City of Sacramento history

On February 5, 1850, the beginnings of the Sacramento Fire Department began to take shape with the formation of Mutual Hook and Ladder No.

Although he did not make a fortune in gold, he bought a dairy farm in 1853 which was very successful.

But Sacramento survived to become the capital of California in 1854, paying the state $1 million for the honor.

The oldest school in the system is San Jose State University; established in 1857 as a normal school, it was the state’s first public institution of higher learning.

One of the earliest companies to be established in the town was the California Steam Navigation Company, which was attracted to the area in 1859 by the close proximity of the Sacramento River.

June 1: Groundbreaking of the California Central Railroad which by October 13, 1861 connected Lincoln to the Sacramento Valley Railroad at Folsom Junction.

The Central Pacific Railroad joined the east and west coasts in 1869, permitting Sacramento farmers to ship their produce to the east.

On March 30, 1872, after the City formed Engine Companies 1 and 2, the Sacramento Fire Department was established and became the first paid professional fire department west of the Mississippi.

By 1879, he owned 1,500 acres of land, raised 150 cows and 100 young stocks, and farmed 2,500 acres in Sacramento County.

After 1900, the three communities known as Bryte, Broderick, and West Sacramento were cumulatively known as East Yolo.

Sacramento Fire Department’s first motorized vehicles were placed into service as early as 1912.

The city's current charter was adopted by voters in 1920, establishing a city council-and-manager form of government, still used today.

Sacramento voters approved the creation of SMUD in 1923.

She was the first ocean-going vessel in Sacramento since the steamship Harpoon in 1934.

The Tower Bridge, completed in 1935, was built using WPA money, providing needed jobs and solving transportation problems across the Sacramento River.

In the 1940’s the fire department began dedicating personnel to fire prevention activities.

The first suburban shopping mall in the United States was established in North Sacramento in 1945.

Folsom Lake, northeast of the city (formed in 1955 by damming the American River), supplies the region with water and is a popular state recreation area.

California State University was formed in 1960 by the Donahoe Higher Education Act, which unified existing state colleges under a central administrative structure.

In 1990, the Pacific Fire Protection District also entered into agreement with the SFD for fire protection service.

In 1992 SFD became the sponsoring agency for California Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Task Force 7, one of 28 FEMA supported task forces in the nation.

The fire department began its Advanced Life Support and Transportation program in 1994 providing paramedic services and ambulance transportation.

The newest addition is the Channel Islands campus, which opened for classes as a separate institution in 2002 after having been part of the Northridge campus.

In 2005, Station 30 was built and put into service in North Natomas.