California - Welcome to U.S. County Courthouses!

Entered Union September 9, 1850 (31^st state)

California (39,538,212), Sacramento (524,924), Los Angeles (3,898,767)

The granite capitol was originally completed in 1861 using the designs of M. Frederic Butler. It is located at 10^th and L streets. Interstate Highway 5 is 7 blocks to the west of the capitol. It is designed in Neoclassical. The major supporting structures are the Supreme Court Courthouse and seven Court of Appeals Courthouses. The state was officially created as the 31^st state on September 9, 1850 from the California Republic which came from Mexico and Native American lands. The state’s name comes from a Spanish word (Las Californias) for the Baja California peninsula. The name of Sacramento comes from the Spanish word for sacrament by explorer Moraga. Monterey, San Jose, Vallejo, and Benicia have served as capital before Sacramento in 1854. Los Angeles is Spanish for “the angels” after the original puebla founded in the area. Mount Whitney on the Inyo and Tulare counties border is the highest point and Badwater Basin in Death Valley is the lowest point.

California government, in the Executive, consists of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Controller, Treasurer, Education Superintendent, and Insurance Commissioner. There are 40 Senators and 80 Representatives in the Legislative. Seven Supreme Court Justices and One hundred seven Court of Appeals Judges serve California in the Judicial. California is located in the western United States. The geographic center is in Madera County 38 miles east of Madera. The state is surrounded clockwise by Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean.

The area is 163695 square miles. It is 3^rd largest state in the country. It is the 1^st most populated state in the country. It has a density of 241.5 persons per square mile making it 11^th in the country. Major rivers include the Sacramento, the San Joaquin, the Feather, the Tuolumne, the Merced, the Colorado, and the Trinity. Sacramento is located in the northern third and Los Angeles is in the southern third of the state.