If you ask the average person on the street, anywhere in the world, to name the capital of California, they are likely to say, Los Angeles or San Francisco. Quite expected considering that these are the largest and most populous cities in the state of California. However, California’s capital is Sacramento. This may come as a surprise to many, and trigger the question, why is Sacramento the capital of California? Well, it boils down to several factors, most of them related to California’s historical past. 

History

Sacramento is one of the cities that is of major significance to the State of California. During the gold rush, it was one of the places where most of the miners settled. Over time it attracted other players such as blacksmiths and entrepreneurs that were offering diverse services to the people mining gold. This also meant that powerful people in the new State, such as John Sutter and John Marshall settled in the area. Eventually, due to the city planning that was established in the area, Sacramento had a head start over the other cities in becoming the center of government for the State of California. To date, Sacramento is one of the best-planned cities in California. In spite of Sacramento’s geographical size that spans over 100 square miles, it is well zoned to take care of issues like environmental sustainability. 

Strategic geopolitical location

At the time when California was becoming a State, the risks of invasions were high. As such, city founders always ensured that, cities were in locations where the risk of invasion was lowest, and easier to defend. In California, Sacramento was one of the most strategic for this purpose. The city is away from the ocean, which means the risk of invasion was lower. This made it attractive to wealthy and powerful individuals that were betting big on the growth of California. This was further catalyzed by the fact that, the place was one of the target locations for people that were looking to get rich quick from gold mining. The combination of these economic interests and its geostrategic location gave Sacramento a head start over the other temporary cities. Eventually, it became the seat of government for the new State, and has been to date.

It has good river connectivity

While the above reasons gave Sacramento a head start compared to the other temporary cities, it would never have become the seat of government if it was not easily interconnect-able to the rest of California and the country. Sacramento is a highly interconnected city. It has a series of waterways that connect it easily to other key cities such as San Francisco. In the early days, this made it a perfect place for business people looking to move gold and other resources for sale from California. Over time, this saw Sacramento become a major city with well-developed infrastructure, and eventually the State’s capital. 

It was one of the most populated places back in the day 

Most people might find this surprising, but back in the 1800s, major cities of today such as Los Angeles were very sparsely populated. Sacramento, due to the gold rush and its connectivity, was a big town back then. Its population was multiple times higher than most of the other places that outshine it today in both population and size. As such, it was only natural for it to become the capital city of the State of California. The other cities may have outgrown it, but this history as one of the most important places in the founding of California means it remains the capital.

The Transcontinental railway

In the 1800s, railroads were a major part of the American infrastructure, and played a huge role in opening up the land to development. Going by this rationale, it follows that Sacramento became one of the most important locations in the western U.S. That’s because it was the starting point of the transcontinental railroad that ran to Utah. This combined with its navigable rivers made it a hub for trade. Naturally, the government follows commerce for purposes of taxation, and that is how Sacramento became the center of government in California, and has been to date. Even as the other cities outgrew it, the government did not move. This can be attributed to the nature of American society. There are lots of State capitals in the U.S that are smaller than other cities within the States. This can be linked to the libertarian nature of American society, and the fact that enterprises can decide to set up pretty much anywhere and thrive.