In 1850, Sacramento was a city of 10,000 men with almost no women or
children, a transient population going to and from the gold mines in the
Sierra Nevada. The waterfront on the Sacramento River was a chaotic
scene of oxen and mule teams, piles of supplies on the wharf, and
abandoned ships whose crews had jumped ship for the goldfields. The city
also became a major railroad junction and agricultural hub in the 1800s
before it became the center of state government, and much of the
bustling city's early life was captured on picture postcards. Sacramento
photographer Tom Myers, a collector of vintage postcards, presents here
California's capital city as it used to be, complete with railroads,
farming, a busy downtown, government buildings, riverboats, public
barhs, the early Yolo Causeway, and even an ostrich farm or two. Myers
culled these views from his extensive collection of postcards and modern
images, many of which appear in current postcards of Northern
California.