Benicia Capitol State Historic Park - Benicia, California

Grace Lin

Interesting history over here! Didn’t know the name origin from General Vallejo’s wife. And also the name of San Francisco! Elegant and ancient vibe!

Yuna Leek

I never realized there were so many state capials before Sacramento! This building was such a surprise- a fun way to spend an hour or so.

The ranger here was so informative and explained a lot of the history and quirks of the building. I do not know his name, BUT he is a rather impressive history buff.

If I had one critique, it would be that the building is kind of small and most of the rooms don't have any interactivity or placards to explain them. So it's best to track down the ranger and see what he can tell you. I loved this little slice of hidden history!

Denny Liu

A short video to share with you.

Immersing in a historical California state establishment and wonder how CA government was organizing in old days. A friendly clerk to patiently introudce the brief background and warmly welcome to watch all the specialities. Not a big park outside of the building but a short walk to realize how it was operating. 13 months capitol still marked the impressive milestone. Fees is required per person. Not hard to park around the street.

Bème

Early California history. Inexpensive guided visit with a very knowledgeable ranger. A few interactive screens would enhance the visit when the ranger is not free.

ANGELA PONE

I knew that Sacramento was not the only capital but I did not realize that Benicia was the state's capital at one time.
The tour was great and the docent was very knowledgeable. Each of the rooms open to the public were designed to reflect what they would have looked like during the time this building was used for the legislature.

Wintek Nation

Not much to see and learn IF you do a self-guided tour. They offer a free ranger-guided tour that made it really interesting and fun visit. Charlie was really good and informative. Learned a lot, not just about the State Capitol but also, about Vallejo, Benicia, first governors of California, etc. They have an original 31-state US flag on the 2nd floor which was really cool. $3/adult, $2 (6-17 y/o) admission fee. 5 y/o and under are free. They are close Monday-Wednesday.

There's street parking around the building and public restroom outside at the left side.

Alexander Boulgakov

Fantastic tours!

I just moved to California and the Bay, and have been exploring. As a fan of history, I thought this would be a fun little detour, fifteen minutes, maybe half an hour at most.

Nope! I spent over an hour in here with a couple of wonderful tour guides. They really know their stuff and will show you all kinds of artifacts and tell you a part of the story of California, the gold rush, and all the other crazy Wild West stuff that went on back then.

It's like $3, too. If you're even a little interested in history, is a sin to be here and not experience this place. Solid 5/5 stars without any caveats.

Stephanie Hollman Kowalkowski

A wonderful, unplanned outing to the state capitol and fisher house next door. Charlie and Julio were terrific docents who have so much knowledge!!! They made the tours so interesting.