Sacramento History Museum and Tours

December 12, 1855 On this day in 1855, the Clarendon House opened at on Second Street between K and L Streets. The proprietor of the private hotel was Caroline A. Williams, a woman of African descent, known in the community as Aunt Carrie. Williams came to California from Massachusetts in the spring of 1850. She was an experienced caterer and had a flattering reputation in Sacramento the previous four years where she had a helped manage the Sacket Hotel and Grand Hotel. ...The Clarendon House had a convenient location near the steamboat landing and the B.F. Hastings Building, which housed the California Supreme Court. The weekly rate for a room at the Clarendon was 12 dollars. In 1857, the Clarendon closed and the furniture was sold at public auction. In 1861, Eugenie Dumas bought the Clarendon House and renamed it the Hotel de France, the fourth hotel by that name in the city owned by Dumas. Williams later rented rooms at the Fashion Saloon on J Street. On January 10, 1872, she trademarked the remedy Aunt Carrie's Magic Salve and Pile Ointment that was made of California herbs. It was marketed as a cure for boils, sores, scrofula, carbuncles, and bleeding and blind piles. She moved to San Francisco in the 1870s where she was the proprietor of the Sacramento House. She passed away on April 2, 1887 and is buried in the Old City Cemetery. Today, a reconstruction of the Clarendon House stands in Old Sacramento at its original location. Illustration of the Clarendon House from A Birds-Eye View of Sacramento in 1857 by George H. Baker, courtesy of the Center for Sacramento History. #thisdayinhistory #thenandnow #sachistorymuseum

Did you enjoy our Facebook Live, Museum Monday video about Cholera? Then be sure to join us Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm for our medical history series, Cholera to COVID, in partnership with The Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society Museum of Medical History. These FREE webinars will be hosted by the curator of The Museum of Medical History, Dr. Bob LaPerriere and retired UCLA professor, Dr. Kent Perryman. Join in on Wednesdays, November 11, and 18 at 7:30 pm. Each week ha...s a different theme sure to intrigue! Register on Zoom to join! To explore more, the Medical Museum website has a variety of educational and virtual features, including a link to numerous artifacts in the museum, a virtual museum tour, dozens of articles on medical history, and much more. Visit at: http://www.ssvms.org/museum. Wednesday, November 11th at 7:30 pm SSVMS Medical Museum Virtual Tour Enjoy a narrated virtual walk through the Museum of Medical History. It is closed due to the pandemic and will probably not open until at least well into 2021, but you can now enjoy a virtual walk through narrated by the Museum Curator, Dr. Bob LaPerriere. Wednesday, November 18th at 7:30 pm Plague and Pandemics Curious about how something like COVID-19 can happen? Explore history from epidemics to plagues and pandemics over the last 15 centuries with Dr. Kent Perryman. Register at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XH6PJh-UTvKD5oKfKKM19w. #covidwebinar #goldrush #museumathome #sachistorymuseum

Don't miss this afternoon's Museum Monday on Facebook Live at 3 pm! Brand-new Sacramento City was a ticking time bomb for a cholera outbreak in 1850, killing hundreds of gold seekers in less than a month. Learn about this fast acting and fatal disease, how it reached the city, and how the frantic fight against it echoes in today’s pandemic. #museumathome #sachistorymuseum #museummondays

November 8, 1849 On this day in 1849, John Rowe was convicted of stealing a cow, valued at $40, from Samuel Norris. This was the first criminal conviction in Sacramento City. Norris was the owner of Rancho del Paso. Rowe was fined $515; $200 was the fine for the cow and $315 for his arrest and court fees. For perspective, the value of gold, at the time, was $15 to $16 per ounce. Despite Sacramento’s founding in January 1849, the city did not have a formal city government and... charter until October 1849 making crimes difficult to prosecute, especially theft which was rampant in the city. Newspaper clipping from the Placer Times (Sacramento’s first newspaper) November 10, 1849. #thisdayinhistory #sachistory #sachistorymuseum

Our Tours Resume and our Doors Are Open Again! Old Sacramento Underground Tours return this weekend Nov. 7-8, and continue Saturdays and Sundays through November. Tours depart from the museum at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $18 for adults and $12 for kids 6-17 years old, free for kids 5 and younger.... As the Museum shows you Sacramento’s amazing origin story, we are keeping COVID-19 safety in mind. Tour groups are limited to 10 guests. Masks are required, and your guide and guests will maintain physical distance. Hand sanitizer is readily available before and during the tour. Tours include free admission to the Sacramento History Museum. Don't delay! Get your tour ticket today. #oldsac #oldsacundergroundtours #sachistorymuseum

Theodore Ted Sirlin, a 23-year-old military-trained photographer, opened Sirlin Studios in 1946 in downtown Sacramento. His goal was to capture and reflect t...he beauty, strength, and sensitivity of the subjects he photographed. With cameras and various photographic tools, Sirlin Studios documented it all: school groups, sports teams, local families and weddings, as well as official portraits of city, county, and state representatives. Sirlin and his team of assistants truly captured life in Sacramento. Sirlin passed away in 2009. A year later, his family donated his work to the Center for Sacramento History. The images from the Sirlin Collection are more than mere documentsthey create a collective portrait of our community. (Sirlin Studios Collection, 2010/015/Job #C31227) #sacramentohistory #towerbridge #sirlinstudios #photography

November 6, 1849 On this day in 1849, the steamship Senator began operating between Sacramento City and San Francisco. The steamer, initially, arrived in San Francisco on October 27th from Boston by way around Cape Horn. The Senator arrived in Sacramento City on November 5th and was immediately put into operation. It made its first voyage from Sacramento to San Francisco in 9 hours and set a record for travel. The rates of fare were $25 per person to travel up the river from ...San Francisco and $30 for travel down the river from Sacramento City. Freight per ton was between $40 and $50. In the first year of operation, the steamer netted a profit of $60,000 per month. The 226-foot side-wheeler is considered to be the first commercially successful steamship on the Sacramento River. It was illustrated in numerous lithographs from 1849 through the 1850s. In its early years, the Senator operated as part of the People’s Line before it joined the California Steam Navigation Company in 1854. The Senator, in a variety of capacities, operated in California transporting passengers and goods until it was purchased by the Kamo Coal Company, a New Zealand-based company, in 1882 and was converted into a coal barge. The Senator’s service life ended in 1912 when it was deemed unstable for transportation. View of the Sacramento waterfront in December 1849 by George Victor Cooper showing I, J, and K Streets. In the bottom right corner of the illustration is the Senator. Image courtesy of the Center for Sacramento History. #thisdayinhistory #sacramentohistory #sachistorymuseum

November 4, 1963 On this day in 1963, Macy’s department store opened in downtown Sacramento on the block bounded by K, L, 4th, and 5th Streets. The project began 8 years prior as Macy’s was looking to expand its California division into Sacramento. The three-story department store with a below ground garage was part of the large redevelopment projects in Sacramento’s West End. Macy’s was to be the west anchor of a mall on K Street to span from 3rd to 7th Streets. The 330,000 ...square feet building was designed by architect John S. Bolles of San Francisco. Construction of the Macy’s began in 1962 by the Dinwidde Construction Company and cost 13 million dollars to complete. While that K Street Mall has certainly changed over the years, Macy’s still remains at its same location in the Downtown Commons. Aerial photograph of the construction of Macy’s in 1963. The open area in front of Macy’s is the former location of the Morris Hotel showing brick buttresses against the street and the original level of the city. In the left side of the photo is the 5th Street underpass under construction. Photograph from the James E. Henley Collection, courtesy of the Center for Sacramento History. #thisdayinhistory #onthisday #sachistorymuseum

Our virtual after-school programs are winding up on November 19. Don't let your lids miss out on the fun! Join us for our NEW After-School Programs,Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 3pm. Time Travel Hour! is a one hour after-school program offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3pm to 4pm. Time Travel Hour! provides a combination of history and art to engage and entertain children for an hour at the end of the day. We will provide a list of materials children need for the c...rafts each day. Generally, the materials will be items found in your homes or worksheets that the museum will provide. The cost is $15 per week for Non-Members, and $10 per week for Museum Members. There will be discounts for signing up for multiple weeks. For all 6 weeks the cost is $80 for Non-Members, and $55 for Members. To find out more, go to https://bit.ly/3iLd8FC #timetravel #afterschoolprograms #museumathome #sachistorymuseum

It's time for the answer to yesterday's What-is-it-Wednesday? This ballot box was used in the 1859 California Gubernatorial Election. On September 7th, 1859, voters elected Milton Slocum Latham to be our 6th Governor. Latham has the distinction of serving the shortest amount of time, resigning the job after only five days to fill a vacant position in the U.S. Senate. The prior Senator, David Broderick, had died of wounds sustained in a duel. As a Lecompton Democrat, Milton Latham supported the expansion of slavery in the west. He was defeated in his bid for a second Senate term in 1862 and spent his remaining years as a wealthy banker and railroad financier. #whatisitwednesday #californiahistory #sacramentohistory #sachistorymuseum

Are you a lover of books and want to learn how they are made? Interested in honing a new skill during your time sheltering at home? Join the Sacramento History Museum for the first of many workshops tied into our newest exhibit, California in Print! Bookbinding Bonanza: Pamphlets, Accordions, and More with Nikki Thompson from Deconstructed Artichoke Press will teach you all about one of the crafts behind producing printed media, binding books! This three part series includes... hour-long virtual workshops on November 7, 14, and 21 at 10:00 am. These three online workshops allow you to try something new from the comfort of your own home, and are designed to be taken either individually or in series. Tickets are $30 for museum members and $35 for non-members. Bundle all three classes and save! When purchasing the bundle, all three classes are only $80 for museum members and only $95 for non-members. All supplies are included in the cost of your workshop, and supplies can be picked up from the museum prior to each session. Go to http://sachistorymuseum.org/events/bookbinding-bonanza/ for tickets. #onlineworkshops #bookbinding #museumathome #sachistorymuseum