Culture

Capitol Mall

The primary newspaper is The Sacramento Bee, founded in 1857. Its rival, the Sacramento Union, started publishing six years earlier in 1851. Before it closed its doors in 1994, the Union was the oldest daily newspaper west of the Mississippi. Writer and journalist Mark Twain wrote for the Union in 1866. In late 2004 a new Sacramento Union returned with bimonthly magazines and in May 2005 began monthly publication, but does not intend to return as a daily newspaper.

The Big Four Building in Old Sacramento

The oldest part of the town besides Sutter's Fort is Old Sacramento, which consists of cobbled streets and some historic buildings, some from the 1860s. Buildings have been preserved, restored or reconstructed, and the district is now a substantial tourist attraction, with rides on steam-hauled historic trains and paddle steamers.

The "Big Four Building", built in 1852, was home to the offices of Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford, and Charles Crocker. The Central Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Railroad were founded there. The original building was destroyed in 1963 for the construction of Interstate 5, but was re-created using original elements in 1965. It is now a National Historic Landmark.

Sacramento is notably diverse racially, ethnically, and by household income, and has a notable lack of inter-racial disharmony. In 2002, Time magazine (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,340694,00.html) and the Civil Rights Project of Harvard University identified Sacramento as the most racially/ethnically integrated major city in America. [2]

Arts

The major theater venues for Sacramento include the Sacramento Convention Center which governs the Community Center Theatre, and the Memorial Auditorium. It is also the home of the Crocker Art Museum, which is the oldest public art museum west of the Mississippi River. The California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento has historical exhibits and live steam locomotives that patrons may ride.

The Sacramento Ballet performs in the Community Center Theatre. The Deane Dance Center is the company's official dance school. The Russian-American Music Academy of Roseville regularly offers community productions of operas and operettas. Theater companies with professional stature include California Musical Theatre, the Sacramento Theatre Company, and the B Street Theatre.

Sacramento has a reputation as a center for Dixieland jazz, because of the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee which is held every Memorial Day weekend. Events and performances are held in multiple locations throughout the city. Each year thousands of jazz fans from all over the world visit for this one weekend. Sacramento is also home to the Sacramento French Film Festival, a cultural event held every year in July that features U.S. premiers of French films and classic masterpieces of French cinema. In addition, Sacramento is home to the Trash Film Orgy, a summer film festival celebrating the absurd, B-movies, horror, monster, exploitation.

Sports and recreation

Sacramento hosts two professional basketball teams: the Sacramento Kings (NBA) and the Sacramento Monarchs 2005 Champions (WNBA). In addition, Sacramento also has a minor league baseball team called the Sacramento River Cats (affiliate of the Oakland Athletics). In the past, the city hosted two professional football teams, the Sacramento Surge of the WLAF and the Sacramento Gold Miners of the CFL. At one time, it was also home to an indoor soccer team, the Sacramento Knights of the CISL and later WISL. The Sacramento Solons, a Pacific Coast League professional baseball team, played in Sacramento from 1903 - 1961 (originally the Sacramento Senators, they changed their name in 1935).

Sacramento has frequently hosted the NCAA Track and Field Championships.

Sacramento residents play softball more than any city except Detroit, Michigan.

The Sacramento Mile is a national flat-track motorcycle racing event.

The California State Fair is held in Sacramento each year at the end of the summer, ending on Labor Day. Over one million people attended this fair in 2001.

Notable residents

 Notable people with ties to Sacramento include the painter Wayne Thiebaud, photographer Michael Williamson, astronaut Stephen Robinson, U.S. Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy, actor Sam Elliott, writer Joan Didion, and actor Colin Hanks. In addition to Huntington, Hopkins, Stanford, and Crocker, the city's more successful entrepreneurs have included Russ Solomon (Tower Records) and Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson (Shakey's Pizza). For bands originating in Sacramento see Sacramento entertainers. For sports figures with ties to Sacramento see Sacramento sports figures.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Additional Information on Sacramento, California.

• Entertainment
• Restaurants
• Museums
• Sacramento History        
• The Capital City
• Sacramento-The Modern Era
• Sacramento-Geography and Climate
• Sacramento Neighborhoods
• Deomographics
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