The Old Sacramento Historic District lies between the Sacramento River and the I-5 freeway in downtown Sacramento. It’s a State Historic Park and a National Historic Landmark District. The district has preserved 19th century buildings and other attractions of historic importance to Gold Rush era California.

Railroad history and the Pony Express are Old Sacramento’s main focus, and rightly so. The “Big Four” of the Central Pacific railroad – Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins Jr. and Charles Crocker – built their hardware business in Sacramento and their original shops and buildings are part of the historic district. “Nothing Like It in the World” by Stephen Ambrose is a good, readable history of the transcontinental railroad project.

The mythic status of the Pony Express belies its brief (18 months from start to finish) existence on the western frontier. It began in St. Joseph, Missouri, and ended in Sacramento at the B.F. Hastings Building. Today the building houses a Wells Fargo museum and a brief history of the Pony Express.

The California Railroad Museum is definitely worth a visit, even for people who aren’t train buffs.