Discovery Museum Gold Rush History Center

The visit I made to the Discovery Museum Gold Rush History Center in Sacramento, California, proved to be highly informative, entertaining, and a two-hour well spent. The experience afforded me a lot of learnings from the Gold Rush period that I didn’t know before. Before I made the tour of the four galleries inside the building, I first went to the visitors’ information center, wherein an introduction regarding the building’s construction has been shown in a nine-minute film clip.
Based on the clip shown, I learned that the museum is a replica of the original building that was built in 1854 that previously housed the City of Sacramento’s city hall, dormitory for the fire department, jail, police station, and court. The original structure had suffered from structural problems and was declared unsafe many years later. It was finally demolished about sixty years later in 1913.
The replica building has been modified on some sides in line with its being a museum showcasing history, science and technology. The Gold Rush Center’s exhibits are in The Lure of Gold gallery. The museum’s arrangement of events is well organized and unique. From there, I was able to see gold nuggets on display and artifacts and implements used by miners from the Gold Rush era. The Gold Rush in California was a defining moment in history that changed Sacramento forever.

Sacramento became the center of that event in 1849. People from all over the world went to this city hoping to make themselves rich. Previously, this gallery has showcased a typical miner’s travel and lifestyle. Aside from the exhibits, there are also hands-on activities for children and interactive programs to help the present generation get a better understanding of the past.