Center for Sacramento History

Center for Sacramento History CSH is a research and collections center that preserves local archives and artifacts and makes them accessible to the public.

We are open by appointment only for research needs. Sorry, we cannot accommodate walk-in visitors. Disclaimer: This account is intended to be a limited forum for communication and discussion between the City of Sacramento and members of the public about specific topics. The City of Sacramento reserves the right to remove inappropriate comments including those comments that are not topically relate

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Russian high-jumper Alexander Zhurba was a natural with a football, as seen in this Bee photo from July 25, 1972. Zhurba...
09/03/2026

Russian high-jumper Alexander Zhurba was a natural with a football, as seen in this Bee photo from July 25, 1972. Zhurba was in Sacramento that summer for a two-day junior track meet on July 28 and 29. Despite temperatures nearing 100 degrees at Hughes Stadium on the campus of Sacramento City College, the Russian athletes turned in an impressive performance, finishing first and second in every event.

(Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/SBPM16376)

Yes, we have a cannon. Actually, it’s a shorter relative called a carronade. Long rumored to have originated at Sutter’s...
09/02/2026

Yes, we have a cannon. Actually, it’s a shorter relative called a carronade. Long rumored to have originated at Sutter’s Fort, our carronade was once owned by the Sacramento Pioneer Association and had been rediscovered in the basement of Pioneer Hall by member Mead Kibbey in the 1960s.

While it was in their possession, Pioneer Association members fired it at least twice. The weapon is seen here smoking after a 1967 celebratory firing in honor of the opening of the new Sacramento City-County Museum in Pioneer Hall on 7th Street. Unfortunately, the firing was unsuccessful, resulting in the cannon being referred to as “Old Poop-Out” in the Sacramento Bee. Event staff claimed the cannon had too much champagne at a reception the previous evening, but the rain was likely to blame. It was indeed a “fizzle in the drizzle.”

Where is the carronade now? After being on exhibit for many years, Old Poop-Out is tucked away in storage, safe from gun powder-toting Sacramentans.

(Old Poop-Out in storage, 1978/016/019; being pushed into firing position, with museum director Jim Henley at center, 1967, 1998/722/1589; smoking after a firing attempt, 1967, 1998/722/1590)

“What’s the best way to handle a hot issue?” With a potholder. Get it?These potholders went out to Sacramentans courtesy...
09/01/2026

“What’s the best way to handle a hot issue?” With a potholder. Get it?

These potholders went out to Sacramentans courtesy of City Councilmember Milton McGhee’s reelection campaign in 1969, accompanied by a letter from his wife, Jean.

McGhee was Sacramento’s first Black city councilmember, elected in 1967. He served through 1971 and was vice mayor during his last year on council. He ran for mayor in 1971 but lost to Richard Marriott. McGhee was also a lawyer and for a time practiced with Nathaniel Colley before forming his own law firm. He also served as president of the Sacramento Chapter of the NAACP. Despite being a champion for the Black community, he had a problem with money and was accused of mishandling funds many times, and convicted twice.

In 1978, Governor Jerry Brown nominated McGhee to the 3rd District Court of Appeal, but withdrew the nomination when McGhee was accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from his legal clients. He was convicted in 1983 after what was then the longest criminal trial in Sacramento and served four years in prison. McGhee was convicted of grand theft in 1992 for falsifying a large check. He died in 2018 at age 86.

(Dan Visnich collection, MS0180)

El Camino High School's student-led radio station, KYDS (91.5 FM), began broadcasting in the late 1970s. By 1984, it was...
08/31/2026

El Camino High School's student-led radio station, KYDS (91.5 FM), began broadcasting in the late 1970s. By 1984, it was sharing its frequency during non-operating hours with Sacramento Community Radio (SCR), a volunteer-run non-profit organization formed in October 1983 with the goal to help Sacramentans learn about their community and discover educational opportunities. SCR’s programming included international and local news, a community calendar, poetry readings, legal assistance, and a wide range of music.

Sitting behind the controls here in 1985 is George Charpied, who worked as SCR station manager, DJ, and interviewer. SCR, then headquartered in the Sierra II complex, had cut ties with KYDS that year and was attempting to secure KXPR’s former frequency at 88.9 FM. Charpied spoke to Suttertown News for an article about SCR’s process of applying to the FCC for a license to construct their own tower and broadcast at the frequency left by KXPR. But as a non-profit, SCR faced funding problems. Later that year, a benefit concert was held in the Sierra II building with bands including the Nate Shiner Band, Think Tank, and Maggie White and the Shadows.

KYDS continues to be maintained by El Camino High School as a student radio.

(Photo taken by Joseph Abril for the January 3-10, 1985, issue. Suttertown News newspapers and photo morgue, 1995/026/1384)

The sweeping, eight-lane Interstate 5 Freeway takes shape alongside the Sacramento River in this aerial photo by Leo Nei...
08/27/2026

The sweeping, eight-lane Interstate 5 Freeway takes shape alongside the Sacramento River in this aerial photo by Leo Neibaur for the Sacramento Bee, taken December 1, 1969. The 1.3-mile section south of K Street was reported to have cost approximately $16.2 million and was projected to be completed by fall 1970.

(Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/SBPM06899)

Food and drink have no place in a building filled with paper records. But if the container tells a Sacramento story, we’...
08/26/2026

Food and drink have no place in a building filled with paper records. But if the container tells a Sacramento story, we’ll make sure it’s clean and empty before adding it to our collections. Here we have a can of condensed chicken soup with Toy Story character-shaped noodles. This tasty meal was canned at the Sacramento Campbell's Soup plant on the last date of production on the line, January 31, 2013. We like the can, but not the contents. Food storage containers can expand over time as the product degrades, increasing the risk of leakage and threat to neighboring objects in storage. Food products also attract pests, and we certainly don’t need bugs or vermin in the vault! How did we empty our Campbell’s soup and keep the look of an unopened can? After protecting the label from potential splash back, we punched a hole in the bottom and drained the contents. Voila!

(Campbell Soup Company Plant records, MS0035, 2014/030/001)

The elaborate Italianate Crocker mansion at 3rd and O streets has seen some things. For about 70 years, it looked like t...
08/25/2026

The elaborate Italianate Crocker mansion at 3rd and O streets has seen some things. For about 70 years, it looked like this (seen in the 1970s). Same building, just stripped of all its character and details, and plastered over. Yet, now it looks like an elaborate Italianate mansion. What happened?

In 1868, E. B. and Margaret Crocker purchased what was a rather plain 1850s house at 3rd and O streets and added Italianate details to the facade, including verandas with arched arcades, decorative window framing and woodwork, and a more stylized roof, as can be seen in the drawing from Thompson and West’s 1880 “History of Sacramento County.” The Crockers then built the Crocker Art Gallery to the west of the house in 1873. E. B. Crocker died in 1875 and Margaret gifted the art gallery to the city in 1885. In 1900, after deciding to leave Sacramento, Margaret deeded the house to the Peniel Mission as a home for u***d mothers and destitute women.

After the mission moved in 1912, E. B. and Margaret’s daughter Jennie Crocker Fassett purchased the house and then sold it to the city under the condition that they would remodel it and turn it into an annex of the art gallery building. The house remained vacant for several years and fell victim to vandalism, theft, and damage and was in serious disrepair by 1921 when the city finally began work on turning it into the art gallery's annex. In the process, the city stripped all of the Italianate details from the facade, removed the verandas and decorative woodwork, bricked over many windows and doors, and plastered over the entire facade, creating a plain, nearly unrecognizable version of the building.

In 1970, the annex was closed due to its being structurally unsound, and in 1978, it was considered for demolition. Ultimately, it was decided that the building could be restored, and that is what we see today (final photo, from Google Maps). Same 1850s building, but with decorative details added back to make it look like the original Crocker house of the 1860s. The restoration was completed in 1989.

(Photographs from the Historic Environment Consultants collection, MS0065)

08/24/2026

Mark your calendars! Save the date for this year's Sacramento Archives Crawl — our 16th annual, happening Saturday, October 17, from 10am to 4pm. This free, public event is one you won't want to miss. Stay tuned for details on exhibits and programs!

By the time this photograph of Chan Elliot Gallery owner Mokit Chan was taken in January 1985, her gallery at 727 ½ J St...
08/24/2026

By the time this photograph of Chan Elliot Gallery owner Mokit Chan was taken in January 1985, her gallery at 727 ½ J Street had gone through four directors since its opening in 1981 as Alta Galleries. After first director Merrill Grove, the gallery was under the direction of Robert DiFranco, then John King, and finally its last director, Karlo Djurovich, a tapestry artist from Yugoslavia. The almost 4,000 square feet of exhibition space hosted several artists and staged an exhibit called the Cowtown Show for many years beginning in 1982. The Cowtown Show featured works by over 50 artists, including William Allan, Joseph Raffael, and William T. Wiley. A January 18, 1985, Sacramento Bee article reports that the purpose of the show and its tongue-in-cheek title was “to make evident the real depth and scope of the area’s artistic community.”

In February of 1985, Djurovich and Chan Elliot Gallery’s curator, Mark Orewyler, purchased the gallery from Chan and renamed it the Djurovich Gallery. It closed a few years later, after Djurovich and Orewyler pleaded no contest to embezzlement charges related to operations in 1989.

(Photo taken by Joseph Abril for the January 10-17, 1985, issue. Suttertown News newspapers and photo morgue, 1995/026/2028)

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