The town of Freeport, called the “Gateway to the Delta,” is on the east side of the Sacramento River, 7 miles south of downtown Sacramento and can be reached easily by I-5 or down the river road through the Pocket Area. A relaxed river town, it offers lots of recreational fun, from fishing and boating to cycling and golf. It is a good place to dine and drink wine as well.
During the gold rush era, almost all of the goods bound from San Francisco for the California gold mines came by boat through the Sacramento Embarcadero. In the 1800’s, businessmen grew tired of paying the Sacramento Port taxes and founded the Freeport Railroad Company. They created a new port free of taxes and called it Freeport. Boats unloaded in the town of Freeport on the Sacramento River. Good were loaded onto railroad cars of trains that would then bypass Sacramento.
The bypass linked the new line to the Valley Railroad, midway between Sacramento and Folsom. Naturally, the town grew with supportive services and had 300-400 people living there. But the Freeport Railroad Company only lasted about three years with its 10-mile line because the Central Pacific bought it in 1885 and removed track in order to eliminate competition. The line has been referred to as “a short -lived short cut short line.”
The town survived, despite the demise of the railroad. Residents turned to farming. Now the population is closer to 40, but it has a marina and hosts plenty of amenities. If coming from the north, you’ll enter through a tunnel of trees, a fitting introduction to a pretty town. Links architect Perry Dye designed the 18-hole Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course near the banks of the river. The course is open to the public.
Freeport’s 1929 bridge is an engineer’s wonder, an impressive example of a Strauss type heel-trunnion bascule bridge. The counterweight tower functions as a short span of the bridge, and as an approach span of substantial length. Although not original, the bridge includes a fixed Warren pony approach of 101 feet, as well as two springer spans. The bridge tender house is not original, but the remainder of the bridge appears to be largely unaltered and is deemed to be historically authentic.
Places you may enjoy:
- Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course (8301 Freeport Boulevard)
- Freeport Wine Country Inn & Bistro (8201 Freeport Boulevard)
- Freeport Restaurant Bar & Grill (8259 Freeport Boulevard)
- Bait shop (8250 Freeport Boulevard)
Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course
Freeport Restaurant Bar & Grill
Freport Wine Country Inn & Bistro
