Since 1985 this building has told the story of Sacramento and the California Gold Rush as the Sacramento History Museum. Here in Old Sacramento State Historic Park, along the Sacramento River between the Tower Bridge and I Street Bridge, the building carries the memory of a series of local efforts to care for artifacts and records. The museum first opened in 1985 as the Sacramento History Center, created to exhibit items from the Sacramento Archives and Museum Collection Center, now known as the Center for Sacramento History.
In 1993, in a collaborative effort with the City of Sacramento, the History Center and the Sacramento Science Center joined under one entity called the Sacramento Museum of History, Science, and Technology. That organization operated two museum sites under the umbrella name "Discovery Museum," and this Old Sacramento location remained focused on Sacramento’s history and the California Gold Rush, becoming the "Discovery Museum Gold Rush History Center. In July 2008, under a directive from the City of Sacramento, the partnership between the History Center and the Science Center was dissolved.
The Sacramento River and the Tower Bridge frame this building, and Old Sacramento State Historic Park stretches away on either side.