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Aerospace Museum of California 3200 Freedom Park Drive, McClellan 916-643-3192; www.aerospaceca.org The museum features 40 civilian and military aircraft, motion ride simulator and special exhibits. $
B.F. Hastings Building Corner of Second and J streets Old Sacramento 916-440-4263, www.wellsfargo.com/about/museum In April of 1853, the historic “Hastings” opened as a bank. Today it is a museum housing communications, a reconstructed Supreme Court, the Pony Express, and Wells Fargo Bank. FREE.
Big Four Building 113 I Street, Old Sacramento 916-445-7387, www.csrmf.org Named for the “Big Four” of western railroading: Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Collis P. Huntington and Charles Crocker. Includes the Huntington Hopkins Hardware Store Museum and Stanford Gallery. Railroad Museum Library, 323-8073. FREE.
Blue Diamond Growers Visitors Center 1701 C Street 916-446-8439, www.bluediamondgrowers.com Factory outlet for the largest almond processing plant in the world with a 20 minute video in several foreign languages. FREE.
California Auto Museum
2200 Front Street
916-442-6802, www.calautomuseum.org
More than 150 vehicles including race cars, muscle cars, hot rods, luxury cars and antiques. $ W.A.
California State Archives
1020 O Street
916-653-7715, www.ss.ca.gov
The Archives contain a wide array of historical
California documents. The Constitution Wall, an outdoor piece of art, is open to the public and accessible by entering the courtyard. Temporary exhibits on display in lobby. FREE.
California State Capitol Museum
10th and L streets
916-324-0333, www.capitolmuseum.ca.gov
After a massive restoration completed in 1982, the building once again reflects the beauty and grandeur of the 1900s. The magnificent dome, marble mosaic floors, crystal chandeliers and monumental staircases are highlights FREE. W.A.
The California Museum
1020 O Street
916-653-7524, www.californiamuseum.org
The Museum, home of the California Hall of Fame, is a cultural destination dedicated to telling the rich history of California and its unique influence on the world of ideas, innovation, art and culture. $ W.A.
California State Indian Museum
2618 K Street, Sutter’s Fort
916-324-0971, www.parks.ca.gov/indianmuseum
The museum offers a fascinating glimpse into California’s history and illustrates Native American culture, arts and the lifestyle of the state’s earliest inhabitants. $
California Military Museum
1119 2nd Street, Old Sacramento
916-442-2883, www.militarymuseum.org
Exhibits reflect California’s rich militia and military history from pre-statehood to contemporary times. The museum contains more than 30,000 military papers, documents and memorabilia. $ W.A.
California State Railroad Museum
125 I Street, Old Sacramento
916-445-7387 or 916-445-6645, www.californiastaterailroadmuseum.org
The Transcontinental and Sacramento Valley Railroads began in Old Sacramento. The 100,000 square-foot building houses the largest interpretive museum of its kind in North America, displaying 21 restored locomotives, cars and 46 exhibits. Same ticket admittance to Central Pacific Passenger and Depot Station on Front Street. A reconstruction of the 1876 depot depicts the bustling activities of train travel in the mid-1800s. Steam train rides are available on weekends from the depot to Miller Park. $ W.A.
California Vietnam Veterans Memorial
15th Street and Capitol Avenue, at the east end of State Capitol Park. A $2.5 million project established by law and built entirely by donations. Its 22 shiny black granite panels memorialize the 5,822 names of California’s dead and missing. The exquisite full-relief bronze figures depict the realities of daily life during that conflict. FREE.
Cathedral of the Blessed Sacramento
11th and K streets
916-444-3071, www.cathedralsacramento.org
The 217-foot tower, visible miles away, was built in 1889. Its prominent architectural design comes from 19th century Paris and the stained glass is from Austria. The Cathedral was restored to its original splendor in 2005. FREE
Crocker Art Museum
216 O Street
916-808-7000, www.crockerartmuseum.org
A restored Victorian houses the oldest public art museum in the West, which has grown and expanded since 1873. The original European paintings and master drawings collections were soon augmented with 19th-century California paintings, sculptures, Asian art, and more recently contemporary art and photography. The Crocker completed a $100 million expansion in October 2010 which tripled the size of the exhibit space. $ W.A.
Delta King Hotel
1000 Front Street, Old Sacramento
916-444-5464, www.deltaking.com
A historic riverboat returns to the Old Sacramento waterfront as a hotel with meeting rooms, restaurant, entertainment, theater. Partial W.A.
Discovery Museum Science & Space Center
3615 Auburn Boulevard
916-575-3941, www.thediscovery.org
Planetarium and an exterior exhibit highlighting native California plants, animal science programs. Gift shop with science related merchandise. $ W.A.
Eagle Theatre
925 Front Street, Old Sacramento.
916-323-6343 (special event rental), 916-445-4209 (group tours)
The first building constructed as a theater in California in 1849. Docent-led Sacramento history programs. $
Esquire IMAX® Theatre
1211 K Street
916-443-4629 (IMAX), www.imax.com/sacramento
This 420-seat theatre houses a 6-story high, 72-foot-wide screen with 12,000 watts of digital sound. The 70mm film technology provides film entertainment that “takes you places you only dream of going.” $ W.A.
Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park
16th and H streets
916-323-3047, www.parks.ca.gov/governorsmansion
Built in 1877, the 15-room Victorian mansion was home to 13 California governors until 1967 when Ronald Reagan was elected. 14-foot ceilings, Oriental rugs, Italian marble fireplaces, chandeliers and French mirrors are all reflections of tastes of California’s governors and first ladies. $
Historic City Cemetery
10th Street and Broadway
916-448-0811, www.oldcitycemetery.com
Established in 1849, the cemetery is the last resting place for over 20,000 early Sacramentans, including John A. Sutter Jr., Edwin and Margaret Crocker, and Mark Hopkins. Open daily 7am to 5pm. Guided and self-guided tours available. FREE
Leland Stanford Mansion
8th and N streets
916-324-0575, www.stanfordmansion.org
After a 14-year, $22 million restoration and rehabilitation, the Leland Stanford Mansion is now open to the public as a museum. It also serves the citizens of California as the state’s official reception center for leaders from around the world. A stunning example of the splendor and elegance of the Victorian era in California, the four-story, 19,000 square foot Mansion dates from 1856 and has special historical and architectural significance. It served as the office of three governors during California’s early years: Leland Stanford, Fredrick Low and Henry Haight. $ WA
Old Sacramento
916-558-3912 www.oldsacramento.com
The Old Sacramento historic area, a registered national landmark and state historic park, is a 28-acre site on the banks of the Sacramento River. It is a vital historical, business, residential, shopping, and dining district with a fascinating past and the greatest concentration of historic buildings in California.
John Sutter arrived in 1839 and founded the first permanent settlement in the area. After the gold discovery in 1848, businesses sprang up along the riverfront in what is now Old Sacramento. There were hotels, saloons, bathhouses, the first theatre in California, and a variety of shops, where would-be miners could outfit themselves for the gold fields.
Transportation has always figured prominently in Sacramento’s history. The city was the western terminus of the short-lived Pony Express and the transcontinental railroad.
Today, Old Sacramento is home to the largest interpretive railroad museum in North America-the California State Railroad Museum. The 100,000 square-foot museum displays 21 meticulously restored locomotives and cars and over 40 one-of-a kind exhibits tell the fascinating story of railroad history from 1850 to the present. Historic equipment and exhibits on the transcontinental railroad and 19th-century rail travel are housed in the reconstructed 1876 Central Pacific Railroad Passenger Station. About one mile from the California State Railroad Museum, just on the edge of Old Sacramento, is another spectacular facility dedicated to transportation-the California Automobile Museum. The collection includes an array of original and restored cars from the late ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s.
Other museums in the area include the California Military Museum, the Sacramento History Museum and the Crocker Art Museum. More than 100 unique shops and eclectic restaurants will satisfy even the most discerning visitor. Numerous special events take place here year-round including the Gold Rush Days, Sacramento Jazz Festival and the Pacific Rim Festival.
Old Sacramento Schoolhouse
Front and L streets, Old Sacramento
916- 483-8818, www.oldsacschoolhouse.org
Built in the style of one-room schools found in the 1800s. FREE
Pony Express Monument
2nd and J streets, Old Sacramento
In April 1860, 80 young riders were able to complete the 1,966-mile mail run on horseback to St. Joseph, Missouri, in fewer than ten days. In October 1861, the completion of Western Union’s Transcontinental telegraph put the “Express” out of business. FREE
Sacramento History Museum
101 I Street, Old Sacramento
916-808-7057, www.sachistorymuseum.org
Housed in the reconstructed 1854 City Hall on the Waterfront in Old Sacramento, the museum explores Sacramento’s city’s founders, industry and the Gold Rush. $ W.A.
Sacramento Zoo
3930 West Land Park Drive
916-808-5885, www.saczoo.com
Located in William Land Park, Sutterville Road and Land Park Drive. The 15-acre zoo is home to over 340 exotic animals. Across from the zoo is Fairytale Town, a six-acre children’s theme park. $
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
1430 J Street
916-446-2620
Sacramento’s oldest congregation, Tiffany stained glass windows and rare Johnson Tracker organ. FREE.
Sutter’s Fort
27th and L streets
916-445-4422, www.parks.ca.gov/suttersfort
Sacramento’s earliest settlement was founded by John Sutter in 1839. Self-guided audio tours explain the exhibit rooms which include copper and blacksmith’s shops, a bakery, prison, dining room and living quarters as well as livestock quarters. $
Theodore Judah Monument
2nd and L streets, Old Sacramento
The brilliant young engineer responsible for creating the plan for the Transcontinental Railroad is honored by the monument. FREE
Victorians
The streets of Sacramento comprise blocks of elaborate Victorian houses. Nestled along tree-lined streets the majority may be found from 7th to 16th streets, from E and I streets. Not to be missed is the Heilbron home at 740 O Street and the Stanford Home at 800 N Street. FREE
Wells Fargo History Museum
Wells Fargo Center
400 Capitol Mall
916-440-4161, www.wellsfargo.com/about/museum
Hundreds of items on display include original artifacts, documents, old photos and lithographs, which bring to life the commercial history of Sacramento and Wells Fargo’s role in it since 1852. FREE W.A.
Visit the Sacramento Museums Association’s site at: www.sacmuseums.org
$ = Admission Charge W.A. = Wheelchair accessible
