Sacramento now has a ‘Little Italy’ historic district. Here’s where

Sacramento officially has a “Little Italy.”

The new historic district is in an East Sacramento neighborhood, bound by 48th and 59th streets, and J Street and Folsom Boulevard. The area includes several Italian-owned businesses, including Corti Brothers grocery store, Allora Italian restaurant, Talini’s Nursery, Mattone Ristorante, Frank’s Automotive, and Nicoletti, Culjis & Herberger Funeral Home. It also includes St. Mary Parish and the East Portal Bocce Club.

“Italian roots run deep in the history of the city of Sacramento, right from the Gold Rush days forward,” said City Councilman Jeff Harris, who represents the area, during Tuesday’s council meeting. Signs could go up soon, Harris said.

Italian-American East Sacramento residents William Cerruti and Fabrizio Sasso first pitched the idea to Harris about five years ago.

“With such a longstanding tradition, it seemed like it was time to claim that heritage and recognize it,” Cerruti said during the council meeting.

Cerruti was born in the Little Italy area, on a house at the end of a block next to farm land, when East Sacramento was mostly farms. He remembers when St. Mary’s Church was built.

“It was an Italian national church built by the Italians so that they could pray there when they might not be able to pray in other Catholic churches,” Cerruti said.

The church used to hold Mass in Italian, Harris said.

“There were whole blocks where predominantly all the families were Italian-American,” Cerruti said.

There are still many Italian families who live in the neighborhood. Over 400 households in East Sacramento currently receive the Italian Cultural Society of Sacramento’s newsletter, said Cerruti, the director of the organization. In addition, about 65 league teams play in the East Portal Bocce Club, based in East Portal Park, in the heart of the new district.

Stone farmhouses that early Italian families built and lived in, called “The Stone Sisters,’’ still stand out as they border East Portal Park, according to the city’s ceremonial resolution.

When Sasso moved to Sacramento from Stockton, he was attracted to East Sacramento, even though he did not know about the Italian history at the time.

“It just felt comfortable,” said Sasso, who is also executive director of the Sacramento Central Labor Council. “There was familiarity and it just felt like Italian neighborhoods. And then as I learned more, I realized that there’s a rich history here. I’m just really proud we’re doing this.”