How low can you go?!

Advance tickets for coveted “Old Sacramento Underground” tours are available now and can be purchased online at www.historicoldsac.org. Given Old Sacramento has the distinction of being the only city in California to raise its streets and interest is high in the new offering, additional tours have been added to meet the expected demand.   Coordinated by the Historic Old Sacramento Foundation (HOSF) and in partnership with the City of Sacramento, California State Parks, Old Sacramento Business Association and participating merchants and businesses, these educational and entertaining tours of the underground in Old Sacramento will be available Thursdays through Sundays beginning July 10 and continuing through October 31, 2010.

With new and expanded availability, “Old Sacramento Underground” tours will be offered as follows: on Thursdays and Fridays, tours depart every 30 minutes from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.;  on Saturdays and Sundays, tours depart every 30 minutes from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (although no tours will be available at 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. due to special stage performances in Old Sacramento).   

Tours of the underground last approximately one hour in length and tour check-in is located at the Sacramento History Museum, 101 I Street in Old Sacramento.  Underground visitors will need to be prepared to walk on uneven surfaces in areas that have low ceilings and in occasional small spaces. 

The entertaining and history-rich “Old Sacramento Underground” tours will provide visitors with a unique glimpse into the massive and dramatic undertaking that took place when the streets were painstakingly raised in the 1860s through the 1870s to protect the city from devastating flooding.   Underground tour visitors will have the opportunity to view disappearing windows and doors, dipping alleyways, exposed retaining walls, walk into underground hollow sidewalks and tour historic buildings all while being entertained and educated by tour guides and docents who portray characters true to the period. 

While the last underground tours for 2010 will take place on Sunday, October 31 (Halloween), the program will resume in April 2011 and continue indefinitely.  Box office questions can be sent via email to tickets@historicoldsac.org and more information about Foundation membership is available by calling 916-808-7059.