Sacramento, a city, capital of the State of California; at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers, at the head of low water navigation, 96 miles N. E. of San Francisco. It is built on a broad, low plain and has strong levees as a protection against floods. It has a semi-tropical climate and vegetation is most luxuriant. There are a number of National and State banks. Assessed property valuation is over $30,000,000.

The streets are well laid out, and mostly lighted by electricity. The State capitol stands in a beautiful plaza covering 30 acres. Within the plaza are the State printing office and the Exposition Building of the State Agricultural Society. In the latter the resources of the State are annually exhibited.

Capt. John A. Sutter built a fort here in 1839, but the city was not settled till 1848, after the discovery of gold. The first house was built in 1849. Sacramento was made the State capital in 1854, and received its city charter in 1863. It has suffered severely twice from fire and twice from inundation. Pop. (1910) 44,696.


Entry from Everybody's Cyclopedia, 1912.