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From its earliest park in 1913, the County of San Diego has more than 100 years of serving the public with unique park and recreational experiences while preserving significant natural and cultural resources. Officially, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors established the Department of Recreation in 1946. Today, the department manages over 50,000 acres of parks, campgrounds, trails, recreation centers, sports complexes, and ecological and open-space preserves. The county covers an area that includes coastline, mountains, deserts, lakes, lagoons, and other habitats—it is the nation's most biologically diverse county—and the department's properties mirror this biodiversity. They also contain sites that reveal the county's history: Mexican-era ranchos, an overland stage station, remnants of an early gristmill, Victorian mansions, traces of flume systems, Depression-era construction projects, an 1887 boathouse, and parks that reflect the advent of early automobile tourism.
Fountain Valley
9780738547459
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$24.99
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Along the banks of the Santa Ana River, between the larger cities of Santa Ana to the east and Huntington Beach to the west, lies Fountain Valley, named for its abundance of natural artesian wells and once swamp-covered landscapes. Formerly a portion of the Rancho Las Bolsas land grant of the late 1700s, the area—once called Gospel Swamp and later Talbert—was known for cattle grazing, agricultural productivity, and game hunting, as well as for fiery tent-revival sermons delivered by itinerant preachers. As agrarian lands became subdivisions in the 1950s, the farmers and ranchers saw the writing on the wall for future development. In 1957, Fountain Valley incorporated, becoming the 21st city in Orange County and the county's first master-planned community. In a half century, Fountain Valley has earned recognition, nationally and internationally, as a forward-looking city.
Carson
9780738531045
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$24.99
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Most of the rolling ranchlands between what developed into the cities of Torrance and Long Beach in Los Angeles County's South Bay region were the domain of the Dominguez family's Rancho San Pedro. Among the families that married Dominguez sisters was that of George Henry Carson, whose seven sons and eight daughters helped ingrain the Carson name throughout the region. After World War I, the area prospered, developing its own businesses and identity so that the issue of possible cityhood ended in 1968 with incorporation. The city of Carson has been home to California State University, Dominguez Hills, the Goodyear blimp, oil refineries, industrial parks, track-and-field champions, 1984 Olympic bicycling events, and some of the most extraordinary racial diversity found anywhere, with Latinos, African Americans, and Filipinos each making up more than 20 percent of the total population.
Centerville, Fremont
9780738581774
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$24.99
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The tale of Centerville, Fremont—part of the sprawling landscape of the southeast San Francisco Bay—begins with near forgotten histories such as the once sprawling grandeur of the Alviso rancho and the California 100, a battalion raised in Centerville for the Civil War. Centerville celebrates a sporting-mad past, centrally located on the Way to San Jose from Oakland on the long, straight stretch once famed for horse and then bicycle racing and later as a motor-touring destination on the early Route 17. By the 1890s, Centerville was home to Washington Union High School and the Centerville Athletic Club and began collecting trophies in football, rugby, baseball, and other sports. Fabled athletes of later eras include Wimbledon tennis queen Helen Wills Moody, football coach Bill Walsh, and hall of fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley.
Laotians in the San Francisco Bay Area
9780738595863
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Throughout the 19th and up to the mid-20th centuries, immigrants from China, Japan, Korea, India, and the Philippines came to America through San Francisco. The end of the decades-long Vietnam War changed the modern Asian American demographics of the city, this time with refugees coming from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The San Francisco Bay Area remains a hub for Laotian American culture, history, and community resources, and it has been a center for Laotian American advancement since the early 1980s. After calling the United States home for more than 30 years and battling the scars of war, a new Laotian American society is seeking meaning from its past while moving forward with hopes of a better future as Americans.
Isleton
9780738528632
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$24.99
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In the heart of the Delta, between the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, the small town of Isleton boasts a fascinating history as well as the popular Crawdad Festival that draws thousands to the area each year. Built primarily by farmers who found the reclaimed marshland perfect for their agricultural endeavors, the community also became a center for Chinese customs and life when immigrants began to establish themselves in the area in the 1860s. The Chinese were soon followed by other ethnic groups, including Japanese, Philippino, Portuguese, and others who joined them in farming the land, working in the canneries, and raising their families. Though much smaller today than at its peak just prior to World War II, Isleton has made great efforts to preserve its unique character, and today many of its structures are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Greater French Valley
9780738569185
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$24.99
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The Greater French Valley covers the hills and valleys of southwest Riverside County, north of Temecula and south of Hemet. Lueseno Indians knew this area well, seeking out food and water year after year. After the Spanish era, French and Basque shepherds drove through. Some settled along with the Italian-Swiss and the English, bringing sheep-raising, cattle-grazing, bee apiaries, and dry-land grain farming to the area. French Valley, Auld Valley, the Tucalota, Sage, and Rawson Country bear names of hardworking immigrants that settled, prepared for their families, developed community and one-room schools, as well as a social life that lived and breathed rural America. Today in this area, backgrounds, generations, and their stories blend together, sharing the warmth and legacy of a bygone era.
Shenandoah Valley and Amador Wine Country
9780738556031
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The grape has been grown and fermented into wine in the foothills of Amador County since the first days of the Gold Rush. While many dreamed of overnight riches in the gold fields, others saw wealth in the region's red soils and Mediterranean climate, patiently planting gardens and orchards, wheat, and vine. These vines, some of the oldest zinfandel in California, have produced distinctive wines in a viticultural tradition that has survived the ravages of mining, disease, and Prohibition. After Prohibition, the region slipped into quiet jug production until its rediscovery in the 1960s. While the Shenandoah Valley is undeniably the heart of Amador's winemaking region today, vineyards flourished historically from Sutter Creek to Fiddletown, from Jackson to Ione, and tasting rooms are open countywide.
Flintridge
9780738555850
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Frank Putnam Flint began accruing ranches in the San Rafael foothills of La Canada during his term as a U.S. senator (1905-1911), initially with the purchase of the Turner Ranch. Flint's dream of an enclave for Republican society ended abruptly when his brother, Motley Flint, ensnared him in an entrepreneurial endeavor that became the infamous C. C. Julian petroleum scandal. This imbroglio overshadowed Frank Flint's myriad accomplishments, and he died aboard ship on a world cruise with his wife, Katherine, during the scandal's 1929 fallout. The memory of Flint's dream remains in Flintridge homes, built by Southern California's finest architects, and in the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, Saint Francis High School, Flintridge Preparatory School, Flintridge Riding Club, and the beautiful winding woodland roads that Flint conceived during horseback rides. Devotees of the Flint ideal battled with La Canada factions during city incorporation to commemorate him by saddling the various La Canada communities with the lengthy name of La Canada Flintridge.
Early National City
9780738559100
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Below the surface of bustling National City lies the story of olive and citrus orchards, grand Victorian homes, great wealth, and the coming of the first railroad. Founded in 1868 by Frank Kimball, National City is credited with multiple distinguished firsts. On the county level, the San Diego County Fair originated here, the first novel published was by a National City pioneer, the first free kindergarten opened here, the first automobile was built here, and the first railroad terminus was located here. On the state level, the first woman to serve as an elected member of a school board lived in National City. Today the city is home to 61,000 residents; and as an accessible and diverse community, all eyes now look upon National City as it begins to experience a renaissance of growth and commerce.
Theatres of San Jose
9780738569062
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San Joseans have long had their pick of the best in stage and screen entertainment. In the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries, theatres were beloved places. Whether in downtown, the neighborhoods, or surrounding communities, theatres provided the thrill of a night on the town. Most of the early theatres built in San Jose exist only in photographs, many exhibited in this book for the first time. A few, such as the palatial California Theatre and the venerable Jose Theatre, serve exciting new uses in today's entertainment marketplace. Even such relative newcomers as the Century 21 Theatre and its fellow domed cinemas have begun to gain a romance of their own.
Long Beach Fire Department
9780738530017
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The Long Beach Fire Department's adaptability has been tested by a wide variety of disasters that have marked it as a unique firefighting force on the West Coast. Thousands of residents and others have owed their very lives to the department since its 1897 formation. The LBFD moved into action during the devastating 1933 Long Beach earthquake, in which its own Fire House No. 1 was reduced to rubble. Its firefighters have quelled oilfield blazes through the 20th century, and its fireboats have poured water onto flames engulfing the docks and warehouses of the bustling port. Other duties have included such side excursions as working standby during Howard Hughes's 1947 flight of the Spruce Goose and taking care of Sam the cat, a Station 6 mainstay who slid down the fire pole to the delight of television audiences.
Calle Olvera de Los Angeles
9780738524993
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Regular price
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In February 1958, a tragic climbing accident occurred on Big Falls, in Forest Falls, California, resulting in the death of a 13-year-old boy. Rescue attempts were futile because there were no experienced personnel or climbing equipment available. As a result of this unfortunate tragedy, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department spearheaded a recruitment of volunteers, forming the county's first mountain search and rescue team. Since that time, the San Gorgonio Search and Rescue Team has performed thousands of searches, rescues, and body recoveries. The organization is the oldest of its kind in San Bernardino County and is proud to have second-generation team members. This book tells the story of these dedicated volunteers through photographs taken by team members and through the stories retold by those who were there.
Fair Oaks
9780738530888
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Fair Oaks, in the gently undulating foothills along Highway 50, has something in common with its vast neighbor, Sacramento. Early land speculators, politicians, and Chicago businessmen formed a partnership to sell off one of their Sunset Colonies, deservedly dubbed Fair Oaks, promising water systems and a suburban railroad to help colonists grow prize citrus. The farmers came, but when the investors retreated east, a railroad and water had not appeared. A later investment group did build a bridge and railroad, encouraging more farmers until, at the height of the Great Depression, nature laid a cold hand on the land, freezing all of the citrus. But other orchard crops and vineyards flourished, while more bridges and proximity to the state capital helped transform the farm town into a charming suburb, where residents can still gather at the local cafe or brave the red bluffs and rushing waters of the American River.
Escondido Grape Day Festivals
9780738559490
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Escondido is the lilting Spanish name meaning hidden and was given to an irregular-shaped inland Southern California valley where an investment group planted 100 acres of grapes in the early 1880s.
The dry-farmed grapes grew unusually large and sweet, which prompted business leaders to envision an attraction similar to Pasadena's Tournament of Roses. The first Grape Day Festival in 1908 commemorated an auspicious occasion in Escondido's water history and celebrated the grape as a symbol of the agricultural abundance of the region. The event attracted thousands of guests who could view the valley, farm displays, a grand parade, and entertainment while eating their fill of free grapes. But by mid-century, Grape Day disappeared along with the grape in Escondido. With the memory of the grape remaining clear, the Escondido Historical Society began the revival of the celebration in the 1970s.
Los Alamos Valley
9781467133319
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$24.99
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Los Alamos is a small town on its way to big things. It is a growing tourist destination yet retains its pastoral charm. The history of the Los Alamos Valley can be viewed as a microcosm of the history of California, for it contains within its span Chumash Indians, mission neophytes and horse herds, Spanish land grants, cattle ranches, vaqueros, bandits, oil bonanzas, a narrow-gauge railroad, fertile soil for bountiful crops, vast vineyards, tourism, and even an element of Hollywood. Its location on the Central Coast of California means sunny skies, cool evenings, and cool, damp breezes. The character and resilience of the Los Alamos Valley inhabitants, however, is the real story. Theirs is a history of intermingling cultures and races, a steadfast preservation of traditions, and a pioneer streak of stubborn perseverance in the face of natural and economic adversity. The images in this book were gathered as the result of a community effort.
