Sacramento is the capital city of the state of California. The city was the center of activity during the California gold rush of the mid-19th century.

Geography

Sacramento is in the northern part of California's Central Valley, where the American and Sacramento rivers meet. The snowcapped mountains of the Sierra Nevada are to the east of the city and the Coast Ranges to the west.

Places of interest

One of the landmarks of Sacramento, the golden-domed State Capitol, lies in the heart of the city. It is in a 40-acre (16-hectare) park that contains a large variety of trees and shrubs from different parts of the world. The Old Sacramento Historic District along the river is a collection of restored buildings. These buildings date from 1849 to 1870, the period of the gold rush. The California State Railroad Museum is also in Old Sacramento. Sutter's Fort, a trading post from the city's original settlement, has been restored and is now part of a state park.

Culture and education

The California State Fair, the Dixieland Jazz Festival, and the Camellia Festival are popular annual events of Sacramento. Sacramento houses a number of educational institutions. These include a branch of the California State University, Sacramento City College, and American River College. The city also has professional ballet, opera, and theater companies as well as a professional basketball team—the Sacramento Kings.

Economy

Sacramento is a marketing and manufacturing center. A modern ship canal, completed in 1963 to San Francisco Bay, made the city a deepwater port. Sacramento is a leader in fruit and vegetable canning, freezing, and shipping in the region. It is also an agricultural center, producing dairy products, beef cattle, fruit, wheat, rice, and vegetables.

History

John Augustus Sutter, a Swiss immigrant, set up a colony on the present site of Sacramento in 1839. Two years later he built a fort to protect his land. On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall, Sutter's carpenter, discovered gold while he was building a sawmill near Coloma in the foothills east of Sacramento. His discovery drew thousands of people to the area, and Sacramento became the supply center for those gold seekers. In 1854 it became the capital of California.

In 1856 the state's first passenger railroad linked Sacramento to Folsom. Sacramento became the western end of the Pony Express in 1860 and a terminal of the Central Pacific Railroad in 1869.

As gold mining declined, Sacramento grew as a center for agricultural distribution, food processing, and state government. Population (2000 census), 407,018.