Sutter ' s Fort Sutter ' s Fort State Historic Park is a California State Historic Park in Sacramento , California . It includes Sutter ' s Fort and the California State Indian Museum . Location . The compound was built near the junction of the American and Sacramento Rivers and is located at what is now the intersection of 27th and L Streets in the Midtown neighborhood of the city of Sacramento , California . History . Sutter ' s Fort was begun in 1839 and originally called " New Helvetia " ( " New Switzerland " ) by its builder , John Sutter . The fort was a 19th - century agricultural and trade colony in the Mexican Alta California Province . The fort was the first non - Native American community in the California Central Valley . The fort is famous for its association with the Donner Party , the California Gold Rush and the formation of Sacramento . It is notable for its proximity to the end of the California Trail and Siskiyou Trail s for which it served as a waystation . After gold was discovered at Sutter ' s Mill ( also owned by Sutter ) in Coloma , the fort was abandoned . The adobe structure has been restored to its original condition and is now administered by California Department of Parks and Recreation , although threatened with closure . It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961 . Description . The Main Building of the fort is a two story adobe structure built between 1841 and 1843 . This building is the only original surviving structure at the reconstructed Sutter ' s Fort State Historic Park . It was in here on January 28 , 1848 that James Marshall met privately with Sutter in order to show Sutter the gold that Marshall had found during the construction of Sutter ' s sawmill along the American River only four days earlier . Sutter built the original fort with walls thick and 15 to high . Following word of the Gold Rush , the fort was largely deserted by the 1850s and fell into disrepair . In 1891 , the Native Sons of the Golden West , who sought to safeguard many of the landmarks of California ' s pioneer days , purchased and rehabilitated Sutter ' s Fort when the City of Sacramento sought to demolish it . Repair efforts were completed in 1893 and the fort was given by the Native Sons of the Golden West to the State of California . In 1947 , the fort was transferred to the authority of California State Parks . Most of the original neighborhood structures were initially built in the late 1930s as residences , many of which have been converted to commercial uses such as private medical practices . The history of the neighborhood is largely residential . Pioneers took residence at Sutter ' s Fort around 1841 . Geography and geology . Sutter ' s Fort is located on level ground at an elevation of approximately above mean sea datum . The slope elevation decreases northward toward the American River and westward toward the Sacramento River . Slope elevation gradually increases to the south and east , away from the rivers . All surface drainage flows toward the Sacramento River . Groundwater in the vicinity flows south - southwest toward the Sacramento Delta ; however , after peak rainfall , because of the swollen Sacramento River , the groundwater flow can actually reverse and flow away from the river .