Taking off with 25 facts about our own Sacramento International Airport

1. The gleaming and modern international airport we now know first opened on October 21 1967, as the one-runway Sacramento Metropolitan Airport.

2. Before that, Sacramento travelers had to drive to San Francisco or the Bay Area for most flights or travel through the limited flights available at the small Sacramento Municipal Airport (now called Sacramento Executive Airport), which still exists in the Rancho Cordova area.

3. Faced with an encroaching population of homes and communities around the old airport in Rancho, city planners commissioned a study in the 1950s to move the airport to a less congested area. 

4. When they proposed the purchase of 6,000 acres of land and breaking ground in present-day Natomas, they were faced with criticism that the new site was too remote and that there never would be enough passengers to justify an airport there. 

5. Nevertheless, Sacramento International Airport is now located only 10 miles northwest of the city’s downtown and covers an area of 6,000 square acres.

6. Its airport code is SMF, or KSMF with the ICAO coding system.

7. When the new Sacramento Metropolitan Airport first opened at its present SMF location, it was estimated that 750,000 passengers would fly in and out of the airport in the first year. However, it quickly surpassed that number, reaching more than one million passengers in the first ear alone.

8. In 2011, SMF flew 9 million passengers with an average of 323 flights per day, but by 2016, the airport grew to accommodates upwards of 10 million passengers.

9. About half of them travel on Southwest Airlines flights.

10. SMF first became an international airport in 2002, when the carrier Mexicana started nonstop flights to Guadalajara, Mexico

11. The airport now serves three international destinations - Guadalajara, Cabo San Lucas and Mexico City with non-stop flights, although some of them are seasonal. 

12. Thanks to their new B.A.R.C. program (Boarding Area Relaxation Corps), there are about 20 therapy dogs and their handlers strolling through the airport, helping travelers cope with their stress or just putting a smile on their faces.

13. In fact, according to the SMF official website, passengers are allowed to bring their dogs into the airport “as long as they are on a leash and under the control of their owner,” although each airline has specific rules for traveling with pets and service animals.

14. SMF features two runways, one concrete and spanning 8,605 x 150 ft., and the other asphalt and measuring 8,598 x 150 ft.

15. The airport also has two terminals, A and B, with 32 boarding gates between them.

16. Due to its close proximity to an avian migratory route, Sacramento International Airport had a real problem from 1990 until 2007 as their planes kept hitting birds. 

17. Despite its challenges with bird strikes, SMF has a sterling safety record, with only three incidents on record throughout its history:

On November 25, 2015, United Airlines Flight 2005 going from SMF to Denver had to turn around after a bird struck the aircraft in flight and caused an explosion in the engine. Luckily, the plane landed safely, and no one was hurt.

That wasn't the case on August 26, 2010, when a JetBlue flight coming from Long Beach blew out four tires upon landing, causing a fire around the plane. Passengers and crew were evacuated, but 15 did sustain injuries, with five hospitalized – although none too serious.

A little more than a year later on December 27, 2011, an aircraft heading to Seattle had to abort its takeoff after it blew out two tires, causing it to make a hard landing, although no injuries were reported.

18. While the tragic events of September 11, 2001, did restrict and reshuffle many airports across the country, it didn't slow the growth of Sacramento's airport. In fact, four airlines were added to SMF's routes shortly after 2001, Frontier (2002), Mexicana (2002), Hawaiian (2002) and Aloha Airlines (2003).

19. However, the real estate crash and Great Recession from 2008 on did provide a significant blow to SMF, with many routes closed as airlines around the US scrambled to stay in business when faced with much lower demand.

20.  In 2006, our little hometown airport became one of the first in the entire US to offer free WiFi to all passengers throughout their terminals.

21. SMF was also the first airport in the US to offer all rental car carriers under one consolidated terminal, making it convenient for patrons and also increasing shuttle efficiency and reducing traffic.

22. There are big plans in the works for expanding SMF airport in the next 20 years, with nonstop flights to international tourist destinations like Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, London, and Frankfurt a possibility within the next three years or so. 

23. If you’ve traveled in or out of SMF you’ve probably noticed some unique artwork by local artists, but there are two iconic works that are most recognizable:

24. In the baggage claim area of Terminal A you’ll find two giant columns of suitcases and luggage reaching 23’ high, which is a work by artist Brian Goggin called Samson.

25. But Sacramento’s airport may be best known for its colossal red rabbit in mid jump suspended from the ceiling of Terminal B. Made of aluminum, steel, granite and bronze and painted a uniform cherry red, Leap by artist Lawrence Argent is meant to incite a whole lot of questions from passing air travelers – with few answers why he chose a rabbit! 

Sacramento’s secret underground harkens back to The Great Flood of 1862 that nearly washed the young city off the map

Many Sacramento residents have heard about the secret underground city that sits below Old Sacramento and parts of downtown, but some have even joined the tours that delve beneath the earth to explore the tunnels and rough bricked basements of yesteryear. In fact, The Sacramento History Museum conducts those Underground Tours as a way to educate visitors and preserve our rich and unique heritage.

But far less Sacramentans realize why that underground city existed at all, and that they’re the last remaining relics of a stormy season that came very close to washing Sacramento completely off the map and rewriting California history forever.

In the autumn days of the Gold Rush of 1849, Sacramento had established itself as the first major city in California and a thriving transportation and agricultural hub with its position on the Sacramento and American Rivers.

But the very existence of the city was thrust in jeopardy with the Great Storm of 1861 – which is still the largest storm in California history.

The historic storm washed out a good portion of California and the Pacific Northwest, turning the Sacramento Valley into a giant “inland sea” that spanned 250 to 300-miles long and 60 miles wide.

The aberrational weather pattern was so huge that it moved as far east as Tennessee, where it shut down troop movements during the Civil War. But Sacramento bore the brunt, and as the storm began on Christmas Eve of 1861, Sacramento newspapers declared Christmas would be canceled. The heavy rains went on for 45 days straight without break, dropping 400% more rain than usual, causing flooding of Biblical proportions that came to a head in January of 1862.

By that month, the water level had risen so high in the low-lying city of Sacramento that steamships and smaller boats literally sailed through Old Sacramento and parts of downtown, rescuing people from their homes. Old Sacramento was completely submerged and thousands of residents died in the flooding and the rampant diseases that ensued. When freshly elected Governor Leland Stanford needed to come to Sacramento for his inauguration, he took a rowboat to the steps of the Capitol.

Soon, the legislature at the Capitol chose to evacuate Sacramento and temporarily moved operations down to San Francisco, and residents started following them. Only 13-years old at the time, the City of Sacramento was in serious jeopardy of being abandoned and therefore never evolving into the major metropolitan area we know today.

But the plucky and spirited Gold Rush settlers of Sacramento at the time weren’t going to be flooded out of their city without a fight. They knew that if they didn’t do something drastic to flood-proof their city, California’s economic and political power would shift to San Francisco.

To rescue their beloved city, the common citizens came to the leaders with an ambitious three-pronged plan: they would reroute the rivers; reinforce the existing levee system that had been constructed in the 1850s; and do something unprecedented at the time – raise the city streets.

Residents even agreed to self-tax to make the plan work, but still, there were plenty of doubters and some even considered it foolhardy, including the nation’s most famous writer at the time, Mark Twain.

"The system of raising its buildings has its advantages," Mark Twain wrote. "It makes the floor shady and this is something that is great in such a warm climate. It also enables the inquiring stranger to rest his elbows on the second-story windows and look in and criticize the bedroom arrangements of all the citizens."

But the monumental feat of engineering proceeded, and Old Sacramento and some buildings in the current downtown (roughly between I and N streets bordering the Sacramento River) were raised about 9 to 10 feet. One by one, workers cut through the foundations of houses, stores, and buildings, and then used a lattice of logs and hand-cranked house jacks (and a lot of manpower) to raise the structures. The 9-foot gaps that were created between the old ground level and the new were filled with mud and sand.

Other business owners found it easier just to leave their ground level be, sealing it off and building a new ground level or another story on top of it. Facing the colossal expense and workload, other storeowners couldn’t come up with the needed resources and had to close their doors and walk away. One Chinese herbalist did nothing, and his once street-level store was soon in a basement, though he kept doing business.

In all, it took 15 years to finish the street raising, as well as reinforcing the levees. When the dust settled, Sacramento was indeed livable again, saving the city but also creating plenty of unique structures beneath the earth, sometimes called “hollow sidewalks,” including tunnels, cellars, bricked up former storefronts, and other subterranean spaces.

Sacramento was the first city on the West Coast to raise its streets, predating Seattle’s similar architectural endeavor by 30 years. It became a rich and entertaining part of its history, with plenty or rumors of ghosts and paranormal activity underground over the decades, as well as a lot of illegal booze being served down there during Prohibition.

You can still explore the history of Old Sacramento, the early city, and the underground city with information and tours from the Sacramento History Museum at 101 I Street in Old Sacramento. Contact them at 916-808-7973 or www.SacHistoryMuseum.org.

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.