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 The Crocker Art Museum brings the world's best art and exhibits to Sacramento. The magnificent Victorian building at 216 O Street has been a landmark since Edwin B. Crocker and his wife, Margaret, moved into the home and began a series of redesigns. The original galleries were intended to exhibit more than 700 works of art collected during a family European tour. Today, both the building and its exhibitions awe visitors. The Museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 9 p.m. on Thursdays.
Golden State Museum tells California history in both traditional and state of the art multimedia exhibits. Drawing upon the California State Archives, documents and artifacts are added. Divided into galleries, the museum details the story of people, place, promise and politics. The tour culminates in the courtyard where visitors see a six-story Constitution Wall called "Rights." The words on the wall were selected from the State Constitution, each for its enduring meaning to the human experience. The museum is at 1020 O Street. An outstanding collection of military aircraft is on display at the McClellen Air Force Base Aviation Museum. Thirty-two aircraft including the F-4c Phantom II, the F-86 Sabre, F-101, F-102, F-104B, H-21C Workhorse are displayed. The museum offers guided tours, lectures, history programs, and research library and gift shop. The museum is at 3204 Palm Avenue on McClellen Air Force Base in North Highlands. The McClellen AFB/Aviation Museum offramp on Interstate 80 is clearly marked. Hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday noon to 3 p.m. Automobile history is on display at the Towe Auto Museum, 2200 Front Street, just south of Old Sacramento. Midwest banker Edward Towe had a passion for the automobile and by the mid-1980s he had collected 240 cars, mostly Fords. Today, the museum presents eight divisions of automotive history. The "Dream of Mobility" is a collection of letter-named Fords preceding the Model T. The "Dream of Luxury" is represented by Rolls-Royce, Pierce-Arrow and Hispano Suiza. "Dream of Cool" shows off chopped Mercury and Deuce coupes. "Dream of Speed" displays Lotus and Cobra, motorcycles and dirt track winners. Also on display are the classic Model Ts, Model As 1932 Roadsters and the 1966 Shelby GT350. Museum is open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
History, science, space and technology are the focus of Discovery Museum of Sacramento. A brick replica of Sacramento's 1854 City Hall houses history exhibits. Walk down a mine shaft to the Gold Gallery for a glimpse of the Gold Rush era. "G" scale locomotives, the history of the Pony Express and Imagination play stations are featured at the History Center, 101 "I" Street, Old Sacramento. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The Science and Space Center, 3615 Auburn Blvd., Sacramento, features history, earth and space exploration, including a planetarium, archaeology dig site, and Challenger Learning Center. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. The California Military Museum tells the story of conflict from the settlement of the state to the Persian Gulf War. California's role in the Civil War, the Spanish American War, the San Francisco Earthquake, both world wars, Korea and Vietnam are featured. Swords and other edged weapons, uniforms, military equipment, including small arms, and a wealth of military history are displayed at the museum, 1116 Second Street, Old Sacramento. All military services are represented in the more than 30,000 items. Opened in 1991 by Gov. Pete Wilson, the museum also serves as a research center. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
The Stanford House, built in 1857, remains a work in progress. Restoration is ongoing and visitors currently may only view the exterior architecture of the former governor's home. Merchant Shelton Fogus built the home, and Central Pacific Railroad co-founder and president, Leland Stanford, acquired it in 1861, just prior to his inauguration as California's eighth governor. Stanford expanded the two-story house to four stories and 19,000 square feet. In 1900 Jane Lathrop Stanford presented the home to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento to create the Stanford-Lathrop Memorial Home for Friendless Children. In the late 1980s the home was sold to the State. Restoration started in 1998, supported by a foundation and many volunteers. California's agricultural production leads the nation, producing $29 billion worth of crops each year. In nearby Woodland the Heidrick Ag History Center presents the world's largest collection of antique agricultural and commercial trucking equipment. The Fred C. Heidrick antique ag collection and the Hays antique truck museum requires 130,000 square feet of space, and offer interactive, one-of-a-kind exhibits. Woodland is a short drive north of Sacramento on Interstate 5. Exit County Road 102 and proceed across the roadway on to Hays Lane. The museum is on the left, two-tenths of a mile from the offramp. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Sunday hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
California's State Indian Museum offers visitors insight into the culture of the 150 distinct tribal groups of Native Americans residing in the state at the time Europeans began exploring the region. The museum artifacts include baskets, clothing, beadwork, tools and traditions. An outdoor display features various structures used by Native Americans. A tool display allows visitors to use items such as a mortar and pestle and pump drill used to make holes in beads. The museum is located on the grounds of Sutter's Fort State Historic Park at 26th and K Streets in downtown Sacramento. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Street parking requires quarters. |
Historic offices of the Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State and Treasurer form the centerpiece of the State Capitol Museum. Public tours, on the hour, are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. The museum contains painting and sculptures dating from the mid-1850s. Arthur Frank Matthews "The History of California" 12 murals decorates the rotunda. The Capitol building has housed the state legislature since 1869 and underwent extensive retrofitting after the 1971 Sylmar earthquake. Exhibits show how the building was strengthened and explain how state government and the legislature function.
Railroad history was made in early Sacramento and today one of the finest collections of railroad locomotives and rolling stock is housed in Old Sacramento at the California State Railroad Museum, 111 "I" Street. Less than 30 full-sized stream engines were built prior to 1880, and five of those, including the Central Pacific Railroad locomotive No. 1, the "Gov. Stanford", are displayed here. Internal combustion engines, mining engines, compressed air locomotives and electric locomotives are rotated in and out of the display as are sleeping cars, diners, refrigerator cars, even a fire truck on rails. The Sacramento Southern uses cars from the 1920s to take passengers on a short run alongside the Sacramento River.
Henry Wells and William O. Fargo founded Wells Fargo in 1852 in New York, and opened offices in San Francisco and Sacramento four months later. The Wells Fargo stage coach rolled across the plains and mountains from Nebraska to the California gold fields from 1866 to 1869, and the company that once bought gold now banks on the Internet. Wells Fargo has two museums in Sacramento, one inside the B. F. Hastings Building takes visitors into a Wells Fargo Agent's office. There is a safe for gold, a cubbyhole desk and the furnishings of the time. A block down Capitol Mall is the Wells Fargo Center where an original Concord Coach, historic maps, and the Living Sacramento Postal History Collection is on display.
John Augustus Sutter arrived in California in 1839 and that same year constructed Sutter's Fort to protect his 48,000-acre "New Helvetia" land grant from the Mexican government. Sutter's dream of a vast agricultural enterprise left his mark throughout the Sacramento Valley, but his need for lumber was his undoing. Gold was found at his mill. His workers rushed to make their fortunes, abandoning Sutter and his dream. Only the fort's two-story central building remained by 1860, but plans survived and the outer walls and rooms were reconstructed after the state acquired the property in 1890. Ironically, once the gold ran out, the miners turned to agriculture and Sutter's dream became reality. Exhibits and tours are available daily. Street parking is metered.
Thirteen California Governors called the Victorian executive mansion at 16th and H Streets home. The first was Gov. George Pardee. The last was Gov. Ronald Reagan. Built in 1877 for Albert Gallatin, a partner in the Sacramento hardware store Huntington & Hopkins. The mansion has more than 30 rooms, 14-foot ceilings, Persian carpets, Italian and marble fireplaces. Decorations include many personal items left by the Governors and their families, including Gov. Pardee's Steinway piano and the official state china selected by Mrs. Goodwin Knight. The mansion is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets and gift shop are in the carriage house.