In 1850, Sacramento was a city of 10,000 men with almost no women or children, a transient population going to and from the gold mines in the Sierra Nevada. The waterfront on the Sacramento River was a chaotic scene of oxen and mule teams, piles of supplies on the wharf, and abandoned ships whose crews had jumped ship for the goldfields. The city also became a major railroad junction and agricultural hub in the 1800s before it became the center of state government, and much of the bustling city's early life was captured on picture postcards. Sacramento photographer Tom Myers, a collector of vintage postcards, presents here California's capital city as it used to be, complete with railroads, farming, a busy downtown, government buildings, riverboats, public barhs, the early Yolo Causeway, and even an ostrich farm or two. Myers culled these views from his extensive collection of postcards and modern images, many of which appear in current postcards of Northern California.
