 2013, shows the same scene, but the Woolworth store is now KBar, connected to Cafe Bernardo, a popular local restaurant with multiple locations.

K Street downtown was closed off to vehicle traffic for years, but it is now back, with one lane each direction, and light rail trains provide easy access to the rest of Sacramento and some suburbs, such as Folsom, where passengers are just a short walk from factory outlet stores.

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