Old Town Sacramento offers visitors a look into how California developed from a rough and tumble western town into the bustling capitol it is today. At one end of Old Town visitors can find the Sacramento History Museum. Inside is a range of artifacts from the area, along with the viral printing press area that has become adored on TikTok and Instagram.

The area we now know as Sacramento was originally inhabited by several tribes, including the Miwok. A portion of the museum showcases their lives prior to colonization, with items made by contemporary members of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok. Eventually gold was found nearby, and of course the United States couldn’t resist, making California a state in 1850. Just seven years later The Daily Bee, later the Sacramento Bee, what would become the city’s main paper, was created. Founded by four printers in 1857, The Bee hired Irish immigrant James McClatchy as an associate editor. Eventually McClatchy became an editor, then a partner, and later full owner. Today the McClatchy family still owns it.

The area displaying The Bee‘s artifacts, along with printing presses and a linotype, is home to the viral printers who love sharing how printing presses work. They show the intense process it once took to print anything, while having fun along the way. You can follow the museum on Instagram and TikTok to see the presses in action.

One of the most interesting, but also sad, displays was the trunk of May Holister Woolsey. Imagine buying an old house and during renovations discover a trunk that had been hidden for 100 years. That is exactly what happened to Edward Duffy here in Sacramento. Born November 13, 1866, May was a creative girl who enjoyed writing in her diary. In her final entry, written at age 12, she mentioned the bites of flies and “mescetoes” [sic] little did she know it would be the cause of her death, as she passed away on September 21, 1879 of encephalitis. Her parents, Luther and Mary, attempted to contact their only daughter using spiritualists, common at the time. Eventually they packed their daughter’s things into a trunk, tucked it under the stairs, and sealed the wall, where it remained until Duffy found it in the 1970s.

Discover California’s earliest days and maybe see a social media celebrity at the Sacramento History Museum located at 101 I Street in Sacramento, or this adorable black cat we saw! For details on exhibits and more, visit their website.