MORE INFORMATION

California people and places have always tended to move around a lot.

The best example of this is our roaming state capital! Although it has been in Sacramento for 140+ years, this was not always the case...

"The U.S. flag was raised at Monterey after the United States declared war on Mexico during the same year, and, following the end of the Mexican War in 1848, the territory was ceded to the United States." (Source: Encyclopedia Britannica) Some say that Monterey was California's first, although unofficial, capital.

California became a state in 1849, and then the search for a suitable location for the state capital really began. "Within a period of five years California presented the spectacle of a Capital and its Legislature rambling from town to city and back again—making six moves, or in excess of one a year. First the Legislature met at San Jose, then headed for Vallejo, and from there moved 'lock, stock and barrel' to Sacramento. The State Government then backtracked to Vallejo, and from there to Benicia, and finally returned to Sacramento, where it has since remained."

(Source: California, a Landmark History Story of the Preservation and Marking of Early Day Shrines by Joseph R. Knowland 1941 Tribune Press, p. 150)

19th-century photo of the San Jose Capitol Building, seat of California's state government from 1849 to 1851.

The plaque in the upper right corner of this image was dedicated in 1938 to commemorate Vallejo's role as state capital from 1851 to 1853. The building on the bottom is the Capitol Building in Benicia, which was in use as state capital from 1853 to 1854.