Sacramento Valley is home to two rivers, two lakes and a 1,000-mile labyrinth of navigable riverways that provide rich agricultural resources to this 'Delta' country. Sacramento, first settled by famed mountain man, Jedediah Smith, in 1827 in his search for new sources of fur, has been very important to the history of California and is the home of the state capital.
In 1839, John Sutter and his landing party established Sutter's Fort in Sacramento and used a land grant from the Mexican government to establish what was originally called 'New Helvetia'. The waterfront location, on the Sacramento River, was ideal as a prime trading center, especially after the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in the nearby foothills in Coloma in 1848. But the new city suffered through floods and fire and the only way to save Sacramento was to undertake a mammoth project that involved bringing in thousands of cubic yards of dirt to raise up the street level of the land above the flood line.
Sacramento became the state capital in 1854, the capitol building was completed in 1874, and after the Gold Rush, the city became a major center for the developing commercial agriculture industry. Today, it is a city vibrant with new commerce, including high tech, as well as the Port of Sacramento, which handles freighters from around the world, and serves as a major shipping port.
Sacramento offers some great attractions for families including, Sutter's Fort, Old Sacramento (a Gold Rush town complete with 53 authentic buildings), California State Indian Museum, the oldest art museum in the west, a 32-mile bicycle trail along the American River and North America's largest, interpretive railroad museum where you can learn about the history of the "Iron Horse."
Old Sacramento has been redeveloped into a thriving commercial trade center. It is a National Landmark and a portion of the twenty-eight acres has been designated as a State Historic Park. It has been voted as the best place to take a date for a first date and it is home to one of the world's largest jazz festivals each year.
The waterfront is enjoying a resurgence of popularity with a Public Market, waterfront hotel, excursion cruises, restaurants and water taxi. You can spend the night on the Delta King, a paddle wheeler steamboat converted to an upscale waterfront hotel, and a symbol of the days when 300 steamboats sloshed their way through the Delta waters bringing the prospectors to Sacramento and Stockton as they headed out overland to seek their fortunes in gold.
Sacramento has one of the oldest operating drawbridges in California, which was originally operated as a toll bridge that accommodated horses, wagons, and individuals. It was the first "swing bridge" in the state, so called because it swings on a turret roundtable to open. The newest incarnation allows trains to travel on the lower deck over two sets of tracks and automobiles use the upper deck of the bridge.
Sacramento's history includes a 1923 Beaux Arts style building, the Market Building, designed by Julia Morgan, a renowned architect, who is responsible for the design of Hearst Castle. It is now part of the Sheraton Grand Sacramento, near the convention center. The Julia Morgan Home and Garden, a 6,000 square-foot home recently saved by preservationists and restored to its former glory, is used for private functions
The beautiful state capitol building, surrounded by majestic redwood trees, offers the Golden State Museum in the State Archives building. It displays historical furniture, photographs, and documents from the days of the Gold Rush and a holographic image of naturalist John Muir and a large sunken map of the state.
Vestiges of the wild days of the Gold Rush, the excitement of the Delta country's paddle wheeler steamboats, and the beautiful old homes on the banks of the Sacramento River, remind residents of the early days but modernization is well underway in this thriving city with employers such as Intel, Hewlett Packard, Oracle, and Sprint.
The real estate market, heated up by the employment growth of this area, has showed some signs of cooling recently. However, with low mortgage rates, higher rent prices, migration of Bay area residents, new home construction and home prices that are more affordable, the capital region expects that home sales will stay strong.
John Vandermyden of Buyer Vision Realty says, "Sacramento has an abundance of land on the east side which is ideal for home construction so we have affordable housing for the employees whose companies are relocating here from Silicon Valley. We also have good schools and major new shopping areas. We expect that the influx of top companies will help us maintain a strong real estate market."
In addition to the wealth of activities, including the water sports that are so prevalent, Sacramento also enjoys mild year-round temperatures. Summers are dry with little humidity and an abundance of sunshine. The area is also close to the Lake Tahoe Ski Area, Reno, San Francisco and the Napa and Sonoma Wine Country areas (less than 2 hours travel time), the Sierra Nevada Gold Rush country and wineries, Yosemite National Park (3.5 hours), and Los Angeles (5 -6 hours).
Pat Rioux
