Another trip down memory lane in Sacramento with these historic photos.

The rise of modern photography just about coincides with the growth of Sacramento as a city and state capital of California. We have the iconic photographs to prove it. In fact, historians trace the birth of practical photography to 1837, and it grew steadily over the decades through the 19th century before exploding into the mainstream in the 1900s. Sacramento really took off as a gold rush community in the mid 1840s, and took a great step forward as a modern, functional city in the early 20th century. In part one of this blog, we took you on a trip down memory lane in Sacramento with 20 historic photos of the city.  

Here are 20 more photos our beloved Sacramento from yesteryear, spanning from the mid 1800s to the 1970s. 

Whenever possible, we told you where, when, and even why the photo was taken. 

The Crocker Art Museum in 1893. Crocker Art is still iconic in Sacramento today!

In 1972, a small plane crashed into a Sacramento residential neighborhood, tragically killing 22 people as it slammed into Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor.

This is the Sacramento Bee headline the next morning.

The Sacramento residence of Dr. WM Moore in 1900.

The Flagstone Motel on 1530 W. Capitol Avenue in the 1960s.

Front Street in Sacramento in the 1860s - one of the first photographs of Sacramento in existence.

The Sacramento Governor's Mansion in 1907.

The Great Depression of the 1930s hit Sacramento hard, like many western communities and the whole nation. This is a photo of a woman living in the American River Migrant Camp during the Great Depression.

Another shot of a family at the American River Camp in 1936.

The original Guild Theater! Year unknown.

Old Town Sacramento turned into a river for months during the historic floods of 1861-62, which led the city planners to raise most of the downtown streets and establishments.

Levinson's Book Store on K Street around 1924.

Another shot of K Street in the 1940s.

Midtown Sacramento 1920s.

An advertisement for the new Parkway Estates real estate development, which is near Florin Road and Stockton Blvd. By the way, the phone number on the ad is just "2-0621"

J Street Sacramento in the 1900s, including the cable car.

Sacramento Fire Department with horses and carriages!

K Street Sacramento during the snow storm of 1942.

Hotel Berry, downtown Sacramento in the 1920s or 30s. 

A 1950s postcard for the Sacramento "Business District."

Sacramento in the 1840s! 

Sacramento aerial view from 1857. How did they get this shot? Hot air balloon? Or is it just a drawing?

Another photo of K Street during the snowstorm of 1942.

A squatter's camp in Sacramento during the Great Depression.

The Mansion, built in 1877.

The urbanization of Sacramento, as the city grows up and becomes a thriving community.

A trip down memory lane in vintage Sacramento photographs

Historians trace the birth of practical photography to 1837, and it grew steadily over the decades through the 19th century before exploding into the mainstream in the 1900s. In fact, the rise of photography almost coincides with the growth of Sacramento as a city and state capital of California, and we have the iconic photographs to prove it.

Enjoy these 20 photos our beloved Sacramento from yesteryear, spanning from the mid 1800s to the 1980s. Whenever possible, we told you where, when, and even why the photo was taken. 

Sacramento river boat, circa 1800s.

Doc's Place - The Root Beer King (for only 5 cents!) Circa 1940s.

Grand entrance to Oak Park, early 1900s.

Ruhstaller's Lager Beer served at a Sacramento watering hole, 1880s or later.

Fireworks over Old Sacramento circa 1980s.

Early photo of the first transcontinental railroad, late 1800s.

William Land Park Plunge, 1947.

J Street past Sacramento State University - time unknown.

1601 J Street in 1901.

From the foot of J. Street, showing I., J., & K. Sts. with the Sierra Nevada in the distance, 1850.

The grand Hotel Sacramento in this 1909 postcard.

Sacramento Municipal Airport in the 1960s.

Accidental explosion of of MK-81 bombs being transported through Roseville Railyard, 1973.

Downtown mansion, mid to late 1800s.

The original and iconic Shakeys Pizza, East Sacramento, 1954.

Sacramento cable car, 1870s.

Alhambra Theater, year unknown.

The Buffalo Brewery on 21st Street, 1890s.

Camp for migrant agricultural and cannery workers, 1940.

Early hardware store in downtown, 3rd and J St., 1910.

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Did you enjoy this trip down memory lane with rare, antique, and vintage photographs of Sacramento? We'll be sure to bring you many more soon!

20 Things you didn’t know about our State Capitol in Sacramento.

If you’re a Sacramento resident, then you’ve certainly driven past the California State Capitol building downtown, as well as meandered through its grounds and maybe even taken a tour inside. While you certainly know that it’s home to the bicameral state legislature and the office of the governor of California, here are 20 things that you probably didn’t know about the Capitol:

1. The California State Capitol building is located at the west end of Capitol Park, an approximately 4-acre area between L Street to the north, N Street to the south, 10th Street to the west, and 15th Street to the east.

2. You may have know that, but you probably didn't realize that the Capitol sits at the exact coordinates 38.576572°N, 121.493411°W.

3. The Capitol was built to easily be the highest building in the City of Sacramento at that time. In fact, the 6-floor building is 210 feet high at the roof but reaches 247 feet high with its antenna spire.

4. With the population of California swelling with the Gold Rush, California was admitted as the 31st state in the Union in 1850, creating a need for a state capital.

5. The building was designed and constructed by architect M. Frederic Butler, who used a Neo-classical style with Classical Revival elements.

6. He planned the layout and aesthetic of the new California capitol in the likeness of the White House in Washington, D.C., including with its iconic white dome.

7. But Sacramento didn’t become the permanent seat of California's government until 1860. In between, the state capitol was moved to Monterey (1849),  Pueblo de San Jose (1849 - 1851), Vallejo (1852), then Sacramento (1852 – 1853), Vallejo again (1853), Benicia (1853-1854), and then Sacramento again from 1854 until the present day.

8. But even after Sacramento became the permanent seat of California government in 1854, there were several unsuccessful attempts by dissenting politicians to move the capitol to Oakland, San Jose, Berkeley, and Monterey (as late as 1941).

9. Construction on the new Capitol commenced on December 4, 1860, but it took nearly 14 years before it was completed.

10. Its original projected budget of $100,000 swelled to $2.5 million by the time it was done!

11. But there was a larger human cost to the titanic project as well. Ruben Clark, a major architect on the Capitol, build, was committed to a Stockton mental institution in 1864 and died only two years later.  According to psychiatrists at the mental hospital, the cause of Clark’s insanity was listed as "continued and close attention to the building of the State Capitol in Sacramento."

12. Most people know that the third floor of the Capitol is home to paintings of every California governor. But it's not widely known that each California Senator is allowed to choose one local or newer artist and display his or her work in the building for two years.

13. The Capitol includes a statue of Isabella, Queen of Spain, as well as explorer Christopher Columbus.

14. But before breaking ground, workers and craftsmen posed for a giant group photo. Each one of them signed the photograph and then placed it in a time capsule, which was buried beneath the building’s cornerstone and remains there today.

15. The Capitol building project ran into some major challenges with flooding starting in December of 1861, when unusually heavy rains broke the American River’s levee. With the Legislature in session, a serious of even worse storms continued, flooded the grounds, making the area impassable. The Assembly actually passed a resolution to hire boats to take the legislators to and from the Capitol. But soon, the rising waters proved too much, and they decided to move the session to San Francisco temporarily.

16. The Capitol had a bizarre resident; for 13 years, a feral cat nicknamed Senator Capitol Kitty lived in the building. When the cat died, a grave was made for him, and Capitol Kitty is also featured in a children's book entitled, "The Adventures of Capitol Kitty: An Almost True Story."

17. The Capitol underwent a massive rehabilitation starting in 1975, restoring the Capitol to its original 1906 architectural grandeur. The project took six years and $68 million to complete, making it the largest restoration project every completed in North America!

18. In addition to the grand staircase being meticulously reconstructed using only old photos, an original marble mosaic on the second floor was rehabilitated. Each of its 600,000 pieces was removed, polished, glued to craft paper and grouted, and then reinstalled. The beautiful mosaic shows swirling patterns of California’s state flower, the golden poppy.

19. Our Capitol and the surrounding park were designated a National Historic Place in 1973, and the next year, it was registered as a California Historical Landmark.

20. The California State Capitol Building is also known as the "People's Building," and for a good reason, with more than 750,000 visitors and tourists gracing its lawns and halls every year.