Friends of Sutter's Fort

Friends of Sutter's Fort is the nonprofit cooperating association for Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park. We collaborate with California State Parks to connect community members to the health, recreational and educational benefits of the park grounds, museum exhibits, educational programs and events at Sutter's Fort State Historic Park.  With the help of our donors, we are also able to continue our longstanding commitment to fund projects that preserve and restore artifacts and historic structures.

With your help, Friends of Sutter’s Fort will continue to:   

• Connect students to Sutter's Fort by offering grants, scholarships and fee waivers to schools participating in on-site educational programs   
• Fund preservation and restorations projects
• Help community members access the health and wellness benefits of public parks by hosting and supporting events
• Provide essential supplies, training and materials for volunteer program 

 What is Sutter’s Fort?

More than 100,000 people visit Sutter's Fort SHP annually from throughout the world to better understand the history that led to the famous Gold Rush, the Bear Flag Revolt and to California becoming part of the United State of America, and how these events impacted the lives of California Native Americans.   

In a typical year, more than 50,000 students visit Sutter’s Fort SHP to experience educational programs aligned with the curriculum framework for 4th grade education in California. Tens of thousands more participate in free, virtual field trips from classrooms located throughout the United States. 

Sutter’s Fort is currently in the process of undergoing fundamental changes in an effort to tell a more inclusive story in consultation with California Native Americans. Many of these changes are already underway, with work continuing to make future improvements to exhibits, educational materials and more. 

Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park has been part of the California State Park System since 1947 and is both a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Landmark.   

Sutter’s Fort consists of original historic structures, and reconstructed buildings set in a public, urban park. The Central Building of Sutter’s Fort is a two-story adobe structure built between 1841 and 1843, and it the oldest existing building in Sacramento.  The remaining structures were reconstructed in the 1890s, which makes Sutter’s Fort the oldest restored Fort in the United States.