On September 4, 1864, the boiler on the steamboat “Washoe” exploded while traveling on the Sacramento River to Sacramento from Rio Vista. The explosion occurred about 35 miles south of Sacramento killing or severely injuring over half of the passengers and crew members (about 200 people were on the Washoe). The “Antelope” steamboat rescued the victims and brought them to Sacramento for treatment. In this video, Shawn discusses the Washoe steamboat catastrophe and discusses a piece of the boiler

On July 20, 1934, construction began on the Tower Bridge to replace an old steel swing-span bridge built by the Sacramento Northern Railway in 1910, known simply as the M Street Bridge. The bridge links West Sacramento with the Sacramento’s Downtown at M Street (today’s Capitol Avenue). The project was managed by the Department of Public Works and cost $994,000, which was $294,000 over the projected budget. Over 1,500 people were employed during the construction of the bridge during a time when

On February 25, 1854, Sacramento became the Capital of California. The Sacramento County Courthouse building, constructed in 1851, at I and 7th Streets served as the Capitol building until that building was destroyed by fire on July 13, 1854, just after the legislative session ended. A new Capitol building was completed in the same location in time for the next session, however. California’s previous state capitals were in San Jose (1849-1851), Vallejo (January 5-16, 1852 and January 1853), and