A small but densely packed museum in Old Sacramento dedicated to California's military history from the Mexican-American War through the present. The collection includes uniforms, weapons, vehicles, and memorabilia from every major conflict in which California soldiers have served, with particular depth on the Spanish-American War and World War II, when California's military geography — the Pacific bases, the defence industries, the Japanese-American internment — was central to the national story.
The museum is volunteer-operated and the staff are often veterans themselves, willing to explain artefacts and answer questions at length. The collection of World War I French uniforms is particularly unusual. Located near the Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento, it makes a good second stop on a historic-district morning.