Tuesday, September 9 2025 marks the 175th anniversary of California becoming a part of the United States. After Mexico and the United States signed a treaty ending the almost two-year long Mexican-American War, a large portion of the American Southwest was handed over to the US, including the over 163,000 square mile area which would become the state of California.
Fueled by a discovery of gold in the American River in 1848 and rapid westward expansion – California became the 31st state on September 9th, 1850. It is only outsized by two other states, Texas and Alaska.
The first attempt at a Capital City was San Jose – which wasn’t ready for prime time. Eventually the Golden State settled on Sacramento as its capital, founded by John Sutter Jr. in the midst of the “Bear Flag Revolt” just a few years earlier when the California Republic broke away from Mexico.
As the boom and bust of the gold rush and river mining subsided, agriculture became more lucrative and California’s central valley became known for farming. The first transcontinental railroad reached California by 1869 and the early “wild west” days that became legendary through pulp novel writers were canonized on the silver screen as “Westerns” as the film industry took off in Los Angeles (and the hi-desert) in the early 1900’s. Cars showed up around that time too, creating a series of cities that are still trying to break free from the tangle of interstates and highways that stretch across California.
Interstate 1 up the coast of California is probably the most famous stretch of road in the state, although I-5 gets the most traffic from north to south. The westward running Route 66 famously ends at the Santa Monica Pier but it also runs through our Mojave Desert, and still brings lots of visitors out west to see the unique biodiversity that our state possesses.
Today they are holding a celebration today in Sacramento. A simple way to celebrate locally is to look around you and take stock of the diversity of people and culture that make up our small slice of California. There is something brought us all out here… whether you were born here or are just crossing the state line in a moving truck. Whether you chose the state or it chose you, we are all Californians trying to live our best lives in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Happy birthday, California.
