Name: Shipwrecks of the California Coast
Brand: Michael D. White
SKU: 9781609499242
Price: 21.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Shipwrecks of the California Coast

9781609499242

$21.99

More than two thousand ships have been lost along California's 840 miles of coastline--Spanish galleons, passenger liners, freighters, schooners. Some tragedies are marking points in U.S. maritime history. The City of Rio de Janeiro, bound from Hong Kong to San Francisco in 1901, sliced the fog only to strike a rock and sink in twenty minutes, sending 128 passengers to watery graves. Seven U.S. Navy destroyers, bound on a fateful 1923 night from San Francisco to San Diego, crashed into the rocks at Honda Point on the treacherous Santa Barbara County coast, killing 23 sailors in one of the military's worst peacetime losses. Join author Michael D. White as he navigates the shoals of shipping mishaps with both salvage stories and elegies to the departed.

A Brief History of Norco

9781609497019

$21.99

Legend has it that Rex Clark won fifteen square miles of failed farms, rutted roads and broken water mains in a poker game. Using his wife's newspaper fortune, Clark tried orchards and then poultry. Local hot springs inspired Clark's creation of a giant recreational resort. U.S. presidents and Hollywood royalty sojourned at the fabulous Norconian until the Great Depression hit. The spa was converted to U.S. Naval Hospital #1 during World War II and then a top Cold War missile lab. Norco became a horse-raising enclave while staving off annexation from nearby southwestern Riverside County cities. Today, the city is known nationwide as HorseTown, USA. Join former mayor Kevin Bash and his coauthor daughter Angelique Bash for this engaging trail ride through Norco's colorful past.

Brief History of Los Alamitos-Rossmoor, A

9781609498610

$21.99

The city of Los Alamitos and the contiguous, unincorporated community of Rossmoor exemplify small-town America amid the populous western Orange County sprawl. Their tree-lined streets, well-kept homes and first-rate schools are reflected in Rossmoor's selection as the No. 1 suburb in California (and No. 9 nationwide) in a 2012 study by Coldwell Banker Realty. The evolution of Los Alamitos from cattle ranches and sugar beet factory town to World War II military town and ultimately into residential neighborhoods took a century. Meanwhile, the planned walled 'city' of Rossmoor was created between 1955 and 1961. Despite annexation talk, Rossmoor and Los Al coexist apart together, so to speak, on Long Beach's outskirts. Author Larry Strawther traces the histories of these interdependent sister communities, which epitomize the reality in the legend of the Orange County lifestyle.

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True Tales of the Sacramento Delta

9781626196056

$21.99

May 13, 1817, marked the first recorded exploration of the Sacramento River. The expedition changed the Delta region forever. A flood of explorers from all over the world poured into the Lower Sacramento River Delta, and soon towns were settled on the banks of the river. As settlement flourished, each new community gave birth to stories of early pioneers, shipwrecks, murder, robbery, vigilante justice, bootleggers and more. Here for the first time in this remarkable collection, local historian and author Philip Pezzaglia reveals the true stories behind some of the tales that have passed through generations, becoming legends of the Delta.

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A Brief History of Orange, California

9781609492878

$21.99

Orange, California, a city that started small, but grew big on the promise, sweat and toil of agriculture. Born from the breakup of the old Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, its early days were filled with horse races, gambling, and fiestas. Citrus was the backbone of the economy for more than half a century, though post-war development eventually replaced the orange groves. Historian, and Orange native, Phil Brigandi traces the roots of the city back to its small town origins: the steam whistle of the Peanut Roaster, the citrus packers tissue-wrapping oranges for transport, Miss Orange leading the May Festival parade, and the students of Orange Union High painting the O and celebrating Dutch-Irish Days. In doing so, he captures what makes Orange distinct.

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Fighting Fire in the Sierra National Forest

9781626193710

$21.99

To live in the foothills on the periphery of the Sierra National Forest is to live with the certainty of summer wildfires. Each year, from April forward, Californians watch the sky and sniff the air for telltale signs of smoke. While fire remains a constant threat, the strategy for combating it has evolved with the understanding of its beneficial role in the forest environment. Marcia Penner Freedman traces the history of firefighting and fire management from the forest's early years through the policy shifts that began in the 1960s and the measures used today.

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Silver Lake Chronicles

9781609499587

$21.99

Situated between Los Feliz and Echo Park a few miles from downtown Los Angeles, Silver Lake thrives as a perennially avant-garde and enchanting enclave. From mansion builders and movie stars to bohemians, visionaries and just plain folk, discover Silver Lake's illustrious past and a fantastic cast of characters sure to enrich contemporary experience and inform the past. Colorful anecdotes about early movie magnates William Selig and Mack Sennett and silent-screen idols Mabel Normand, Antonio Moreno and Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle flesh out these famous figures' lives in new and surprising ways. Other lesser-known but richly deserving stories about the area's pioneer families are shared perhaps for the first time. Authors Michael Locke and Vincent Brook present a rich tapestry of this unique urban oasis whose appeal seems only to grow.

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Seal Beach

9781626194892

$23.99

The wooden pier, tree-lined Main Street and ocean views, coupled with a prosperous and happy community, led Forbes magazine to name Seal Beach one of the five friendliest towns in America. Getting there, however, was a bumpy adventure. Starting in the 1860s as Anaheim Landing, the first seaport in what would become Orange County, it soon became a summer retreat for squatters and illegal saloons. Despite the efforts of real estate developers to turn the town into an amusement resort and an early center for aviation and motion pictures, Seal Beach became neighboring Long Beach's tavern, brothel and gambling destination. But order and prosperity eventually prevailed to create today's quiet residential city. Join author Larry Strawther as he tracks Seal Beach's evolution from raucous port to cherished community.

Lost Ski Areas of Tahoe and Donner

9781467140584

$21.99

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Lake Tahoe and the Donner Summit region became California’s first developed winter sports areas. Plentiful snowfall and newly built highways opened up the summer playground for visitors year-round, and skiing flourished. The Sierra Ski Club formed in 1925, attracting members eager to experience everything the mountains had to offer. People flocked to the slopes, visiting places like Clair Tappaan Lodge in Soda Springs, boasting one of the summit’s earliest ski tows, and the Yuba Gap Lodge, a pioneer in night skiing. Join Ingrid P. Wicken, award-winning author and ski historian, as she recounts the fascinating beginnings of this celebrated ski hub.

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Baseball in Long Beach

9781609499969

$23.99

More than two hundred Major League Baseball players have hailed from Long Beach and its suburbs. This hotbed of horsehide heroics includes Hall of Famers Bob Lemon, Duke Snider and Tony Gwynn, as well as longtime stars Ron Fairly, Bob Bailey, Bobby Grich, Chase Utley and Jered Weaver. Negro League and Pacific Coast League clubs enjoyed Long Beach connections. Many players whose cleats tore up legendary Rec Park and Blair Field are enshrined in the city's baseball/softball hall of fame. The winning tradition continues as Long Beach State's Dirtbags sent more players to the bigs in 2010 and 2011 than any other college. Join baseball historian Bob Keisser as he recounts Long Beach's greatest baseball stars, teams and stories.

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Beach Mexican

9781609496616

$21.99

Alex Moreno Areyan's odyssey of growing up Latino in white upper-middle-class Redondo Beach in the 1950s presents a story of assimilation different from that experienced by Mexican Americans in larger barrios. His annual white lie" to classmates was that his father got a job up north and the family was moving. They moved, all right--in a 1941 Plymouth with the harvest. In Marysville, Meridian and Mendota, they lived in tents and cars, under trucks and in corrugated tin hovels while picking cotton, tomatoes, peaches, walnuts and plums. The kid once threatened with permanent expulsion from Redondo Union High for speaking Spanish on campus eventually received a plaque from the City of Redondo Beach for writing the Mexican American history of the city. "Beach Mexican" proves the journey wasn't easy."

The Aviation History of Greater Riverside

9781609496302

$21.99

Ever since aircraft changed the scope of the First World War, flight became both a passion and business in Riverside. Early barnstormers needed places to park, refuel and service their aircraft, so airports started popping up. Alessandro Field became March Field in 1918. By World War II, seventy-five thousand troops were deployed at March. Today's March Joint Air Reserve Base has been a vital wartime training and relay installation and a sentinel of peacetime. In 1925, Roman Warren, known as the Cowboy Aviator, established Riverside Airport, which later became Flabob Airport. Take to the air with authors Marge and Tony Bitetti as they trace Greater Riverside's history of flight--from Banning, Corona and Riverside Municipal Airports to Perris Airport, Skylark Field and others.

The Aviation History of Greater Riverside

Historic Tales of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

9781467142953

$24.99

Visiting the redwoods in nineteenth-century California meant coming to Big Trees Grove, now part of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. This forest of giants in the Santa Cruz Mountains attained fame through the 1846 exploits of explorer John Charles Frémont, whose namesake tree still stands. Saved from the logger's axe by Joseph Warren Welch in 1867, these were the first coastal redwoods preserved for public recreation. As a world-renowned resort for sixty years, Big Trees Grove hosted thousands of visitors--from picnickers to presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt. Join author Deborah Osterberg as she recounts the stories of those first visitors and the awe-inspiring landscape they preserved for future generations.

Historic Tales of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

Sacramento Beer

9781467138475

$21.99

Historically speaking, Sacramento benefited from a gold rush, an agricultural boom and, more recently, a brewing renaissance. The region's craft beer scene exploded from six to more than sixty breweries in about a decade, and the roots of that culture stretch back more than a century. Before Prohibition, thousands of acres of local hops supplied brewers across the country. Local farms are once again taking advantage of the temperate climate. In 1958, the University of California–Davis started America's foremost brewing science program, producing some of California's top brewers. Rubicon's 1989 award-winning IPA was just the beginning for the current, innovative resurgence. Author Justin Chechourka explores the complexities and nuance of this fermenting heritage.

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Central Coast Aviators in World War II

9781467139526

$21.99

During World War II, thousands of volunteer combat aviators trained at places like Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and Hancock Field in Santa Maria. Some air cadets and WASPs—young women pilots—lost their lives in training accidents. The graduates would go on to fight in both the Pacific and European theaters. They faced flak bursts and collisions that resulted in horrifying explosions and were sent on strafing runs that made them targets in a lethal shooting gallery. Downed airmen encountered both unexpected kindness and cruel deprivation as prisoners of war. Through interviews and official records, Jim Gregory tells the stories of heroic Central Coast veterans who fought a war that stretched from New Guinea to North Africa.

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Miracle Mile in Los Angeles

9781609495930

$21.99

The world-famous Miracle Mile in Los Angeles was shaped into a great commercial and cultural district by the city's tremendous urban expansion in the early twentieth century. Its origins along Wilshire Boulevard are directly related to the twin LA booms in auto travel and real estate ventures. Once the home of such famous stores as the May Company, Silverwood's, Coulter's and Desmond's, as well as Streamline Moderne and Art Deco architecture, Miracle Mile has boasted the La Brea Tar Pits and Farmer's Market, Gilmore Field and CBS Television City, as well as Pan Pacific Park and Museum Row. Join author Ruth Wallach, head of the University of Southern California's Architecture and Fine Arts Library, for this tour through the most emblematic neighborhood of twentieth-century Los Angeles development.

Midtown Sacramento

9781626196735

$21.99

Though once scheduled for demolition, Midtown Sacramento battled back to become the city's geographic and cultural center--a beacon for offbeat artists, progressive thinkers and independent spirits. This eclectic neighborhood made history through social progress and artistic innovation. Through the hippie counterculture of the 1960s, the irreverent power of punk rock in the 1970s and '80s and the social and political consciousness of Generation X in the 1990s and beyond, Midtown always led the way. Now Sacramento historian and Midtown resident William Burg tells the story of the diverse generations of Sacramentans who shaped this trailblazing neighborhood.

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Wicked Jurupa Valley:

9781609495206

$21.99

The Wineville Chicken Coop Murders a horrible 1928 national news story that inspired the 2008 movie The Changeling from director Clint Eastwood are only the most infamous despicable deeds that have bloodstained the rural countryside between Riverside City and the San Bernardino County line. Jurupa Valley has been a region of dark doings and scandalous misdeeds for generations. The city of Jurupa Valley was formed in 2011 from the area's smaller communities, including Wineville (renamed Mira Loma to escape the shame), Pedley and Rubidoux. Buried in its landscape are salacious sagas of unchecked bootlegging, payday orgies and gruesome murders. Author Kim Jarrell Johnson digs deep to disinter the unsavory stories that have traditionally marked her home city as a resting place of enduring infamy.

Cover image for Wicked Jurupa Valley:, isbn: 9781609495206

Wicked Crescenta Valley

9781626193062

$21.99

From illegal gambling and prostitution to claims of alien abduction, Crescenta Valley has seen it all. Once home to thriving moonshine operations and shocking Nazi rallies, the valley's past is riddled with scandalous tales that many would prefer to forget. Yet not all of Crescenta Valley's tawdry history could remain forgotten or hidden in its day. The infamous C.C. Julian oil scandal made national headlines. Even today, recent information reveals a local internment camp for Japanese and Germans that opened the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed. Join Gary Keyes and Mike Lawler, authors of Murder & Mayhem in the Crescenta Valley, as they reveal the seamy underbelly that belies the valley's beautifully pleasant exterior.

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The West Branch Mill of the Sierra Lumber Company

9781609497415

$21.99

In the late 1800s, the green gold of California's inland timber belt included the long-coned sugar pine and cinnamon-dusted ponderosa pine of Big Chico Creek Canyon. Tucked into the steep terrain of present-day Butte and Tehama Counties, the bustling West Branch Mill logging operations moved timber from the foothills east of Chico to waiting markets in Sacramento, Marysville and San Francisco. Local author Andy Mark recounts the lesser-known history of the West Branch Mill, recalling a time when resident physician Newton T. Enloe treated the daring men who faced daily peril, John Bidwell's bumpy and sometimes treacherous Humboldt Wagon Road was essentially the only route to town and Big Chico Creek was lined with an elevated flume running lumber and ambulance rafts.

Cover image for The West Branch Mill of the Sierra Lumber Company, isbn: 9781609497415

Fremont Older and the 1916 San Francisco Bombing:

9781626192676

$21.99

On Saturday, July 22, 1916, as Preparedness Day" parade units assembled south of San Francisco's Market Street, a terrorist bomb exploded, killing ten people and wounding forty. San Francisco was outraged. Instead of searching for the perpetrators, however, the district attorney used the bombing as an excuse to arrest, try and convict two obscure labor figures without evidence. Author John C. Ralston chronicles the dramatic events following the initial tragedy as newspaper editor Fremont Older discovers the case is based on blatant perjury and exposes the secondary crime to the public. What became known as the "American Dreyfus Case" led to an international outcry, finally resulting in one defendant's pardon and the other's parole--but only after both men had been imprisoned for twenty-three years.."

Cover image for Fremont Older and the 1916 San Francisco Bombing:, isbn: 9781626192676

Frontier Days in Crescenta Valley:

9781626195080

$21.99

Modern Crescenta Valley practically defines the notion of quiet suburbia with its lovely homes and tree-lined streets. Yet the communities that lie north of Los Angeles between the Verdugo and San Gabriel Mountains once formed a vast, isolated, treeless, windstorm-swept dell. The settlers who stayed in this valley found day-to-day subsistence challenging. They farmed, hunted, tried bee ranching, gathered greasewood, cultivated vineyards and dodged rattlesnakes. As settlement in the area continued to develop, such refinements as literature and photography flourished. Join author Jo Anne Sadler as she brings the Valley's frontier days to life, recounting such quirks as a visit from a rainmaker" and the reasons behind the construction of the gaudy local landmark the Gould Castle."

Manhattan Beach Chronicles

9781609499082

$21.99

An isolated ocean-view village on the dunes above South Santa Monica Bay, Manhattan Beach grew with the arrival of railroads. This quaint, upscale jewel of the Los Angeles County coast has been known for its cottage-style living, the Metlox Pottery Company and the iconic pier. These diverse stories mix the city's controversies, including the still unsolved 1936 murder of Reid Russell, with true tales of pioneering women, controversial politics and the vicissitudes of seaside city development. Join author Jan Dennis, a former Manhattan Beach city mayor, on this illuminating tour through the issues and eras of her beloved city's history.

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Westside Chronicles

9781609496234

$21.99

Los Angeles sprawled westward toward the sand and sea of Santa Monica Bay throughout the twentieth century as land-grant ranchos gave way to capitalists and promoters. Developers subdivided the coastal land into neighborhoods and communities: Santa Monica, Brentwood, Bel-Air, Westwood, Venice, Ocean Park, Pacific Palisades, Malibu and Marina del Rey. These became places known to the nation at large for movie stars, moguls and business tycoons; for Will Rogers, Henry Huntington and UCLA; and for estate homes, amusement piers and surfing beaches. Join Jan Loomis, a former West L.A. magazine publisher and historian, as she tells the stories behind how it all came to be West Los Angeles.

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The Way We Were in San Diego

9781609494414

$19.99

San Diego, known for its perfect weather, naval ties and landmarks like the San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park, has a history as incredible as its stunning shoreline. In this collection of articles from his San Diego Union-Tribune column The Way We Were," Richard W. Crawford recounts stories from the city's early history that once splashed across the headlines. Read about Ruth Alexander's aviation feats, the water pipeline carved from Humboldt County redwoods, the jailbreak of a man facing ten years in San Quentin for cow theft, a visit from escape artist Harry Houdini and the Purity League's closure of the Stingaree red-light district. These stories highlight San Diego's progress from a humble frontier port to the stylish city it is today."

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Weinstock's

9781609494445

$21.99

In 1874, David Lubin hung a provocative sign over a ten by twelve-foot space on the corner of Fourth and K Streets in Sacramento, California: D. Lubin: One Price. Thus began the dry goods store that would evolve into Weinstock, Lubin, and Co., one of Sacramento's landmark businesses and eventually a regional giant. While many Sacramentans will remember Weinstock's spectacular Christmas displays, the signature children's milk bar and the gala openings of suburban stores at Country Club Plaza and Sunrise Mall, historian Annette Kassis goes beyond the storefront to uncover the philosophy that placed Weinstock's at the forefront of business innovation. More than a retail establishment, Weinstock's one-hundred-year legacy brought high fashion, progressive politics and the leading edge of modernization to California's Capital City.

Cover image for Weinstock's, isbn: 9781609494445

Haunted San Pedro

9781467135771

$21.99

Home to one of the busiest ports in the country, San Pedro plays host to visitors from all walks of life--and death. Locals swap supernatural stories of shipwrecked ghosts, lost lighthouse keepers, suicidal lovers and more. The spirit of a native Gabrieleno man wanders the grounds of the Wayfarers Chapel. The phantom smell of a Civil War officer's cigar smoke wafts through the halls of the Drum Barracks. A dedicated employee of the historic Warner Brothers Theatre still fixes jammed film reels and tests equipment in the projection room. Historian and paranormal investigator Brian Clune delves into the history and mysteries of these spooky seaside haunts.

Pioneers of Mill Creek Canyon

9781467145336

$21.99

The pioneers of Mill Creek Canyon in the San Bernardino Mountains were visionaries, eccentrics and adventurers. Daniel Sexton married a Native American wife hoping to gain the secret to a mine, while Peter Forsee, a world-weary sheriff, married a widow who was sheltering two outlaw sons. Sylvanus Thurman's burros carried travelers into the wild and sometimes took them for a wild ride. George Burris didn't find gold, but his marble discovery built mansions. D. Rhea Igo created roadside attractions, and Louie Torrey left the city to farm the forest, creating a paradise for his family and others. Join author Shannon Wray as she explores the colorful lives of those who left an indelible mark on Mill Creek Canyon.

The Abalone King of Monterey

9781609494698

$21.99

In 1908, Pop Ernest Doelter was crowned the Abalone King. In the kitchen of his Alvarado Street restaurant in Monterey, California, Pop transformed rubbery gastropods into an epicurean delight. Working with red abalone collected by Monterey's community of Japanese divers, Pop dipped the foot in egg wash, added a secret ingredient, rolled it in cracker crumbs and cooked it quickly in olive oil. Tourists and celebrities alike sat down at Pop's table to enjoy his famous recipe, and eventually, he shipped steaks on ice to hotels and restaurants throughout the state. Pull up a chair as historian Tim Thomas recounts the story of an innovative restaurateur and a group of pioneering fishermen who turned underappreciated mollusks into the talk of the 1915 San Francisco World's Fair.

Ghosts of the Queen Mary

9781626193147

$21.99

For thirty-one years, the RMS Queen Mary sailed the North Atlantic. It helped defeat Hitler and was the ship of choice for the world's rich and famous. Now in retirement in the Port of Long Beach, the Stateliest Ship Afloat plays host to tourists, travelers and more than six hundred spirits that roam her halls and passageways. These choice decks remain the floating home of a few regulars, including the oft-glimpsed White Lady, as well as Little Jackie, John Henry and, of course, Grumpy. Join paranormal investigators Brian Clune and Bob Davis as they take you to the hot spots of activity from port to starboard and relate tales from the dockside about the spirits that haunt the grandest liner ever built.

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Lost Ski Areas of Southern California

9781609493875

$21.99

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.

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Antebellum and Civil War San Francisco

9781626194274

$21.99

Spurred by the promise of gold, hungry adventurers flocked to San Francisco in search of opportunity on the eve of the Civil War. The city flourished and became a magnet for theater. Some of the first buildings constructed in San Francisco were theater houses, and John Wilkes Booth's famous acting family often graced the city's stages. In just two years, San Francisco's population skyrocketed from eight hundred to thirty thousand, making it an instant city where tensions between transplanted Northerners and Southerners built as war threatened the nation. Though seemingly isolated, San Franciscans took their part in the conflict. Some extended the Underground Railroad to their city, while others joined the Confederate-aiding Knights of the Golden Circle. Including a directory of local historic sites and streets, author Monika Trobits chronicles the dramatic and volatile antebellum and Civil War history of the City by the Bay.

Los Angeles Wine

9781609496456

$21.99

The renowned California wine industry, famous for northern vintages, actually was born near El Pueblo de Los Angeles. Spanish missionaries harvested the first vintage in 1782 at Mission San Juan Capistrano and then cultivated enormous vineyards at Mission San Gabriel. Their replanted vine-cuttings took root on Jose Maria Verdugo's 1784 Spanish land grant in what became Glendale. Jean Louis Vignes brought a Bordeaux winemaking experience to LA in 1831 and initiated wine trade with San Francisco. By 1848, Los Angeles contained one hundred vineyards. Author Stuart Douglass Byles traces the little-known LA wine tradition through vintners of the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys, Anaheim and Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula Valley and Malibu and details the San Antonio Winery heritage, the last one standing from old Los Angeles days.

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Los Angeles's Bunker Hill

9781609495466

$21.99

When postwar movie directors went looking for a gritty location to shoot their psychological crime thrillers, they found Bunker Hill, a neighborhood of fading Victorians, flophouses, tough bars, stairways and dark alleys in downtown Los Angeles. Novelist Raymond Chandler had already been there exploring the real-life "mean streets" that his hardboiled detective, Philip Marlowe, prowled in the writer's exacting prose. But the biggest crime was going on behind the scenes, run by the city's power elite. And Hollywood just happened to capture it on film. Using nearly eighty photos, writer Jim Dawson enlarges the record of L.A. history with this grassroots investigation of a vanished place.

Los Angeles Dodgers Pitchers

9781609497125

$21.99

The Los Angeles Dodgers have always fielded one of the best pitching staffs in the Major Leagues. With Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser and closers Mike Marshall and Eric Gagne, it's hard to imagine a more sterling roster. After their 1958 arrival from Brooklyn, the Dodgers won five World Series, competed in nine and made the playoffs in eleven other seasons--by leaning on their pitchers. The Dodgers have nine Cy Young Awards, more than any other franchise. In their fifty-three years in LA, the Dodgers have led the National League in team earned run average a staggering twenty times. Join author Don Lechman, a Los Angeles newspaperman for forty years, as he recounts the history of the team's aces.

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The Great Crescenta Valley Flood

9781609494490

$21.99

As Crescenta Valley residents gathered to ring in the 1934 New Year, a cloudburst broke over Southern California's San Gabriel Mountains, unleashing a deluge on mountainsides denuded by recent fires. A roaring wall of rocks, mud and water crashed down the canyons, uprooting trees, tossing boulders and automobiles like toys and carving a path of destruction. Using painstaking research and heart-rending firsthand accounts, historian Art Cobery paints a picture of survival and redemption in the face of natural disaster, including the heroic efforts of eleven-year-old Marcie Warfield to save her father and younger brother, the devastating debris flow that claimed the lives of refugees and aid workers at the American Legion Hall and the selfless acts of neighbors caught in the storm of events.

Cover image for The Great Crescenta Valley Flood, isbn: 9781609494490

Growing Up in Long Beach

9781626193581

$21.99

How quickly the memories fade of local and favorite hangouts that once helped define Long Beach. In this collection, Tim Grobaty remembers growing up in the fast-growing new neighborhoods of East Long Beach, the beloved places downtown that were part of the city's mid-twentieth-century fabric and a few obscure spots in the margins. Long Beach's memory lane includes the dearly departed restaurants the Golden Lantern in Los Altos and Rusty's in the Wrigley District, the Circle and Los Altos Drive-Ins, great concerts of the 1970s in the arena and auditorium and the shoppers' paradises of Uncle Al's Toy Korral in the Plaza and Buffum's downtown. Join Press-Telegram columnist Tim Grobaty as he records Long Beach residents' recollections and taps his own boomer-years memories.

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Long Beach State:

9781626196018

$21.99

Long Beach State grew up right along with the sprawling Southern California suburbs. Born in 1949, it swelled to accommodate the post-world war enthusiasm for education and land. The rapid expansion brought its share of growing pains. Students took classes in a cramped converted apartment with no books and playing ring-around-the-rosie for physical education. Money was scarce, and faculty at times feuded with the administration. But the new college's "let's put on a show" spirit produced a scrappiness that endures today. Read about the personalities that grew the college from Fred Bixby's bean fields into one of the largest universities in California.

Los Angeles Sports Memories

9781626199897

$21.99

For five decades, distinguished sportswriter Doug Krikorian chronicled LA's most transcendent sports moments. Revisit revered columns enshrining iconic achievements like when rookie Magic Johnson scored forty-two points and collected fifteen rebounds, leading the Lakers to the NBA title against the Philadelphia 76ers. Celebrate with the Angels all over again after their 2002 World Series victory. Reflect on momentous stories featuring Eric Dickerson, Wayne Gretzky, Muhammad Ali and many other illustrious personalities. From Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's fervent feud to Dodger Kirk Gibson's legendary game-winning 1988 World Series opener home run, relive the triumphs and tribulations of one of America's marquee sports towns.

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Growing Up in San Francisco's Western Neighborhoods

9781626193840

$21.99

From football games at Kezar Stadium to a perfectly broiled Zim burger, San Franciscans have fond memories of the decades after World War II. Dressing up for a movie at the Fox Theatre on Market Street, catching the train at the old S.P. Station on Third and Townsend, taking the streetcar downtown to see magnificent displays in the Emporium's windows or spending a day at Golden Gate Park, the outside lands of San Francisco were teeming with youngsters and the young-at-heart alike. Western Neighborhoods Project columnist and San Francisco native Frank Dunnigan offers a charming collection of nostalgic vignettes about the thriving Western communities of unforgettable people and places that defined generations.

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Location Filming in Long Beach

9781609497408

$21.99

Long Beach's proximity to Hollywood has made the waterfront city a picturesque and easily accessed locale for hundreds of films and television shows. Silent movies produced by Balboa Studios here starred Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton, and the city's resume includes the Oscar-winning best pictures The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and American Beauty (1999). Cameras continue to roll in the port metropolis, which has been host for such TV favorites as CHiPs and The Mod Squad and now twenty-first-century series such as NCIS, Dexter and CSI: Miami. Longtime newspaperman Tim Grobaty has been watching, in person and in his living room, and tracks the history of the city on celluloid in the comprehensive Location Filming in Long Beach.

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Life On Route 66:

9781609496227

$21.99

Winding through the rugged heartland of the American West, Route 66 has resonated for generations in hardscrabble stories of hopeful seekers of new homes and lives. The Mother Road has inspired books and shows by the dozens, exploring the mythology and anticipation of freedom road. But here is something new. Coauthors Alan and Claudia Heller, longtime residents of Duarte, California, along Route 66, hitched their trailer to a retirement dream and traveled the road again, in their home state and back to Chicago. They collected stories of the iconic highway, and what it means to the people who live along its way, for a series in the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group. Retrace their journey with this collection and find the people and places that make Route 66 truly historic.

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Long Beach Chronicles

9781609495480

$21.99

Incorporated in 1888, Long Beach was the nation's fastest-growing city for much of the early twentieth century. Tim Grobaty, columnist for two decades for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, looks back at the major events and compelling personalities that shaped the city's formative years. Early settlers such as William Willmore, Charles Rivers Drake and the Bixby family are brought into sharp focus as Grobaty recounts the city's defining moments. From the naming of city streets to early local newspaper wars, and culminating with the devastating earthquake of 1933, Long Beach Chronicles presents a fascinating collection of tales from the city's provocative past.

Spirits of Rancho Buena Vista Adobe

9781467139472

$21.99

The Rancho Buena Vista Adobe stands as a testament to California's diverse past and offers a glimpse into the supernatural. Learn the identity of the apparition known as the Lady in White, which startles unsuspecting guests by serenely floating across the rancho's courtyard, and the tale of a skeleton rumored to be sealed up somewhere within the rancho's walls. Discover the story of Cave Johnson Couts and family, who continue to chat with visitors in spirit form. And explore the rooms where whispering voices are often heard, even when they're empty. Join author Nicole Strickland as she uncovers spine-tingling haunts and restless souls.

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Pioneers of Eagle Rock

9781609498276

$21.99

After the Rancho San Rafael was divided, Benjamin Dreyfus was awarded the hilly area north of downtown Los Angeles known as Eagle Rock Valley. By 1911, this farming community had rapidly grown into a city. The Los Angeles Railway made downtown LA a trolley ride away, and continued growth led to Eagle Rock's consolidation with the city in 1923. Today, Eagle Rock is one of LA's most distinctive neighborhoods, and a pride instilled by early settlers remains here. These inspirational settlers include soldier and ranchero Jose Maria Verdugo, diarist and historian Elena Frackelton Murdock, farmer and amateur hydrologist Mayor Cromwell Galpin and publicist Ann Hare Harrison. Join editors Eric H. Warren and Frank F. Parrello as they profile the bedrock personalities who built Eagle Rock.

Pioneers of Riverside County

9781609498313

$21.99

Riverside County encompasses more than two million people and most of the width of California, from Los Angeles's eastern suburbs to the Arizona state line at the Colorado River. Historian Steve Loch captures the vanished past of this vast swath of deserts and mountains--the eras of Spanish and then Mexican rule and the exploits of the earliest settlers of the American period. Juan Bautista de Anza, Louis Robidoux and many other namesake figures of today's geography are described in this unabridged excerpt of the author's comprehensive and masterly history Along the Old Roads.

World War I and the Sacramento Valley

9781467119054

$21.99

When the First World War thrust the United States into a dire global conflict, the Sacramento Valley was quick to mobilize. Many of America's first air units for combat were trained at Mather Field, while local farms filled some of the largest food supply orders for the Allies. Many women eschewed tradition and joined the industrial workforce at Liberty Iron Works, Southern Pacific Railroad and more. Though many banded together, the region's homefront was not without tension. Gripped by xenophobia, groups like the Liberty League formed local chapters to hunt spies, and local police forced displays of patriotism from suspected German sympathizers. With exclusive content from the Sacramento Public Library's Special Collections, librarians Amanda DeWilde and James Scott reveal the struggles and triumphs of the Sacramento region during the First World War.

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Crescenta Valley Pioneers & Their Legacies

9781609495626

$21.99

Their names run deep through local history and lore, adorning street signs, canyons, historical buildings, homes and ranches in the swath of suburbia between Pasadena and Tujunga, where the towns of La Crescenta and La Ca ada took shape, along with the unique community of Montrose. Profiled in the pages of Crescenta Valley Pioneers and Their Legacies by author Jo Anne Sadler, a researcher and frequent writer for the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, are such singularly important local characters as Theodor Pickens, the first permanent settler; Dr. Benjamin B. Briggs, the founder of La Crescenta; Jacob L. Lanterman and Adolphus W. Williams, the original developers of Rancho La Ca ada; and the Le Mesnager family, whose historic wine barn still stands in Deukmejian Wilderness Park.

Crescenta Valley Pioneers & Their Legacies

Culver City Chronicles

9781609497774

$21.99

Culver City has rivaled Hollywood for nearly a century as the Heart of Screenland--a center of the movie and television trades. Here, the giant Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer evolved into Sony Pictures, and the Ince and Selznick movie empires became today's Culver Studios. But the same lands along Ballona Creek had been a wilderness traversed by Native Americans and settled by hardy Spanish pioneers named Machado, Talamantes and Higuera. Union soldiers occupied the area's Civil War-era Camp Latham. By 1910, visionary Harry H. Culver saw possibilities for these ranchlands and led Culver City to incorporate in 1917. Join official city historian Julie Lugo Cerra, a descendant of early settlers, as she relates the fascinating stories of how and why Culver City grew and prospered.

Crestline Chronicles

9781609495848

$21.99

Situated in the beautiful San Bernardino Range, Crestline is the gateway community to the famous mountain resorts of Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. Historically, the area was known for timber-cutting, hunting and fishing, fruit and nut harvesting and, later on, skiing and other winter sports. The first visitors to the area were Native Americans escaping the Mojave Desert summers; followed in the 1850s by Mormon lumberjacks who built San Bernardino Town at the base of the mountains; and then successors who bought the sawmills and settled into mountain living. In these stories of Crestline's formative times, historian Rhea-Frances Tetley recalls some of the more intrepid and colorful characters to have trekked through the western San Bernardinos.

Del Mar:

9781609493103

$21.99

For nearly seventy five years, summertime at Del Mar Racetrack has been a place for fun and entertainment, a place, as Eddie Read said, where nobody's in a hurry but the horses." Since its founding by Bing Crosby and his Hollywood friends in 1937, Del Mar has hosted some of thoroughbred racing's finest: from dancing Zenyatta and scrappy Seabiscuit to San Diego's own hall-of-famers Best Pal and Azeri. In this collection of vignettes, celebrated turf writer and San Diego sports journalist Hank Wesch recalls noted jockeys, infamous matchups, and the best of Del Mar."

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Bay Area Iron Master Al Zampa:

9781467119139

$21.99

Orange County Chronicles

9781626191334

$21.99

Orange County is one of the best-known, yet least understood, counties in California. The popular image of beautiful people in beach cities is certainly accurate. But the Orange County that is often overlooked includes workaday lives in Anaheim, the barrios of Santa Ana, townhouse living in Brea and the diverse communities of Little Saigon, Little Texas, Los Rios, La Habra and Silverado Canyon. Modern Orange County offers very little sense of history, and it sometimes seems as if the urbanization of the 1960s is all that defines the place. Orange County historian Phil Brigandi fills in the gaps with this collection of essays that explores the very creation of the county, as well as pressing issues of race, citrus, attractions and annexation.

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Orange County Pioneers

9781626197589

$21.99

Orange County's pioneer history is filled with harrowing tales every bit as entertaining as a western novel. These stories, culled from oral histories recorded by old-timers in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration, offer a rarely seen look into Orange County's frontier days. From bear hunts and bullfights to social gatherings at the home of the most famous Shakespearean actress of the day, these tales are a window into the earliest days of every corner of the county. Join editor Charles Epting for these wonderfully evocative portraits of the past recounted in the words of the eyewitnesses.

Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles County

9781626190207

$21.99

The variably named and numbered Pacific Coast Highway spans 1,700 miles from Canada to Mexico. Seventy-five of those create a dramatic drive through Los Angeles County, showcasing the iconic cities of Malibu, Santa Monica, South Bay, San Pedro and Long Beach. Past scenic seascapes and famous beaches, "PCH" has become over the decades a symbol for Southern California coastal life, encompassing pleasure piers and amusements parks, surfing, yachting and other water sports. No longer just a road, PCH is a ribbon of destinations and the byway through the California dream. Ride with author Carina Monica Montoya via vintage images from the California Department of Transportation and new photos by John Moss through this remarkable road's history and the picturesque coastal communities it serves.

Cover image for Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles County, isbn: 9781626190207

On these Promising Shores of the Pacific:

9781626192768

$23.99

The original fog-soaked Saint Mary's College campus in San Francisco enrolled both boys and young men and was born in 1863 from the educational vision of Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany. In 1889, the campus moved to Oakland and was affectionately dubbed the Old Brickpile." Through fires, earthquakes, two world wars and bankruptcy, the college persevered and matured, eventually moving to its present location in Moraga Valley. From United States Navy cadets and "Slip" Madigan's Galloping Gaels to the Latin Question and iconic phone booth stuffing, historian and retired Saint Mary's College professor Ronald Eugene Isetti offers a detailed look at the college's legacy. Join Isetti as he chronicles the academic vision, institutional challenges and student traditions of one of California's oldest establishments of higher learning."

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California Vines, Wines and Pioneers

9781609498849

$21.99

Grab your glass and take to the wine trail with food genealogist Sherry Monahan as she traces the roots of California's Vines, Wines & Pioneers." While cowboys and early settlers were writing the oft-told history of the Wild West, California's wine pioneers were cultivating a delicious industry. The story begins when Franciscan missionaries planted the first grapes in Southern California in 1769. Almost a century later, news of gold drew thirsty prospectors and European immigrants to California's promise of wealth. From Old World vines sprang a robust and varied tradition of wine cultivation that overcame threats of pests and Prohibition to win global prestige. Journey with Monahan as she uncorks this vintage history and savors the stories of California's historic wineries and vineyards."

California Apricots

9781609497958

$21.99

Picked warm from a tree, a California apricot opens into halves as easily as if it came with a dotted line down its center. The seed infuses the core with a hint of almond; the fruit carries the scent of citrus and jasmine; and it tastes, some say, like manna from heaven. In these pages, Robin Chapman recalls the season when the Santa Clara Valley was the largest apricot producer in the world and recounts the stories of Silicon Valley's now lost orchards. From the Spaniards in the eighteenth century who first planted apricots in the Mission Santa Clara gardens to the post-World War II families who built their homes among subdivided orchards, relive the long summer days ripe with bumper crops of this much-anticipated delicacy.

Murder in Pleasanton

9781467117654

$21.99

In April 1984, Foothill High freshman Tina Faelz took a shortcut on her walk home. About an hour later, she was found in a ditch, brutally stabbed to death. The murder shook the quiet East Bay suburb of Pleasanton and left investigators baffled. With no witnesses or leads, the case went cold and remained so for nearly thirty years. In 2011, the investigation finally got a break. Improved forensics recovered DNA from a drop of blood found at the scene matching Tina's classmate, Steven Carlson. Through dusty police files, personal interviews, letters and firsthand accounts, journalist Joshua Suchon revisits his childhood home to uncover the story of a disturbing crime and the controversial sentencing that brought long-awaited answers to a city tormented by questions.

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Duarte Chronicles

9781609498825

$21.99

Andres Duarte was a Mexican army veteran who was awarded a 6,595-acre grant south of the San Gabriel Mountains in 1841. Parceled out to settlers and farmers, the Rancho Azusa de Duarte began thriving when rail lines were built to access the citrus crops. Duarte was home to the City of Hope, a tuberculosis clinic that became a world-class cancer research and treatment center. The old U.S. Route 66 brought thousands of new Californians through the residential melting pot from points east. Residents have included such notables as big-band leader Glenn Miller and playwright Sam Shepard. Join coauthors Claudia and Alan Heller as they recall the people, institutions, events and natural elements that have made Duarte a unique Los Angeles County city.

Max Factor and Hollywood

9781467136105

$21.99

When Polish wigmaker and cosmetician Max Factor arrived in Los Angeles at the dawn of the motion picture industry, make-up had been associated only with stage performers and ladies of the oldest profession. Appalled by the garish paints worn by actors, Factor introduced the first flexible greasepaint for film in 1914. With a few careful brush strokes, a lot of innovation and the kind of luck that can happen only in Hollywood, Max Factor changed the meaning of glamour. His innovations can be experienced in every tube of lipstick, palette of eye shadow and bottle of nail lacquer used today. Join author Erika Thomas as she reveals the makeup guru's expert beauty tips and the story of how he created the most iconic golden-era looks that are as relevant today as they were nearly a century ago.

Cover image for Max Factor and Hollywood, isbn: 9781467136105

Fanny Bixby Spencer

9781609498757

$23.99

The last daughter born to Jotham Bixby, the Father of Long Beach, Fanny Bixby Spencer (1879-1930) carved her own singular and eccentric path across California history. Born to wealth and power, she chose a boldly independent, egalitarian lifestyle in an age when women's lives were largely confined to domesticity. Fanny served with the Long Beach Police Department as America's first policewoman. She was a founder of the city of Costa Mesa in Orange County. Her humanitarian efforts reached across ethnicities and social standing. Yet beyond her civic accomplishments, Fanny was provocative as a poet, artist, pacifist, suffragist, child advocate, foster mother and humanitarian. Marcia Lee Harris captures this fascinating woman's remarkable life, enhanced by Fanny's own poetry and soulful reflections.

Football in Long Beach

9781609495459

$23.99

The roots of football run deep in Long Beach, where Long Beach Polytechnic High School has produced more players who have played in the National Football League than any other high school in the United States. Poly's storied program has fed the NFL a wide variety of top players, including such receivers as Johnny Morris, Gene Washington, Tony Hill, Stephone Paige, Marcedes Lewis and DeSean Jackson. This authoritative citywide pigskin history by Mike Guardabascio includes the football sagas of other area high schools, as well as the legacies of Long Beach State and Long Beach City College, which have enjoyed their own brands of national recognition.

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Football in the South Bay

9781626193086

$23.99

Hardly a season passes in which one or more South Bay football stars don't shine in major college or NFL play. Vince Ferragamo led the Rams to a Super Bowl, but in Wilmington, he's the pride of Banning High School. Before he was television's Hunter" or an NFL All-Pro, Fred Dryer was an El Camino College and Lawndale High star. Wesley Walker snagged deep passes for the New York Jets but honed his skills under legendary coach Gene Vollnogle for the Carson High Colts, historically the top prep team in the South Bay. From the inspirational coaches like Mira Costa's Don Morrow and San Pedro's Mike Walsh to the greatest players raised here, author Don Lechman presents the full story of South Bay gridiron glory."

The New Deal in Orange County, California

9781626194885

$21.99

Unpredictably harsh elements wreaked havoc in Orange County during the Great Depression. The 1933 Long Beach earthquake claimed 115 lives, shattering lands eastward across the Los Angeles County line into the Orange County cities. Then 60 people perished in the devastating 1938 Santa Ana River flood, which washed out roads and buildings and much of the county's namesake citrus industry. Orange County's 130,000 people received a greater density of federal public aid than LA County's 2.2 million and San Diego County's 210,000. Join Charles Epting on this tour of the buildings, bridges, harbors, trails, libraries, highways and other infrastructure gains--many still in use--that were revitalized by the Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps and other agencies of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal.

The New Deal in Orange County, California

Napa Valley Chronicles

9781609499266

$21.99

In 1905, Napa's mayor, J.A. Fuller, announced, Napa for half a century has been slumbering in a Rip Van Winkle sleep but she has awakened at last. Back then, fifteen cents bought coffee and a donut at the Depot and Sawyer's Tannery made soft leather baseball gloves. In this collection, local author Lauren Coodley reimagines the unvarnished country life of historic Napa Valley through the stories of notables like postmaster Ernest Kincaid, Napa Register reporter Phyllis King, firefighter historian Rita Bordwell and Brewster's owners Rachel and Larry Friedman. Trace the region's lasting legacy, from the time when a horse and buggy purchased Browns Valley to the days when art galleries replaced blue-collar businesses and the California grape took center stage from Sunsweet prunes.

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Murder and Mayhem in the Napa Valley

9781609495442

$21.99

The picturesque vineyards of California's Napa Valley, one of the world's premier tourist destinations, disguise a tangled history of lawlessness, depravity and frontier justice. Some crimes were committed over debts, some for retribution and others in the name of love. Famed photographer Eadweard Muybridge killed a man for seducing his wife but was acquitted. Other criminals were not so lucky and met the gallows, like murderer William Roe, the state's final public execution. From the Pomo massacre--the first criminal case heard by the California Supreme Court--to the cold cases that continue to haunt the region, Napa Police Detective Todd Shulman decants the crimes of the Napa Valley, memorializing the victims and honoring the efforts of local law enforcement.

Cover image for Murder and Mayhem in the Napa Valley, isbn: 9781609495442

Murder & Mayhem in the Crescenta Valley

9781609499976

$21.99

The pleasant neighborhoods of the Crescenta Valley offer no hint of the many violent and heinous crimes that have occurred between the San Gabriel and Verdugo Mountains. But ties to such macabre episodes as the Onion Field murder and the search for the Hillside Strangler left lasting scars here. Infamous criminals such as mafia boss Joe Iron Man Ardizzone, red-light bandit Caryl Chessman and accused yacht bomber Beulah Overell have left a black eye on La Cresecenta's history--not to mention the Rattlesnake Murder, Female Bluebeard and Santa Claus Killer. Join historians Gary Keyes and Mike Lawler as they expose the crimes and criminals that have inflicted murder and mayhem in Glendale, La Crescenta, Montrose and La Canada Flintridge.

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La Purisíma Concepción

9781626199842

$21.99

In two centuries, La Purísima Concepción went from a fledgling frontier mission to a renowned California State Historic Park. Once home to many Spanish soldiers, settlers and hundreds of Chumash Indians, La Purísima held the seat of the California Mission government under Father Mariano Payeras. It withstood catastrophic events, including widespread disease in early years and a great Southern California earthquake in 1812. Emerging from ruins for the last time in 1934, after restoration by the Civilian Conservation Corps, structures appear today as they did in the early nineteenth century. The uniquely restored California Mission complex operates as a state park in a pastoral setting. Author and archivist Michael R. Hardwick chronicles the story of La Purísima and the resilient people and culture that made a lasting influence.