Reviews of Sacramento History Museum (Museum)

Tic Shooter

Really a lot of information here in regards to the development of Sacramento and California. While here we also booked an underground tour. Kind of pricey at $18.00 a person. We only went under 2 buildings. It's a one time thing worth doing because if you don't, you'll always wonder about what it's about.

Tim White

We did the tunnels under Sacramento tour. So... I've lived in Sacramento more than half of my life and never did this until a couple of weeks ago. The tour guide was informed, informative, friendly and in costume. I learned about the craziest flood in the last 150 years thanks turned the Sacramento and San Juaquin vallies into a giant inland sea/lake. I also saw artifacts from the time period, and heard about how California was a bunch of racists against the Chinese (in particular). Then the tunnels... Sadly, this is more of a Grandma's basement experience than a hard hats with head lamps and tunneling gear experience. But..... It makes sense, I mean they built one floor, then raised the buildings (most of them) with floor jacks, and walled it in with bricks. So, the end result is a basement that happens to be connected to other basements... Now you know. Thanks for reading

Aazhie Ryakes

Only had a brief time to explore but some cool agricultural and historical info. A small section of old Sac Bee printing equipment and lots of nice displays of local artifacts. It's a great to shop around in Old Town and see the museum as well. Took the Sacramento Underground tour, which is good to do at least once if the history interests you.

Terry And Annitta Lambert

Family outing/SACRAMENTO GOLD RUSH exhibits/history of CALIFORNIA...

Kamran Nezami

Spent a couple hours here with my family. Very enjoyable. Interesting exhibits within a good floor plan. I especially enjoyed the canning display, well curated and very informative.

Danielle Dodwell

A small but we'll put together museum. The displays we're interesting and interactive. We did the Underground Tour and would have appreciated more time to walk around and see the displays on the tour. There were several plaques I didn't get to read due to not being given an opportunity to wander around on our own. I would have liked to hear more information on the process of raising the city after the floods.

Paul Barrett

Easy to find ,next door to the Rail Museum this Museum is a lot bigger than it looks from the outside, there is so much here any history buff could spend a couple of hours or more . I learned a lot about California a good place to bring children over 10 . If you are visiting in the summer this is a perfect mid afternoon destination as it has AC.

amber rayne

Kind employees, both the tours the offer and the museum itself are interesting and informative. Parking can be difficult depending on the day, unless you can find a parking garage with spaces. If you park on the edge of the road in old town sac, you may have a difficult time backing out of your parking space, due to other drivers heading down the road.

Kende Bates

Definitely cute way to take you back to "the good old days" but souvenirs shops are super expensive! Good way to kill time and gain some knowledge haha

NebuRzednAnreH

When they say underground tours I thought it was going to be some tunnels in Old Town Sacramento so don't be confused it's only two buildings that have been raised up 15 ft in the air Whoopi

Natilla Dzakpasu

This museum is a must see place! I went in there to cool down because it was so hot that day and there were advertising that they had a nice AC conditions going on inside. Little did I know, there was an admission fees but I decided to pay for entree and stick to learn a little more about the history of Saccramento. Boy oh boy, did I enjoyed the tour. I even learned about how Bank of America came about and it was really amazing. I also learned mining was a big deal here in Sacramento and they found of lot of Gold. Below is a couple of pictures I've taken while I was on my self guided tour

Andrea Harmon

We didn't go into the museum but did the underground tour. The woman that conducted the tour was great and I love that they gave everyone a set of headphones so we could all easily hear the guide. My only complaint is that there wasn't really time to look around at the pictures and stuff underground as we were running out of time and had another tour behind us

Mike Joyce

Great info on old Sacramento. A lot of history. Underground tour was super.

AJ

Nice. Cute. Educational.

Brandon Charles

"This is an amazing place where you find all the cultures at a single place.

Brett Butler

Very nicely layed out. Nice displays.

Imposter 2007

The sacramento history museum is alright, it wasn't horrible, and was actually pretty fun to check out. The normal museum is good if you have the patience to read everything but there are only a couple of interactive attractions that keep you interested. We went on the tour of the underground sacramento, and while the tour was interesting, we were expecting a ghost tour but all we got was a detailed, and of course interesting, explanation of the underground sacramento.

Chad Ring

Love visiting old sacramento. Very knowledgeable people. Great place to learn about Sacramento's history.

Stephen Croff

A little known gem in old Sacramento.

Stanley Giles

I deliver printed products there. Some great folks that staff this location that have a passion for Sacramento history. The "Underground tours" start from this venue, that take a small group of people through the early history of Sacramento. I've been on one..it's awesome!

frida rodriguez

Awesome events!

Svetlana Kijevcanin

Amazing guide; charming and entertaining

Satnam Sodhi

Lovely

Jessica Balderas

Very disappointing. A few main highlights but not with the money. We left after 30 minutes.

Kathryn Lucas

Small but enjoyable. $8 each adult FYI.

Don Powell

Mixture of gold mining history and other cultural and climate events during period.

Ryan Cooper

One of the best historic old towns I've ever seen. Lots of shops, restaurants, candy/ice cream stores. I highly recommend checking this place out!

Christy Briggs

Great information. Loved learning what my hometown looked like when they put in the freeways!

Cecilia Prada

It was nice. Took us about 45 minutes to see everything. They charge 8 dollars but if you have AAA they charge 7.

doyle parker

Had a nice family day at the museum.

Jordan DeCourcey

Good displays in the building but you need to do the tour for the full effect

Casey Rafter

The walking tours are so great and include admission to the museum. I had a lot of fun browsing through the documents and exhibits. I learned a lot about my home town and could have didn't another hour continuing the journey, easily. Would highly recommend if you're from Sacramento, enthusiastic about history, or just wanna check out some cool, musty, semi-ancient archaeological sites. I will be revisiting

Aurora Yanez

Nice , but small for what we paid . I wish it was bigger 20 minutes and done, we went through it twice to make sure we didn't miss anything. Not really worth the time

Heather Yeager

Such an awesome little area with so much to see and do. Great museums and cool shops and places to have a bite to eat all wrapped up in history. It's like stepping back in time but modern as well.

Zin Htway

Nice history museum of Sacramento. Reasonably priced admission

Karina Petrosky

Just so wonderful. I live for American history and this museum did not disappoint. It has so many artifacts and takes you through the early 20th century in Sacramento and even some gold mining aspects! I recommend this museum highly when you’re visiting Sacramento!

Teena Bruzzone

Know your city! Fun tours get you in the know about Sacramento history.

Lulu Zhang

Great space for history lovers! They always look for volunteers, so if you're a history fan and look to connect with fellow history fans, this is the perfect place to volunteer your time and energy! Volunteers can lead educational programs and dress up in historical clothing as part of the living history program. Come check it out! :)

William Shoemaker

It's a great place to learn about the history of Sacramento. I enjoy taking family from out of town to see what it was like in the past.

Hugo Varela

History!! Great place.

Cathy Portner

It's a fun place to visit. Hands on activities friendly staff. Love the historical venue that child can understand. An awesome place to take your family and friends.

Matthew Jeziorski

It could be more user friendly...

Martina Fort

Very nice, kid friendly

Molly Lag

Nice place to visit

Benjamin Osorio

Amazing place to get history tour

Josh Lancaster

Great place, good exhibits. Not too big. Only need about an hour to get through it. The staff is friendly. They have a military discount.

Karyn CREMEENS

Very nicely done and the presentation represents all groups who contributed to the building of the city. Bless the person who thought to put back the trees!

kim brennan

Great museum in a fun party of Sacramento. It has a great layout and really polite helpful staff. I do wish they did more tours or larger groups. Great place to check out then hop across the street and get candy or a bite to eat.

John Lagousis

Nice museum with a lot of Sacramento history!

Paul Tu

Tucked away in the basement on Front St at Old Town Sacramento, this is the one place you can sing until your friends ear drum burst in the privacy of your own room; or, you can hang out on the dance floor near the bar at the front and listen to live DJ. Whatever turns your boat. The rate for the private Karaoke room was reasonable. The room was clean and well kept. The selection of the songs was good but the Karaoke machine interface was a bit complex. Nonetheless, once we figured it out, it was American Idol time..uh, the try-outs portion.

John Yutzy

Very interesting

Vitaliy Daniliuk

Had fun sifting through sand and trying to find gold. Also, inside had a lot of Sacramento history artifacts. They showed printing presses, gold nuggets, old maps, clothes, and food production. Definitely kid friendly and would recommend to come here and learn about local history.

Petra Hernandez

Enjoy a day out with family

22 Trident

Daytime underground tour was interesting but not as extensive as I would have preferred.

Jeff Jones

Really worth a visit. The whole Old Town area is great.

Karen Webb-Pengilly

Awesome museum! Plan an entire day to thoroughly view everything.

Ash

We took the "underground Sacramento tour." If you're expecting a trek through tunnels and catacombs this is not it. If you are expecting to be brought to two basements with a dirt floor, you will be very pleased with this tour. Half of the tour isn't underground. The most exciting part was the mention of a rumored rat-human hybrid that lives under Sacramento. These rumors were immediately dismissed and our hopes of an enjoyable experience were crushed. There was little to no architectural remains of the "underground" part of Sacramento. The tour guide failed to give new information that wasn't already presented in the museum. :(

Maranda Starks

Fun and interesting lots of cool stuff to see

Under the 5th Rib

Nice place, staff a bit rude and rushed us out. Typical gov workers.

Addi Murray

The underground tour was disappointing, and rushed. There is not much underground at all! There was not enough time to look at artifacts in the last building. Cut out some b.s. and give more time in there!

Cathy Cruz

A small museum in "Old Sacremento" provides a trip through time that explains the beginning of the state capital. The gold rush days and importance of river travel are emphasized. A short video is a good way to put the information in perspective. One hour will do it, 2 hours for the history buff!

MICHAEL Mizerak

Did the underground tour it was an hour and a lot of information about the city and the history well worth it and a great museum

Brad Bailey

Big gold nuggets....the real stuff! Nice professional museum. Great. Staff real nice!

Roland Cooke

Fascinating and well-presented museum

RA Hibner

What a wonderful place to learn about our history! Spend at least a day or two in Old Town Sacramento you'll love it.

Ruby Sketchley

A great place to learn about Sacramento's varied, interesting, dangerous, and exciting past and her people.

Jessey Ramos

Learned alot!

Scott Verzi

Lots of info and tours

Doug Alexander

Fun place to start with learning how the gold rush helped form our great state.

Brizeida Aragon

I really liked the different gold exhibits. Uptick $500k work of gold in that museum. They beautiful Native American bead work in one exhibit.

Dawn Bryant

Fabulous place to visit. Great tours and tour guides.

Sapphire Dreams

I love Old Sacramento because I feel like I'm travelling back in time and as a re-enactor myself, I get to wear the kind of dresses that as a child I would have felt like a princess in! Not to mention, the fellow living history members are wonderful to volunteer with.

Max Ruiz

Nice!

Shari Pargett

Lovely museum; well organized and enriching exhibits.

Christopher Baehr

Small museum in the middle of old town. Admission is cheap.

Randall Minghelli

A lot better than I would have thought. Informative. Would have been nicer with some more hands on exhibits.

Dwight Takemoto

I like history. I did the underground tour. I thought it was interesting and informative. It definitely is not for everyone.

Robin Rolles

Pretty cool..

Raphael ramirez

Nice place

Jeffrey Breen

cool to understand Sacramento and its history better but the gold stuff everywhere is pretty gimmicky. Probably could have just done with the underground tour and a documentary. Check out the railroad museum if you're only going to visit one museum

missy herrick

Great tour

Anna Hill

Amazing place to check out

Holly Fong

Underground sac tour starts here. Tour includes admission to museum. Lifelong sacramento resident, never heard of tour until out of town friends suggested it. Really interesting facts about sac, some archeological excavations on original level of Sacramento. Museum is small but nice; mostly gold rush stuff . Totally worth the $18 ticket price.

Annette Webster

Wish I had more time to look atounf. Took the "underground" tour with Mr. B.F.Hastings. Very informative, enjoyable.

Michael O'Neill

Very nice display

Martin Bunker

Honestly not much to it. The underground tour was pretty disappointing. Just a couple of rooms. The history itself is interesting however

Kain Mosher

This was my first time here and the staff at the front desk suggested a route through the lower and upper floors. Nice variety of exhibits and videos covering Sacramento history. The collection of old Sacramento Bee printing presses, period clothing, stage coach, saddle, tractor, gold sluice and other equipment is impressive. This is a great place to bring a family.

Antonio Chian Wong

Very poor museum, almost a kiosk in the capital of the state. Not worth the money you pay for it. It could have displayed more historical details, the rich Mexican past, the native tribes of California and more. They missed the point.

Rhonda Boggan

Wow! Great tours! The history is one to learn and the walking tour is breathtaking! Took about 600 pictures and I still look at them. My co-worker and I took this tour after work hours and were able to visit so many areas of the museum.

Crystalyn Denny

Great historical data saved in this museum!

Daniel Jacobson

Took the underground tunnel tour. Very informative with an entertaining story.

laura janis

Great take

Chris Gabel

Takes about 45 min to an hour to go through. Good historical education on the gold rush and california

Dave Kessler

A nerdist's paradise. Took the underground tour and it was pretty fun. Old Sac is a neat place to spend an afternoon

Victoria Bayerl

Great tour

Henry Romo

Great place to take your family, the history of Sacramento...

2d Hoople

Lots of stuff to do and see. Really gets into the history of the railroad.

yashwant prasad

Inexpensive and worthwhile for day with family.

Nuchanach Sirin

Very well maintained, educational.

Lindsey Edwards

Started loving history as I got older. Recommend.

Alex Perez

Great Native American Exhibit!

Jason C

Great history museum that provides a wonderful location for scholars to study. Located right near the River and Historic Sacramento, as well as the Railroad museum. Very neat interactive displays to allow kids to see what it was like to pan for gold located out front.

david taylor

Nice place to go see

Tracy R.

I just had my Son's birthday party here and it was a great experience. Very attentive and helpful staff and volunteers. Amazing price for the whole experience and the exhibits are a perfect mix of adult content and kid activities.

John French

Its not a big museum, but they have a pretty awesome underground tour I would recommend and you can easily kill an hour or two wandering around the museum and looking at the exhibits

Ryan Lake

Nice place for the family!

May West

This is a fun place to visit.

Darrell Hall

This is an awesome place to learn all about Sacramento from founding up to present day.

Alaina Kilgo

The Underground Tour was very imformative!!The museum has some very interesting exhibits!

Tammy Lachey

A must stop if you love learning!The museum is beautiful and all the exhibits were well thought out.The tours are really fun and is truly such a great experience.

Tangier Barrett

Needs more women

Alex Perkins

Sign up for the underground tours! Really cool to see part of the past many don't know!

Steve Gardner

The Delta King is worth the money for the experience, but not as luxurious as you may be expecting. The town is very nice and there are quaint shops to be found, but most are junk and trinkets. If you're a train fan the roundhouse and museum are a must. All in all it was a good visit and I'm glad I went. I'm also glad I didn't try to fill more than 2 days as that was all I could occupy with the areas offerings.

Cheryl Craft

Lots to learn

Alexandr Komarov

What a great history piece of Sacramento

Camille Lonigan

Gold fever tour was interesting and fun good for kids

Patti Jordan

Last minute decision to visit the museum so unfortunately missed out on the underground tour. However this museum is very interesting and gave us a really good background history to such a beautiful place. We spent about 2 hours wandering the museum. Lots to see and read about. The short video is worth watching. The museum has a small gift shop also. Entrance price $8 for adults.

Julie Dennis

The way we were treated.

Ryan Walton

This museum is very informative about Sacramento. It has a few things to keep kids occupied and many things to read, and view.

Leroy White

"This is an amazing place where you find all the cultures at a single place. This a huge diversity place."This is a great to know about different story, as well as different cultures from all over the world.

Jonathan Modrow

Fun time with the kids as an alternative to the Railroad Museum. Accepts North American Reciprocal Memberships as well. So your California Museum membership worked here. Very clean and well curated.

regina stone

Very nice.

Duane Jamieson

The museum has so much in itself. It is one of the best places for family outings as well as to take kids along. The place in itself is a knowledge hub and the various exhibits depict a lot about the history. Great place for everyone.

Joshua Olson

I enjoyed a haunted tour here around Halloween. The quality varied between actors and skits but it was a fun experience.

Daniel G

The museum provides a glimpse into the past of Sacramento. You can learn about everything from the gold mining to the fire that destroyed the city to everyday life. There are great historical and hands on exhibits.

Sybil Morgan

Didn't do the tour but walking around by ourselves it was a fairly short museum. Though it was worth the trip! Handicap accessible.

Carol Johansen

Great exhibits

William Ferguson

Great local history. Children enjoyed underground tour. Kids loved the hands on art stations.

ISO Awesome

Always a great place to visot

S W

Great history there, we just didn't have enough time to see everything, so I can't give 5 stars. I love the gold panning they offered our kids.

David Addington

Some cool history

Tobias W

What a gem! A fun place to take the kids, teens, or visitors from out of town. I work for a Senior care facility and we visited the museum for one of our outings. Our residents had a great time. We ate lunch outside on the benches near the building and the walkway wasn't difficult to traverse. We'll return in the near future.

Stephen Bermudez

Interesting museum but the flow of the inside was a little confusing and not seamless. The guided tours fill up fast and early.

Khalil Bocock

After visiting the rail museum we debated as to whether we should pay to see this further relatively small museum close by. I'm really glad we decided to do it. The gold rush history and the development of Sacramento is very interesting to read. However the highlight for us was the emotional section dedicated to May Woolsey, a child who died before teenage years and whose parents sealed 600 items of her possessions in a trunk which was only discovered 100 years later. Very moving and worth the entrance fee alone.

Lynette Meeks

As a Sacramento native hard to believe it took a field trip with my son for my first visit. Very informative & interesting. They have many tours so they do have to keep on schedule. Was cool to see areas of Old Sac that you have walked by not knowing that there are discovered relics behind doors. Will be back with a trip with the family.

Russell Penn

Samll museum but nice. We also did the Old Sacramento underground tour which was fun.

karen weske

It was very interesting, well worth the 18.00. Our tour guide was very informed and made the tour interesting

carrie watson

Love coming down and visiting Old Sacramento. Love all the history, old trains, & unique shops.

Rich McCartney

An enjoyable local museum staffed by friendly folks. Free entry for military.

Jacob Ira Anderson

Quite interesting. Did the guided tour and that was fun too.

Brandon Raich

It is a small museum but well put together. It gives a good sense of what life in Sacramento was like in the old days and several displays tell of the life of prominent individuals. While I was there the first time they had an interesting reenactor give a lengthy presentation on the history of the early Sacramento Printing industry, especially the Sacramento Bee. He gave demonstrations on how the printing process worked and showed how the presses (some of which are the original presses from the Sacramento Bee) operated. The second time I went I got to see the ghost tour. While not as grand or spooky was I had imagined in my head, it was still a fun and informative experience in which the lives, and often tragic ends, of historic residents were brought to life by a small army of volunteers. Overall I'd recommend the museum to anyone Visiting Old Town Sacramento. Don't expect anything too grandiose, after all, it is a small museum with a small budget but they manage to do a lot with what they have and will teach you a lot about the history of our city.

HEATHER W

Had a great tour today! Thank you! Underground is amazing!

GARY Smith

Excellent museum. The underground tour was amazing.

Angel Perez

It was interesting seeing all the pictures and listening to the historical events that happened but the staff was very rude. I wanted to see more of the museum it look very well put together. We were all rushed out so fast the kids barely had time to look at everything. When the kids did the panning for gold there was an older woman and man who were very mean towards the kids rushing them to hurry. There was a rude woman who stood at the door and said we had to wait to go into the gift shop which was fine I understood it was full but when the kids raised their hands she yelled "put your hands down and go wait". She was even saying how she had to constantly watch the door and kept complaining about it due to all the other people coming in as well. The staff barely knew how to add up all the items in the gift shop on the computer and don't offer receipts while they made several mistakes. This was supposed to be an educational fun event for the kids and they did the complete opposite. It's sad because it looks like a cool place for kids to learn about history but with staff like that makes you want to learn history online.

Robin Parker

Awesome! Really, really enjoyed the horse carriage ride and our driver Jessica. The ride to the Capitol was worth every dime. Looking forward to doing it again next year!

Jason Reis

Surprisingly enjoyable. Great gold display. Wish there was a discount when also visit the rr museum

Anthony Workman

A great collection of local Sacramento history. Well worth the $8 admission

D Irons

I wanted to take my grandmother to a museum and this was one she was really interested, but she is wheelchair bound and the steep dirt slope leading up to it made it impossible for her to get in by herself, some parts of the museum are only accessible by stairs (though those parts were closed the day we went), and the doors in front of the elevator are heavy and have to be held open. The exhibits themselves were fine and enjoyable.

David Bond

This was my first time here and the staff at the front desk suggested a route through the lower and upper floors. Nice variety of exhibits and videos covering Sacramento history. The collection of old Sacramento Bee printing presses, period clothing, stage coach, saddle, tractor, gold sluice and other equipment is impressive. This is a great place to bring a family.

Raisa Godunova

The museum well documents the history of the city from its beginnings as a gold town and the lives of those who lived at that time. The story of the indigenous people of the area was very sad as it is everywhere in this country. The town has tunnels under the town which you can visit during tourist season.

Jon Wrysinski

Great place, terrific docents.

Dennis Amaral

Awesome

Jose Marquez

Great place to look up some history of california

Noe Marron

Vacation time

lonnie brazda

What a wonderful experience and a pleasure.

Jan Chimera

Convenient loation next to train museum. Has interesting artifacts and photos.

Philip Cardella

The museum itself is fine and displays I think half a million in gold. The underground tour gets it an extra star by itself. Totally worth it to take the one hour tour and learn about a flood that destroyed much of Oregon, California, Nevada, and Idaho and prompted Sacramento to move a river and raise buildings by up to twenty feet.

SB

We took the underground tour just recently and it was pretty interesting to learn about Sacramento's early days. Tour guide was super fun, too.