Collections

The Photograph Collection

Consisting of over 2000 images and growing, the Photograph Collection illustrates life in Sacramento from the 19th to the 21st centuries. Early photos include scenes of a flooded downtown Sacramento taken in 1861, the Electric Carnival in 1895, street scenes with their horse-drawn conveyances, and pedestrians dressed in the fashions of the day. More recent images include shopping malls, downtown buildings, and more pedestrians.

In 1960, large portions of downtown Sacramento were razed to make way for the Interstate 5 freeway. The community's skid row (its streets, buildings, and people) was immortalized in a series of photographs depicting the neighborhood as it was then. Today, over 40 years later, it is hard to believe that restored and rebuilt Old Sacramento was once one of the city's most infamous neighborhoods.