History Of Sacramento, California
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The history of Sacramento,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, began with its founding by Samuel Brannan and John Augustus Sutter, Jr. in 1848 around an embarcadero that his father, John Sutter, Sr. constructed at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers a few years prior.
Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...
was named after the Sacramento River, which forms its western border. The river was named by Spanish cavalry officer
Gabriel Moraga Gabriel Moraga (1765 – June 14, 1823) was a Sonoran-born Californio soldier, administrator, and explorer. As an explorer in Alta California, Gabriel Moraga found and gave names to a number of rivers in the Central Valley. Gabriel's son Joaqu ...
for the Santisimo Sacramento (Most Holy Sacrament), referring to the Catholic
Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...
. Before the arrival of Europeans, the
Nisenan The Nisenan are a group of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and an Indigenous people of California from the Yuba River and American River watersheds in Northern California and the California Central Valley. According to a ...
Native American tribe inhabited the Sacramento Valley area. The Spanish were the first Europeans to explore the area, and Sacramento fell into the
Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
province of
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
when the conquistadors claimed Central America and the American Southwest for the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
. The area was deemed unfit for colonization by a number of explorers and as a result remained relatively untouched by the Europeans who claimed the region, excepting early 19th Century coastal settlements north of
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
which constituted the southernmost Russian colony in North America and were spread over an area stretching from Point Arena to Tomales Bay.Historical Atlas of California When
John Sutter John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Switzerland, Swiss immigrant who became a Mexican and later an American citizen, known for establishing Sutter ...
arrived in the provincial colonial capital of Monterey in 1839, governor Juan Bautista Alvarado provided Sutter with the land he asked for, and Sutter established New Helvetia, which he controlled absolutely with a private army and relative autonomy from the newly independent Mexican government. The
California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...
started when gold was discovered at
Sutter's Mill Sutter's Mill was a water-powered sawmill on the bank of the South Fork American River in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California. It was named after its owner John Sutter. A worker constructing the mill, James W. Marshall, found go ...
, one of Sutter, Sr.'s assets in the city of Coloma in 1848; the arrival of prospectors in droves ruined Sutter's New Helvetia and trade began to develop around a wharf he had established where the American and Sacramento Rivers joined. In the region where Sutter had planned to establish the city of Sutterville, Sacramento City was founded; Sutter, Sr. put his son in charge in frustration, and Sutter, Jr. worked to organize the city in its growth. However, its location caused the city to periodically fill with water. Fires would also sweep through the city. To resolve the problems, the city worked to raise the sidewalks and buildings and began to replace wooden structures with more resilient materials, like brick and stone. The city was selected as the state capital in 1854 after Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo failed to convince the state government to remain in the city of his namesake.


Prior to Sutter's arrival – through 1838

Indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
such as the
Miwok The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native Americans in the United States, Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok lan ...
and
Maidu The Maidu are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather River, Feather and American River, American ...
Indians were the original inhabitants of the north
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
n Central Valley. Of the Maidu, the
Nisenan The Nisenan are a group of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and an Indigenous people of California from the Yuba River and American River watersheds in Northern California and the California Central Valley. According to a ...
Maidu group were the principal inhabitants of
pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...
Sacramento; the peoples of this tribe were
hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...
s, relying on foraged nuts and berries and fish from local rivers instead of food generated by agricultural means. The first European in the state of California was
conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese explorer sailing on behalf of the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
, in 1542; later explorers included Sir
Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
and Sebastián Vizcaíno. However, no explorer had yet discovered the Sacramento Valley region nor the
Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by ...
strait, which would remain undiscovered until, respectively, 1808 and 1623. A number of conquistadors had completed cursory examinations of the region by the mid-18th century, including Juan Bautista de Anza and Pedro Fages, but none viewed the region as a potentially valuable region to colonize. Neither did
Gabriel Moraga Gabriel Moraga (1765 – June 14, 1823) was a Sonoran-born Californio soldier, administrator, and explorer. As an explorer in Alta California, Gabriel Moraga found and gave names to a number of rivers in the Central Valley. Gabriel's son Joaqu ...
, who was the first European to enter the Sierra in 1808 and was responsible for naming the Sacramento River, although he incorrectly placed the rivers in the region. However, Padres Abella and Fortuni arrived in the region in 1811 and returned positive feedback to the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, although the church disregarded their finds as they were in conflict with all previous views of the area. The
Mexicans Mexicans () are the citizens and nationals of the Mexico, United Mexican States. The Mexican people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish language, Spanish, but many also speak languages from 68 different Languages o ...
, who had declared independence in 1821, shared Spanish sentiments,Severson, p. 21 and the area remained uncolonized until the arrival of John Sutter in 1839. The area that would become the city of Sacramento was initially observed by many European and American mapmakers as home to
Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...
-based rivers that stretched across the
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and emptied into the Pacific Ocean. Speculation at the time placed the fabled St. Bonaventura River where the American- Sacramento River complex was; mountain man
Jedediah Smith Jedediah Strong Smith (January 6, 1799 – May 27, 1831) was an American clerk, transcontinental pioneer, frontiersman, hunter, trapper, author, cartography, cartographer, mountain man and explorer of the Rocky Mountains, the Western Unit ...
mistook the American and Sacramento Rivers for the St. Bonaventura in his 1827 venture into the region, and named the Sacramento Valley the "Valley of the Bonadventure" before trekking southwards along the
Stanislaus River The Stanislaus River is a tributary of the San Joaquin River in north-central California in the United States. The main stem of the river is long, and measured to its furthest headwaters it is about long. Originating as three forks in the h ...
.


Mexican Territory: Sutter's Colony – 1839 to 1848

John Augustus Sutter arrived in the city of Yerba Buena, which would become the city of San Francisco, after encountering a massive storm en route from the city of Sitka, Russian Alaska; he was later redirected by Mexican officials to the colonial capital of Monterey, where he appealed to governor Juan Bautista Alvarado of
Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...
his ambitions to establish an "empire of civilization" on "new land". Alvarado noted that he needed to establish a presence in the Sacramento Valley, and realized that Sutter's ambitions allowed him an opportunity to secure the valley without committing extra troops to the region. As a result, he granted Sutter's requestSeverson, p. 30 on the condition that Sutter would become a Mexican citizen. Sutter commenced to build a fort of his namesake, Sutter's Fort, in 1840; the fort became his base of operations. New Helvetia was roughly in size until he negotiated an 1841 deal with the Russians to purchase Ft. Ross, which lay in present-day
Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...
, and consolidated all of Ft. Ross' holdings with those at Fort Sutter.Severson, p. 34 Sutter's New Helvetia existed within Mexican borders, sporting a large degree of
autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...
; John Sutter ruled over New Helvetia with absolute power, and named himself general over a privately developed
army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
composed of Native Americans. John Sutter employed both white people and Native Americans for many mundane and military tasks regarding New Helvetia. After New Helvetia grew to encompass Fort Ross, Sutter's military presence in the region began to garner suspicion from the government of Mexican Alta California; Sutter, who often bragged of his military strength, aggravated the Mexican government with his claims of power. As New Helvetia continued to develop economically, Sutter constructed a ranch at the Nisenan village of Hok and named it " Hock Farm", designating it his official retreat. New Helvetia was considered a stable colony by 1844, and was the only foreigner-friendly locale in Alta California at the time. Among other foreigners, the
Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California interim government, 1846-1850, California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent ...
had designated Sutter's Fort their destination during an overland journey that placed them across the Sierra mountains in the wintertime. Sutter's empire began to disintegrate when he decided to back the unpopular Alta Californian governor
Manuel Micheltorena Joseph Manuel María Joaquin Micheltorena y Llano (8 June 1804 – 7 September 1853) was a brigadier general and adjutant-general of the Mexican Army, List_of_governors_of_California_before_1850#Mexican_governors_of_California_(1837–47), gover ...
, who was soon overthrown by Alvarado and José Castro in an 1841
coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
. Sutter was jailed as a result, but not before Micheltorena issued the Sobrante Grant, which added of land to New Helvetian territory. In 1845, Castro arrived at Sutter's Fort and offered a deal to purchase New Helvetia; Sutter declined, although he later expressed regret for not accepting Castro's terms. In 1846, the
Bear Flag Revolt The California Republic, or Bear Flag Republic, was an List of historical unrecognized states#Americas, unrecognized breakaway state from Second Federal Republic of Mexico, Mexico, that existed from June 14, 1846 to July 9, 1846. It milita ...
was initiated by Americans in Sonoma who were frightened by growing Mexican hostility towards foreign presences in the region; taking the city by surprise, general Mariano Vallejo was captured at his headquarters in the city, and the irregular force demanded use of Sutter's prison facilities to host captured Mexican officials. Agreeing reluctantly, Sutter raised the Bear Flag over his fortification. However, he treated the Vallejos, whom he considered friends, as guests and not as prisoners. While the "Bear Flaggers" under William B. Ide and John C. Frémont continued to wage war against the Mexican government, Sutter attempted to resume a state of normalcy in New Helvetia, although the lack of manpower as a result of the revolt left productivity lagging. The United States initiated the
Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...
in 1846 against Mexico in the wake of the U.S.
annexation Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held t ...
of the
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, whose independence Mexico had not recognized. California, along with Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming, were annexed by the United States in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Thus, Sutter's New Helvetia fell under U.S. control. Continuing business as normal, John Sutter dispatched associate James W. Marshall, who was to construct a
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
in the foothills of the Sierra at the city of Coloma, in 1847. In January 1848, Marshall detected a flake of gold on the ground at the site of Sutter's new mill, and after conducting tests, determined the mineral's authenticity. Word leaked about the discovery nearly immediately. When news reached San Francisco, a rush of hopeful prospectors began to move northwards to the Sacramento Valley, and by the middle of the year, so-called "
Argonauts The Argonauts ( ; ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', named after it ...
" flooded Sutter's holdings in search of gold. The arrival of Argonauts in the region decimated the economical integrity of Sutter's New Helvetia, as the prospectors slaughtered his herds of livestock, drove out local Native Americans loyal to Sutter, and divided New Helvetia amongst each other without Sutter's consent. Disappointed with what had become of his holdings, Sutter placed his son as head of fort business operations and retired to Hock Farm.


Foundation – 1848 to 1850

The real city of Sacramento was developed around a wharf, called the Embarcadero, on the confluence of the
American River The American River is a List of rivers of California, river in California that runs from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range to its confluence with the Sacramento River in downtown Sacramento. Via the Sacramento River, it ...
and Sacramento River that Sutter had developed prior to his retirement in 1849 as a result of the gold discoveries which began at
Sutter's Mill Sutter's Mill was a water-powered sawmill on the bank of the South Fork American River in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California. It was named after its owner John Sutter. A worker constructing the mill, James W. Marshall, found go ...
at Coloma.Severson, p. 51 John Sutter, Sr. had replaced himself with his son, John Sutter, Jr., who noticed growth of trade at the Embarcadero and considered it a viable economic opportunity; the port was used increasingly as a point of debarkation for prospecting Argonauts heading eastwards. Sutter, Jr. had military officials William H. Warner and his assistant,
William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a General officer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), earning recognit ...
, survey his father's holdings for a location where he could establish a new city and create the city over a grid of numbered and lettered streets for organizational purposes. A number of businessmen, including millionaire-to-be Samuel Brannan, future California governor Peter Burnett, and George McDougall, brother of future California governor John McDougall, were attracted to the waterfront location. However, Sutter, Jr. and George McDougall disagreed over the terms of the lease of the location, and a trade war erupted between Sutter's Sacramento City and McDougall's new base of operations at Sutterville. Sutter, Sr., who had opposed many of his son's decisions, resumed control of his business affairs after Sutter, Jr. ended the competition between the two cities; trade in the area was biased toward Sacramento City as a result of Sutter, Jr.'s efforts.Severson, p. 52 Unlike other settlements of its time and type, Sacramento City did not have gambling houses and saloons until the summer of 1849; the city was free of those businesses for the first few months of its existence. Churches also appeared early on when the Methodist Episcopalian pastor W. Grove Deal established the first church with regular services in May 1849.
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
reverend Augustine Anderson arrived in 1850 and constructed a church in 1854, while
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
founded a
synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...
called Congregation B'Nai Israel in 1852. In 1849, Edward C. Kemble moved north from San Francisco and established the city's first newspaper, ''The Placer Times''. Kemble's newspaper disassembled three months later when Kemble was stricken with sickness. The first Sacramento theatrical stage, located in the Eagle Theatre (Sacramento, California), was founded in October 1849. Sacramento City did not have a formal government during early and mid-1849, and gambling institutions in the region sought to keep only the loose
alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...
government. However, many city residents were swayed in favor of the gambling houses; by the fall of that year, the entire legal structure of Sacramento City was established by a large 296-vote margin on a second proposal. The government of California had only just reorganized itself into
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
units; days after the overhaul, the
California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...
verified that Sacramento was officially recognized by means of
charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...
in February 1850. Sacramento City later petitioned the Legislature to drop the "City" from the settlement's name, which was also granted. Sacramento City was serviced by organized public transportation via the rivers and upheld regular street maintenance by 1850; the settlement had reached a "home-and-garden" stage in development by the same time.


Early development – 1850 to 1860

In January 1850, a major flood devastated the city. Rain from heavy storms had saturated the grounds upon which Sacramento was built, and the American and Sacramento rivers crested simultaneously. The economic impact was significant because merchandise stationed at the Embarcadero was not secured and washed away in the flood. Sacramento rallied behind Hardin Bigelow, who led efforts to implement emergency measures to protect the city from another disaster of that nature. Responsibility for construction of protective levees and dams won him support, and he was elected first mayor of the city. A second major flood in March 1850 was averted by Bigelow's efforts.Severson, p. 73 In April of the same year, the city experienced its first major fire. A second fire in November destroyed a number of commercial establishments in the city. In response to growing fear of a potential catastrophe, citizen volunteers founded California's first
fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially Conflagration, destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, Compartmentalization (fire protection), compartmentalisation, suppression and inve ...
organization, named the "Mutual Hook and Ladder Company." The city adapted by implementing iron window shutters to reduce wind draft and make fires harder to spread. October 1850 brought the arrival of the ''New World'', a riverboat that carried news of California's
admittance to the Union Admission to the Union is provided by the Admissions Clause of the United States Constitution in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1, which authorizes the United States Congress to admit new states into the Union beyond the thirteen states that ...
.Severson, p. 79 It also brought the cholera epidemic that killed between 800 and 1,000 people within three weeks including between a quarter to half of the city's physicians. Nearly eighty percent of the population fled.Flynn, p. 67 Bodies were buried in
mass graves A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may Unidentified decedent, not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of exec ...
at cemeteries across the city. Those who sought land from 1848 onwards refused to honor the New Helvetian settlement and that Sutter alone held title to so much land; additionally, they refused to recognize the titles of speculators who sold the land at exorbitant prices. The
squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...
who wished to take from Sutter's land worked to find loopholes in the law that would allow them to claim the land as public and render his, and those of the speculators that bought land from him, invalid. The push for recognition of squatter's rights in the Sacramento area led to the formation of a Law and Order Association amongst the squatters. When a squatter was judged for execution and was denied passage to a squatters' appeals court, the squatters swore that they were prepared for warfare in the case that their claims were denied judgment by higher courts. Rallying under future Kansas governor Charles L. Robinson, the squatters formed militias and prepared to attack the city; however, Hardin Bigelow averted the crisis temporarily by assuring the squatters that arrests will not be made as a result of siding with Robinson. However, violence finally broke out when Bigelow moved to stop Robinson from freeing prisoners held captive aboard the prison brig, the ''La Grange'', on August 14, 1850. Bigelow repelled the force at the cost of his health. The Sheriff, McKinney, moved to attack a retreat near the settlement of Brighton just outside city limits; McKinney and three squatters died, but the event, which came to be known as the Squatters Riot, drew to a close.Severson, p. 79 Additionally, the year afterwards, a group of 213 Sacramentans founded the extra-legal Vigilance Committee after the group of the same name and purpose in the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
;
lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...
a prisoner who was
pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...
ed by the mayor of the city, the committee dissolved soon afterwards, losing support after demanding that the mayor step down for interfering needlessly and when the mayor refused to do so. By 1852, Sutter's New Helvetia had collapsed completely, and Sutter's Fort had been abandoned. Sacramento's commerce had become reliant on coins, and the city had outgrown its unstable Gold Rush
boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...
status and established itself as a fully fledged community; The Embarcadero, which had driven the growth of Sacramento from the start, no longer solely determined if the city would survive or be abandoned. The year 1852 saw a diversification in the Sacramentan economy; pharmacies, attorney firms, brass foundries, and lingerie shops, among others, lined the streets of the city during this era. Additionally, companies were beginning to take advantage of the fish populations in the American and Sacramento Rivers, a resource that Sutter had discovered and utilized during the era of New Helvetia. The Central Valley's capacity for agriculture was also noted, and wheat surpluses that had originated in the Sacramento area were often shipped en route to foreign countries. However, the city caught afire the night of November 2, 1852; nearly 85% of the city was destroyed in the fire. Sacramentans rebuilt the city with brick, rather than the fire-hazardous wood that was the medium for buildings in that era. A second fire in 1854 destroyed twelve newly reconstructed downtown city blocks, including the city courthouse.Severson, p. 107 The American state of California's government met in Monterey in late 1849, the capital of the former Alta California, to conduct the first State Constitutional Convention; the seat of government was set in San Jose, although the government disliked the locale. Former Mexican general Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo promised a viable capital city at Vallejo in 1852. Vallejo was unable to sufficiently construct the city of Vallejo, and the government was moved to the city of Sacramento temporarily; after Vallejo failed again, he released himself from his contract to the state, and the government moved to Benicia until Sacramento made a bid for the capital that the Legislature accepted completely in 1854. The same year, the state legislature voted to make Sacramento the permanent state capital. Construction on the
California State Capitol The California State Capitol is the seat of the California state government, located in Sacramento, the state capital of California. The building houses the chambers of the California State Legislature, made up of the Assembly and the Senat ...
commenced in 1860; the structure would take fourteen years to complete. In early 1855, Colonel Charles L. Wilson and Theodore Judah started work on the Sacramento Valley Railroad; the railroad was the first to be chartered west of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
and was done so by Colonel Wilson three years prior. A money panic caused by an unfavorable winter forced Wilson to retire from the project, and he was replaced by Joseph Libbey Folsom; Folsom died in July and was replaced by C. K. Garrison. As ongoing difficulties for the project continued to hinder operations, the length of the railroad was limited to the city of Granite City (later renamed for Folsom), twenty-two miles away.Severson, p. 171 After Judah completed the track for the Sacramento Valley Railroad in 1856, he petitioned the U.S. government for a transcontinental railroad. However, tensions over slavery between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in the east took precedence over Judah's proposition.


The Civil War era to the twentieth century – 1861 to 1900

The
California Republican Party The California Republican Party (CAGOP) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in the U.S. state of California. The party is based in Sacramento and is led by chair Corrin Rankin. As of October 2023, Republicans represent app ...
was founded in Sacramento on April 18, 1856, when the first mass meeting aggregated in the city. When the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
started, the city was strongly pro-Union, although the opposing side, the
Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...
, had active supporters within the city. The city of Sacramento's population was alarmed at the possibility of an invasion by forces that were stationed in Confederate Texas when the Union presence stationed within the city was drawn eastwards for battle. As a result, volunteers organized into military defense forces in case an invasion ever would take place. As a means of communication meant to replace the inefficient letter delivery via ocean around South America's
Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...
, the Pony Express was brought to Sacramento in 1860. This was the first cross-continent means of communication and tied California to the states in the east across the Great Plains. However, the Pony Express only lasted eighteen months and was rendered obsolete upon the arrival of the First Transcontinental Telegraph.Severson, p. 182-183 By 1861, Sacramento was linked to the telegraph lines on the other side of the continent. December 1861 and January 1862 brought about devastating floods that placed the future of the city in doubt. In order to resolve the situation, the city residents agreed that additional levee construction was necessary. However, the city was divided between camps that supported a relatively small grading of a few feet to raise the city just above the rivers' cresting levels and those that supported a substantial grading to accommodate basements in city businesses. In the upcoming election of 1863, the level at which the city should be raised became a primary factor; a candidate that supported high-level grading won, and high-level grading renovation proceeded. Earth was removed from a dangerous bend nearby the confluence of the two rivers and used to raise city blocks in 1868; the city's sidewalks, until construction was finally finished, were uneven because neighbors of raised city blocks often remained at the pre-construction level. After the filled regions beneath buildings had settled, new streets had to be paved. While planking had been used in the past, newly raised streets chose either the smooth (though undurable) Nicolson pavement or the easily dirtied (though durable)
cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on Cobble (geology), cobble-sized stones, and is used for Road surface, pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Sett (paving), Setts, also called ''Belgian blocks'', are often referred to as " ...
pavement. Grading and paving processes were fully completed by 1873, leaving the first floors of many buildings at the time as basements and leaving second floors as new main floors. Today, this system of 19th-century basements is known as the Sacramento Underground. While the grading of the city commenced, Theodore Judah, who continued to request government grants in an attempt to build a transcontinental railroad, did not receive the reception he wished; instead, he worked with Daniel Strong and generated the Central Pacific Railroad plan. However, the Sacramento Valley Railroad ejected him from its administration, suspicious of his actions. For matters of funding, Judah met with thirty Sacramento businessmen and discussed the possibility of this railroad. Among those businessmen were '' the Big Four'': Mark Hopkins, Jr.,
Charles Crocker Charles Crocker (September 16, 1822 – August 14, 1888) was an American railroad executive who was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and took ...
, Collis P. Huntington, and
Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician from Watervliet, New York. He served as the eighth governor of Calif ...
. Together, the four formed the Central Pacific Railroad of California in 1861. The
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
began, and president
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
approved the railroad without the Southern forces that would've normally opposed the operation; ground was broken in downtown Sacramento on January 8, 1863. By 1865, the burgeoning company absorbed the Sacramento Valley Railroad, and the original Western Pacific Railroad was purchased in 1867, which was incorporated to connect Sacramento to Stockton. The California Pacific Railroad Company in 1868 initiated a "war" with the Central Pacific Railroad over control of Sacramento, involving legal and extralegal action. As a result of the endeavors taken between the two railroad companies, the Yolo-Sacramento Bridge was created, the first bridge across the Sacramento river. The "war" ended when the California Pacific Railroad was absorbed into the Central Pacific Railroad Company. The dominance of railroad companies prevailed in Sacramento during this part of its history; mayor William Land, who served in 1898–99, was considered a pawn of the railroad companies, and Southern Pacific Railroad Company executive William Herrin often dodged attempts at reform and bent public policy to better serve his railroad. With the advent of the
railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
and the introduction of
refrigeration Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature).IIR International Dictionary of ...
, wheat prices dropped, and fruit became a significant cash crop. As a result, in 1883 onwards until the start of the 20th century, grain ranches that had previously profited from wheat began to bankrupt and close; the original owners of the ranches soon died off, and the heirs deeded land to those who were seeking it; this era brought about a land boom, and the new fruit ranchers in the region made arable hundreds of thousands of acres through irrigation. However, the passage of the
Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was a United States Code, United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law made exceptions for travelers an ...
in 1882 noticeably dampered the economic growth of Sacramento's agriculture. Despite the anti-Asian sentiment, all types of foreigners were drawn to the city starting in the 1890s, ranging from Europeans that had immigrated from Italy, Portugal, and
Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
to Japanese,
Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
n, Punjabi, and Filipino arrivals.Avella, p. 77-78 Many of these immigrants aligned themselves with the local Democratic Party.Avella, p. 78 Although schoolhouses had existed in Sacramento County since 1853, Sacramento High School, the city's first secondary education institution, was founded in 1856 and instructed students in courses ranging from core English and mathematics to astronomy and bookkeeping. The high school was moved to a permanent location in 1887 as Sacramento's population started to skyrocket, and the high school administration opened twelve elementary feeder schools across the city of Sacramento. Starting in 1894, in tandem with the early civil rights movement, individual schools in the city began to integrate.


World War I and the Prohibition – 1901 to 1930

The
automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
was introduced to the city in 1900 through a local street fair; in 1903, the first car dealership opened, and the year after, twenty-seven Sacramentans owned cars. The number of automobile owners increased exponentially from that point. The advent of the automobile obsoleted careers involving horseback and overland wagon travel and decreased the importance of the
steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
and railroad industries.Avella, p. 89 A series of Progressive Sacramentan politicians rose to key positions in the city government, implementing various methods of reform. Mayor George H. Clark, Land's successor, worked to end illicit gambling activity in the city's poolhalls; he also passed a referendum that reformed the Sacramentan charter government, equalizing the political power of each of the city's wards so as to avoid dominance in wards that hosted a rapidly growing working class population. 1907 saw a breakage in the
monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...
that the Southern Pacific Railroad held over Sacramento when the second Western Pacific Railroad requested permission to construct yards in the city's vicinity, while women's rights activist L.G. Waterhouse, who headed the Sacramento Women's Suffrage Association, worked toward women's suffrage. Sacramentan women were granted the right to vote in 1911, nearly nine years prior to the passage of the nineteenth amendment that enforced this suffrage nationwide. At the same time, the Rancho Del Paso and Rancho San Juan Mexican land grants that encompassed much of the northern parts of the county were sold to the public; people who invested in county development would construct the settlement of Citrus Heights on the land designated as the grant; plans for communities like Orangevale, Carmichael, and Fair Oaks were set into motion to complement the city's reputation as a fruit production powerhouse.Avella, p. 81 The city began to expand exponentially after the Sacramento government convinced the residents of East Sacramento and Oak Park to approve annexation. The three cities were officially joined in September 1911.Avella, p. 80 The first automobile-friendly settlement to be founded was North Sacramento, which was bisected by Del Paso Boulevard. Nearly 4,000 troops destined for battle in Europe's
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
had come from Sacramento and other cities within the county; of those 4,000, about 100 died. The coming of the war also sparked hysteria amongst the population, biasing them against Germans and concepts associated with Germany. Sacramento's
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
churches began to preach in languages other than German. Additionally, a Council of Defense searched for and punished signs of disloyalty to the American cause.Avella, p. 82 City tensions increased with the bombing of the governor's mansion in 1917, and suspects affiliated with the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...
militant party were detained and jailed, although never convicted.Avella, p. 84 When the war ended in 1918, the city celebrated the return of the 363rd Infantry regiment of the 91st Division and the visit of president
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
, who arrived to advocate his
League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...
proposal in 1919 in the face of staunch opposition headed by Governor Johnson and ''
Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...
'' editor Charles Kenny McClatchy.Avella, p. 84 The coming of the 1917 American intervention in World War I exponentially increased demand for Curtiss JN-4 biplanes. A contract with the government led to the opening of
Mather Air Force Base Mather Air Force Base (Mather AFB) was a United States Air Force Base, which was closed in 1993 pursuant to a post-Cold War BRAC decision. It was located east of Sacramento, on the south side of U.S. Route 50 in Sacramento County, Californ ...
in the county, and Sacramento grew to rely on the biplanes for continued economic growth up until the end of the war. Surplus military equipment, including the biplanes, were put to use by the Sacramentan populace. In 1929, farmers in the Sacramento area experimented with crop seeding via aerial means; notably, Chinese revolutionary Sun Yatsen, with assistance from Delta farmer Jack Chew, purchased ten surplus aircraft and held sessions for maneuver practice from a local alfalfa field with local Chinese pilots. A growing civilian fascination with aviation in the era was fed by the numerous air shows that were held around the Sacramento area. In 1920, Sacramento adopted a new charter government that dictated the creation of nine positions on a new Sacramento City Council along with a paid city manager position, which would be held by Illinois journalist Clyde Seavey after the initial rechartering of the government in 1911 that formed five elected nonpartisan commissioner positions failed to effectively serve the city. These actions restricted the power of the mayor and broke the working class' grip over city politics. Seavey pushed strongly for reform, rendering businesses related to clairvoyance nonviable and closing or refusing to license local saloons and poolrooms; Seavey consolidated civic departments to lower the city's budget and reinstated the chain gang punishment to deter crime. In 1903 the Sacramento Solons a
minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
team began to play. The Solons played intermittently in Sacramento between 1903 and 1976, with a continuous stretch between 1918 and 1960. After the end of the Sacramento Solons franchise in 1976, Sacramento went without a minor league baseball team until 2000 when the Sacramento River Cats began playing at Raley Field in West Sacramento. The eighteenth Constitutional amendment initiated the
Prohibition Era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...
in the United States at the end of World War I. As Northern Californian vineyards were major producers of American wines, the significant loss in business forced many, including Sacramento's two largest vineyards, to close; the city was not sympathetic to either prohibition or the temperance movement, although elements of the temperance movement were noticeable in the Sacramento area. In addition, the river front city border with Yolo County, known as the West End, devolved into a slum that was filled, notably, with speakeasies, bordellos, and buildings used for gambling. The slum was regarded one of the worst west of those in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. As an exchange for locating Mather AFB near Sacramento, a member of the
United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, als ...
demanded that the city deal with the West End's problems.Avella, p. 85 The events that followed World War I decreased the popularity for the reformist Progressive movement in the city; hundreds of Sacramentans joined the conservative local chapter
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
. Sacramento's Klansman eyed Catholics, those of more liberal mindsets, and new immigrants with suspicion. However, they worked to portray themselves as anti-racist; notably, the Sacramento Ku Klux Klan helped to paint a local
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
church during this time period.Avella, p. 86 Reformers like Seavey worked to dismantle the Ku Klux Klan chapter in Sacramento, although when branded as a " red", Seavey resigned from his position as city manager.Avella, p. 87 Sacramento grew interconnected with nearby cities like San Francisco, Chico, and Stockton as the automobile continued to grow in popularity; the first bus route in the city opened in between Sacramento and Folsom in 1910, prior to World War I, and, three years prior, the passage of a bond issue made possible the pavement of roads interconnecting settlements in Sacramento County. Wisconsin and Illinois native Arthur Serviss Dudley, who was elected as the executive secretary of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, set the city to host the Days of '49 festival in 1922 as a means to convince the city to unite in efforts for urban improvement.Avella, p. 88 A 1915 proposal to filtrate the impure Sacramento
tap water Tap water (also known as running water, piped water or municipal water) is water supplied through a Tap (valve), tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used f ...
passed, and president
Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...
ceremoniously activated the purification system from Washington, D.C. in 1923.Avella, p. 94 The same year, Sacramento voters approved the creation of SMUD, or the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, a publicly owned utility company which competed with the privately owned
Pacific Gas and Electric The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered at Kaiser Center, in Oakland, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 million households in the norther ...
and Great Western Utility companies. Sacramento City College was founded in 1916 as the oldest institute of
higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
in Sacramento, initially meeting in the upper rooms of Sacramento High School until a bond issue allowed them to construct a new facility when the Sacramento High School moved to a new high school in 1924. The campus was moved to its present location on Freeport Boulevard two years later, alongside a grant that permitted the Sacramento City Unified School District to construct six elementary schools in 1921.Avella, p. 92


World War II and the Great Depression – 1931 to 1945

The
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
struck Sacramento alongside the rest of the United States in 1929, driving approximately 15,000 Sacramentans into unemployment by 1932. The local canning industry was affected first as demand for canned goods dropped drastically, laying off workers; a freeze later destroyed half of the Sacramento area's citrus trees in December 1932. Hoovervilles, or large shantytowns created without official authority by homeless people, began appearing across the city.Avella, p. 98 The city of Sacramento in itself did not have to deal with transient vagrants since that was handled by the county government. However, since both entities relied on
charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...
to supply their relief programs, most of the Sacramento area's government-funded programs were discontinued after local charitable organizations began to collapse. When the relief cash flow was stopped, the county's unemployed united to form an Unemployed Council in attempts to pressure the Sacramentan government to increase relief money. The city and county did not comply sufficiently, and large parties of unemployed stormed the Sacramento welfare offices in early and mid-1933. Many of the unemployed who were involved in such activities were labeled as communist or
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
and jailed on a wide range of charges stemming from the communist scare that had set upon the city.Avella, p. 101 A drastic loss in tax money contributed to Sacramento's application to President
Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...
's
Reconstruction Finance Corporation The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States federal government that served as a lender of last resort to US banks and businesses. Established in ...
; while this stemmed some economic growth, Sacramento was largely uninvolved with programs in Washington, D.C. until
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
's election to the presidency in 1932.
New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...
programs impacted Sacramento's economy greatly; the State Employment Relief Administration and
Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was ...
approved loans for construction and employment in the city.Avella, p. 102 Initially, long-distance travel was accomplished by train and steamship travel while automobiles composed much local traffic. To accommodate railroad and
automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
traffic westwards from the city's downtown across the Sacramento River, the
Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...
was erected in 1935; the completion of the bridge facilitated travel between Sacramento and West Sacramento.Hendricks (''Old Sacramento and Downtown''), p. 57 The bridge, which was funded by the
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
, was one of a number of WPA-funded projects, which included of highway, 46 public buildings, and new runways at local airports. An additional economic boost was provided in the construction of
McClellan Air Force Base McClellan Air Force Base (1935–2001) is a former United States Air Force base in California, located in the North Highlands, California, North Highlands area of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County, northeast of Sacramento, Califo ...
, which began in 1936 and was completed in 1939, and the reopening of the previously closed Mather AFB in 1936.Avella, p. 104 Additionally, the Sacramento Army Depot was opened in 1942 and later became a major communications equipment repair station under the control of the
Signal Corps A signal corps is a military branch, responsible for military communications (''signals''). Many countries maintain a signal corps, which is typically subordinate to a country's army. Military communication usually consists of radio, telephone, ...
by 1945.Avella, p. 105
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
, a deep-water military port nearby
Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
, was subject to a surprise attack on the morning of December 7, 1941; McClellan AFB was active by 2 pm that day, and hundreds of
B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in t ...
s and Curtiss P-40s were being readied for battle, destined for assignment in
Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
. Meanwhile, the city government formulated emergency plans; mayor Thomas Monk increased security around public buildings and kept careful watch over the
levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...
s on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The city's first mandated blackout day was on December 8, although the blackouts over Sacramento were not organized or coordinated well until an ordinance issued by Sacramento County established a system to inform its residents accurately when blackouts would start and end.Avella, p. 106 Rationing and conservation of resources impacted the Sacramentan economy significantly; the federal government confiscated 85% of retail profits for war.Avella, p. 107
Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a President of the United States, United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. "This order authorized the fo ...
was implemented in February 1942, which stated that "any and all persons may be excluded" from "military zones," which were stated to be the western region of Pacific Coast states and in Arizona. A crackdown followed the issue of the order almost immediately; Japanese businessmen and workers were arrested, Japanese-owned businesses were liquidated, and Japanese-owned financial assets were frozen. Japanese American internment, Internment processes followed suit one month later when Sacramento was placed into a military zone as dictated by Order 9066.Avella, p. 108


1946 to present

Sacramento's preeminent university, California State University, Sacramento (alias ''Sac State''), was founded in 1947. In 1966, Sacramento was the endpoint of a civil rights march of the United Farm Workers (UFW) led by Cesar Chavez. In the 1990s Joe Serna, Sacramento's first Hispanic mayor, named a park in Downtown Sacramento after Chávez. The Sacramento Kings National Basketball Association, NBA basketball franchise moved to Sacramento in 1985, and are currently Sacramento's only major professional sports team, though the city is home 2 professional minor league franchises, Sacramento Republic FC and the Sacramento River Cats. A new arena for the Kings, Golden 1 Center, was built in time for the opening of the 2016-2017 NBA season, and it appears to be fostering in a new era of growth in Sacramento. Sacramento Republic FC is expected to secure a MLS expansion bid, and build a privately owned stadium in the railyards area. Despite recent economic woes, Sacramento is still growing very rapidly, and new homes continue to be built in the city as well as in rapidly expanding suburbs such as Natomas, Sacramento, California, Natomas, Elk Grove, California, Elk Grove, Folsom, California, Folsom, Roseville, California, Roseville, Citrus Heights, Rocklin, California, Rocklin, Lincoln, California, Lincoln, and Rancho Cordova, California, Rancho Cordova. One plan for the city's future suggests building a massive park in Downtown Sacramento called Gold Rush Park which would rival in size the largest municipal parks in the nation. On April 3, 2022, 2022 Sacramento shooting, a mass shooting occurred in downtown Sacramento. Six people were killed, and twelve others were injured. The alleged gunmen remain in custody awaiting trial.


See also

* History of California * Timeline of Sacramento, California *Old Sacramento Chinatown * Bibliography of California history


Referenced works

*Kevin Starr, Starr, Kevin, California: A History. Modern Library, 2005. * * * *


References


External links


Discovery Museum's List of Famous People in Sacramento History
*
Sacramento History Online
*

*

*
Sacramento, California Usenet FAQs
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Sacramento, California History of Sacramento, California, Histories of cities in California, Sacramento