Draft:Center for Sacramento History

The Center for Sacramento History, or CSH, is a research center, archive, and collecting institution in Sacramento, California. CSH is the official archival repository for the City of Sacramento and County of Sacramento, and maintains a collection of privately donated materials including manuscripts, organizational records, film, photographic images, and objects detailing the history of the Sacramento region. CSH is the largest regional history center in California, with a collection of approximately 50,000 objects, 10,000 linear feet of archival holdings, and 7,000,000 photographic images.

Beginnings
CSH traces its history back to the formation of the Sacramento Historic Landmarks Commission in 1953. The Commission was formed by the City of Sacramento to identify historic structures throughout the city. Through the course of its work, the Commission began acquiring historic artifacts related to the redevelopment of Sacramento's West End, now known as the Old Sacramento Historic District. The Commission was not equipped to handle the storage of historic artifacts, and used the vault at the Sacramento Main Branch of Bank of America to store its first acquisitions. More artifacts were acquired, and the Commission established a committee dedicated to collecting historic artifacts and opening a museum. In 1967, the Commission reached an agreement with the Sacramento Pioneer Association to use their meeting hall, Pioneer Hall, as a storage facility and temporary museum.

City and County Archives
To reflect its changing objectives, the Commission was renamed the Sacramento Museum and History Commission in 1969. The County of Sacramento joined the City in support of the Commission, which was renamed to the Museum and History Division of the City of Sacramento. By 1976, the Division was appointed as the official repository of archival records of the City and County of Sacramento. With this designation came a large amount of material, including the bulk of the archival collection currently housed at CSH.

This growth led to the need for a new location, and that year the Division's facilities were moved to the Mayflower Building in the Midtown area of Sacramento.

Founding a Museum
Throughout the Historic Landmarks Commission's existence, the City began to explore the feasibility of opening a museum to tell Sacramento's history and its founding during the California Gold Rush.