Encyclopedia
Sacramento is the state capital of
California and the county seat of
Sacramento County. Located in California's
Central Valley, it is the seventh largest city in California. The city proper is home to about 450,000 residents, and is the core of its five-county metropolitan area of 2.5 million people. The Sacramento metro area is the fourth most populous in California, behind the Los Angeles-
Orange County area, the
San Francisco Bay Area, and the
San Diego area.
Sacramento was founded in December 1848 by
John Sutter. Sacramento grew from
Sutter's Fort, which was established by Sutter in 1839. During the
gold rush, Sacramento was a major distribution point, a commercial and
agricultural center, and a terminus for wagon trains,
stagecoaches,
riverboats, the
telegraph, the
Pony Express and the
First Transcontinental Railroad.
Typical of California informality, Sacramento is referred to by many names. The most prevalent are:
Capital City,
River City , and the
City of Trees. However, the nickname most used by those living in the area is simply
Sacto, Sactown or
Sac. This is evident when residents refer to areas and landmarks by this name.
Old Sac is the original town of Sacramento which to this day is maintained.
The Big Tomato,
Sacratomato, and
Sack O' Tomatoes continue to be used despite the ongoing triumph of tract houses over tomato fields, perhaps in reference to the perceived pastorality of Sacramento in comparison to denser cities such as
San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Sac State , is the local university and is one of twenty-three campuses in the
California State University system.
History
The lost frontier
Main Article: History of Sacramento, CaliforniaValley Miwok, Shonommey and Maidu Indians lived in this area for perhaps thousands of years. Unlike the settlers that would eventually make Sacramento their home, these Indians left little evidence of their existence. Their diet was dominated by
acorns taken from the plentiful
oak trees in the region, and by fruits, bulbs, seeds, and roots gathered throughout the year.
In either 1806 or 1808, the Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga discovered and named the Sacramento Valley and the Sacramento River after the
Spanish term for 'sacrament', specifically, after "the Most Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ," referring to the
Roman Catholic sacrament of the
Eucharist.
From pioneers to gold fever
The pioneer
John Sutter arrived from Liestal,
Switzerland in the Sacramento area with other settlers in August 1839 and established the trading colony and stockade
Sutter's Fort in 1840. In 1848, when gold was discovered by
James W. Marshall at
Sutter's Mill in Coloma , a large number of gold-seekers came to the area, increasing the population. John Sutter, Jr. then planned the City of Sacramento, against the wishes of his father, naming the city after the
Sacramento River for commercial reasons. He hired topographical engineer William H. Warner to draft the official layout of the city, which included 26 lettered and 31 numbered streets . However, a bitterness grew between the elder Sutter and his son as Sacramento became an overnight commercial success .
The part of Sacramento originally laid out by William Warner is situated just east and south of where the American River meets the
Sacramento River . A number of directly adjacent towns, cities or unincorporated county suburbs, such as
Carmichael,
Citrus Heights,
Elk Grove,
Folsom, Roseville, and
West Sacramento, extend the greater Sacramento area.
The citizens of Sacramento adopted a city charter in 1849, which was recognized by the state legislature in 1850. Sacramento is the second oldest incorporated city in California after San Francisco, incorporated February 27, 1850. During the early 1850s the Sacramento valley was devastated by floods, fires and cholera epidemics. Despite this, because of its position just downstream from the Mother Lode in the Sierra Nevada, the newly founded city grew, quickly reaching a population of 10,000.
Capital city
The
California State Legislature named Sacramento as the permanent home of the state capital in 1854 by law, but the city did not physically hold that honor until January 1 1855. Previously, the capital was located in
Monterey,
San Jose,
Vallejo, and Benicia successively.
Begun in 1860 to be reminiscent of the
United States Capitol in
Washington, DC, the
Renaissance Revival style
California State Capitol was completed in 1874. The legislative chambers were first occupied in 1869 while construction continued.
With its new status and strategic location, Sacramento quickly prospered and became the western end of the
Pony Express, and later the
First Transcontinental Railroad .
The same rivers that earlier brought death and destruction began to provide increasing levels of transportation and commerce. Both the American and especially Sacramento rivers would be key elements in the economic success of the city. In fact, Sacramento effectively controlled commerce on these rivers, and public works projects were funded though taxes levied on goods unloaded from boats and loaded onto rail cars in the historic Sacramento Rail Yards.
Sacramentans raised the level of the city by landfill. The previous first floors of buildings became the
basements, in an effort to control the
flooding. Now both rivers are used extensively for recreation. The American River is a 5 mile-per-hour waterway for all power boats and has become an international attraction for
rafters and kayakers. The Sacramento River sees many boaters, who can make day trips to nearby sloughs or continue along the Delta to the
Bay Area and
San Francisco. The
Delta King, a
paddlewheel steamboat which for a long time lay on the bottom of the river, was refurbished and is now a hotel and restaurant.
The modern era
The Sacramento-Yolo Port District was created in 1947, and ground was broken on the Port of Sacramento in 1949. On June 29 1963, with 5,000 spectators waiting to welcome her, the Motor Vessel
Taipei Victory arrived. The port was open for business. The Nationalist Chinese flag ship, freshly painted for the historic event, was loaded with 5,000 tons of bagged rice for Mitsui Trading Co. bound for
Okinawa and 1,000 tons of logs for
Japan. She was the first ocean-going vessel in Sacramento since the steamship
Harpoon in 1934.
The Port of Sacramento has been plagued with operating losses in recent years and faces bankruptcy. As of 2006, the city of
West Sacramento will take full responsibility for the Port of Sacramento. This severe loss in business is due to the heavy competition from the wealthy, healthy, Port of Stockton, which has a larger facility and a deeper channel.
The city's current charter was adopted by voters in 1920, establishing a city council-and-manager form of government, still used today. As a charter city, Sacramento is exempt from many laws and regulations passed by the
state legislature.
The city of North Sacramento incorporated in 1924, and merged into the city of Sacramento in 1964.
Sacramento City and County are served by a customer-owned electric utility, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Sacramento voters approved the creation of SMUD in 1923. In April, 1946, after 12 years of litigation, a judge ordered
Pacific Gas & Electric to transfer title of Sacramento's electric distribution system to SMUD. SMUD today is the sixth-largest public electric utility in the U.S., and has a worldwide reputation for innovative programs and services, including the development of clean fuel resources, such as
solar power.
Despite a devolution of state government in recent years, the state of California remains by far Sacramento's largest employer. The City of Sacramento expends considerable effort to keep state agencies from moving outside the city limits. In addition, many federal agencies have offices in Sacramento.
In the early 1990s, Mayor Joe Serna attempted to lure the
Los Angeles Raiders football team to Sacramento, selling $50 million in bonds as earnest money. When the deal fell through, the bond proceeds were used to construct several large projects, including expanding the Convention Center and refurbishing of the Memorial Auditorium. Serna renamed a city park for controversial farm labor organizer
Cesar Chavez. Through his effort, Sacramento became the first major city in the country to have a paid municipal holiday honoring Chavez.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Mayor Heather Fargo made several abortive attempts to provide taxpayer financing of a new sports arena for the Maloof brothers, owners of the
Sacramento Kings NBA basketball franchise. As of 2006, a sales tax hike to finance this will be voted on in the November ballot.
Mayor Fargo's tenure also saw the passing of a resolution for immediate unilateral withdrawal from the war in
Iraq, and a resolution condemning the
Patriot Act.
Sacramento has been involved in lengthy litigation as the defendant in lawsuits by disabled activists demanding that all City facilities, especially sidewalks, be made wheelchair accessible. Costs are estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars for these improvements; work is now proceeding on such improvements throughout the city.
In 2003, the City Council required City contractors to pay a "living wage" to all employees.
Recently, the City Council considered adopting a resolution that would regulate the operations of hospitals in the City. Of the proposed resolution, the Chamber of Commerce said it "vigorously opposed the resolution. A municipal resolution seeking to regulate hospital operations is not only redundant vis-a-vis existing federal and state law, it will likely introduce inconsistent standards to be created, applied and interpreted by persons having no particular knowledge or expertise in health care operations."
A proposal for a large city park called Gold Rush Park, that would be large enough to rival great parks in other cities, is being advocated by the Gold Rush Park Foundation.
The 1980s and 1990s saw the closure of several local military bases: McClellan Air Force Base, Mather Air Force Base, and Sacramento Army Depot. As a result, the U.S. armed forces have little military presence in the city except for recruiting offices.
In 1967, Governor
Ronald Reagan became the last
Governor of California to live permanently in the city. A new executive mansion, constructed by private funds in a Sacramento suburb for Reagan, remained vacant for nearly forty years and was recently sold by the state. The
California Supreme Court normally sits in
San Francisco.
In spite of major military base closures and the decline of agricultural food processing, Sacramento continued to experience massive population growth in the 1990s and early 2000s. Primary sources of population growth are people migrating from the
San Francisco Bay Area seeking lower housing costs, as well as immigration from
Asia,
Central America,
Mexico,
Ukraine and the rest of the former
Soviet Union. From 1990 to 2000, the population grew 14.7%. The
Census Bureau estimates that in four years , the population of
Sacramento County increased from 1,223,499 to 1,352,445.
Geography and climate
Geography
- Elevation: 25 feet .
- Latitude: 38° 31' N. – Longitude: 121° 30' W.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 257.0 km² . 251.6 km² of it is land and 5.4 km² of it is water; 2.1% of the area is water. The population in
2000 was 407,018; the 1980 population was 275,741. The city's current estimated population is around 454,330.
The city is located at the confluence of the
Sacramento River and the American River, and has a deepwater port connected to the
San Francisco Bay by a channel through
Suisun Bay and the
Sacramento River Delta. It is the
shipping and
rail center for the Sacramento Valley,
fruit,
vegetables,
rice,
wheat,
dairy goods and
beef. Food processing is among the major industries in the area.
Much of the land to the west of the city is a flood control basin. As a result, the greater metropolitan area sprawls only four miles west of downtown but 30 miles northeast and east, into the Sierra Nevada
foothills, and 10 miles to the south into valley farmland.
Climate
Sacramento has a
Mediterranean climate that is characterized by mild winters and dry summers. The area usually has low humidity. Rain generally falls only between November and March, with the rainy season tapering off almost completely by the end of April. The average temperature throughout the year is 61 °F , with the daily average ranging from 46 °F in December and January to 76 °F in July. Average daily high temperatures range from 53 °F in December and January to 93 °F in July . Daily low temperatures range from 38 to 58 °F . The average year has 73 days with a high over 90 °F , with the highest temperature on record being 115 °F on July 25, 2006, and 18 days when the low drops below 32 °F , with the coldest day on record being December 11, 1932, at 17 °F .
Average yearly precipitation is 17.4" , with almost no rain during the summer months, to an average rainfall of 3.7" in January. It rains, on average, 58 days of the year. In February of 1992, Sacramento had 16 consecutive days of rain . A record 7.24" of rain fell on April 20, 1880.
On average, 96 days in the year have fog, mostly in the morning , primarily in December and January. The fog can get extremely dense, lowering visibility to less than 100 feet and making driving conditions hazardous. The fog typically tapers off just a couple miles East of Downtown, where you can find bright and sunny mornings in Roseville & Rocklin , while it is still gloomy and fogged over in Sacramento, Elk Grove & Davis.
The record snowfall was recorded on January 4, 1888, at 9 cm . Snowfall is rare in Sacramento , with a dusting of snow every eight to ten years. Forty miles east of Sacramento, in the foothills, snow accumulation is an annual occurrence. Further east, the
Lake Tahoe recreation area is home to a number of world famous ski areas which have accumulation greater than 90" nearly every year during the peak season. Spots in the Sierra Nevada mountains east of Sacramento annually receive the most snowfall of any spot in the lower 48 states, and the mountain range's immense snowpack is a vital source of water for the entire state of California.
Neighborhoods
Alkali Flat, Boulevard Park, Campus Commons,
Sacramento State University, Dos Rios Triangle, Downtown, East Sacramento, Mansion Flats, Marshall School, Midtown, New Era Park, Newton Booth,
Old Sacramento, Poverty Ridge, Richards, Richmond Grove, River Park, Sierra Oaks, Southside Park
Airport, Freeport Manor, Golf Course Terrace, Greenhaven, Land Park, Little Pocket, Mangan Park, Meadowview, Parkway, Pocket, Sacramento City College, South Land Park, Upper Land Park, Valley Hi / North Laguna, Z'Berg Park
Alhambra Triangle, Avondale, Brentwood, Carleton Tract, Central Oak Park, College/Glen, Colonial Heights, Colonial Village, Colonial Village North, Curtis Park, Elmhurst, Fairgrounds, Florin-Fruitridge, Industrial Park, Fruitridge Manor, Glen Elder, Granite Regional Park, Hollywood Park, Lawrence Park, Med Center, North City Farms, North Oak Park, Packard Bell, South City Farms, South East, South Oak Park, Tahoe Park, Tahoe Park East, Tahoe Park South, Tallac Village, Woodbine
Natomas , Valley View Acres, Gardenland, Northgate, Woodlake, North Sacramento, Terrace Manor, Hagginwood, Del Paso Heights, Robla, McClellan Heights West, Ben Ali, and Swanston Estates.
Demographics
Sacramento
Population by year |
| 1860 | 13,785 |
| 1870 | 16,283 |
| 1880 | 21,420 |
| 1890-1920 | N/A |
| 1930 | 93,750 |
| 1940 | 105,958 |
| 1950 | 137,572 |
| 1960 | 191,667 |
| 1970 | 254,413 |
| 1980 | 275,741 |
| 1990 | 369,365 |
| 2000 | 407,018 |
| 2005 | 456,441 |
As of the
census of 2000, there are 407,018 people , 154,581 households, and 91,202 families residing in the city. The
population density is 1,617.4/km² . There are 163,957 housing units at an average density of 651.5/km² . The racial makeup of the city is 48.29%
White, 15.47%
African American, 1.30% Native American, 16.62% Asian, 0.95% Pacific Islander, 10.96% from
other races, and 6.41% from two or more races. 21.61% of the population are
Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 154,581 households out of which 30.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.4% are married couples living together, 15.4% have a female householder with no husband present, and 41.0% are non-families. 32.0% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.57 and the average family size is 3.35.
In the city the population is spread out with 27.3% under the age of 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $37,049, and the median income for a family is $42,051. Males have a median income of $35,946 versus $31,318 for females. The per capita income for the city is $18,721. 20.0% of the population and 15.3% of families are below the
poverty line. Out of the total population, 29.5% of those under the age of 18 and 9.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Factors such as mild climate, a location at the crossroads of major interstate highways and railroads, and the availability of campsites along the rivers, as well as an outlook of tolerance, attract some homeless people.
Education
Colleges and universities
Sacramento is home to
Sacramento State , founded as Sacramento State College in 1947. In 2004, enrollment was 22,555 undergraduates and 5,417 graduate students in the university's eight colleges. The university's mascot is the hornet, and the school colors are green and gold. The 300 acre campus is located along the American River Parkway a few miles east of downtown. A satellite campus of
Alliant International University also serves the city with a number of graduate programs.
Sacramento is home to an unaccredited private institution, University of Sacramento is a
Roman Catholic university run by the
Legionaries of Christ. Currently, the university offers course work in graduate programs.
The
University of California has a campus,
UC Davis, in nearby
Davis and also has a graduate center in downtown Sacramento. The UC Davis Graduate School of Management is located in downtown Sacramento on One Capital Mall. The UC Davis GSM is where working profressional MBA students, from UC Davis, complete their MBA. There are over 300 part-time MBA students enrolled in the program. The part-time program is ranked in the top-20 and is well known for its small class size, world class faculty, and involvement in the business community.
Also, the UC Davis School of Medicine is located at the Med Center in midtown.
The Los Rios Community College District consists of several two-year colleges –
American River College,
Cosumnes River College, Sacramento City College, Folsom Lake College, plus a large number of outreach centers for those colleges. Sacramento has a number of private
vocational schools as well.
McGeorge School of Law in Oak Park is the
University of the Pacific's law school.
In the PBS KVIE building, there is also an extension of
San Francisco's Golden Gate University.
Public schools
Several public school districts serve Sacramento. Sacramento City Unified School District serves most of Sacramento. Other portions are served by the Center Unified School District, Natomas Unified School District, San Juan Unified School District, Grant Joint Union High School District, Rio Linda Elementary School District, North Sacramento Elementary School District, Del Paso Elementary School District, and Robla Elementary School District. The Valley Hi/North Laguna area is served by the Elk Grove Unified School District, despite being in the city limits of Sacramento and not in Elk Grove.
Culture
The primary newspaper is
The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California [i], in the United States [i] ...
, founded in 1857 by James McClatchy. Its rival, the
Sacramento Union was a newspaper [i] founded in 1851 in Sacramento, California [i]. ...
, started publishing six years earlier in 1851. Before it closed its doors in 1994, the
Union was the oldest daily newspaper west of the
Mississippi. Writer and journalist
Mark Twain wrote for the
Union in 1866. In late 2004, a new
Sacramento Union returned with bimonthly magazines and in May 2005 began monthly publication, but does not intend to return as a daily newspaper. In 2006, The McClatchy Company purchased Knight Ridder Inc. to become the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States.
The oldest part of the town besides
Sutter's Fort is
Old Sacramento, which consists of cobbled streets and some historic buildings, some from the 1860s. Buildings have been preserved, restored or reconstructed, and the district is now a substantial tourist attraction, with rides on steam-hauled historic trains and
paddle steamers.
The "Big Four Building", built in 1852, was home to the offices of
Collis Huntington,
Mark Hopkins,
Leland Stanford, and
Charles Crocker. The
Central Pacific Railroad and
Southern Pacific Railroad were founded there. The original building was destroyed in 1963 for the construction of Interstate 5, but was re-created using original elements in 1965. It is now a
National Historic Landmark.
Sacramento is notably diverse racially, ethnically, and by household income, and has a notable lack of inter-racial disharmony. In 2002,
Time magazine and the Civil Rights Project of
Harvard University identified Sacramento as the most racially/ethnically integrated major city in America. .
Arts
The major theater venues for Sacramento include the Sacramento Convention Center which governs the Community Center Theatre, and the Memorial Auditorium. It is also the home of the Crocker Art Museum, which is the oldest public
art museum west of the
Mississippi River. The
California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento has historical exhibits and live steam locomotives that patrons may ride.
The Sacramento Ballet performs in the Community Center Theatre. The Deane Dance Center is the company's official dance school. The Russian-American Music Academy of Roseville regularly offers community productions of operas and operettas. Theater companies with professional stature include California Musical Theatre and Music Circus which bring many famous directors and performers from New York City and Hollywood to perform in their productions, the Sacramento Theatre Company, and the B Street Theatre.
Sacramento has a reputation as a center for
Dixieland jazz, because of the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee which is held every
Memorial Day weekend. Events and performances are held in multiple locations throughout the city. Each year thousands of jazz fans from all over the world visit for this one weekend. Sacramento is also home to the
Sacramento French Film Festival, a cultural event held every year in July that features U.S. premiers of French films and classic masterpieces of French cinema. In addition, Sacramento is home to the , a summer film festival celebrating the absurd, B-movies, horror, monster, exploitation.
Sports and recreation
Sacramento hosts two professional basketball teams: the
Sacramento Kings and the 2005 Champion
Sacramento Monarchs . Both teams play at
ARCO Arena. In addition, Sacramento also has a
minor league baseball team called the
Sacramento River Cats . The River Cats play at
Raley Field located in West Sacramento. In the past, the city hosted two professional football teams, the Sacramento Surge of the
WLAF and the
Sacramento Gold Miners of the CFL. At one time, it was also home to an
indoor soccer team, the Sacramento Knights of the CISL and later WISL. The
Sacramento Solons, a
Pacific Coast League professional baseball team, played in Sacramento from 1903 - 1961 .
Sacramento has frequently hosted the
NCAA Track and Field Championships.
Sacramento residents play
softball more than any city except Detroit, Michigan.
The Sacramento Mile is a national flat-track
motorcycle racing event.
The Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail, that runs between
Old Sacramento and Folsom Lake, attracts cyclists and equestrians from across the State.
The California State Fair is held in Sacramento each year at the end of the summer, ending on Labor Day. Over one million people attended this fair in 2001.
Notable residents
Notable people with ties to Sacramento include painter
Wayne Thiebaud, photographer Michael Williamson, astronaut
Stephen Robinson, U.S. Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy, and writer
Joan Didion. In addition to Huntington, Hopkins, Stanford, and Crocker, the city's more successful entrepreneurs have included Russ Solomon and Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson . Actors, singers, rap artists, bands, and other performers with ties to the city can be found under Sacramento entertainers. For sports figures with ties to Sacramento see Sacramento sports figures.
Transportation
Amtrak service
Amtrak 
