Sacramento History Museum

A good spot to catch up with on your knowledge of Sacramento and its history. Friendly lady manning the reception with a welcoming smile and a kind disposition. Knowledgeable and friendly.

Well, I think my expectations set the bar too high, therefore the tour was a bit of a let down. The guide made up for a lot due to his sparkling personality and depth of knowledge. However, the tunnel section was only 100 feet or less and the few rooms they showed us, although authentic of course, lacked a sound of some historical sort and probably could have used a bit more light.

They have new exhibits fairly frequently so you can see something new virtually every time you go. The current one is Inked (tattooed) women in California's history.

It’s a good museum very insightful, especially if you want to learn about the gold rush. However the older lady made me and my grandfather feel unwelcome at the end of our stay. As she asked if she could help me (in a somewhat aggressive and rude tone) I told her no, then she proceeded to ask us if we paid for our tickets? I told here yes In which we did, we were there for 45 minutes beforehand. I don’t think she liked how we looked if you catch my drift. There was no good reason for that interaction. This could be because she changed shifts with the younger man, but If she would have kept her mouth shut and didn’t yap I would give 5 stars. Good exhibits though, although you have more space to add more. Needs more information about Mexican Sacramento, they seem to focus on the Anglo settling of Sacramento when Sacramento’s history extends beyond Anglo-American emigration.

Enjoyable tour of underground Sacramento and the exhibit of the Tattoed women was great!

A nice modern little museum for the Sacramento waterfront. Even if you are not a big museum fan, it's nice to also have all-day access to clean restrooms as you explore the waterfront.

This is not a huge museum as the others around the US but they do have the great Underground Tour which provides visitors quite many interesting informations about local historic events. The staffs and the tour guide gentleman are amazing.

Wonderful museum with lots of fascinating Sac history - especially social history. Wonderful food history timeline. Welcoming staff. The museum is located in Sac Old Town. The cobblestone area outside in Old Town is a little difficult with walkers. The museum is very accessible - has an elevator and accessible bathroom. Special underground tour available (we didn't take) - which looks really interesting. Recommend the museum and spending some time in Old Town.

Nice museum with revolving new exhibits. Check their website for the latest exhibit. The only caveat is no food or drinks are allowed. So if you just got a coffee at the coffee shop down the street you can't go inside till you are finished. If you have a NARM membership you can go in for free with membership. We have a NARM membership and visit often.

This is a quaint little museum that you could probably finish in a couple of hours. There are some very interesting exhibits on the Native population that first inhabited the area, along with gold rush exhibits and some history of famous Sacramento residents. There is a printing press exhibit downstairs and a little gift shop with old toys and other merchandise. There is no cover charge and they've got different monthly exhibits. Highly recommend giving it a shot.

Came here specifically for the underground tour which included admission to the museum. Otherwise it is $10. It is also where you start the tour right inside the lobby. Its Very small. It took us an hour and that is with reading almost every single thing. For that reason, not recommended for young children that can't read yet. They would be bored. Some of the interactive features were broken... there is a map that you put your finger on that will narrate what it was about. One worked, one did not. I liked seeing the old artifacts of days of old. The staff was very nice. There was a tattoo exhibit at the end that I didn't really care for. It looks like they feature a limited time display in this spot to keep things different but I didn't feel this was very historical in the way they displayed it to belong here. I like supporting museums and preserving history. Everybody should come once but it is a one and done type place for me unless they change it out every few year. Oh and they say no pictures so that is why I didn't post any.

Stopped by on April 2, 2024 for their Tattooed and Tenacious exhibit and loved it. The whole museum was a delight but their stars was this show. Being a heavily tattooed woman I love seeing the history of the profession and celebrate woman who wear their art proudly.

Interesting history of the Sacramento area. Located in Old Sacramento close to the Railroad Museum. I'd never been there - probably because I'd never really noticed it. However, I'm glad. I found it and glad I visited it.

Today I went here because I was in Old Sac. I was greeted by a really nice lady working at the front desk. The ticket prices are cheap with adult being $12, youth being $6 and children being free. It was fun to walk around the museum and explore the history of Sacramento. Definitely recommend coming here.

Museum was great, we did the underground tour and was given free entry to the museum. The museum was very well kept and clean especially given the pandemic. It was not as large as others we have been too, it was 2 stories but bigger than expected when walking in. It had a lot of great information, artifacts, memorabilia and photos of how Sacramento came to be. Being of immigrant descent myself, it was nice to really read the stories of the different families that were settled in and history of some. Definitely a lot of good information, we are not from Sacramento and in fact 6 hours away so it was nice to visit the city as well as get to know how it came to be.

Great docent, very informational, very much as in the era. But 1/2 the tour was outside above ground , generally not a problem but it was 102° today. Wish they had told us as it says "underground tour". We would have come on a cooler day. You wont need a light jacket either. The museum itself was nice and had people talking about stuff.

When we stepped out of the California State Railroad Museum on Saturday, we saw a sign for this museum and decided to check it out, since we had never been. There is still a lot of history we need to explore, but for the sake of time, we still saw a fair amount and enjoyed it! We went with my toddler's grandma on Free Musuem Day and I really appreciated all the activities they had for children. My toddler panned for gold outside, weighed fruit, did chalk and colored on one their coloring sheets! I would definitely recommend paying a visit to this museum to learn more about the history behind the city! The original building was built in the year 1854 and was the city's first municipal structure! Free Museum Day was the start of Sacramento Museum Week which is going on until February 9th with regular admission prices, $10 for adults, $5 for youth and kids 5 and under are free. Great prices if you ask me, I'll definitely plan a return visit to explore the history of our great city!

This is a wonderful place to spend a few hours in Old Sacramento. Even though I have lived in the area for most of my life, I learned a lot about Sacramento from various kinds of exhibits-artifacts, text, displays, and even one to smell and try to identify various scents. We were able to watch and ask questions of a docent who worked an old newspaper printing press from the Sacramento Bee. There's plenty of variety and hands-on exhibits that made the museum interesting to both adults and children. We also took the walking underground tour which I highly recommend. It was fascinating to learn how the buildings and roads were raised to avoid flooding in the 1860's. We even got to try our hand at working the jacks that were used. I really appreciated how the tour was run- we all got headsets so it was easy to hear the period-costumed docent, which is not always the case. She kept us moving along and told a great historical story to keep us engaged. There was so much to look at -you are not just walking through a basement and viewing brick walls! Highly recommend this museum, both for visitors and also area residents who want to learn more about Sacramento and California.

This museum is a hidden gem. Great facts about Sacramento History, but the TOURS are what make this museum amazing! Underground Tours, Paranormal Tours, After Hours, Gold Fever!.... there's something to entertain and educate everyone! Be sure to go to the museums website to find out about Ghost Tours in October!

I have lived here for 30 years, but never had gone to this museum. I took my sister here, and added on the Underground Tour. The museum was a wealth of information, presented very nicely. But the icing on the cake was the Docent-led Underground Tour. It is a totally fascinating. Well worth the extra time and money to add this on.

really nice chill atmosphere and a lot of interesting stuff! the underground tour is also a must, very fun. if you're in the old sac area definitely don't miss out on stopping in. also heard there may be a new exhibit soon? excited to see!!

This museum was okay. It looks like it's three stories but the second floor is guarded off. They had a lot of cool early 1900s stuff such as toys and other memorabilia for display. The gold rush area was neat, with a cool rocky tunnel. We didn't spend much time here. Less than an hour. It's worth checking out but I probably wouldn't visit it multiple times.

It was great, it was clean and cold good for summer. It was better then the train museum. I loved how it was so nice. The underground tour was so fun and humied but nice.

Really enjoyed the History Museum and would highly recommend it. Highlights were the Green Book Exhibit and the Japanese internment exhibit. Both exhibits were informative, educational, and brought to life with videos, pictures, and artifacts. Staff were very helpful and enthusiastic about the museum exhibits. Floy from Rocklin

The museum exceeded our expectation! Printer Jared was an absolute fount of knowledge on the history of printing, various printers and fonts! They have a page from the first Gutenberg bible on display! what?! The museum is small but surprisingly brimming with important historical objects. Will definitely visit again. check out their insta: sachistorymuseum

A wonderful place to visit to learn the rich history of the city! The underground walking tour was great (not fully underground though) and I definitely learned a lot! Inside has a lot of cool displays and is very clean!

I came here just to see what it's like and I wasn't disappointed. If you decide to visit, I recommend purchasing the underground tour ($15/person), which entitles you to visit the museum for just $4. The highlight of the visit was definitely the underground tour where a guide, playing one of the historical people that helped build Sacramento, took us 'underground.' Why underground? Sacramento's streets and building were raised to prevent them from being flooded should the American and Sacramento Rivers overflow the levees. Along the way, the guide will tell you about his character. After the tour, you can walk around the museum to look at the many exhibits. I recommend this.

The walking tours are so great and include admission to the museum. I had a lot of fun browsing through the documents and exhibits. I learned a lot about my home town and could have didn't another hour continuing the journey, easily. Would highly recommend if you're from Sacramento, enthusiastic about history, or just wanna check out some cool, musty, semi-ancient archaeological sites. I will be revisiting

**This review only covers the museum and not the tours** Adult ticket: $8 (a little too high) Time spent in museum: 1 hour. It was short. This museum shows some of the history of California and Old Sacramento. It is a nice building and very clean. I learned a few things about Old Sacramento and some history. I thought the old style of photos were interesting. This museum is a jack of all trades master of none type of museum. Next door is just trains and it's a five star museum in my mind because it is focused on one topic and goes in depth with it. This museum covers just a little bit of everything, but doesn't get too deep into the history. The tours that they offer may address some of my criticisms and the groups with the tour guides appeared to be enjoying themselves. A nice stop while visiting Old Sacramento or after you visit the train museum. ***RECOMMEND** Researching some towns in foothills and taking a drive to their museums if this museum has you interested in Gold Rush history. (Columbia, Angels Camp, Mariposa, Knights Ferry, San Andreas, etc)

I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Sacramento History Museum. On a beautiful sunny Museum Day, the museum was packed. The museum is right between the Railroad Museum and the river in Old Sacramento. The overall concept of the museum is to document the history of the City of Sacramento, one of the oldest cities in California. It is hard to remember that Sacramento was once the most important city in California. The combination of gold mining, transcontinental railroads, and agricultural bounty shaped the region and the state far before being eclipsed by Los Angeles and San Jose. This museum takes you on a short, but storied past of the city. The interior of the museum is packed with artifacts from the early and middle history of the city. A decent portion of the museum deals with the history of Old Sacramento itself. The city turned the "slums" of the west side into a tourist destination with or without the help of locals. The current version was shaped by this history - good and bad - and serves as an immediate reminder or development, including the new Golden 1 Center. The museum loves to incorporate living history aspects into their activities with docents and volunteers acting out historical eras. The museum is popular with kids since they can meander through the crazy stairs and escalator and enjoy the gold panning and sarsaparilla. Stop on by and enjoy why Old Sacramento is Old Sacramento.

The purpose of the Sacramento History Museum is to provide displays that help tell the story of Sacramento. I think that it does provide a good overview of the history and diversity of Sacramento, but as I wandered the galleries, I didn't find the displays that compelling. Admittedly, I had already been to the Crocker Museum and the Leland Stanford House. And within Old Town Sacramento itself, I had visited the Old Sacramento Schoolhouse Museum and California State Railroad Museum. Maybe I had hit my saturation point. Since they are both California State museums, I think that the Sacramento History Museum and California State Railroad Museum should work together, and see if they can come up with a combination ticket, providing a slight discount if someone wants to see both attractions. Right now they are each standalone attractions, with their own admission fee. And if you are interested in the history of Sacramento, I would recommend that you go to the museum's website and consider the going on the "Underground" walking tour. (Look within the "Tours" tab of www.sachistorymuseum.org.) I have been on that tour before, and found it be good.

WE signed up for the Old Sacramento Underground tour. It was by far the worst tour we have ever been on. The guide pretended she was French, speaking to people in French as if we understood her, making you feel like a fool for not understanding her. Very little time was spent in the actual underground, with more emphasis on the river, the fires and diseases. She had a very limited understanding of Sacramento in relation to the area. Insisted all the lumber to build came from San Francisco, the bricks for building from San Francisco. No clue that Sutter even had a mill. For 22.00 you would be better off going to the library.

Enjoyable history lesson of Frontier-era Sacramento! SITREP The Gold Rush of 1849! Sutter! River boat traffic on the Sacramento River! All these things are more are part of the very extensive history lesson you will learn at the Sacramento History Museum. SETUP Nestled nicely in the dusty streets of Old Sacramento, this chestnut of a museum in an old historic building provides a great backdrop for the local history that unfolds. This is a great stop because it is not too time-consuming and can actually be taken in with a mild afternoon of sight-seeing after Fat City or La Terreza. But please don't come here expecting the Louve, the Guggenheim or even Sacramento's own Crocker. This is just a cute little hole in the wall fact-sharing museum of Old Sacramento and some of the history of California. So you snobs please get over yourselves. THE LOWDOWN A great way to unwind during the day, especially on the weekend, to take in the pride of our local history.

The Sacramento History Museum, formerly the Discovery Museum Gold Rush HIstory Center (and no longer associated with the Discovery Museum Science & Space Center), is the place to explore the rich and diverse history of the Sacramento region. They offer fall historical tours every Saturday until the beginning of November. In July 2009, they installed a permanent exhibit, " Gold, Greed & Speculation: The Beginnings of Sacramento City" which focuses on Sacramento City's first 50 years. it has one of kind artifacts and an interactive wall mural. Very recently, they welcomed a traveling exhibit, "Past Tents: The Way We Camped", it explores camping in California from post-Gold Rush times to the mid-1900s. This museum is great starting point for your visit to Old Sacramento and to discover the stories of the individuals that shaped the destiny of the city.

Nice small history museum for local Sacramento history. I would say this wouldn't be real interesting for kids. Would have been nice if they told you more on what current old town buildings were when originally built, more info on gold rush and more info/where to find other historical locations in the area.

This review is strictly for the old Sacramento Underground Tour. Two thumbs up for the staff inside the museum and especially our guide, Staci! She was very entertaining and a great story teller. The tour itself has left me a little disappointed and I was soooo looking forward to it. You will be wearing headphones and a green hard hat throughout the whole tour. The tour was interesting but I expected to spend way more time underground and was surprised that it did not allocate more time to be spent underground. I felt really dorky with the hat too! I can understand the need for the hat when you are underground but why would you need to wear it while walking through Old Sac? Total time spent underground - 15 minutes; total time spent wearing a green hat unnecessarily - 45 minutes! They should really call it the Old Sacramento Aboveground tour!

This was my 7th museum and last one w/ normally a fee involved. It was also part of the Annual Sacramento Museum Day. It's only up the road from the Calif. Railroad Museum so it was Packed. I was too tired to fight the crowds so I didn't get to see too much. Saw a little bit of some gold pieces in a glass case, stuff on Manzanaar, cool windmill. I'll have to check it out again when it's less crowded. Fee is $5.

Excellent history museum. I'm not into history and usually find such museums boring. However, this one really did a great job of presenting artifacts in an interesting manner. It helped that we were there as a group so we received a special tour of the printing press and also of the underground city. Both tours were really informative and interesting. The underground tour is not to be missed. Highly recommend that one. Only wish we had explored the actual museum a bit more. The tours took up all of the time and we didn't explore the rest of the museum.

Tour guide and the history was cool to learn but the underground portion of the tour is literally 2 basements ‍

Come here every year on museum day. Never had a bad experience. Always had a good time looking at what they have.

This is my favorite museum in Sacramento, and since i was a museum studies major, that is saying a lot. exhibits here were always interesting and unique, containing a visual feast for the eyes as well as enough contextual information to satisfy everyone. The material they cover in this museum is much broader than in other local museums, which is a welcome change. Also, since most of the local museums are operated by CA state parks, this one is independent from the politics tied in with serving as a form of state government. the science center, which used to be at a different location *and my still be, but its been a long time* was always a charming visit, including their planetarium. They considered this location as more of a children's museum, and therefore would always have many interactive exhibits where children could do anything from dress up like butterflies to pretend to go camping to viewing a "zoo" including small animals and insects. This museum is a great stop, particularly for families, and is a terrific asset to the Sacramento community.

This is a great little museum. $1 off $5 admission when you check in via yelp! It is a fairly small museum but it is really well organized and packs a lot of punch. It isn't so large you wont see everything in one visit. I like the size because it encourages you to read more and appreciate what is there, rather than running around trying to just glance at everything. There are also a lot of interactive elements which is fun for the kids. Overall, I really enjoyed the historical nature of the museum, it added a lot of legitimacy to the touristy nature of Old Sac.

Still a great museum, used to be one of the Discovery museums, but now it's called Sacramento History Museum I guess. Fun place! My kids have enjoyed it every time.

It should be more appropriately named the Sacramento Gold Rush Museum. As a museum covering the Gold Rush, the exhibits are great and museum is well laid out. The coverage of that time is extensive, but I wish it covered more of the total history of the city. What was life like for Mexican Americans in the area? How about how the city became the State Capitol? Why not include biographies of noted locals like William Land or Eleanor McClatchy? How did Sacramento become such a rich agricultural hub? What about the Sacramento's connection to Dr. Sun Yat Sen and the Chinese revolution that overthrew the Ching Dynasty?

This was by far, one of the best museums I've visited in a long time. Not only was the museum full of awesome pictures and artifacts , but you come out of the museum learning and appreciating the beauty of California and how it came to be. The building is clean, and it has that 1800ish feeling to it, so you feel like you are "traveling back in time" during the gold rush. This is a must see if you are ever in the neighborhood.

Great little museum in Old Sacramento. Only $5 to see it and it's a great way to spend a few hours learning about the Sacramento area. Good for everyone and they have exhibits for the kids. There's no parking out front so plan to park at the metered parking in Old Sac or in the garage. You'll have to walk a couple blocks but it's level and easy to get to.

The Sacramento History Museum is a small but really well laid out museum located in Old Sacramento right next to the river. The size is rather unsurprising as Sacramento itself is not known either for size or uniqueness of character. What was surprising though was how the interior was designed. A lot of work has been put into incorporating the actual building into the exhibits. From the rock walls in the mining section to the canning equipment suspended from the ceiling in the agriculture section it's obvious that a lot of effort has been put into making the exhibits all encompassing. For me this made the experience more enjoyable than a lot of museums, though I would think it would also be harder to have temporary exhibits, which I don't think I saw any of during this visit.

Ready to go on the Old Sacramento Underground Tour! You get half price off admission to the museum after AND check on YELP app to get $1.00 off that half price admission! The underground tour was informative and lead by a docent who each person could hear, even if you were at the back of the group of 20 because everyone had headphones that were comfortable and a transmitter that hung from a lariat around your neck. I came away from the tour with a deeper appreciation for Sacramento's history. Visiting the Saramento History Museum after the tour reinforced and added to the information received from the tour.

My husband and I participated in a Ghost Tour of Old Sacramento organized by the Sacramento History Museum this past Saturday and we had a blast. The tour leader and all of the other actors who we met in their period costumes entertained us for over an hour with ghostly tales from the gold rush days. We also got to learn a lot about the founding of Sacramento, and some of the colorful characters who inhabited the town. All and all, it was a great way to spend our Pre-Halloween date night in the City.

This museum is really nicely done, and very educational. We went on "Free Museum Day" and it was packed, and great to see so many people interested in the museum. Clean, well lit, wonderfully creative displays, and it was just great. There's a new addition for the museum which isn't listed anywhere on Yelp, and I want to mention it. It's called "Escape Old Sacramento" and is an Escape Room as a fundraiser for the museum. WE LOVED IT! Just did this on the 31st of March, with 6 other people, and it was our first experience in one of these rooms. The volunteer docents were exceptional, and the only suggestion I would have is that when you do it, and it's your first time, go with a group of friends. I felt kinda pushed out of the solving of puzzles by 2 young ladies who had done the experience before. But the idea was a great challenge and just loads of fun! I hope they do it again, because it only goes until April 15th.

This is a museum dedicated to various influences in Sacramento history. Located in old Sacramento between the river and the railroad museum. Admission is reasonable priced and tour could be done quick. An old newspaper print. Old wagons. Dressed up employees. Farming equipment are just a few things. There are other items and interactive items like native plants and touch feel smell exhibit. Staff are ultra friendly and attentive. Plenty of exhibits to keep one mentally stimulated. Good for a quick short trip. Bad this museum wasn't for me. I would come back with kids.

Fascinating little museum that illuminated local history. Good collection of displayed artifacts and photos. The day I went there was gold panning at the entrance, a working printing press, and volunteers dressed in vintage clothing. The volunteers were very nice and highly knowledge. This museum made me appreciate Sacramento's history. When you arrive at the museum, take the escalator to the top floor. Then walk down the stairs after the last section. If you go up the stairs first, you'll view the exhibits backwards. The museum is in between the train museum and the river. The road, I St, ends shortly before the museum. I parked a couple of blocks away (luckily I remembered coins for the meter); then walked on the rocky path.

This is a cute little museum, full of local history.

A very nice museum. My family and I enjoyed our visit very much. Informative exhibits and a well designed floor plan. My favorite display was a well curated canning exhibit. The kids loved the print shop.

Bad experience, RECTIFIED We had a pretty bad experience with the front desk. An unfortunate incident that never should have happened nor been handled in that way. After speaking with manager, we are confident that this situation will never happen again or will at least be handled much differently. We are looking forward to visiting the museum again soon.

Lived in sacramento most of my 43 years of life and never been to the Sacramento History Museum . What a treat it was to finally visit. I was led by and amazing docent nickname tiger , I didn't know what a docent was before my visit, but it's a person who acts as a guide, typically on a voluntary basis, in a museum, art gallery, or zoo. I also learned the new Sawyer hotel next to the Golden one arena was named after Judge Lorenzo Sawyer who put a stop to hydraulic mining for gold. The discovery of gold played a very important part of Sacramento as well as the rail road which you can learn a lot at the museum! There's old pics that show what Sacramento used to look like which i found very interesting! Theres a place up stairs to sit which over looks the river and I street bridge, it was beautiful i could of sat up there for hours gazing at the beauty sacramento has to offer. I watched old videos about Sacramento , one even had Ronald Regan in it, I found the videos very fascinating . I learned a lot today with my visit, I definitely recommend going.

Great place to see about the history of Sacramento one of the exhibits that was the most interesting is the Sacramento Bee corner