California State Capitol Museum & California State Capitol
Howdy!
My recent visit to the California State Capitol Museum and the other Capitol-related sites in the vicinity was the capstone to my 2026 trip to Sacramento. All of these are free to visit, though you will likely need to pay for downtown parking.
Here is my collection of Northern California posts:
F1: San Francisco (SFO) & San Jose (SJC) Airports
F4: California State Capitol Museum & California State Capitol (this post)
This is my lengthy backlog of NorCal posts, mostly covering 2024 - 2025:
- Winchester Mystery House
- Triton Museum of Art
- San Jose History Park
- San Jose Museum of Art
- California Academy of Sciences
- Blue & Gold Fleet SF Bay Cruise
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
- Legion of Honor
- de Young Museum
- San Francisco Zoo & Gardens
- Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
- Oakland Zoo
- CuriOdyssey
- Happy Hollow Park & Zoo
- Asian Art Museum
- Marine Mammal Center
- Sacramento Zoo (2025)
- California State Railroad Museum
All of the pictures in this post were taken by me except for the interior map of the Capitol building and the accompanying legend. If you want to use any of my photos, please contact me to first obtain permission.
CALIFORNIA STATE CAPITOL MUSEUM
1315 10th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Website: https://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/
Hours:
Monday - Friday: 9 AM - 5 PM. However, some of the museum exhibits seem to close around 4 PM and the gift shop closes at 4:30 PM.
Closed on Saturday & Sunday.
Cost (as of 2026): FREE!
You will likely have to pay for downtown parking. On SpotHero I paid $7 for 3 hours at the Masonic Temple Lot, which was about a 10 minute walk north. Since I spent extra time at Sacramento Zoo, I only ended up using 2 of the 3 parking hours.
Estimated Time: 30 - 60 minutes.
The museum area is on the 1st floor and is relatively small. I spent about 30 minutes going through it all. I spent another hour thoroughly exploring the rest of the Capitol building and then 30 minutes wandering around the surrounding area (war memorials, cathedral, Masonic temple).
SUMMARY
While the California State Capitol Museum is free, it is extremely underwhelming. In fact, I'd hardly call it a museum. There are 6 historic rooms to observe and then a rotating exhibit split between the library and the archives. I was able to see the portion in the library but I missed the archives portion because it closed early. However, I was able to see what I missed via the virtual tour available on the website.
As a museum, I would rate it as 1 star because there's barely any content and despite being free it's really not worth visiting just to see a handful of rooms.
However, if you lump this together with a broader visit to the capitol, including watching the Assembly and Senate for civic education, admiring the architecture of the capitol building and rotunda, and paying respects at the nearby memorials, then it might make for an overall 2 star experience which is free (other than parking). If you time it right, you might even be able to visit the nearby Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament or the Masonic Temple.
In comparison to other museums:
5 stars:
- Field Museum (Chicago, IL)
- Castello Sforzesco (Milan, Italy)
4 stars:
- The Ringling (Sarasota, FL)
- Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago, IL)
- Museum d'Histoire Naturelle (Nice, France) (2 stars without the Lego special exhibit)
- Musée Masséna (Nice, France)
- Galata Museo del Mare (Genoa, Italy)
- Museo del Duomo (Milan, Italy)
- CDC Museum (Atlanta, GA, Free)
- Mardi Gras World (New Orleans, LA)
- World War 2 Museum (New Orleans, LA)
3 stars:
- Chicago Fed Money Museum (Chicago, IL, Free)
- Medieval Torture Museum (Chicago, IL)
- Musée d'Archéologie de Nice-Cimiez (Nice, France)
- Civico Museo Archeologico (Milan, Italy)
- Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci (Milan, Italy)
- Museo di Storia Naturale (Milan, Italy)
- California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco, CA)
- Michael C Carlos Museum (Atlanta, GA)
- Center for Puppetry Arts (Atlanta, GA)
- World of Coca-Cola (Atlanta, GA)
- Fernbank Museum of Natural History (Atlanta, GA)
2 stars:
- Musée d'Archéologie d'Antibes (Antibes, France)
- Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria (Genoa, Italy)
- Museo del Tesoro di San Lorenzo (Genoa, Italy)
- Museo Biblioteca dell'Attore (Genoa, Italy, Free)
- Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium (Indianapolis, IN)
- San Jose History Park (San Jose, CA, Free)
- Museum of Illusions (Atlanta, GA)
- Atlanta History Center (Atlanta, GA)
- New Bedford Whaling Museum (New Bedford, MA)
- Museum of Science (Boston, MA)
- Cape Cod Maritime Museum (Hyannis, MA)
- Cape Cod Museum of Natural History (Brewster, MA)
- French Cable Museum (Orleans, MA, Free)
- Pilgrim Monument and Museum (Provincetown, MA)
1 star:
- National Center for Civil and Human Rights (Atlanta, GA)
- Attleboro Industrial Museum (Attleboro, MA, Free)
- Whydah Pirate Museum (West Yarmouth, MA)
- California State Capitol Museum (Sacramento, CA, Free)
EXTERIOR
Here is the exterior of the capitol building.
This is one of the side entrances (the North Capitol Public Entrance). You enter here (or on the other side at the South Capitol Public Entrance) and pass through some metal detectors.
HISTORIC ROOMS
The "museum" consists of a handful of historic rooms along with a rotating special exhibit ("Lasting Impressions - Early Photography in California" on my visit).
Governor's Anteroom
March 1906
Governor's Main Office
1906
This is the Governor's Main Office as it appeared in 1906. Governor George C. Pardee used this office and two others. He did much of his work in the Governor's Private Office, visible through the doorway on the right, and received visitors in the anteroom to the left. By 1906, state government was expanding and a remodeling of the Capitol had begun. This work had barely started when on April 18, 1906, the Great Earthquake and Fire struck San Francisco. California's most powerful earthquake killed over 3,500 people and caused approximately 1 billion dollars in property damage. Relief efforts were coordinated through the Governor's Main Office. The continual threat of earthquakes led the State to undertake a restoration of the State Capitol building from 1975 to 1982. The restoration made the structure earthquake safe, while recreating the Capitol's architectural beauty.
Governor's Private Office
July 1906
Secretary of State's Office
November 1902
The Secretary of State's Main Office is a recreation of the staff office as it appeared at the time of the 1902 November election. The Secretary of State was responsible for the proper conduct of elections and completion of the resulting vote. Besides election duties, the Secretary of State enforced election laws regarding campaign contributions and expenditures, acted as the chief recording officer and archivist of California, filed Articles of Incorporation and trademarks, maintained the Capitol, and handled automobile registrations and driver's licenses. The Secretary of State had the largest staff in the Capitol, with fifty male and two female employees, because of all of these responsibilities. In 1911, the maintenance of the Capitol became the responsibility of a newly created position, the Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds. Today, the Secretary of State is also the chief of Notaries Public, registrar of lobbyists, and keeper of the Great Seal of the State of California.
State Treasurer's Office
1906
The room to the left recreates the 1906 California State Treasurer's Office. The State Treasurer served essentially both as the guardian and cashier of the State's money. In 1905, the Treasurer's vault held over $8,000,000 in gold and silver coin. It was not until the 1907 California Bank Act that the Treasurer was allowed to invest state revenues in outside banks.
State Treasurer's Office
1933
The 1933 Treasurer's Office (to the right) illustrates how much California government had changed in fewer than thirty years. The new 1929 Treasurer's vault had a much different look from the original 1876 vault, both inside and out. By 1930, the new vault contained mostly bonds and securities and only $23,000 in cash. Today, investments made by the State Treasurer provide California government with a substantial part of its income.
LIBRARY EXHIBIT ROOM
Deardorff Precision
Enlarging, Reducing, and Copying Camera (ERC)
L.F. Deardorff & Sons, c. 1950 - 1960
When creating their mammoth plate views, early photographers like Carleton Watkins (1829 - 1916) and Eadweard Muybridge (1830 - 1904) would have traveled with cameras similar in size to this one. While this particular camera can produce 17" x 17" images, some of Watkins' scenic photographs measured 18" x 22" - requiring a camera even larger than this example. Though notoriously difficult to transport, large-format cameras promised impressive detail and clarity, perfect for photographing scenic California landscapes.
This camera was formerly used by the California Department of Water Resources. It was manufactured by L.F. Deardorff & Sons, an Illinois company that produced many portrait and field cameras. This model is an Enlarging, Reducing, and Copying Camera - or ERC - that could duplicate existing photographs by taking a picture of a picture. ERCs were usually made-to-order, and surviving examples are rare.
The earliest daguerreotypes were very expensive - usually around $5.00, or approximately $164.00 today. Luxurious studios might feature props for subjects, like books and flowers, while galleries were decorated with sitting-room furniture and velvet curtains. By the 1850s, some daguerreotypists were practicing their craft on the road using mobile studios.
Unlike older formats, some glass plate photographs could be duplicated using their negatives. One popular method to make copies was the albumen printing process, which utilized egg whites. Prints could be enhanced with charcoal, pencil, or paint.
Glass plate photographs helped to establish photography as one of the primary ways we document history and communicate information. Images like these chronicled important local events.
Tintype portraits like these were an affordable way to keep friends and family close. More durable than other formats, tintype portraits could be kept in a pocket. They were often given as gifts and represented important milestones or relationships.
Photographic prints and tintypes were sometimes incorporated into documents like family records or marriage licenses.
CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATURE IN SESSION
Here is the State Assembly, which consists of 80 members.
Members of the public are welcome to watch, listen, and take pictures. However, they are not permitted to speak or make noise and need to silence their phones. There were over a dozen spectators watching.
These displays in the first floor rotunda show all of the State Assembly members.
Here is the State Senate, which consists of 40 members.
While the State Assembly had over a dozen spectators, I was the only person watching the State Senate besides two security guards. They seemed stricter on the rules - not permitting visitors to stand or walk about. Outside the gallery I asked a guard why the State Assembly was popular and the State Senate was so empty. He said that people don't always realize that there are two sides to the Capitol building. It does vary though which one has more attendance.
These are some screens on the first floor showing how the various State Senators have voted.
FOURTH FLOOR
Assembly hearing rooms
Presented to the Honorable John A. Perez, Speaker of the Assembly as a Gift to the People of California
by the Honorable Hovik Abrahamyan, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
Bird singers depicted in the painting represent intertribal singers whose ancestral lands lie within California. They have preserved the tribal cultural practices of song and prayer exercise by California Native Americans and passed down for generations since time immemorial.
THIRD FLOOR
Includes the Senate Assembly gallery and Senate Senate gallery seen in the CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATURE IN SESSION section.
When I first entered the capitol building and was told the galleries were on the third floor, I thought they were referring to museum galleries or art galleries. But no, it was in reference to the balconies from where one could observe the legislative process!
Official portrait of Arnold Schwarzenegger the 38th Governor of California (2003 - 2011) and the first foreign-born governor of California since Irish-born Governor John G. Downey in 1862.
Note that official portraits are only commissioned after a governor's term of office has ended. Thus there is no official portrait yet for the current governor, Gavin Newsom.
Scenic painting
Staircase
SECOND FLOOR
Rotunda
These were mainly lobbyists waiting for the session to end so they could approach the Assembly members. There was a list of Assembly members who specifically would not take notes or cards from lobbyists!
Hallway
Light fixture
FIRST FLOOR
Rotunda
Floor mosaic
Elevator
Staircases
LOWER LEVEL
Eureka Room
Rotunda
Statue of Ronald Reagan
40th President of the United States (1981 - 1989)
33rd Governor of California (1967 - 1975)
Hallway
Staircase
GIFT SHOP
Capitol Books and Gifts
https://ddso.org/capitolbooksandgifts/
California really likes their banana slugs!
The banana Slug (Ariolimax) was officially designated as the California State Slug in September 2024 by Governor Gavin Newsom.
Banana slugs are one of the largest terrestrial slugs in the world, reaching lengths of 6 - 10 inches (15 - 25 cm). They get their name from their bright yellow color, which resembles a ripe banana, though they can also be greenish, brown, or white.
Banana Slug Plush
$11.95
https://ddso.org/shop/banana-slug-plush/
Banana Slug Palm Pal
$8.95
https://ddso.org/shop/banana-slug-palm-pal/
Banana Slug Fidget Keychain
$6.00
https://ddso.org/shop/banana-slug-fidget-keychain/
Banana Slug Building Blocks
$13.95
https://ddso.org/shop/banana-slug-building-blocks/
Banana Slug Headband
$9.95
https://ddso.org/shop/banana-slug-headband/
Assorted plushes
Bear with Denim Jacket
$23.95
https://ddso.org/shop/black-bear-w-cap-jean-jacket/
California Bear Beanie
$21.95
https://ddso.org/shop/3d-bear-beanie/
Coffee Bear Pen
California Rescue Cats Tea Towel
$14.95
https://ddso.org/shop/ca-rescue-3-love-cats-tea-towe/
California Wild Poppy Tea Towel
$10.95
https://ddso.org/shop/wild-poppy-tea-towel/
California Symbols Tea Towel
$15.95
https://ddso.org/shop/ca-state-symbols-tea-towel/
Ski Bear Tea Towel
$12.95
https://ddso.org/shop/ca-ski-bear-rabbit-tea-towel/
Little Critterz California Dogface Butterfly and Poppy Figurine
California State Butterfly
$8.95
https://ddso.org/shop/butterfly-poppy/
Little Critterz Augustynolophus Morrisi Figurine
California State Dinosaur
$8.95
https://ddso.org/shop/ca-dinosaur/
I bought the Little Critterz California Dogface Butterfly & Augustynolophus Morrisi figurines. They are so specific to California that I was unlikely to find them in any other gift stores. Furthermore, I asked the gift shop employee if they had any other Little Critterz. Apparently they hadn't been selling well and the gift shop was trying to unload the remaining types so I bought "Bernie" Brown Bear Cub (state animal), "Sonora" Cave Bat (representative of the state bat), "Ari" Bald Eagle (national bird), and "Angeles" Dungeness Crab (state crustacean) at a discount. They also used to have a California Quail (state bird) but were sold out. I do have to give the gift shop props for staying on theme!
MEMORIAL AREA
California Peace Officers' Memorial
To those brave peace officers of this great state who have laid down their lives in the line of duty.
Dedicated May 17, 1988
We honor those who also sacrificed
Mexican American War Memorial
Court of Appeals Building
Floral Wealth, 1924
White marble
Sanford, Edward Field Jr.
1886 - 1951
Romantic Wealth, 1925
White marble
Sanford, Edward Field Jr.
1886 - 1951
Supreme Court Justice Stanley Mosk (1912 - 2001)
Jesse M. Unruh State Office Building
Climatic Wealth, 1925
White marble
Sanford, Edward Field Jr.
1886 - 1951
Mineral Wealth, 1923
White marble
Sanford, Edward Field Jr.
1886 - 1951
CATHEDRAL OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
I was able to view the exterior of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, which is just north of the Capitol building. Unless you are a worshipper attending Mass or other religious services, the only opportunities to view the inside are Sunday public docent-guided tours at 8 AM, 10 AM, and (in Spanish) 12 PM.
MASONIC TEMPLE
Many Masonic Temples offer public tours though I do not know if this one does. The office is only open Monday - Friday, from 8 AM - 12 PM.
These are some murals that were in the Masonic Temple parking lot:
STREET ART
This street art was to the west, closer to the Leland Stanford Mansion. Initially, I thought it was advertising some sort of branded ice product. Then I quickly realized it was a political statement regarding immigration enforcement.
I just thought the polar bear was cute!
