The New International Encyclopædia/Sacramento (capital)

SACRAMENTO. The capital of California and the county seat of Sacramento County, 90 miles northeast of San Francisco, on the Sacramento River, here spanned by a bridge, and on the Southern Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads (Map: California, C 2). The city is noted for the remarkable beauty of its environment. The most prominent feature is the State Capitol, which was erected in 1869, and cost $2,500,000. It occupies a site in the central part of the city and is surrounded by a large picturesque park. Sacramento has three libraries: the State Library of more than 113,000 volumes, the Public Library with 28,000 volumes, and the Odd Fellows' Library. The Christian Brothers' College, Howe's Academy, and Saint Joseph's Academy are the leading educational institutions. There are a fine city hall, court house, United States Government building, Crocker Art Gallery, Roman Catholic Cathedral, Marguerite Home, Protestant Orphan Asylum, the City Dispensary, and the Southern Pacific Railroad Company's hospital. An annual fair is held at Sacramento under the auspices of the State Agricultural Society, which maintains here a handsome exhibition building, and a park and racecourse.

The valley of the Sacramento, in which the city is situated, is one of the most productive sections of the State, yielding large quantities of wheat, and various fruits. Manufacturing is extensively carried on, the various establishments, in the census year of 1900, having had an invested capital of $7,369,013, and an output valued at $11,141,896. There are flouring and grist mills, foundries and machine shops, harness and saddlery factories, slaughtering and meat-packing establishments, breweries, and manufactories of carriages, furniture, soap, crackers, and lumber products. Shops of the Southern Pacific Railroad also are here. The water works are owned and operated by the municipality. Population, in 1890, 26,386; in 1900, 29,282.

In 1839 Captain John A. Sutter, having obtained from the Mexican Government a grant of a large tract of land in this vicinity, built here a fort which he called New Helvetia. This fort, which has been rebuilt and is preserved for its historic interest, was the first point in California reached by miners coming from the East in 1848. In this year a village called Sacramento was laid out. The land was originally only 15 feet above low water, and destructive floods occurred in 1850, 1852, and 1853. Subsequently levees were built and the general level of the land raised, the city now being eight feet higher than when first settled. Terrible fires occurred in 1852 and 1854, the first causing a loss of $5,000,000 and the second one of $650,000. Sacramento was incorporated as a town in 1849, became the State capital in 1854, and was chartered as a city in 1863.