Center for Sacramento History

10/08/2026

See a new exhibit and go on tours with our friends over at the California State Archives next Saturday during the Sacramento Archives Crawl!

Check out the California State Archives' new exhibit as part of the Sacramento Archives Crawl, "Shaping a Shoreline: Stories from the Waterfront." The exhibit features one-of-a-kind original records on display for one day only, including maps, photographs, correspondence, and employee records that document the development of San Francisco’s waterfront.

Crawl attendees can also enjoy behind the scenes tours offered on the hour between 11 am and 3 pm, and free admission to the California Museum.

10/08/2026

Antonio and Raquel, expert performers of traditional Spanish flamenco, perform at the Mexican Village during the County Spring Fair at the State Fairgrounds in June 1964.

(Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/SBPM05321)

10/07/2026

Stop by and see us during the Sacramento Archives Crawl on Saturday, October 17! We’ll have a new exhibit up and be giving tours all day.

10/07/2026

Weeeeeee! What’s that in the background of this photograph? It’s not a people slide, but a parcel slide. Note the packages resting at the bottom. Dated October 1915, this photo shows several Thomson-Diggs employees inside company headquarters at 3rd and R streets. Thomson-Diggs was a wholesale hardware company founded in Sacramento in 1900 by Frederick Fay Thomson and his brother Herbert after they merged their existing hardware store with the Diggs Vehicle and Implement Company. In 1911, the company moved from 308-312 J Street to this newly constructed four-story building at 1800 3rd Street. Thomson-Diggs remained at that location until they moved to a new building on Del Paso Rd in 1986. They went out of business in 1997, just shy of their 100th anniversary.

Added to the National Register of Historic Places earlier this year, the interior of 1800 3rd Street is currently being remodeled into a loft and retail space called “The Diggs.”

(Thomson-Diggs interior warehouse, 1800 3rd Street, 1915, 2015/017/008; Thomson-Diggs exterior, 1800 3rd Street, ca. 1911 (2001/068/004)

10/06/2026

This year, visitors to the Center for Sacramento History during the Sacramento Archives Crawl will spend their Saturday on the job! See candid photos from our collection of Sacramentans at work. Examine early office equipment! Laugh at staff training films from Tower Records! See tools of the trade used by capital region residents in their constant quest for self-fulfillment and a decent retirement! Don’t miss out, your boss is watching!

10/06/2026

We appreciate creative advertising like this diagonal-cut folding campaign flier for Francis “Bud” Zilaff, who ran for Sacramento City Council in 1967. Zilaff, a nearly lifelong Sacramentan, ran the Tunnell Inn from 1949 through 1961 (first at 1018 2nd Street; it was later called the Tunnel Club at 5660 Stockton Boulevard). He graduated from McGeorge College of Law and became a prominent and well-liked attorney. He campaigned on improving housing, employment, and education prospects for communities of color; slowing down redevelopment in the city’s core; and building a Sacramento waterfront park, which would include “rid[ding] the city of the graveyard which now exists in the lower end” (wait, the historic Old City Cemetery??). Zilaff ultimately lost the election. In 1997, at age 68 and one month before his retirement, Zilaff was killed in his Midtown law office by the husband of a woman he had represented in a divorce case.

(Dan Visnich collection, MS0182)

10/05/2026

In 1850s California, it could take anywhere from three to six months for letters to travel to or from the new state. Loved ones back home ached for news from California, and craved views that showed them what this captivating place looked like.

Lettersheets, like this one depicting Sacramento’s early riverfront, were precursors to the modern-day postcard. They depicted a scene (often a landscape or cityscape) and included space to write a letter. Often, the whole thing was then folded and sealed, serving as its own envelope.

In this example, a man named Simon writes to his brother and sister describing major events and personalities he is encountering in his camp in Auburn in May 1851.

(Eleanor McClatchy Collection, 1982/004/0146)

10/01/2026

Alyson Lee tries out a TRS-100 lap computer in 1983 in this photo for the Bee, taken by Erhardt Krause. The photo ran with a story about how lap computers had become status symbols for executive travelers. But readers were warned not to confuse the 4 pound lap computer with “portable computers,” suitcase-sized machines that weighed in at a hefty 20–30 pounds!

(Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/SBPM03630)