Accessing Our Collections
CSH archival and artifact collections are accessible in person by appointment only. A small amount of our collections is digitized and available online.
Research and In-Person Access
Archival research in our Reading Room is by appointment only.
To make a research appointment, contact us at csh@cityofsacramento.org or 916-808-7072. Please review our Reading Room conditions of use.
Current Reference Hours
Tuesdays and Wednesdays: 9am-12 noon; 1-4 pm
To view artifacts by appointment, contact CSH Curator of History Veronica Kandl at vkandl@cityofsacramento.org or 916-808-7072.
Digitized Material
The Center is continually making more of its collection available online. Currently, digitized material can be found at the following sites:
Online Archive of California
Searchable finding aids for the Center’s collections. Over 100 are currently posted, with more continually being added.
CSH Online Database
Our searchable online catalog has around 75,000 entries from our collections, including photographs, museum artifacts, reference books, and reports. This is not a comprehensive catalog. Not all of the Center’s collections are searchable via this database.
Internet Archive
Digitized textual material, including maps, police mug books, police jail registers, city and county assessor map books, and public record indexes; and digitized audiovisual material, including KCRA and KOVR news film, home movies, other films, oral histories, and audio recordings.
Specific records you can access online include:
Government Records
• City Clerk’s Office records database, 1921-present
• City Clerk’s Office microfilm index, 1921-2002
• City of Sacramento assessor map books, 1850-1925
• County Court civil cases index, 1850-1879
• County Court criminal Cases index, 1863-1879
• Court of Sessions criminal cases index, 1850-1863
• District Court criminal cases index, 1850-1875
• Justice Court cases index, 1850-1877
• Sacramento County assessor map books, 1856-1925
• Sacramento County survey maps, ca. 1850-1945
• Sacramento Police Department mug books, 1860-1949, and jail registers, 1867-1940
• Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department mug books, 1873-1924
• Sacramento City Cemetery index, 1849-2000 (also see our online interactive plot map)
• Separate Property of Married Women and Sole Traders, 1850-1930
Film and Video
• Selections from our KCRA and KOVR collections
• Video Archive Masters Subject Catalog, which lists the most frequently requested film footage that has already been digitized
Oral Histories
• Ethnic Community Survey
• American Association of University Women
• Natomas residents
• Walerga Oral History Project