Sacramento, California
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| Sacramento | |||
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| Nickname(s): River City, Sac, Sacto, Sac-Town, City of Trees, The Capitol City, Cap-City | |||
| Motto: Urbs indomita (Indomitable City) |
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  Sacramento |
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| State |  California |
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| County | Sacramento County | ||
| Government | |||
| • Type | Mayor-Council | ||
| • Mayor | Kevin Johnson (D) | ||
| Area | |||
| • City | 99.2 sq mi (257.0 km2) | ||
| • Land | 97.2 sq mi (251.6 km2) | ||
| • Water | 2.1 sq mi (5.4 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 25 ft (8 m) | ||
| Population (2009)[1][2] | |||
| • City | 466,676 (38th) | ||
| • Density | 4,813/sq mi (1,818/km2) | ||
| • Urban | 1,473,806 | ||
| • Metro | 2,927,123 | ||
| • Demonym | Sacramentan | ||
| Time zone | PST (UTC−8) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC−7) | ||
| ZIP code | 942xx, 958xx | ||
| Area code(s) | 916 | ||
| FIPS code | 06-64000 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 1659564 | ||
| Website | http://www.cityofsacramento.org/ | ||
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California, and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a 2009 estimated population of 466,676, it is the sixth-largest city in California.[1] Sacramento is the core cultural and economic center of the Sacramento metropolitan area which includes seven counties; with an estimated population of 2,927,123.[2] Its metropolitan area is the fourth largest in California after the Greater Los Angeles Area, San Francisco Bay Area, and the San Diego metropolitan area as well as the 25th largest in the United States. A city attaining global status, Sacramento was cited by Time magazine as America's most ethnically and racially integrated city in 2002.[3][4]
Sacramento became a city through the efforts of John Sutter, a Swiss immigrant, and James W. Marshall. Sacramento grew quickly thanks to the protection of Sutter's Fort, which was established by Sutter in 1839. During the California Gold Rush, Sacramento was a major distribution point, a commercial and agricultural center, and a terminus for wagon trains, stagecoaches, riverboats, the telegraph, the Pony Express, and the First Transcontinental Railroad.
California State University, Sacramento, more commonly known as Sacramento State or Sac State, is the major local university. It is one of the twenty-three campuses of the California State University system. In addition, the University of California, Davis, is located in nearby Davis, 15 miles (24 km) west of the capital. The UC Davis Medical Center, a world-renowned research hospital, is located in the city of Sacramento.
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History
Edit
Indigenous cultureEdit
Nisenan (Southern Maidu) and Plains Miwok Indians have lived in the area for perhaps thousands of years. Unlike the settlers who would eventually make Sacramento their home, these Indians left little evidence of their existence. Traditionally, their diet was dominated by acorns taken from the plentiful oak trees in the region, and by fruits, bulbs, seeds, and roots gathered throughout the year.
In either 1799 or 1808, the Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga discovered and named the Sacramento Valley and the Sacramento River. A Spanish writer with the Moraga expedition wrote, "Canopies of oaks and cottonwoods, many festooned with grapevines, overhung both sides of the blue current. Birds chattered in the trees and big fish darted through the pellucid depths. The air was like champagne, and (the Spaniards) drank deep of it, drank in the beauty around them. “Es como el sagrado sacramento! (This is like the Holy Sacrament.)”[5] The valley and the river were then christened after "the Most Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ", referring to the Catholic sacrament of the Eucharist.
From pioneers to gold feverEdit
Added by Killiondude
Added by RlThe part of Sacramento originally laid out by William Warner is situated just east and south of where the American River meets the Sacramento River (though over time it has grown to extend significantly north, south, and east of there). A number of directly adjacent towns, cities or unincorporated county suburbs, such as Fair Oaks, Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove, Folsom, Rancho Cordova, Roseville, Rocklin, West Sacramento, Natomas, Del Paso Heights, Orangevale, and North Highlands extend the greater Sacramento area.
The citizens of Sacramento adopted a city charter in 1849, which was recognized by the state legislature in 1850. Sacramento is the oldest incorporated city in California, incorporated on February 27, 1850.[6] During the early 1850s the Sacramento valley was devastated by floods, fires and cholera epidemics. Despite this, because of its position just downstream from the Mother Lode in the Sierra Nevada, the new city grew, quickly reaching a population of 10,000.
Remnants of downtown Sacramento's Chinatown Edit
Throughout the early 1840s and 1850s, China was at war with Great Britain and France in the First and Second Opium Wars. The wars, along with endemic poverty in China, helped drive many Chinese immigrants to America. Many first came to San Francisco, which was then the largest city in California, which was known as "Dai Fow" (The Big City) and some came eventually to Sacramento (then the second-largest city in California), which is known as "Yee Fow" (Second City). Many of these immigrants came in hopes for a better life as well as the possibility of finding gold in the foothills east of Sacramento.
Sacramento's Chinatown was located on "I" Street from Second to Sixth Streets. At the time this area of "I" Street was considered a health hazard as, lying within a levee zone it was lower than other parts of the city which were situated on higher land. Throughout Sacramento's Chinatown history there were fires, acts of discrimination, and prejudicial legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act that was not repealed until 1943. The mysterious fires were thought to be set off by those who did not take a liking to the Chinese working class.[7] Ordinances on what was viable building material were set into place to try to get the Chinese to move out. Newspapers such as The Sacramento Union, at the time, wrote stories that portrayed the Chinese in an unfavorable light to inspire ethnic discrimination and drive the Chinese away. As the years passed, a railroad was created over parts of the Chinatown and further politics and laws would make it even harder for Chinese workers to sustain a living in Sacramento. While the east side of the country fought for higher wages and fewer working hours, many cities in the western United States wanted the Chinese out because of the belief that they were stealing jobs from the white working class.
The Chinese remained resilient despite these efforts. They built their buildings out of bricks just as the building guidelines established. They helped build part of the railroads that span the city as well as making a great contribution to the transcontinental railroad that spans the United States. They also helped build the levees within Sacramento and the surrounding cities. As a result, they are a well-recognized part of Sacramento's history and heritage.
While most of Sacramento's Chinatown has now been razed, a small Chinatown mall remains, as well as a museum dedicated to the history of Sacramento's Chinatown and the contributions Chinese Americans have made to the city. Amtrak sits along what was part of Sacramento's Chinatown "I" Street.[8][9]
Sacramento now prides itself on its ethnic diversity and excellent race relations, and has a well established Chinese-American population living throughout the city.
Capital cityEdit
Added by Sascha BrückThe California State Legislature, with the support of Governor John Bigler, moved to Sacramento in 1854. The capital of California under Spanish (and, subsequently, Mexican) rule had been Monterey, where in 1849 the first Constitutional Convention and state elections were held. The convention decided that San Jose would be the new state's capital. After 1850, when California's statehood was ratified, the legislature met in San Jose, Vallejo, and Benicia before moving to Sacramento. In the 1879 Constitutional Convention, Sacramento was named to be the permanent state capital.
Begun in 1860 to be reminiscent of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, the Classical Revival style California State Capitol was completed in 1874. In 1861, the legislative session was moved to the Merchants Exchange Building in San Francisco for one session because of massive flooding in Sacramento. The legislative chambers were first occupied in 1869 while construction continued. From 1862–1868, part of the Leland Stanford Mansion was used for the governor's offices during Stanford's tenure as the Governor; and the legislature met in the Sacramento County Courthouse.
Added by Fir0002With its new status and strategic location, Sacramento quickly prospered and became the western end of the Pony Express. Later it became a terminus of the First Transcontinental Railroad, which began construction in Sacramento in 1863 and was financed by "The Big Four" – Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, Collis P. Huntington, and Leland Stanford.
In 1850 and again in 1861, Sacramentans were faced with a completely flooded town. After the devastating 1850 flood, Sacramento experienced a cholera epidemic and a flu epidemic, which crippled the town for several years. In 1861, Governor Leland Stanford, who was inaugurated in early January 1861, had to attend his inauguration in a rowboat, which was not too far from his house in town on N street. The flood waters were so bad, the legend says, that when he returned to his house, he had to enter into it through the second floor window. From 1862 until the mid-1870s Sacramento raised the level of its downtown by building reinforced brick walls on its downtown streets, and filling the resulting street walls with dirt. Thus the previous first floors of buildings became the basements, with open space between the street and the building, previously the sidewalk, now at the basement level. Most property owners used screw jacks to raise their buildings to the new grade. The sidewalks were covered, initially by wooden sidewalks, then brick barrel vaults, and eventually replaced by concrete sidewalks. Over the years, many of these underground spaces have been filled or destroyed by subsequent development. However, it is still possible to view portions of the "Sacramento Underground".
Added by File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske)The same rivers that earlier brought death and destruction began to provide increasing levels of transportation and commerce. Both the American and especially Sacramento rivers would be key elements in the economic success of the city. In fact, Sacramento effectively controlled commerce on these rivers, and public works projects were funded though taxes levied on goods unloaded from boats and loaded onto rail cars in the historic Sacramento Rail Yards. Now both rivers are used extensively for recreation. The American River is a 5-mph (8-km/h) waterway for all power boats (including jet-ski and similar craft) (Source Sacramento County Parks & Recreation) and has become an international attraction for rafters and kayaking.
The Sacramento River sees many boaters, who can make day trips to nearby sloughs or continue along the Delta to the Bay Area and San Francisco. The Delta King, a paddlewheel steamboat which for eighteen months lay on the bottom of the San Francisco Bay, was refurbished and now boasts a hotel, a restaurant, and two different theaters for nightlife along the Old Sacramento riverfront.
The modern eraEdit
Added by KilliondudeThe city's current charter was adopted by voters in 1920, establishing a city council-and-manager form of government, still used today. As a charter city, Sacramento is exempt from many laws and regulations passed by the state legislature. The city has expanded continuously over the years. The 1964 merger of the City of North Sacramento with Sacramento substantially increased its population, and large annexations of the Natomas area eventually led to significant population growth throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Sacramento County (along with a portion of adjacent Placer County) is served by a customer-owned electric utility, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). Sacramento voters approved the creation of SMUD in 1923. In April, 1946, after 12 years of litigation, a judge ordered Pacific Gas & Electric to transfer title of Sacramento's electric distribution system to SMUD. Today SMUD is the sixth-largest public electric utility in the U.S., and is a leader for innovative programs and services, including the development of clean fuel resources, such as solar power.[10] The Sacramento-Yolo Port District was created in 1947, and ground was broken on the Port of Sacramento in 1949. On June 29, 1963, with 5,000 spectators waiting to welcome her, the Motor Vessel Taipei Victory arrived.[11] The port was open for business. The Nationalist Chinese flagship, freshly painted for the historic event, was loaded with 5,000 tons of bagged rice for Mitsui Trading Co. bound for Okinawa and 1,000 tons of logs for Japan. She was the first ocean-going vessel in Sacramento since the steamship Harpoon in 1934. The Port of Sacramento has been plagued with operating losses in recent years and faces bankruptcy. This severe loss in business is due to the heavy competition from the Port of Stockton, which has a larger facility and a deeper channel. As of 2006, the city of West Sacramento took responsibility for the Port of Sacramento. During the Vietnam War era, the Port of Sacramento was the major terminus in the supply route for all military parts, hardware and other cargo going into Southeast Asia.
Added by File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske)In 1967, Ronald Reagan became the last Governor of California to live permanently in the city. A new executive mansion, constructed by private funds in a Sacramento suburb for Reagan, remained vacant for nearly forty years and was recently sold by the state.
The 1980s and 1990s saw the closure of several local military bases: McClellan Air Force Base, Mather Air Force Base, and Sacramento Army Depot. Also, in 1980, there was another flood. The flood's damage affected the "boat section" of Interstate 5. The culmination of a series of storms as well as a faulty valve are believed to have caused this damage.
Added by KilliondudeIn the early 1990s, Mayor Joe Serna attempted to lure the Los Angeles Raiders football team to Sacramento, selling $50 million in bonds as earnest money. When the deal fell through, the bond proceeds were used to construct several large projects, including expanding the Sacramento Convention Center Complex and refurbishing of the Memorial Auditorium. Serna renamed a city park for migrant worker rights activist Cesar Chavez. Through his effort, Sacramento became the first major city in the country to have a paid municipal holiday honoring Chavez.
In spite of military base closures and the decline of agricultural food processing, Sacramento has continued to experience population growth in recent years. Primary sources of population growth are an influx of residents from the nearby San Francisco Bay Area, as well as immigration from Asia and Latin America. From 1990 to 2000, the city's population grew by 14.7%. The Census Bureau estimates that from 2000 to 2007, the county's population increased by nearly 164,000 residents.[12]
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Mayor Heather Fargo made several abortive attempts to provide taxpayer financing of a new sports arena for the Maloof brothers, owners of the Sacramento Kings NBA Basketball franchise. In November 2006, Sacramento voters soundly defeated a proposed sales tax hike to finance the plan. The defeat was due in part to competing plans for the new arena and its location.
In 2002, Time magazine featured an article recognizing Sacramento as the most diverse and integrated city in America.[13]
Despite a devolution of state bureaucracy, the state government remains by far Sacramento's largest employer. The City of Sacramento expends considerable effort to keep state agencies from moving outside the city limits.[14] In addition, many federal agencies have offices in Sacramento.
The California Supreme Court normally sits in nearby San Francisco.
Geography and climateEdit
GeographyEdit
Added by AmadscientistThe population in 2000 was 407,018; the 1980 population was 275,741. The city's current estimated population is approximately 454,330. Depth to groundwater is typically about 30 feet (9 m). Much of the land to the west of the city (in Yolo County) is a flood control basin. As a result, the greater metropolitan area sprawls only four miles (6 km) west of downtown (as West Sacramento, California) but 30 miles (50 km) northeast and east, into the Sierra Nevada foothills, and 10 miles (16 km) to the south into valley farmland.
The city is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River, and has a deepwater port connected to the San Francisco Bay by a channel through the Sacramento River Delta. It is the shipping and rail center for the Sacramento Valley, fruit, vegetables, rice, wheat, dairy goods, and beef. Food processing is among the major industries in the area.
ClimateEdit
Sacramento has a Mediterranean climate (Koppen Csa), characterized by damp to wet, mild winters and hot, dry summers. The wet season is generally October through April, though there may be a day or two of light rainfall in June or September. The mean annual temperature is 61.1 °F (16.2 °C), with monthly means ranging from 45.8 °F (7.7 °C) in December to 75.4 °F (24.1 °C) in July. Summer heat is often moderated by a sea breeze known as the "delta breeze" which comes through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta from the San Francisco Bay.
On average, 96 days in the year experience some degree of fog, which usually occurs in the morning (tule fog). The foggiest months are December and January. Tule fog can be extremely dense, lowering visibility to less than 100 feet (30 m) and making driving conditions extremely hazardous. Chilling tule fog events have been known to last for several consecutive days or weeks. During Tule Fog events temperatures don't get above 50 degrees.
Snowfall is exceptionally rare in Sacramento (at an elevation of only 25 feet (7.6 m) above sea level). The all-time record snowfall was 3.5 inches (9 cm) and occurred on January 4, 1888. Dustings occur every 5–10 years, with up to an inch accumulation in outlying areas. During especially cold winter and spring storms, intense showers do occasionally produce a significant amount of hail, which can create hazardous driving conditions. Significant snow accumulations occur each year in the foothills located 40 miles (65 km) east of the city.
On average, there are 74 days where the high exceeds 90 °F (32 °C), and 15 days where the high exceeds 100 °F (38 °C); On the other extreme, freezing nights occur 16 nights per year.[15] At Sacramento International Airport, extremes have ranged from 18 °F (−8 °C) on December 22, 1990 to 115 °F (46 °C) on June 15, 1961.[15]
The average annual precipitation is 21.45 inches (545 mm).[16] On average, precipitation falls on 62 days each year in Sacramento, and nearly all of this falls during the winter months. Average January rainfall is 3.84 inches (98 mm),[17] and measurable precipitation is rare during the summer months. In February 1992, Sacramento had 16 consecutive days of rain, resulting in an accumulation of 6.41 inches (163 mm) for the period (163 mm). A record 7.24 inches (184 mm) of rain fell on April 20, 1880. On rare occasions, monsoonal moisture surges from the Desert Southwest can bring upper-level moisture to the Sacramento region, leading to increased summer cloudiness, humidity, and even light showers and thunderstorms. Monsoon clouds do occur usually during late July through Early September.
| Climate data for Sacramento (Sacramento International Airport) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 70 (21) | 76 (24) | 88 (31) | 95 (35) | 105 (41) | 115 (46) | 114 (46) | 110 (43) | 108 (42) | 104 (40) | 87 (31) | 69 (21) | 115 (46) |
| Average high °F (°C) | 53.8 (12.1) | 60.5 (15.8) | 64.7 (18.2) | 71.4 (21.9) | 80.0 (26.7) | 87.4 (30.8) | 92.4 (33.6) | 91.4 (33.0) | 87.5 (30.8) | 78.2 (25.7) | 63.7 (17.6) | 53.9 (12.2) | 73.7 (23.2) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 46.3 (7.9) | 51.2 (10.7) | 54.5 (12.5) | 58.9 (14.9) | 65.5 (18.6) | 71.5 (21.9) | 75.4 (24.1) | 74.8 (23.8) | 71.7 (22.1) | 64.4 (18.0) | 53.3 (11.8) | 45.8 (7.7) | 61.1 (16.2) |
| Average low °F (°C) | 38.8 (3.8) | 41.9 (5.5) | 44.2 (6.8) | 46.3 (7.9) | 50.9 (10.5) | 55.5 (13.1) | 58.3 (14.6) | 58.1 (14.5) | 55.8 (13.2) | 50.6 (10.3) | 42.8 (6.0) | 37.7 (3.2) | 48.4 (9.1) |
| Record low °F (°C) | 20 (−7) | 23 (−5) | 26 (−3) | 31 (−1) | 34 (1) | 41 (5) | 48 (9) | 48 (9) | 43 (6) | 35 (2) | 26 (−3) | 18 (−8) | 18 (−8) |
| Precipitation inches (mm) | 3.84 (97.5) | 3.54 (89.9) | 2.80 (71.1) | 1.02 (25.9) | .53 (13.5) | .20 (5) | .05 (1.3) | .06 (1.5) | .36 (9.1) | .89 (22.6) | 2.19 (55.6) | 2.45 (62.2) | 17.93 (455.4) |
| Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 10.5 | 9.1 | 9.4 | 4.9 | 2.9 | 1.2 | .2 | .4 | 1.5 | 3.6 | 7.2 | 8.2 | 59.1 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 145.7 | 203.4 | 279.0 | 330.0 | 406.1 | 420.0 | 440.2 | 406.1 | 348.0 | 297.6 | 195.0 | 142.6 | 3,613.7 |
| Source #1: NOAA[15] | |||||||||||||
| Source #2: HKO[18] | |||||||||||||
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