Timeline of Sacramento History

YEAR NOTES
1839 Commissioned by Mexico, John Sutter arrives at uncolonized land to establish New Helvetia
1840 John Sutter builds Sutter's Fort
1846 United States goes to war with Mexico
1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo awards California to the United States
1848 James Marshall strikes gold at Sutter's Mill near Coloma
1848 SF journalist Sam Brannan reports on gold discovery, which attracts people from around the world
1848 John Sutter Jr. begins to transform New Helvetia into Sacramento
1849 Original Eagle Theatre is constructed
1850 California is officially admitted to the United States
1850 The new city of Sacramento is devastated by massive flooding
1850 Hardin Bigelow elected first mayor of Sacramento
1850 James Hardenberg becomes mayor of Sacramento
1851 The Daily Union is founded as the first daily newspaper west of the Mississippi
1852 C.I. Hutchinson becomes mayor of Sacramento
1852 Patterson's American Folk House established in the Bradshaw area, marks the start of area farms
1853 James Hardenberg returns as mayor of Sacramento
1853 1st telegraph line in California, connecting Sacramento to SF, Marysville, San Jose and Stockton
1854 The state legislature moves from Monterey to Sacramento with support of CA governor John Bigler
1854 R.P. Johnson becomes mayor of Sacramento
1854 Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) forms
1855 Future CA State Treasurer James Lawrence English becomes mayor of Sacramento
1855 Sacramento becomes known as the "City of Trees"
1855 After purchasing land, Captain Joseph Folsom founds the town of Folsom
1856 Benjamin Bernard Redding becomes mayor of Sacramento
1856 J. Neely Johnson becomes governor of California
1854 Sacramento High School opens as the city's first high school, governed by SCUSD
1857 The Sacramento Bee launches, originally as the Daily Bee
1858 Future CA Secretary of State Henry Lambard Nichols becomes mayor of Sacramento
1858 John Weller becomes governor of California
1859 Capitol Park becomes the site of the state fair
1859 William Shattuck becomes mayor of Sacramento
1860 Pony Express begins as a mail delivery service from Sacramento to St. Joseph, MO
1860 Construction on the State Capitol begins
1860 Milton Latham becomes CA governor, resigns and is succeeded by John Downey
1861 Another massive flood strikes the downtown area
1861 Civil War breaks out and Sacramento is heavily pro-Union
1861 Sacramento is linked to the First Transcontinental Telegraph, ending the Pony Express
1862 Downtown construction begins on raising buildings above flood level
1862 Leland Stanford becomes governor of California, operates from his mansion
1862 Western Pacific Railroad forms to connect Sacramento and the SF Bay Area as part of the First Transcontinental Railroad
1863 Charles Heman becomes mayor of Sacramento
1863 Construction begins on First Transcontinental Railroad
1863 Frederick Low becomes governor of California
1866 The Sacramento Daily Union commissions Mark Twain to write 4 articles from Hawaii
1867 Henry Huntly Haight becomes governor of California
1867 The Hyers Sisters, who transformed musical plays, debut at Sacramento's Metropolitan Theater
1869 First Transcontinental Rail from Sacramento to Omaha opens, as well as rail from Sacramento to Oakland
1870 Central Pacific Railroad takes over routes built by bankrupt Western Pacific Railroad
1871 East Park (now McKinley Park) opens as city's largest private recreation area
1871 Newton Booth becomes governor of California
1871 Routier Station established in the area later called Rancho Cordova
1872 Construction of Crocker Art Museum is completed
1872 Christopher Green becomes mayor of Sacramento
1874 Construction of the State Capitol is completed
1875 Sacramento Publishing Company acquires the Daily Union
1875 CA governor Booth resigns, Romualdo Pacheco briefly serves, then William Irwin elected
1878 Jabez Turner of the State Workingmen's Party becomes mayor of Sacramento
1879 Sacramento is declared the permanent capital of California
1879 Central Pacific route from Sacramento to the SF Bay Area is reduced to Benicia, continuing to Berkeley and Oakland
1880 George Perkins becomes governor of California
1881 John Q. Brown, son of earlier mayor, becomes mayor of Sacramento
1883 George Stoneman becomes governor of California
1883 James McClatchy dies then his sons Charles (C.K.) and Valentine take control of the Sacramento Bee
1886 Construction begins on what will be the largest cathedral west of the Mississippi River at 11th & K
1887 Eugene Gregory becomes mayor of Sacramento
1887 Washington Bartlett becomes governor of California then dies in office, succeeded by Robert Waterman
1889 Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament is built at 11th & K, becomes city's tallest structure
1889 William Comstock becomes mayor of Sacramento
1891 Henry Markham becomes governor of California
1893 Bernard Steinman becomes mayor of Sacramento
1895 James Budd becomes governor of California
1896 Cyrus Hubbard becomes mayor of Sacramento
1898 William Land becomes mayor of Sacramento
1899 Henry Gage becomes governor of California
1900 George Clark becomes mayor of Sacramento
1902 City of Sacramento purchases East Park for $12,500 and renames it after President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901
1903 President Theodore Roosevelt speaks at the Capitol 5/19 on his national tour
1903 George Pardee becomes governor of California
1903 New version of Western Pacific Railroad launches to compete with Southern Pacific Railroad, running through Sacramento
1904 William Hassett becomes mayor of Sacramento
1906 William Bechtel, superintendent of the Western Pacific Railroad, wins contract for Oroville-Sacramento-Oakland rail
1906 About 30,000 Sacramentans felt mild effects of the major San Francisco earthquake (magnitude 7.9)
1906 Marshall Beard becomes mayor of Sacramento
1907 James Gillett becomes governor of California
1908 Clinton White becomes mayor of Sacramento
1909 The state fair moves from Capitol Park to Stockton Blvd
1910 10-story California Fruit Building at 4th & J is built
1910 Marshall Beard returns as mayor of Sacramento
1910 Northern Railway bridge (later replaced by Tower Bridge) is completed
1911 Former mayor/developer William Land dies, leaving $250,000 to create public park named after him
1911 John Studarus builds Mills Station
1911 Hiram Johnson becomes governor of California
1912 Crest Theatre on K Street opens
1912 Michael Burke becomes mayor of Sacramento
1915 Gustavaus Simmons becomes mayor of Sacramento
1916 Sacramento City College opens
1916 David Carmichael becomes mayor of Sacramento
1917 William Stephens becomes governor of California
1918 Mather AFB is built and opens during WWI
1918 John Q. Brown becomes mayor of Sacramento
1919 A&W co-founder Roy W. Allen opens roadside root beer stands in Lodi and Sacramento
1919 Future President Dwight Eisenhower visits Sacramento 9/3 with military convoy that inspires US highway system
1920 Roy Allen partners with Frank Wright to create the A&W brand
1920 Voters adopt the city's current charter
1920 Charles Bliss becomes mayor of Sacramento
1921 Albert Elkus becomes mayor of Sacramento
1922 Clunie Hall is built at McKinley Park
1922 KVQ (now KFBK) debuts as Sacramento's first commercial radio station
1923 Voters approve the creation of Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD)
1923 Friend Richardson becomes governor of California
1923 City of North Sacramento is incorporated
1924 William Land Park Golf Course opens as the city's first golf course
1924 McGeorge School of Law is established
1924 Weinstock & Lubin department store opens at 12th & K
1924 Senator Hotel opens across from the Capitol
1925 City's first skyscraper is built: 14-story Cal-West Insurance building opens in 1926 at 10th & J (today's Citizen Hotel)
1926 US Routes 40 and 50 open
1926 Alexander Goddard becomes mayor of Sacramento
1926 Elks Tower is completed at 11th & J as city's new tallest building (becomes home of radio station KZAP in 1968)
1927 Memorial Auditorium opens
1927 Ryde Hotel built at height of Prohibition era; speakeasy attracts celebrities
1927 Sacramento Zoo opens initially as "William Land Park Zoo"
1927 C.C. Young becomes governor of California
1927 Alhambra Theatre opens on Alhambra Blvd for movies and eventually music concerts (rebuilt as Safeway in 1973)
1928 Herbert Hoover announces his candidacy for U.S. President at the Ryde Hotel
1928 US 99 highway opens
1928 Ralph Conley becomes mayor of Sacramento
1930 C.H.S. becomes mayor of Sacramento
1931 James Rolph becomes governor of California
1934 Thomas Scollan becomes mayor of Sacramento
1934 Lt. Gov Frank Merriam becomes CA governor, defeats progressive author Upton Sinclair in election
1934 Old Ironsides becomes city's first legal bar following the repeal of prohibition
1934 Sugar Mill opens as beet sugar refinery that hosts wineries
1935 Thomas Raley founds family store "Raley's Drive-In Market" in Placerville
1935 Tower Bridge is completed at a cost of just under $1 million
1935 The Sacramento Bee is awarded its first Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for public service
1936 Arthur Ferguson becomes mayor of Sacramento
1936 Following the death of C.K. McClatchy, daughter Eleanor takes over the Sacramento Bee
1938 Thomas Monk becomes mayor of Sacramento
1938 Tower Theatre at 16th & Broadway is built
1938 McClellan AFB is completed and opens
1939 Culbert Olson becomes governor of California
1941 Russ Solomon opens Tower Record Mart in the back of the Tower Theatre on 16th & Broadway
1942 Rocket manufacturer Aeroject is founded in Rancho Cordova
1942 Grant Union Junior College opens in Del Paso Heights
1943 Disney creates logo for the Sacramento Bee
1943 Earl Warren becomes governor of California
1942 Grant Union Junior College becomes Grant Technical College
1946 Court orders PG&E to transfer title of local electric utility system to SMUD
1946 George Klumpp becomes mayor of Sacramento
1946 Arden Park neighborhood established
1947 Camp Kohler, where Japanese internment is held, burns down in a fire
1947 Sacramento State University opens
1948 Belle Cooledge becomes first woman mayor of Sacramento
1948 President Harry Truman campaigns for re-election in Sacramento on a train stop June 12
1950 City Council approves establishment of Sacramento Redevelopment Agency
1950 Bert Geisreiter becomes mayor of Sacramento
1952 Leslie Wood becomes mayor of Sacramento
1953 Goodwin Knight becomes governor of California
1954 Sherwood Johnson and El Plummer launch Shakey's Pizza in Sacramento
1954 H.H. Henren briefly becomes mayor of Sacramento after William Hicks resigns
1954 Grant Technical College closes after 13 years
1955 American River Junior College at the former Grant Tech High site opens
1956 Clarence Azevedo becomes mayor of Sacramento
1956 Tom Raley purchases Mills Station
1957 Arden Fair opens as a single-level mall
1957 Construction begins on West End renovation plan, marking end of Japantown
1958 American River Junior College moves to its current location on College Oak Drive
1959 Stan Atkinson becomes news anchor at KCRA-TV Channel 3
1959 Fairytale Town opens in William Land Park
1959 Pat Brown becomes governor of California
1959 Boxing champ/film star/local radio host Max Baer dies - his son plays "Jethro" on Beverly Hillbillies in the 1960s
1960 James B. McKenney becomes mayor of Sacramento
1960 Russ Solomon forms MTS Inc and opens 1st Tower Records at 16th & Broadway
1960 Country Club Lanes opens at Watt & El Camino opens
1961 Tower Records' 2nd store at Watt & El Camino opens as international chain forms
1961 Redevelopment of West End culminates in new Capitol Mall
1961 Construction of Watt Avenue Bridge is completed and opens
1961 Hale's, which later becomes Weinstock's, opens at Arden Fair
1962 Much of Sac State construction completed, including erection of Guy West Bridge
1962 Bee president Eleanor McClatchy convinces President Kennedy to postpone I-5 construction to preserve Old Sac
1962 Pat Brown defeats ex-VP Richard Nixon for governor of California
1963 Macy's opens Downtown as the largest department store in the region
1963 Construction begins on Cal Expo
1963 Port of Sacramento opens
1964 I-80 and Highway 160 replace U.S. Route 40 as part of state renumbering plan
1964 CalTrans begins planning I-5 construction
1964 Sacramento and North Sacramento merge to become a much larger city
1964 President Lyndon Johnson visits Sacramento on 9/17
1965 Tower Records moves across the street from Tower Theatre at 16th & Broadway
1965 Los Rios Junior College District forms based on 1964 election
1965 Ancil Hoffman Golf Club established
1965 American River Junior College joins the Los Rios Community College District
1966 SMUD purchases land to build Rancho Seco nuclear power plant
1966 Walter Christensen becomes mayor of Sacramento
1967 Ronald Reagan becomes governor of California
1967 Black Panthers group, armed, storms the State Capitol to protest stricter gun bill
1967 Sherwood Johnson sells his interest in Shakey's Pizza, which consists of 272 US parlors
1967 Florin Center opens
1967 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at Sac State 10/16
1968 The state fair moves from Stockton Blvd to Cal Expo with commencement by Gov. Reagan
1968 Richard Marriott becomes mayor of Sacramento
1968 Freeform FM station KZAP signs on the air in November
1969 Russ Solomon expands Tower Records beyond Sac, opening store in SF
1969 K Street discontinues traffic to become a pedestrian mall
1970 Tower Records expands to Southern California with store in Los Angeles
1970 Consumnes River College opens
1971 Downtown Plaza opens
1972 Plane crashes into Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour on Freeport, killing 22 people
1973 Roseville rail car explodes, making national headlines
1973 Alhambra Theatre closes then construction begins on new Safeway store
1973 Regional Transit bus service begins
1973 Skip's Music opens on Auburn Blvd
1974 Sacramento Dixieland Jazz Jubilee launches Memorial Day Weekend
1975 Phil Isenberg becomes mayor of Sacramento
1975 Jerry Brown becomes governor of California
1975 A year after being kidnapped, Patty Hearst is involved in a Carmichael bank robbery
1975 Southbound I-5 is completed in the Sacramento area
1975 Rancho Seco nuclear power plant begins commercial operation
1975 President Ford escapes an assassination attempt by Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme in front of the Capitol
1976 The "East Area Rapist" begins a series of homicides and rapes over the next few years
1976 Stan Atkinson returns as news anchor at KCRA-TV Channel 3
1978 President Carter makes campaign speech for Gov. Brown near the Capitol at K Street Mall
1979 Toxic chemicals are found in water wells near Aeroject
1979 KSFM (Earth Radio) drops freeform/rock format, changes to contemporary hits
1980 Tower Records expands to Southern California with store in Los Angeles
1980 Rose Marks open-air pavilion built at American River College
1980 News team Dave Walker & Lois Hart from KCRA then KOVR advance to new national cable TV network CNN
1981 Railroad History Museum is completed
1982 R. Burnett Miller briefly serves as mayor of Sacramento
1983 George Deukmejian becomes governor of California
1983 Anne Rudin becomes mayor of Sacramento
1985 Computer store owner Hugh Scrutton is killed by "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski
1985 With efforts from investor Gregg Lukenbill, the Kansas City Kings relocate to Sacramento, becoming the city's first major pro sports team
1986 Memorial Auditorium closes
1986 Biba Carggiano opens midtown Italian restaurant Biba
1986 Scenes from Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore movie Wisdom (20th Century Fox) filmed at American River College
1987 RT light rail operations begin
1988 Dorothea Puente is arrested and charged with 9 murders
1988 Arco Arena opens as home of the Kings
1989 Mather Center, owned by American River College, opens at Mather Field Air Base in Rancho Cordova
1989 Voters approve closure of Rancho Seco nuclear power plant due to mismanagement
1990 Dave Walker & Lois Hart return to KCRA-TV after working at CNN and CNBC
1991 Raley's founder Thomas Raley dies at 88 then Joyce Raley Teel becomes owner
1991 Top 40 radio station KWOD (106.5 FM) shifts to a modern rock sound, evolves into alternative format
1991 Pete Wilson becomes governor of California
1992 KZAP (98.5 FM) flips from rock to country, changes call letters
1993 Folsom Lake Center opens; it becomes Folsom Lake College 11 years later
1993 Joe Serna becomes mayor of Sacramento
1993 Raley's purchases Bel Air Markets
1993 Second level of Downtown Plaza opens
1993 President Clinton visits McClellan AFB then Pentagon selects it for closure
1993 Mather AFB is decommissioned
1994 The Sacramento Union discontinues after 143 years
1994 News anchor Stan Atkinson switches from KCRA to KOVR
1995 In a network swap on March 6, KXTV becomes an ABC affiliate and KOVR picks up CBS
1995 Timber lobbyist Gilbert Brent Murray is killed by "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski
1996 Weinstock's is converted to Macy's after being acquired by Federated
1996 America Live! closes on the Downtown Plaza
1996 Memorial Auditorium reopens after renovation
1997 Hard Rock Cafe opens on the Downtown Plaza, replacing America Live!
1997 Raley's purchases Nob Hill Foods
1998 RT light rail expands with the opening of Mather Field/Mills station
1998 Westfield America, Inc. purchases the Downtown Plaza
1998 Tower Records parent company MTS sells $110M in notes to invest in international growth.
1999 Gray Davis becomes governor of California
1999 Jimmie Yee appointed by City Council as mayor of Sacramento following the death of Joe Serna
1999 News anchor Stan Atkinson retires from KOVR
1999 Raley's ranks 38th largest supermarket chain in America
2000 Heather Fargo becomes mayor of Sacramento
2002 Kings have the best NBA record at 61-21, but lose to the Lakers in the playoffs
2003 Groundwater sampling in Carmichael finds contamination from Aeroject
2003 Gray Davis recalled, Arnold Schwarzeneggar becomes governor of California
2004 Investigative journalist Gary Webb is found dead of gunshot wounds in his Carmichael home
2004 Folsom Lake College is established
2006 Tower Records closes all its stores due to bankruptcy
2006 The McClatchy Company becomes the biggest newspaper chain in the US after acquiring Knight Ridder
2007 KDND (107.9 The End) makes national news when contestant Jennifer Strange dies of water intoxication
2007 Russ Solomon opens R5 Records at old 16th & Broadway Tower location
2008 NBA star Kevin Johnson becomes mayor of Sacramento
2008 Goethe Park is renamed River Bend Park due to controversy about C.M Goethe being a eugenicist
2008 KCRA-TV news anchor team Dave Walker and Lois Hart retire
2009 Butler Amusements takes over running state fair rides and games
2009 Jury orders KDND owner to pay $16 million to the family of Jennifer Strange for on-air water drinking death
2010 Expanded Crocker Art Museum reopens as one of the largest art museums in America
2010 Hard Rock Cafe closes on the Downtown Plaza
2010 R5 Records after 3 years in business, sells to Dimple Records
2011 UC Davis police pepper spray demonstrators, creating national controversy
2011 Jerry Brown returns as governor of California
2012 Jazz Jubilee held every Memorial Day Weekend in Old Sac becomes the Sacramento Music Festival
2012 Westfield sells the Downtown Plaza to JMA Ventures, LLC
2012 Power Balance Arena (formerly Arco) becomes Sleep Train Arena
2012 K Street Mall is rebranded as "The Kay"
2013 Vivek Ranadive purchases Kings from the Maloof brothers
2015 Downtown Plaza becomes Downtown Commons
2015 The Sacramento Bee reports that McClellan Airfield is a Superfund site
2015 Joyce Raley Teel as Sac's highest net worth person at $1.4B, ranks 1,386 on Forbes' annual wealthiest list
2015 Majority ownership of Raley's transfers from Joyce Raley Teel to son Michael Teel
2016 Golden 1 Center, new home of the Kings, opens with Paul McCartney
2016 Darrell Steinberg becomes mayor of Sacramento
2017 Sacramento becomes one of the first U.S. cities to test 5G
2018 Tower Records founder Russ Solomon dies 03/04 at 92
2018 Raley's purchases Scolari's Food & Drug Company
2019 Gavin Newsom becomes governor of California
2019 Citizen Hotel is purchased by Miami investment firm Cambridge Landmark
2020 Biba restaurant closes in May due to the pandemic
2020 Sacramento becomes test market for electric vehicle leasing
2020 Local and statewide mask mandates due to Covid-19 pandemic
2020 President Trump visits Sacramento
2021 President Biden visits Sacramento
2021 Ex-mayor Anne Rudin (1983-1992) dies at 97 on 11/27
2021 Sacramento-born internationally-acclaimed writer Joan Didion dies at 87
2021 Sac Police appoints 1st woman chief, Kathy Lester in December
2022 Joyce Raley Teel, ex-owner of Raley's, dies at 91 on 02/25
2022 Teachers strike closes 75 SCUSD schools for 2 weeks, affecting over 40,000 students, leading to higher pay
2022 Downtown Sacramento gang shooting kills 6, making national news
2022 Owners of Sacramento's oldest bar Old Ironsides, Bordisso/Kanelos family, sells to Bair-Rushing-Paganelli
2022 Jim Cooper elected Sacramento County Sheriff


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