50 Fun Facts About Sacramento

Sacramento sits at the confluence of the Sacramento River and which other river?

The American River is the city's main source of drinking water and the spot where gold was found at Sutter's Mill in 1848.

Which indigenous people lived in the Sacramento area before the Spanish arrived?

The Nisenan are also called the Southern Maidu; acorns from the valley's oaks made up the bulk of their diet.

Which Spanish cavalryman named the Sacramento River in 1808?

A writer with his expedition compared the river air to champagne before exclaiming that it was like the Blessed Sacrament.

The city's name ultimately refers to which Catholic sacrament?

Río del Santísimo Sacramento means 'Most Holy Sacrament River', a reference to the Body and Blood of Christ.

Which Swiss-born Mexican citizen founded the fort that Sacramento grew up around?

He arrived in August 1839 with a 50,000-acre land grant and built an adobe fort with walls 18 feet high.

What Swiss-inspired name did Sutter give his colony?

Helvetia is the Latin name for Switzerland; Sutter acted as the colony's political authority and dispenser of justice.

Sacramento, the oldest incorporated city in California, was incorporated in which year?

It happened on February 27, 1850, months before California itself became a state that September.

In what year did the California legislature permanently settle in Sacramento?

The lawmakers had bounced through three other towns before arriving, with the support of Governor John Bigler.

Before Sacramento, the legislature met in 1853 in which small town?

Benicia followed Vallejo as capital for a single year; its old capitol building still stands as a state park.

What was California's capital under Spanish and then Mexican rule?

Monterey also hosted the first Constitutional Convention in 1849, which picked San Jose as the new state's capital.

In which year was the California State Capitol building completed?

Construction began in 1860, but the legislature first occupied its chambers in 1869 while building continued around it.

Who was the architect of the California State Capitol?

Clark's San Francisco firm Clark & Kenitzer, founded in 1854, was one of the city's oldest architecture practices.

Sacramento was the western terminus of which famous mail service?

The service reached the city in 1860 and lasted only eighteen months before the transcontinental telegraph made it obsolete.

Which governor and railroad baron traveled to his 1862 inauguration in a rowboat?

The Great Flood of 1862 was the worst in the city's history and forced the legislature to sit in San Francisco for a session.

After building flood defenses in 1852, Sacramento became known by which nickname?

The first levee was breached a month after completion, and a $50,000 replacement broke as well.

The November 1852 fire that burned over 80% of the city is known as what?

Within a month, 761 structures had been rebuilt, many of them in brick.

Sacramento's long-standing nickname refers to what feature?

The 'City of Trees' was first used in 1855; ironically the site was first called the 'City of Plains' for its lack of trees.

A 2017 water tower repaint declared Sacramento America's capital of what?

After 4,000 residents petitioned, officials agreed to paint both the new slogan and 'City of Trees' on the tower.

MIT's Treepedia ranked Sacramento third greenest globally, behind Vancouver and where?

The project used Google Street View data to calculate canopy cover; Sacramento topped the 15 US cities studied.

Sacramento's climate is classified as which type?

Summers are long, hot and dry; nearly all rain falls between November and April.

What name is given to the dense winter ground fog that blankets Sacramento?

It can cut visibility to under 100 feet, and during fog events temperatures do not climb above 50 °F.

Roughly how high above sea level is Sacramento?

Its low elevation is why snow is so rare; downtown has seen only three significant accumulations since 1900, the last in 1976.

Which Sacramento gallery is the oldest public art institution west of the Mississippi?

Founded in 1885, it once held more paintings than the Metropolitan Museum of Art; a 2010 expansion tripled its space.

The 1960s restoration of Old Sacramento was modelled on which living-history site?

Buildings beyond repair were demolished, and several historic structures were moved or rebuilt in the district.

Sacramento's gold-painted Tower Bridge is what type of bridge?

Its towers are 160 feet tall and the central lift span is 209 feet long; it joined the National Register in 1982.

Tower Bridge once carried which US highway across the Sacramento River?

It replaced the 1911 M Street swing bridge and also carried US 99W, serving the western Sacramento Valley.

The Kings arrived in Sacramento in 1985 from where?

The franchise had earlier been the Rochester Royals and the Cincinnati Royals before its Missouri years.

In what year did Golden 1 Center open downtown?

The $558.2 million arena replaced ARCO Arena and anchors the Downtown Commons district on the old Downtown Plaza site.

Which tech billionaire led the group that kept the Kings in Sacramento in 2013?

Hedge fund manager Chris Hansen had planned to move the team to Seattle and revive the SuperSonics name.

The Sacramento Monarchs won the WNBA championship in which year?

The Monarchs were one of the league's eight founding teams in 1997 but folded in November 2009.

Which MLB club began playing temporarily in West Sacramento in 2025?

From 2025 they share Sutter Health Park with the Triple-A River Cats while a new stadium is built in Las Vegas.

What did Sacramento Republic FC win in its debut 2014 season?

Its first match drew a sellout 20,231 at Hughes Stadium, then a USL Pro single-game attendance record.

What is the nickname of Sacramento State's athletic teams?

The football team plays FCS ball in the Big Sky Conference at Hornet Stadium.

Who was the last California governor to live permanently in Sacramento?

He took office in 1967; later governors have commuted or lived elsewhere.

Which director set her solo debut Lady Bird in her hometown of Sacramento?

Eddie Murphy also once lived in the city's Pocket-Greenhaven area with his then-wife, a Sacramento native.

Which music retail chain was founded and based in Sacramento?

The chain grew into a global brand before closing; the city also has a rich classical and choral scene.

Which of these rock bands comes from the Sacramento area?

Papa Roach, Cake, Tesla and Dance Gavin Dance also hail from the region.

Sacramento International is California's largest commercial airport by what measure?

It covers 6,000 acres about 10 miles northwest of downtown and opened in 1967 as Sacramento Metropolitan Airport.

Which airline was the dominant carrier at Sacramento International Airport as of 2024?

As of 2024 it ran more than 104 daily flights to 25 cities from the airport, which carries the code SMF.

Sacramento's three light-rail lines are Blue, Gold and which color?

The 42.9-mile system has 54 stations; the Blue Line was extended south to Cosumnes River College.

Where in Old Sacramento can visitors ride live steam locomotives?

Its 'Sierra Scene' recreates Donner Pass around 1867 with the locomotive Gov. Stanford.

In 2010, the California State Fair in Sacramento moved to which month?

It had traditionally run at the end of summer, closing on Labor Day; more than a million people attended in 2001.

Gold was discovered in 1848 at Sutter's Mill in which town northeast of the fort?

The find was about 50 miles away, and the rush of prospectors proved a disaster for Sutter's heavily indebted empire.

The Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail runs from Old Sacramento to which lake?

It opens up a riverside parkway of more than 5,000 acres of undeveloped land popular with cyclists.

Which almond cooperative is headquartered in Sacramento?

The city's economy is still dominated by government, with more than 120,000 public sector employees.

Sacramento's historic Japantown once stood where which grand promenade is today?

The Nisei Memorial Hall at 4th and Q is the last remaining property tied to the former neighborhood.

From 1862 Sacramento fought floods by doing what to its downtown?

Old first floors became basements, and portions of the resulting 'Sacramento Underground' can still be seen.

How long is the Sacramento River, California's largest?

It rises in the Klamath Mountains and drains about 26,500 square miles across 19 counties.

Which engineer began the Sacramento Valley Railroad in 1855?

The Sacramento Valley Railroad was the first chartered west of the Mississippi River.

Who was Sacramento's first elected mayor, who died in the 1850 cholera epidemic?

The outbreak killed about 1,000 residents, including 17 of the city's 40 physicians, and up to 80% of people fled.