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Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital of the U.S. state of California, and the county seat of Sacramento County. Located along the Sacramento River and just south of the American River's confluence in California's expansive Central Valley, it is the seventh-largest city in California. With a 2007 estimated population of 460,242, it is also California's 2nd largest inland city. Sacramento's name is taken from the Spanish language, in which "Sacramento" is Spanish for "sacrament". Sacramento is the core cultural and economic center of its four-county metropolitan area (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo counties) with a combined population of 2,136,604. The Sacramento Metropolitan Area is the largest in the Central Valley, and is the fourth-largest in California, behind the Greater Los Angeles Area, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the San Diego area. Greater Sacramento has been cited as one of the five "most livable" regions in America in 2004, and the city was cited by Time magazine as America's most integrated in 2002.
Sacramento became a city due to the efforts of John Sutter, a Swiss immigrant, and James W. Marshall. Sacramento grew faster due to the protection of Sutter's Fort, which was established by Sutter in 1839. During the California Gold Rush, Sacramento was a major distribution point, a commercial and agricultural center, and a terminus for wagon trains, stagecoaches, riverboats, the telegraph, the Pony Express, and the First Transcontinental Railroad.
 The Sacramento skyline
History
Indigenous culture
Nisenan (Southern Maidu) and Plains Miwok Indians have lived in the area for perhaps thousands of years. Unlike the settlers who would eventually make Sacramento their home, these Indians left little evidence of their existence.
In either 1799 or 1808, the Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga discovered and named the Sacramento Valley and the Sacramento River after the Spanish term for 'sacrament' specifically, after "the Most Holy Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ", referring to the Roman Catholic sacrament of the Eucharist.
From pioneers to gold fever
 The Big Four Building in Old Sacramento
In 1848, when gold was discovered by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, a large number of gold-seekers came to the area, increasing the population. John Sutter, Jr. then planned the City of Sacramento, in association with Sam Brannan against the wishes of his father, naming the city after the Sacramento River for commercial reasons. He hired topographical engineer William H. Warner to draft the official layout of the city, which included 26 lettered and 31 numbered streets.
The citizens of Sacramento adopted a city charter in 1849, which was recognized by the state legislature in 1850. Sacramento is the oldest incorporated city in California, incorporated on February 27, 1850. During the early 1850s the Sacramento valley was devastated by floods, fires and cholera epidemics. Despite this, because of its position just downstream from the Mother Lode in the Sierra Nevada, the newly founded city grew, quickly reaching a population of 10,000.
Capital city
 California's State Capitol Building
Begun in 1860 to be reminiscent of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC, the Classical Revival style California State Capitol was completed in 1874. The legislative chambers were first occupied in 1869 while construction continued.
With its new status and strategic location, Sacramento quickly prospered and became the western end of the Pony Express, and later the First Transcontinental Railroad, which began construction in Sacramento in 1863 and was financed by "The Big Four" - Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, Collis P. Huntington, and Leland Stanford.
In 1850 and again in 1861, Sacramentans were faced with a completely flooded town. After the devastating 1850 flood, Sacramento experienced a cholera epidemic and a flu epidemic, which crippled the town for several years. In 1861, the legend has it that Governor Leland Stanford, who was inaugurated in early January 1861, had to attend his inauguration in a rowboat, which was not too far from his house in town on N street. The flood waters were so bad, the legend says, that when he returned to his house, he had to enter into it through the second floor window. In 1862 Sacramento raised the level of the city by landfill. Thus the previous first floors of buildings became the basements, which were later connected by tunnels under the streets of Old Sacramento. The tunnels became a network of opium dens, which were also mostly filled in. However, it is still possible to view portions of the "Sacramento Underground."
The same rivers that earlier brought death and destruction began to provide increasing levels of transportation and commerce. Both the American and especially Sacramento rivers would be key elements in the economic success of the city. In fact, Sacramento effectively controlled commerce on these rivers, and public works projects were funded though taxes levied on goods unloaded from boats and loaded onto rail cars in the historic Sacramento Rail Yards.
 The Tower Bridge, built in 1935 The modern era
The city's current charter was adopted by voters in 1920, establishing a city council-and-manager form of government, still used today. As a charter city, Sacramento is exempt from many laws and regulations passed by the state legislature. The city has expanded continuously over the years. The 1964 merger of the City of North Sacramento with Sacramento substantially increased its population, and large annexations of the Natomas area eventually led to significant population growth throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.
Sacramento County is served by a customer-owned electric utility, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). Sacramento voters approved the creation of SMUD in 1923. In April, 1946, after 12 years of litigation, a judge ordered Pacific Gas & Electric to transfer title of Sacramento's electric distribution system to SMUD. SMUD today is the sixth-largest public electric utility in the U.S., and has a worldwide reputation for innovative programs and services, including the development of clean fuel resources, such as solar power.
The Sacramento-Yolo Port District was created in 1947, and ground was broken on the Port of Sacramento in 1949. On June 29, 1963, with 5,000 spectators waiting to welcome her, the Motor Vessel Taipei Victory arrived. The port was open for business. The Nationalist Chinese flag ship, freshly painted for the historic event, was loaded with 5,000 tons of bagged rice for Mitsui Trading Co. bound for Okinawa and 1,000 tons of logs for Japan. She was the first ocean-going vessel in Sacramento since the steamship Harpoon in 1934. The Port of Sacramento has been plagued with operating losses in recent years and faces bankruptcy. This severe loss in business is due to the heavy competition from the Port of Stockton, which has a larger facility and a deeper channel. As of 2006, the city of West Sacramento took responsibility for the Port of Sacramento.
In 1967, Ronald Reagan became the last Governor of California to live permanently in the city. A new executive mansion, constructed by private funds in a Sacramento suburb for Reagan, remained vacant for nearly forty years and was recently sold by the state.
The 1980s and 1990s saw the closure of several local military bases: McClellan Air Force Base, Mather Air Force Base, and Sacramento Army Depot. Sacramento is the capital of California and therefore the Government sector is the largest employer. As a result, the U.S. armed forces have little presence in the city except for recruiting offices. Also, in 1980, there was another flood. The flood's damage affected the Boat Section of Interstate 5. The culmination of a series of storms as well as a faulty valve are believed to have caused this damage.
 The Ziggurat Building
In spite of major military base closures and the decline of agricultural food processing, Sacramento has continued to experience massive population growth in recent years. Primary sources of population growth are an influx of resident of the San Francisco Bay Area seeking lower housing costs, as well as immigration from Asia, Latin America, and former Soviet republics. From 1990 to 2000, the city's population grew by 14.7%. The Census Bureau estimates that from 2000 to 2007, the county's population increased by nearly 164,000 residents.
Despite a devolution of state government in recent years, the state of California remains by far Sacramento's largest employer. The City of Sacramento expends considerable effort to keep state agencies from moving outside the city limits. In addition, many federal agencies have offices in Sacramento.
Geography & Climate
The city is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River, and has a deepwater port connected to the San Francisco Bay by a channel through the Sacramento River Delta. It is the shipping and rail center for the Sacramento Valley, fruit, vegetables, rice, wheat, dairy goods, and beef. Food processing is among the major industries in the area.
Sacramento has a Mediterranean climate that is characterized by cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers (Koppen climate classification Csa). The area usually has high humidity during winter but low during summer. The average temperature throughout the year is 61 °F (16 °C).
Transportation
The Sacramento region is served by I-5, I-80, Business 80 (Capital City Freeway), Highway 50 (El Dorado Freeway), Highway 99, Highway 160 (Downtown Sacramento), and Highway 65. The freeways that serve Sacramento dominate life in the city.
 Port of Sacramento
The Port of Sacramento is an inland port located 79 nautical miles (146 km) northeast of San Francisco, and is centered in one of the richest agricultural regions in the world. Cargo ships access the Port of Sacramento through San Francisco Bay and passage up the Sacramento River and the Sacramento deep water channel. The ship channel is 43 miles (69 km) long and its project depth is 30 feet (9.1 m). The Port of Sacramento is used for the export of bagged and bulk rice. Construction materials such as cement, lumber and fertilizer make up a great deal of the Port's cargo volume. The Port is also used for the importation of large project cargo such as wind power generation equipment.
AIT Worldwide Logistics
AIT's office in Sacramento is located at:
4040 Vista Park Court, Suite 20
Sacramento, CA 95834
Phone: (916) 929-9800
Bret and Monica Roper, Owners
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