Best Important Museums In Sacramento Near Me

4worldlovers: The California Museum—home of the California Hall of Fame—engages, educates and enlightens people about California’s rich history, its diversity and its unique influence on the world of ideas, innovation, art and culture. Through interactive experiences, the Museum inspires visitors to make a mark on history.

4worldlovers: Every year, the Museum relies on the generosity of friends like you to support educational programs and exhibitions that stimulate, inspire, and build connections.

4worldlovers: Join us for Mómtim Péwinan, River People, curated by the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians Exhibits & Collections Center. The new exhibit may be viewed on the Museum’s 3rd floor in the Community Gallery. The Sacramento History Museum stands on Nisenan land, in Nísem Péwinan territory, where many of the items in this exhibit were gathered.

Join Samuel Clemens – Mark Twain – in Old Sacramento’s historic Eagle Theatre for an evening of conversation and lecture, Featuring McAvoy Layne as Mr. Twain. A short Q &A will be held after the event.

The Eagle Theatre is near the intersection of Front & J Street, across the Passenger Station. Doors open at 6pm, presentation starts at 7pm.

May Woolsey was an ordinary Sacramento girl who left an extraordinary time capsule – full of thoughts, visions, worries, and hopes – found 100 years after her death in 1879. Join us to explore a new interactive exhibit and get a hands-on look at the experience of childhood in Sacramento in the 1800s.

This special interactive exhibit is presented by the Sacramento Pioneers Association and the Society of the Blind.

Relive the night life of Gold Rush Sacramento – if you dare! Old Sac After Hours Tours are back!

Your guides for the Old Sac After Hours Tours divulge matters they just can’t discuss in the daytime: Murder, mischief, madness, mayhem – and madams!

Needless to say, you must be 18 or older to take part.

Our tours are an explosion of fun this month! Go Underground 7-days-a-week! Mondays – Fridays at 1 PM and 2:30 PM (+ 11:30 AM on Fridays!) Underground Tours run Saturdays and Sundays at new times. Check our schedule to the right! Your tour ticket includes museum admission!

Is the Old Sacramento haunted? Join us July 13, 20 & 27 for an evening of potential paranormal activity! Our guides will take you through historic buildings and spooky spots, not regularly open to the public, where you’ll hear the true history of what happened there. Using our paranormal equipment, you decide whether spirits of the past still linger in the present. Each nightly tour investigates a different site.


Join the Gold Rush by becoming one of the real-life characters who built Sacramento City. Can you hang onto your fortune while facing the city’s rock first years of flood, fire and disease? Will you go Boom… or Bust? Join us Saturdays and Sundays at 11 am & 1 pm.

We are proud to be a Blue Star Museum and will be offering free admission to active-duty military personnel and their families through Labor Day, Monday, September 4, 2023. Blue Star Museums is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, in collaboration with the Department of Defense.

4worldlovers:
After a 14-year, $22 million restoration and rehabilitation, the Mansion is now open to the public as a museum. It also serves the citizens of California as the state’s official reception center for leaders from around the world.


The Leland Stanford Mansion is a stunning example of the splendor and elegance of the Victorian era in California. On your tour of the 19,000-square-foot Mansion you will see:

Re-created carpeting and draperies based on photographs from the 1870s to match the original interior design

Originally built in 1856 by Gold Rush merchant Sheldon Fogus, the Mansion was later purchased and remodeled (twice!) by Leland and Jane Stanford. Leland Stanford served as Governor of California from 1862-1863. The Mansion served as the office of three governors during the turbulent 1860’s - Leland Stanford, Fredrick Low and Henry Haight.

As a pro-Union Civil War governor and president of the Central Pacific Railroad, Leland Stanford negotiated political and business deals at the Mansion that helped complete the transcontinental railroad.

Jane Lathrop Stanford gave birth to their only child, Leland, Jr., here on May 14, 1868. The couple’s new wealth enabled them to expand the mansion in 1872, creating the architectural legacy you can see today.

4worldlovers: Introducing Sacramento’s newest science center: SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity, or simply MOSAC.

MOSAC piques curiosity and sparks imagination in our guests of all ages with hands-on interactive exhibits and programming that explore the wonders of science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

Our exhibitions address global and local issues on topics relating to energy, health, water, nature, space and design engineering. The state-of-the-art planetarium theater screens a variety of spectacular star shows and feature films.

MOSAC’s mission is to serve as a dynamic regional hub that engages and inspires people of all ages to explore the wonders, possibilities, and responsibilities of science.

4worldlovers: Come view one of the world's only mural wall dedicated to telling the story of African American history through art. In a space of over 10,000 square feet, you'll view monumental events, general experiences, and the leaders who have impacted or continue to impact the Black community in mural form.

The Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum is the only museum in California's State Capital that is dedicated to the exhibiting African American history. From statues, to plaques, to early Americana, the Sojo Arts Museum is dedicated to sharing the history of African Americans with those visiting Sacramento.

Sojourner Truth was one of the most infamous African-American women in 19th century America. For over forty years she traveled the country as a forceful and passionate advocate for the dispossessed, using her quick wit and fearless tongue to fight for human rights.