Capital Trivia! 25 Fun facts about Sacramento, California.

1. Legend has it that many parts of Sacramento are actually haunted. Rumors include apparitions and paranormal happenings in the Governor's Mansion and the California State Library, among others.

2. Sacramento has a strange monument to a State Capitol regular: for 13 years, a feral cat that was nicknamed Senator Capitol Kitty, lived at the capitol. When he died, they made a grave for her and she’s also featured in the children's book, "The Adventures of Capitol Kitty: An Almost True Story."

3. Although Discovery Park in Sacramento is advertised as staying open all year round, in the winter months it actually is submerged underwater as part of the area’s flood control system.

4. It’s no surprise then that Sacramento’s current elevation is only 17 feet above sea level, even after the city was raised in the late 1800s. 

5. When the foundation of the city was raised in the late 19th century to avoid flooding, they left many abandoned tunnels, passages, and basement level structures as part of the hidden underground second city that still exists today.

6. For some odd reason, the California Supreme Court is located in San Francisco, not the state capital of Sacramento.

7. Did you know that Sacramento actually has seven orchestras? The Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sacramento Baroque Soloists, the Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra, the Sacramento Youth Symphony, the Sacramento Master Singers, the Sacramento Children’s Chorus, and the Camellia Symphony all call Sacramento home.

8. The California Railroad Museum, located in Old Sacramento, is the largest railroad museum in the entire country, with 21 fully restored locomotives.

9. Our Sacramento River is the longest in the whole state of California.

10. The Sacramento Zoo actually opened in 1927 as the William Land Park Zoo. Today, about 48,000 school children visit the Sacramento Zoo every year!

11. Of course we know that Sacramento is the capital of the State of California, but there have been four other California capitals: Monterey (1849), Pueblo de San Jose (1849-1851), Vallejo (1852 and again in ‘53), and Benicia (1853-1854). 

12. Sacramento has been the capital not once but twice, during a short stint from 1852-1853 and permanently since 1879.

13. Sacramento definitely has some scorching summers, but did you know the
official hottest temperature on record is 115 degrees, set in June of 1961?

14. Speaking of temperatures, the coldest temps on record are a frigid 18 degrees in December of 1990. That was the year everyone’s pipes froze and burst, sending homeowners scrambling to wrap their pipes every winter after.

15. Despite being half a world away, Sacramento’s climate is considered Mediterranean.

16. Sacramento processes more almond crops than place in the world. Blue Diamond, alone, harvests millions of pounds of almonds every growing season.

17. Sacramento has been home to seven professional sports teams: The Sacramento Kings (Basketball – NBA), Sacramento Monarchs (Basketball – WNBA), Sacramento Capitals (Tennis – WTT), The Rivercats (Baseball – Triple-A), Sacramento Republic FC (Soccer – PSAL), and The Sacramento Sirens (Football – IWFL).

18. The Sacramento Kings have a tenuous relationship with the area, as there have been four attempts at relocating them since the 1980s. Anaheim, Virginia Beach, Las Vegas, and Seattle have all tried to lure the Kings, unsuccessfully

19. Sacramento sure has a lot of trees. In fact, we’re second only to Paris, France, for the city with the most trees per capita in the entire world.

20. The immortal writer Mark Twain called Sacramento home for a short time, working as a special news correspondent for the Sacramento Union newspaper in 1866.

21. The largest restoration project in U.S. history (at the time) was the renovation of the Sacramento Capitol building in 1976.

22. Did you know that the Crocker Art Museum in downtown Sacramento is the longest running art museum in the entire western United States?

23. Every Memorial Day weekend, The Sacramento Jazz Festival and Jazz Jubilee have taken over Old Sac for over 40 years.

24. Sacramento was the birthplace of the Pony Express in 1860, a horseback and wagon mail delivery service that ran 1,980-miles between California and Missouri. 

25. Sacramento has enjoyed many nicknames, including the “Camellia capital of the world,” “City of Trees,” “River City,” and “the Big Tomato." But residents usually affectionately refer to it as “Sactown.”

25. There are currently about 485,199 residents in the official city of Sacramento, along with 1.9 million in the surrounding towns, cities and counties. That leaves Sacramento behind Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and even Fresno on the list of most populated cities in our state.