Lost

Travel to the past and enjoy a string quartet and an eight-course dinner in an elegant wilderness.

 

Beginning in the 1880s, the beauty of Lake Tahoe enticed entrepreneurs to build the most opulent resort hotels in America catering to the wealthiest from California and Nevada. Baldwin’s Tallac House, the Tahoe Tavern and Brockway Hot Springs Hotel fought to outdo one another as they took luxury to new heights with musical entertainment, movies, horseback excursions and five-star dining. Tahoe Tavern even featured its own private railway, while Brockway spawned America’s first gambling casino resort, the Cal-Neva Lodge, where celebrities mingled with mobsters. By the 1960s, the golden era had begun to fade as the tourist demographic shifted, but a splendid legacy endures.

Author Paul Nelson brings to life the intrigue and opulence of Lake Tahoe’s earliest resorts.

 

The snow-laden slopes of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains have beckoned Southland skiers since the 1930s. Many once-cherished ski areas have disappeared, yet their history remains. A short drive from the sun and sand, places like Rebel Ridge and Kratka Ridge offered snowy escapes. Thrilling races were held at the First International Pine Needle Ski Tournament in North Hollywood, while the San Diego Ski Club boasted Dorothy McClung Wullich, the first female member of the National Ski Patrol. Ingrid Wicken, ski historian and founder of the California Ski Library, chronicles Southern California's lost mountain getaways and the vanished ski areas that introduced everything from rope tows to artificial snow.

The Cannibal City

In the early days of the California Gold Rush, Sacramento City had several competing towns vying for the influx of newcomers. Many of its rivals not only had vibrant multicultural communities but also enjoyed superior geography for transportation and flood control. Even the initial land grant from Johann Sutter is considered controversial if not downright fiction, yet Sacramento thrived where others failed. Once-bustling Mormon Island was initially the proposed site of the railway that would end up bypassing it, and Brighton became a hotbed of agitation after the deadly “Squatters’ Riot,” leading to its decline. Hoboken, Prairie City and more were also wiped off the map.

The Special Collections of the Sacramento Public Library explores the history of these lost Sacramentos.

The untold story of the Bolsa Chica Gun Club, one of Southern California's most important power centers.

Before the rise of Huntington Beach, the Bolsa Chica Gun Club stood as a captivating testament to power and ambition. Influential figures like Jared Sidney Torrance and Henry Huntington were members of this exclusive haven where businessmen, politicians, and even stars of early Hollywood gathered to relax and socialize. Once rapid development and the discovery of oil began encroaching on the club lands, it slowly faded into memory, but its influence remains.

Join author Chris Epting as he explores the remarkable and sometimes controversial events that unfolded on the club's hallowed grounds.

Slowly fading with the city's ever-changing landscape, the places and people of Burbank's past tell a vibrant story. Before the arrival of Warner Bros. and Walt Disney, First National Pictures built its original studio lot on Olive Avenue in 1926. For over sixty years, Lockheed Aircraft Company produced some of the nation's best airplanes where the massive Empire Shopping Center now stands. Heavyweight champion James Jeffries turned his Burbank ranch home and barn into a beloved landmark and boxing venue. And inventor Joseph Wesley Fawkes's scheme to build a monorail to Los Angeles became a local laughingstock. Die-hard Burbankers Wes Clark and Michael McDaniel collect these and many more forgotten local stories where they can finally be found.

Alongside its vineyards, the Napa Valley boasts restaurants celebrated for their pioneering spirit. Stroll through the memories of this region's mouthwatering eateries with tales of the enterprising women and risk takers who helped make Napa a foodie haven. The Empire Saloon made history by being the first business to serve food in the fledgling city of Napa, and a little over a century later, the Magnolia Hotel set the standard for fine dining in Yountville. The A-1 Café made Chinese cuisine a local favorite, and Jonesy's set the aviation community aflutter with its tasty special potatoes. Join author Alexandria Brown as she delves into the history of Napa County's gone-but-not-forgotten restaurants and their classic dishes.

Millions of people come to Santa Cruz every year to enjoy the beach and eat at one of the many popular restaurants. Favorite places have come and gone, but they haven't been forgotten. From the treasured Miramar Fish Grotto, in business for more than seventy years, to Nature's Harvest, local, seasonal food has always been a staple of this little slice of paradise. Food trends were embodied in places like the Wild Thyme Café and the Sāba Club alongside longtime fixtures such as the Tea Cup and Adolph's Italian Family Restaurant, catering to locals and tourists alike. Author Liz Pollock combines wonderful stories and classic cocktail recipes from bygone eras in this trip down memory lane.

In the early 1890s, farmers Albert Maulhardt and John Edward Borchard discovered Ventura County's favorable conditions for a highly profitable new cash crop: the sugar beet. Not long after inviting sugar mogul Henry T. Oxnard to the area, construction began on a $2 million sugar factory capable of processing two thousand tons of beets daily. The facility brought jobs, wealth and the Southern Pacific rail line. It became one of the country's largest producers of sugar, and just like that, a town was born. Despite the industry's demise, the city of Oxnard still owes its name to the man who delivered prosperity. A fifth-generation descendant, local author and historian Jeffrey Wayne Maulhardt details the rise and fall of a powerful enterprise and the entrepreneurial laborers who helped create a city.

Discover the vanished history of Napa Valley

Once known for its cattle and silver mines, Napa Valley has grown into an international wine destination. From the Von Uhlit family’s fruit farm in Napa to the Wheeler Ranch in St. Helena, fields and orchards became neighborhoods and vineyards. The Dolphin, a steamboat that once delivered travelers from San Francisco, was replaced by faster transport and the Napa State Hospital’s original ‘castle’ was demolished. The Sawyer Tannery, in operation for over one hundred years, closed its doors in 1990, and places like the Kay-Von Drive-In and the Bel Aire Bowl now live on only in memory.

Join author Lauren Coodley as she celebrates these once-beloved landmarks in California’s Wine Country.