Old Sacramento is a storied historic district on the riverfront in Downtown Sacramento, famous for its well-studied Gold Rush history and well-preserved 19th-century architecture. Visiting feels like stepping into a living museum complete with authentically restored wooden sidewalks, vintage building facades, and horse-drawn carriage rides.
This part of Sacramento is also said to be one of the country’s most intensively studied 19th-century archaeological sites, as crews completed decades of large-scale excavations and salvage digs to rescue as many remains as possible before construction.
History of Old Sacramento
The Old Sacramento area was originally inhabited by the Indigenous Nisenan people, who are part of the Maidu nation. They had villages along the Sacramento River and Sacramento Valley for thousands of years until the arrival of European and American settlers, who decimated their populations.
Starting in 1848, thousands of Gold Rush settlers and fortune seekers arrived in California. Sacramento began as a riverside settlement and became a key supply and transportation hub before its incorporation as California’s first city in 1850. The First Transcontinental Railroad was constructed from Old Sacramento in the 1860s.
After repeated fires and floods, residents literally raised the city onto higher street and building foundations above flood levels, which preserved a layer of the city’s original infrastructure. Later archaeological excavations delved into this underground layer to find thousands of artifacts, and you can still see parts of the original foundations today.
Old Sacramento continued to develop as a major commercial district with hotels, saloons, theaters, and stores serving a diverse population of immigrants. The city has a long legacy of African American and Chinese communities that endures to this day.
Archaeological digs in Old Sacramento
In the 1970s, archaeological digs began in Old Sacramento to salvage Gold Rush artifacts before new construction. These included excavations at the Federal Building and the Courthouse Site, which revealed the remains of Sacramento’s Chinese district, as well as the General Downtown and State Historic Park.
Crews have uncovered numerous 19th-century artifacts, many of which are everyday items like glass and ceramic bottles, silverware, toothbrushes, dice, horseshoes, and remains of food like fish and shells. You can see many of them in the Sacramento History Museum (which, incidentally, has a huge following on TikTok and YouTube for its printing press videos).
Visiting Old Sacramento
Old Sacramento State Historic Park is a landmark district that preserves dozens of Gold Rush-era buildings along reconstructed boardwalks. The riverfront area is a go-to spot with shops, live street entertainment, museums, guided tours, restaurants, and a visitor center.
If you’re a history lover, no visit to Old Sacramento is complete without stopping by one of its illustrious museums. The Sacramento History Museum is an essential spot to visit for a glimpse at Old Sacramento’s archeological findings. You can also visit one of North America’s best railroad museums, the California State Railroad Museum, to discover meticulously-restored rail cars or take an excursion train ride.
You can reach Old Sacramento from San Francisco in about 1.5 hours by car via I-80.