How are you celebrating the holiday season this year? The firemen at Engine Company No. 8 in Sacramento celebrated by decorating a tree in front of their firehouse, setting a scene with Santa Clause and reindeer, and making ornaments.

This photograph, taken around 1933 to 1940, documents the holiday celebrations at the engine house. In this image, four uniformed men, not yet identified, are depicted working together to make homemade ornaments. The seated figures work on soldering pieces together, the standing figure at the side cuts medal, and the fourth individual stands behind, likely giving instruction. Impressive craftwork dangles from strings anchored to a pair of reindeer antlers.

Why does Sutter’s Fort have these photographs in the collection? In 1917, Sutter’s Fort was designated as California’s State Historic Museum. As one of the oldest historic sites in Sacramento, the collection grew beyond artifacts about Fort history and operations. Chief Michael Dunphy donated several hundred professional photographs, documents, and objects to Sutter’s Fort. His donations make up part of the larger Fireman’s Collection, which records the history of the Sacramento Fire Department from its inception in 1850 to the early 1940’s.

You can view information about other Archival Collections on the California State Park website.

A special Thanks to the Authors of this Series

Collections Highlights from September 2023 to March 2024 are co-authored by Emma Silverman (Cultural Resources Program Manager), Judy Russo (Museum Technician), and Morgan Braun (Park Interpretive Specialist), based in part on research files assembled by State Park curators over decades.

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Overview of Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park Collection

The Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park Collection is one of the largest in the State Park system, with over 50,000 objects including photographs, diaries, letters, maps, paintings, furnishings, tools, and housewares. The Collection contains items that directly testify to life at Sutter’s Fort in the 1840s such as John Sutter’s magnifying glass, likely used to inspect the nugget that sparked the Gold Rush, and a Spanish-style plow used by Native people who were forced to labor for Sutter. However, the bulk of the collection, traditionally known as the “Pioneer Collection,” was amassed in the first part of the twentieth century and represents the experiences of Euro-American settlers and the history of the formation of the State of California.

While there are many artifacts typically on display at the historic site, most items from the Sutter’s Fort collection are housed at a state of the art curatorial facility on the former McClellan Air Fort Base. This facility is called the Statewide Museum Collections Center (“SMCC”). The talented California State Parks Curatorial team cares not only for the exhibits at the Fort, but for this huge collection offsite.