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West Sacramento, CA

City of West Sacramento
City
The Ziggurat Building on the Sacramento River in West Sacramento.
The Ziggurat Building on the Sacramento River in West Sacramento.
Nickname(s): West Sac
Location in Yolo County and the state of California
Location in Yolo County and the state of California
City of West Sacramento is located in the US
City of West Sacramento
City of West Sacramento
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 38°34′50″N 121°31′49″W / 38.58056°N 121.53028°W / 38.58056; -121.53028Coordinates: 38°34′50″N 121°31′49″W / 38.58056°N 121.53028°W / 38.58056; -121.53028
Country  United States
State  California
County Yolo
Incorporated January 1, 1987
Government
 • Mayor Christopher Cabaldon
 • Mayor pro tem Chris Ledesma
 • City manager Martin Tuttle
 • State leg. Sen. Richard Pan (D)
Asm. Kevin McCarty (D)
 • U.S. Congress Doris Matsui (D)
Area
 • Total 22.846 sq mi (59.172 km2)
 • Land 21.425 sq mi (55.491 km2)
 • Water 1.421 sq mi (3.681 km2)  6.22%
Elevation 20 ft (6 m)
Population (April 1, 2010)
 • Total 48,744
 • Estimate (2013) 49,891
 • Density 2,100/sq mi (820/km2)
Time zone Pacific (UTC-8)
 • Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code 95691, 95605
Area code(s) 916
FIPS code 06-84816
GNIS feature IDs 1660149, 2412228
Website www.cityofwestsacramento.org

West Sacramento (also known as West Sac) is a city in Yolo County, California. It is contiguous with Sacramento, but is separated by the Sacramento River which is also the county line, so West Sacramento is in a different county from that of Sacramento. It is a fast-growing community; the population was 48,744 at the 2010 census, up from 31,615 at the 2000 census. The traditional industrial center of the region since the Gold Rush era, West Sacramento is home to a diverse economy and is one of the area's top four employment centers.

The United States Conference of Mayors named West Sacramento as the Most Livable City in America in 2014 in the category of cities with fewer than 100,000 residents.

West Sacramento is part of the Sacramento–Arden Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area which has a population (2000) of approximately 1,796,857. Major industries to the region include agriculture, government, and transportation.

In 1844, John Schwartz, a Flemish traveler, was the first Euro-American to permanently settle in the area of West Sacramento, which at that time was part of Mexico. He built a shack on the west bank of the Sacramento River six miles (10 km) south of its connection with the American River. John, with the help of his brother George, founded a salmon fishery along the river. In addition to the fishery, they also found the soil to be fertile and began farming and raising livestock. The announcement of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848 brought a multitude of miners to the region. This also coincided with the end of the Mexican-American War.

In 1846, a man named James McDowell bought 600 acres (240 ha) from John Schwartz. With his wife, Margaret, and their three daughters, McDowell settled in the area we know today as Broderick. The McDowell family experienced first-hand the violence that the gold rush era brought with it. In May 1849, James McDowell was shot and killed in a barroom argument that he had supposedly started. With the loss of the sole supporter of the McDowell family, Margaret needed to find a way to provide for her family.


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