Donate to Big Day of Giving and make twice the impact. Matching Gifts from the James and Susan McClatchy Fund and the Sacramento History Alliance Board of Directors will DOUBLE your donation! When you donate you help fund education scholarships for schools that need assistance and enable students to learn about the impacts of the California Gold Rush.

Help us bring Sacramento’s stories to life!

The Sacramento History Museum celebrates the season with a fun, free, and family-friendly Old Sacramento Spring Festival on Sunday, April 27 11:00  – 3:00 pm, outside the Sacramento History Museum. Join us in a celebration of spring and the Camellia Capitol… Sacramento.

In proud partnership with the Sacramento History Museum, the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians is excited to present Mómti Market, Saturday, May 3rd, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free and family-friendly, the market will take place in the Museum in Old Sacramento and be filled with artisan-made goods crafted by talented California Native artists offering items for purchase such as jewelry, baskets, cultural art and graphic art.

The first camellia seeds were brought to Sacramento in 1852 and in an unusual series of events through the turn of the 20^th century the city of Sacramento became the Camellia Capital of the World.

Discover the lost traditions of the annual Camellia Festival and learn how the camellia flower is still an important part of Sacramento’s culture. Enjoy this exhibit from April 4-May 26, 2025. It is included with regular admission to the museum.

We’ll see the struggles the Chinese people endured during the late 1800s through the mid 1900s and how they overcame adversity. The exhibit, extended, focuses on the city of Locke; a town built by Chinese Americans for Chinese Americans.

Spend a night on the new town with a shady character from the past, who’ll show you around to the saloons, gaming halls, theaters and houses of ill-fame – places you can only see in the twilight. Meet swindlers, soiled doves and sneaky speculators! Hear all the gossip on murders of passion, political intrigue, and the century’s most notorious woman!

April is a terrific time to take an Underground Tour!  Come see and learn how Sacramento lifted itself up out of the flood waters during the 1860s and 1870s!

Go Underground seven days a week. (Times are listed on the right) Your tour ticket includes museum admission! Tours run rain or shine.

Do you wonder if Old Sacramento is haunted? Find out as we present Old Sac Paranormal Investigations. Our guides will take you through historic buildings and spooky spots, not regularly open to the public, where you will hear the unsettling history of what happened there. Do the spirits of the past still linger in the present?

When you become a member or renew your membership, you will enjoy free admission to the Sacramento History Museum, plus discounts in the Museum Store, tours, and special events. By joining, you’ll support our education programs and help bring our stories to those who cannot visit us through our scholarship program. 

In partnership with the Girl Scouts Heart of Central California, we are offering discounted admission from June 19 – 21, 2025 for Troop Leaders, and Families of Girl Scouts for our Bridging Events. Click arrow to the right for more information.

The Sacramento History Museum has developed a Badge-in-a-Day program in partnership with the Girl Scouts Heart of Central California! We will host a program for Junior Badges – Playing the Past  (Full Badge) on June 28, 2025, and Junior Badge – Detective (partial badge) on September 20, 2025.