Alkali Flat is a historic district with the oldest surviving homes in the city, built between 1853 and 1869 by the city’s upper class. Its borders include 12th Street, H Street, 7th Street and the Southern Pacific tracks.
It got its name from the white alkali powder that coated the ground seasonally after floods in the Sutter slough. The Royal Chicano Air Force artist collective began here in the 1960s.