Carson

9780738531045

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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.

Fairfield

9780738528885

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Now a fast-growing city of over 100,000, Fairfield was once the home of the Patwin Suisuni Indians, whose famous Chief Solano became one of the few native landowners in California in the 1830s. Halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento on the route to the gold fields, the town was founded by clipper ship captain Robert Waterman. A shrewd trader, Waterman offered the new Solano County government free land and cash to relocate to his new city, making it the county seat. Soon the railroad, and later the state highway, chose a route through Fairfield, creating an urban center for the beautiful agricultural valleys that surround it.

Cover image for Fairfield, isbn: 9780738528885

St. Helena

9780738580098

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The town of St. Helena lies in the heart of Napa Valley, America's celebrated wine-producing region located 63 miles north of San Francisco. In 1854, Henry Still and a Mr. Walters purchased 126 acres from the Mexican land grant of Dr. Edward Bale. They offered free lots to anyone who would start a business there, having the foresight to predict a flourishing town in this verdant agricultural area. Premium wine grapes were planted here by the 1870s, and a thriving wine industry began. There are two theories about how the town got its name: either from the local division of the Sons of Temperance or from Mount St. Helena at the northern end of the valley. As the town developed, its residents, along with those from nearby Oakville, Rutherford, Angwin, and Pope Valley, shopped at its stores, attended its churches and schools, tended its fields, and made merry at numerous gatherings. This book captures these activities in photographs dating from 1880 to 1960.

Cover image for St. Helena, isbn: 9780738580098

Lake Tahoe

9780738558493

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Lake Tahoe has hosted a variety of visitors and residents through the years, from the early days of Washoe settlements, to rough logging camps, to today's extravagant resorts. When early settlers arrived after John C. Fremont's 1844 expedition, they would come by train to Truckee and then by wagon or narrow-gauge rail to Tahoe City. Over time, majestic resorts began to dot the lakeshore, such as the Tahoe Tavern, which included a ski hill, golf course, stables, movie theater, and bowling alley. Summer residents often extended their stays, until many lived here year-round. The lake gained fame during the 1960 Winter Olympics, and fast growth followed in these sleepy mountain towns.

Centerville, Fremont

9780738581774

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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.

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Davis

9781467115780

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Davis has undergone a major transformation from the mid-20th century to today, growing from a small college town of about 3,000 residents and 1,500 students to a world-class university city of 80,000 area residents and 35,000 students. Major features of this revolution include the creation of a vibrant downtown, environmentally sensitive politics, diverse and innovative neighborhoods, and a citywide system of bike lanes. A thriving University of California at Davis campus was the economic dynamo that attracted talented students and faculty. Their environmentalist values spurred innovations in solar energy, waste recycling, bicycle infrastructure, subsidized public transit, energy-saving construction, and farm-to-fork localization of food supplies, among other new civic directions that remain an essential part of the city's culture today.

Cover image for Davis, isbn: 9781467115780

Montrose

9780738596341

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On February 22, 1913, the Holmes-Walton real estate agency hosted a huge barbecue to promote its new community of Montrose. It had purchased 250 acres of mostly sage brush in the foothills north of Glendale and held a contest to name the development. Or was this contest just a stunt? No matter where the name Montrose came from, Holmes-Walton thoroughly embraced the mountain rose theme, laying out the streets in the fanciful pattern of a rose with the planned town center at the heart of the flower. The construction of the 210 freeway in the 1960s pruned off the top of the rose, but the remaining curved roads still confuse drivers today. Though the town center formed two blocks south of the intended location, Montrose has as much heart and remains as charming today as when it blossomed 100 years ago.

Redlands Remembered

9781609496180

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By 1889, the newly established town of Redlands at the southern base of the San Bernardino Range offered mild winters and spectacular views of the nearby mountains. The sunny, dry climate enticed eastern industrialists, and Redlands became a place of annual escape, a millionaire mecca by the turn of the twentieth century. Early philanthropists set the tone for an active civic culture that has lasted throughout the city's 125 years. These stories, researched and written by Joan Hedges McCall, tell how and why the town developed out of dusty, semi-arid lands into a green belt of orange groves, parks and Victorian homes. Find out where the water came from, how the navel oranges grew and who helped Redlands grow into the beloved city it is today.

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Prohibition in Sacramento

9781626191662

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Sacramento's open opposition to Prohibition and ties to rumrunning up and down the California coast caused some to label the capital the wettest city in the nation. The era from World War I until the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment brought Sacramento storied institutions like Mather Field and delightful surprises like a thriving film industry, but it wasn't all pretty. The Ku Klux Klan, ethnic immigrant hatred and open hostility toward Catholics and Jews were dark chapters in the Prohibition era as Sacramento began to shape its modern identity. Join historian Annette Kassis on an exploration of this wet--and dry--snapshot of the River City.

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Isleton

9780738528632

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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.

Solana Beach

9781467133258

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The four-square-mile incorporated city of Solana Beach rests along the coast of northern San Diego County. The name Solana means sunny spot in Spanish. For centuries, native Kumeyaay Indians called this once arid, sagebrush-covered landscape home. The land remained mostly untouched until the turn of the 19th century, when a local businessman named Ed Fletcher began to turn the tiny little hamlet into a full-fledged community. Fletcher was instrumental in working with the county in paving roads, building schools, bringing water to the area, carving out a true pathway to the Pacific Ocean, and even developing the first train station. In 1986, cityhood arrived, and its civic leaders made sure that the growth of the burgeoning seaside community would continue. The Belly Up Tavern was founded in 1974, bringing local and national music to the scene. In 1982, North Coast Repertory Theatre made its mark by bringing professional theater to the cozy, picturesque beach town. The area that was once called Lockwood Mesa has flourished into a thriving community where its residents can live and play. Today, Solana Beach is one of the vibrant jewels within the county of San Diego.

Greater French Valley

9780738569185

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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.

Santa Catalina Island in Vintage Images

9780738508108

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Throughout the years, the 76-square-mile island of Santa Catalina has hosted Native-American tribes, European sailors, American tourists, and even the Chicago Cubs. The island has survived both ecologically and culturally, resisting the temptation of becoming a Coney Island of Los Angeles. Through the work of its residents along with chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr., Santa Catalina Island is as beautiful today as it was when it was discovered in 1542.

Willow Creek History

9781609496449

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It's the same Willow Creek that flows into Bass Lake and moves through five powerhouses generating twenty-seven kilowatts of electricity for California. It's the same Willow Creek that rises at eight thousand feet in the Sierra Forest, crashes through narrow granite canyons and meanders through serene mountain passes on its journey to its confluence with the San Joaquin River twenty-five miles below. Logging railroads have carried their loads alongside and over Willow Creek. Native tribes made their homes along its banks. Each year, thousands of people swim and boat and fish in its waters. In this history of Willow Creek, local author Marcia Penner Freedman shares the amazing story of these moving waters and the people whose lives have been touched by Willow Creek.

Around Anza Valley

9780738555928

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The area around Anza Valley, located in the south-central part of Riverside County, California, includes Terwilliger Valley, Garner Valley, Pinyon Flats, and parts of Aguanga, a former Butterfield Overland Stage stop. It is a rugged, high-altitude area formed on the western side of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains. Access into this enclave was always difficult, which subsequently protected the native Cahuilla people from the European influence of early pioneers and explorers until the coming of Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza in 1774. Once settler families were established in the surrounding valleys, close friendships and marriage soon linked them together through their shared economic livelihood of cattle ranching. Until the early 1950s, ranching, dry farming, some mining, hunting, and trapping were the main occupations. Today the area is one of the last undeveloped areas in Southern California and is rich in Native American influence and culture. Around Anza Valley provides an inside view to this rich history and the many changes that have taken place in and around Anza Valley.

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.

Cover image for Early National City, isbn: 9780738559100

Pico Rivera

9780738555997

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The early history of the city of Pico Rivera began in 1887 when two land developers, J. Fletcher Isbell and W. T. Bone, bought the Rivera town site from Joseph Hartley Burke, Louis L. Bequette, and A. A. Bermudez. Rivera literally means "along the river," and today's city boundaries are the Rio Hondo on the west and the San Gabriel River on the east. Rivera developed when the Santa Fe Railroad came through the southern portion of present-day Pico Rivera. The township of Pico was subdivided into lots beginning in 1921. Its name derived from the last Mexican governor of California, Don Pio de Jesus Pico, who built his country home, El Ranchito, along the San Gabriel River. Over the years the two communities grew close, eventually incorporating as one in 1958. The year 2008 marks Pico Rivera's 50th anniversary. This volume documents Pico Rivera from its agricultural past, through its transformation, and into modern suburbia.

Cover image for Pico Rivera, isbn: 9780738555997

Sacramento

9780738571522

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In 1850, Sacramento was a city of 10,000 men with almost no women or children, a transient population going to and from the gold mines in the Sierra Nevada. The waterfront on the Sacramento River was a chaotic scene of oxen and mule teams, piles of supplies on the wharf, and abandoned ships whose crews had jumped ship for the goldfields. The city also became a major railroad junction and agricultural hub in the 1800s before it became the center of state government, and much of the bustling city's early life was captured on picture postcards.

Dublin

9780738547664

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Nestled in the wooded hills east of the San Francisco Bay, Dublin's sprawling valley has welcomed people from a variety of backgrounds
throughout its rich history. At the heart of the tri-valley region, this former agricultural area has grown exponentially over the years, forming a modern
city with a solid community-oriented heritage. From California's first native inhabitants, through the Spanish and Mexican periods, to the arrival of the first American settlers, Dublin has long been at the crossroads of culture and settlement.

Cover image for Dublin, isbn: 9780738547664

Hammonton and Marigold

9780738547602

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This is the story of one community and two towns: Hammonton and Marigold, companyowned dredger towns located 10 miles east of Marysville, California. Their founding was a direct result of the gold rush of 1849 and the subsequent hydraulic mining that followed. The towns' history was wrought by the families who inhabited them and the many men and women who would build their community together through the years. In Hammonton and Marigold, there was no upper or lower class; the people were all working for dredging companies and considered equals. Although the company towns were shut down and the families all displaced, in 1957, the community itself carried on to the present day, holding annual reunions and even publishing a quarterly newsletter.

Cover image for Hammonton and Marigold, isbn: 9780738547602

Sausalito

9780738530369

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Sausalito got its Spanish name, meaning little willow grove, from British seaman William Richardson. He hoped that this deep-water anchorage, so close to the Golden Gate, would become the entrance to a busy city. But the tall ships mostly rushed past his Whaler's Cove to anchor in San Francisco. Later Sausalito's gentle hills and sun-washed harbor became a favorite playground and retreat for wealthy San Franciscans, and large hotels like the El Monte prospered. Before construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito was a transportation nexus for trains and ferries, and in a sudden mobilization during World War II, 22,000 people a day worked three shifts building liberty ships at Marinship. Sausalito was homeport for many seafaring adventurers, daring rumrunners during Prohibition, and later for beatniks, poets, hippies, and artists drawn to Sausalito's spectacular vistas and relatively rural atmosphere. Making their abodes on riotously rickety houseboats or in cabins perched on steep slopes, they left an artistic legacy to the community.

Kerman

9781467115421

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Kerman sits in the heart of California's great San Joaquin Valley. First established in 1891 as a train stop for the Southern Pacific Railroad, the town site was originally named Collis Station for the railroad's president, Collis P. Huntington. Even in its earliest days, agriculture was the driving force behind Kerman's economy. Advances in irrigation as well as Kerman's close proximity to two of the region's largest rivers—Kings and San Joaquin—resulted in abundant access to water, attracting farmers and land investors at the start of the 20th century. As the community grew, alfalfa hay, raisins, and dairy products became mainstays in Kerman's agricultural production. By 1910, Kerman had a volunteer fire department, a library, and new businesses. Images of America: Kerman explores the first 80 years of a town that continues to grow and diversify.

Cover image for Kerman, isbn: 9781467115421

San Gorgonio Search and Rescue Team

9780738555768

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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.

Cover image for San Gorgonio Search and Rescue Team, isbn: 9780738555768

Inland Empire

9780738559070

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Southern California's vast Inland Empire is one of the fastest growing regions of the United States. It is a wonderland of old-growth vineyards, citrus groves, hot-water resorts, Wild West landmarks, and Native American territories. America's fabled Mother Road, Route 66, runs right through it. Its fertile valleys are encircled by mountains with famous resort areas such as Idyllwild, Big Bear Lake, and Lake Arrowhead. Those mountains are surrounded in turn by some of the world's best-known desert resort and recreational areas, including Palm Springs, the Mojave, Death Valley, and Joshua Tree National Park. Inland Empire is the first book of its kind, offering a postcard-perfect grand tour of the entire region.

Westlake

9780738559117

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The Westlake section of Daly City is the quintessential postwar suburban-modernist development, and it was the singular vision of Henry Doelger that made it so. Westlake was to the San Francisco Bay Area what Levittown was to New York after World War II, providing affordable housing for thousands of service veterans and war-industry personnel who remained in California after their tours of duty. The area abuts San Francisco's Sunset District, where Doelger built thousands of homes in the shifting sands before battling the dunes in northern San Mateo County in 1948. Doelger was lauded as the Bay Area's bestknown builder of homes, apartments, and shopping centers. Daly City increased in size almost by half when Westlake was annexed in 1948.

Cover image for Westlake, isbn: 9780738559117

Cherry Valley

9780738559520

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Nestled in one of Southern California's deep mountain passes, Cherry Valley has long been heralded for its pastoral beauty. The Cahuilla Indians were the first to inhabit the area, followed by Gold Rush settlers. In 1853, Dr. Isaac Smith built the first ranch here, which was later used by the Butterfield Overland Stage as a stop between San Bernardino and Yuma, Arizona. Smith's Station, as the ranch was known, became an important link for passenger and mail service between Southern California and the rest of the nation, slowly developing into a successful hotel and eventually a resort. The valley was named for its abundance of cherry trees, and in 1914, the community celebrated its first cherry festival, a tradition that continues today. Cherry Valley residents are particularly proud of their community and are dedicated in maintaining the rural residential and agricultural lifestyle they so dearly cherish.

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.

Long Beach Chronicles

9781609495480

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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.

Los Alamos Valley

9781467133319

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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.

Running Springs

9780738546797

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For centuries, the mountains and valleys that became the Running Springs area have swelled with natural resources, supplying the hunting and gathering needs of Native Americans who harvested acorns and herbs and hunted deer and other wildlife to sustain themselves through the winters in the valleys below. Nineteenthcentury gold prospectors passed through the Running Springs vicinity on their way to the Holcomb Valley. Lumbermen came to harvest the virgin timber, supplying the construction requirements of the booming population of Southern California as well as the need for "shook," the thin-shaved boards used to make packing and shipping boxes for the fast-growing citrus industries. The early days of Running Springs are detailed in this winding trip through San Bernardino County's namesake mountains in vintage photographs, which also profile the nearby settlements of Arrowbear Lake and Green Valley Lake.

Sacramento

9780738594804

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Of the state of California and its resources, much of late years has been written and printed for dissemination among people of the eastern states. Particularly has such information been published concerning the resources of the southern section of the state. As yet but little has been written of the central section—a vast, rich, but comparatively undeveloped territory—which in the very near future will as much astonish the world by the demonstration of its agricultural wealth, as did the state in 1849 by the richness of its gold mines. In the pages following, nothing but facts, capable of absolute and satisfactory demonstration, are presented. Of the section of which this work treats, the facts furnish an ample and convincing argument of its resources and capabilities. It has been the endeavor of the writers—and they are gentlemen of state-wide reputation—to present but the actual facts.

Cover image for Sacramento, isbn: 9780738594804

The New Deal in Orange County, California

9781626194885

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

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

Around Crockett

9780738559278

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The territory around Crockett may seem little more than a nook along the Carquinez Strait in West Contra Costa County, but it was once home to many small towns. Although independent, each town relied on the others for goods and services. Using vintage postcards, readers will take a trip through the region's past, visiting Crockett, the Selby Smelting and Refining Company, Vallejo Junction, Carquinez Bridge, Valona, C&H Sugar Factory, Scow Town, and Port Costa along the way.

MacArthur Park

9781467133456

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Known as Westlake Park for its first 60 years, MacArthur Park is considered one of Los Angeles's original parks. Throughout its history, it has endured countless challenges as the neighborhood and city that surround it grew to become the current metropolis. Born out of progressive vision and drought, MacArthur Park, due to its elegant design and cultural programming, has been referred as a civic jewel and the West Coast version of Central Park. Like many urban parks, it has also been burdened with a negative image due to its many decades of neglect, crime, and municipal disinvestment. Today, MacArthur Park has survived as a critical green and cultural space for one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the country. More importantly, MacArthur Park has served as an authentic democratic space for local stakeholders and visitors to gather, play, and protest.

Golden Gate Park:

9780738528533

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An oasis of peace and nature in a crowded city, San Francisco's Golden Gate Park is one of the largest and most diverse parks in the world. Spanning over 1,000 acres, the park is home to gardens, lakes, museums, athletic fields, even a paddock for bison. It is wildly popular with locals and tourists alike, and through the years visitors have always enjoyed sending postcards from this amazing place. Through this collection of early postcards from 1894 through 1940, readers will experience classic views of Golden Gate Park, including some that no longer exist. Encompassing the park's famed monuments, statues, windmills, lakes, streams, and beautiful attractions like the bandshell and the Japanese Tea Garden, these images detail a fascinating place that stays with everyone who visits.

True Tales of California Coastside State Parks

9781467153034

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

The beautiful landscapes of central California's Coastside state parks were once home to forgotten pioneers and unique industries. The tumultuous personal life of Robert Mills didn't hinder his commitment to his dairy business in Half Moon Bay, now the Burleigh H. Murray Ranch State Park. And the Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park, named after a shipwreck, remains a beacon of architectural beauty more than a century later. From hideaways for freedom fighters rebelling against the Spanish to the site of several booming lumber operations, Coastside parks have long been an integral part of California's history. Join author JoAnn Semones as she explores the trailblazers and innovators behind these stunning parks.

True Tales of California Coastside State Parks

Alameda County Fair

9780738581934

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What began as a ranching family's Sunday pastime of horse racing, with cheering crowds and thundering hooves on dusty roads, would give way to the Alameda County Fair that we know today. The Bernal family built the original racetrack in 1859 on their 52,000-acre ranch, which was part of the Northern California land grant, Rancho Valle de San Jose. Looking to turn his newly acquired racetrack into profit, businessman Rodney G. MacKenzie approached a group of county businessmen and ranchers with a proposal to hold a county fair on his property. The first Alameda County Fair ran from October 23 to October 27, 1912. Local leaders sought to form a modern fair, and in 1939 the Alameda County Fair Association was established. Once considered a racing fair, the Alameda County Fair now boasts livestock and agriculture. For young and old alike, the thrilling carnival rides, beautiful quilt exhibits, baking contests, fast-paced horse racing, or just a corn dog and cotton candy provide something for everyone, as the Alameda County Fair now prepares to celebrate its 100th year.

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.

Cover image for Escondido Grape Day Festivals, isbn: 9780738559490

Sacramento's K Street

9781609494254

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

From its founding, K Street mirrored the entrepreneurial development of California's capital city. Initially the storefront for gold seekers trampling a path between the Sacramento River and Sutter's Fort, K Street soon became the hub of California's first stagecoach, railroad and riverboat networks. Over the years, K Street boasted saloons and vaudeville houses, the neon buzz of jazz clubs and movie theaters, as well as the finest hotels and department stores. For the postwar generation, K Street was synonymous with Christmas shopping and teenage cruising. From the Golden Eagle and Buddy Baer's to Weinstock's and the Alhambra Theatre, join historian William Burg as he chronicles the legacy of Sacramento's K Street, once a boulevard of aspirations and bustling commerce and now home to a spirit of renewal.

Cover image for Sacramento's K Street, isbn: 9781609494254

Calle Olvera de Los Angeles

9780738524993

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

El mercado mexicano de Olvera Street y su plaza forman el hogar de la cultura Latina en la región de Los Angeles. En este sector de la ciudad donde se realizan muchas fiestas, incluyendo el Cinco de Mayo, todavia se mantienen en pie Avila Adobe, la iglesia de la plaza--La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles, Pico House, Sepúlveda House y L.A. Firehouse No. 1. El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles fue fundado en 1781. La plaza construida en los años 1820 fue gobernada por décadas por el magnánimo Juez Agust n Olvera. Wine Street fue renombrada en su honor después de su muerte y tomo una dureza de callejón representada en las primeras pel culas de Hollywood. En los años 1920, Christine Sterling hizo una campaña para salvar Avila Adobe de una demolición y transformar Olvera Street en un destino turstico reconocido internacionalmente, el cual se inauguró en 1930. Hoy la antigua plaza y las tiendas de Olvera Street, junto con sus restaurantes, museos y vendedores atraen a un millón de personas anualmente bajo el auspicio de El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument.