(KTXL) — Sacramento prides itself on the high number of museums, galleries, historical places and cultural centers that are in the city.
Along the city’s namesake waterway, the Sacramento River, there are a number of museums and cultural centers located in a 2-mile stretch from where the American and Sacramento Rivers meet to just south of Broadway Avenue.
SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity
The SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity is located at 400 Jibboom St, Sacramento along the Sacramento River.
The MOSAC opened in November 2021 and states its mission is to “engage and inspire people of all ages to explore all the wonders, possibilities and responsibilities of science.”
The MOSAC attempts to bring K-12 schools, colleges, libraries, museums and community resources to create a science, technology, engineering, arts and math atmosphere that has the ultimate goal of inspiring people to enter STEAM careers.
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California State Railroad Museum
The California State Railroad Museum is located at 125 I St along the Sacramento River, roughly three-fourths of a mile south from the MOSAC.
The museum has been a staple in the Sacramento area since it was founded in 1981.
The railroad museum shows off the importance of the railroad and how imperative it was in expanding and growing society on the West Coast of the United States.
The current exhibits in the museum are the Chinese Railroad Workers’ Experience, Georgia Northern No. 100 The Gold Coast, Farm-to-Fork: A Public History, Golden Spike Exhibit Gallery, Small Wonders: The Magic of Toy Trains and the Magic of Scale Model Railroading.
Along with seeing the various exhibits and trains, there is also a 50-minute train excursion that takes guests around the Sacramento River. The trains are either historic steam trains or diesel locomotives and it shows gusts of what trains were like during the 20th century.
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Crocker Art Museum
The Crocker Art Museum located at 216 E St also along the Sacramento River is just over a half mile south from the California State Railroad Museum.
According to the National Archives, the Crocker Art Museum was donated to the city of Sacramento in 1885 and is the “oldest state or municipally owned art gallery west of the Rocky Mountains, and is considered to be the second oldest in the United States.”
On Oct. 10, 2010, the Crocker opened the Teel Family Pavilion which was their 125,000-square-foot expansion next door to the original museum.
According to the museum, the expansion tripled the size of the original museum which allowed for more gallery space and collecting areas.
The expansion allowed the first floor of the original building to be dedicated as the “Museum’s Education Center, including four studios, space for student and community exhibitions, an expanded Gerald Hansen Library, the Art Education Resource Room, and Tot Land.”
The Crocker features California art along with European master drawings and international ceramics.
The museum also offers a “diverse spectrum of exhibitions, events, and programs to augment its collections, including films, concerts, studio classes, lectures, children’s activities, and more.”
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California Automobile Association
The California Automobile Museum located at 2200 Front Street is also along the Sacramento River and is just under three-fourths of a mile away from the Crocker Art Museum.
The California Automobile Museum celebrates the history, art and technology of automobiles and California culture.
Its mission is to “preserve, exhibit and teach the story of the automobile and its influence on our lives.”
Latino Center of Art and Culture
The Latino Center of Art and Culture is located at 2700 Front Street and is also along the Sacramento River, just a half mile away from the California Automobile Museum.
The Latino Center of Art and Culture states that its mission is to “foster artistic, economic and cultural development of the Sacramento region’s Latinx community by presenting, exhibiting, and providing excellent artistic programs and services to Latinx artists, organizations and families.”
Many of the exhibits and programs featured throughout the cultural center reflect marginalized artists and communities by “presenting underrepresented voices from the Latino diaspora.”
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