Reinventing the City of Folsom’s
Corporation Yard
The City of Folsom had its beginnings along a portion of the American River where the native Nisenan people, Black Freedmen, and the Young Wo Chinese came together as part of California’s Gold Rush of 1849. The site of the merger of these three cultures is now known as the City Corporation Yard, the area outlined in Magenta on the maps this page. The 16-acre parcel making up the Corp Yard (as it is popularly known) is still owned by the City of Folsom today.
The Corp Yard has gone through several transformations. At the turn of the 1900s the Natomas Company dredged the American River, which included a portion of the lower Corp Yard. Thereafter the Corp Yard area served as the town dump. In 1957 more acreage was added in the form of ‘Old China Town,’ and the Corp Yard became a sewage pond disposal site for the City. The area continued to function in that capacity until the 1980’s when it was cleaned up and allowed to “perk” for 20+ years to purge the site from gases harmful to human habitation.
Currently, the Corp Yard is home to City garbage trucks, refuse bins, street maintenance equipment, several wooden and metal maintenance buildings, all located in an open-air setting next to the riparian riverfront.
According to the City, it plans to relocate the Corp Yard in the near future to an agricultural site located south of Highway 50. And as to the fate of the current historic 16-acre Corp Yard, the City states that it will,
“… activate the City’s expansive waterfront for recreation and economic development through strategic partnerships and land use opportunities, as well as inspired urban and community design ideas and solutions.”
Request for Qualifications 03/31/2023 (page 1, paragraph 1)
