Name: Haunted Santa Cruz, California
Brand: Maryanne Porter
SKU: 9781467136037
Price: 21.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Haunted Santa Cruz, California

9781467136037

$21.99

Though generally a peaceful coastal city, the dark stains from Santa Cruz's past still linger. A former Spanish Mission, Holy Cross Catholic Church harbors a dark history of a brutal revolt of native Ohlone Indians that killed the cruel Father Andres Quintana. Frequented by mobsters and celebrities in its heyday, the famous Brookdale Lodge's most talked-about guest is the ghost of a little girl who died nearby in 1892 after nearly drowning. Terrorized by three different serial killers during the 1970s, the city earned the nickname of "the Murder Capital of the World." Local resident Alfred Hitchcock derived inspiration for his iconic film Psycho from the haunted mid-nineteenth-century Hotel McRay. Tracing the city's eeriest incidents back to their roots, historical researcher and paranormal investigator Maryanne Porter details these and many more stories of local legend and lore.

Stories of the Humboldt Wagon Road

9781467145268

$21.99

Before the completion of the transcontinental railroad, there was the Chico and Humboldt Wagon Road, meant to connect California with the burgeoning mining industries of Nevada and Idaho. The ambitious plan to make Chico a major Northern California transportation hub was spearheaded by John Bidwell and began in earnest in 1864. The road opened new areas to mining and logging and provided opportunities for less scrupulous characters. Stagecoach robberies, murders and shootouts were just some of the misfortunes that occurred on the road, along with the dangers nature provided--snowstorms, perilous terrain and grizzly bears. Author Andy Mark offers a glimpse of what it was like for nineteenth-century travelers and settlers on the route of the Humboldt Wagon Road.

Lost Restaurants of Napa Valley and Their Recipes

9781467144612

$21.99

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

Lost Restaurants of Napa Valley and Their Recipes

Mexicans in San José

9780738569307

$24.99

Since the founding of California's El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe in 1777, people of Mexican ancestry have contributed to make San José a rich cultural, political, and economic epicenter. Mexican miners who worked in the local mines helped San José become one of the top mercury producers in the world. In the 20th century, Mexicans labored in the "Valley of Heart's Delight," as the Santa Clara Valley region was called, picking, canning, drying, and packaging fruits and vegetables for America's dinner table. They paid homage to their cultural heritage as they formed ballet folklórico groups, established mariachi bands, painted murals, and wrote literature. Through grassroots organizing and collective action, countless heroines and heroes, such as labor leader Cesar Chavez, dedicated their lives to improving conditions in their neighborhoods and communities. In 1999, the City of San José acknowledged the contributions of Mexicans with the grand opening of the Mexican Heritage Plaza, a cultural center for the performing arts.

Cover image for Mexicans in San José, isbn: 9780738569307

Fishing on the Russian River

9781467132381

$24.99

The Russian River tells a rich story of Sonoma County, both historically and ecologically. For as long as can be remembered, there has been an intimate relationship between the people of the Russian River and the fish, specifically the salmon and the steelhead. This tale of fishing begins with the Pomo people's communal fishing forays, winds through Russian exploration and early American settlement, and lands in the present time. For millennia, fishing has been a cultural cornerstone on the Russian River. Unfortunately, this once lively and productive salmonid fishery is dying. Overfishing, gravel mining, increased sedimentation from logging and agriculture, dams, and overdevelopment along the riverbanks and tributaries have all caused a decline in salmonid numbers. Thankfully, through collaborative efforts of local residents, nonprofit organizations, ranchers, farmers, and government agencies, fish populations are rebounding.

Building the Caldecott Tunnel

9781467131810

$24.99

Today, the Caldecott Tunnel connects Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, located in the San Francisco Bay Area. The original two bores of this tunnel opened in 1937, the same year as the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and changed Contra Costa County from an area of small rural communities into one of growing suburbs. But this was not the first tunnel to connect these counties. The Kennedy Tunnel, opened in 1903, was accessed by steep and winding roads and located several hundred feet above today's tunnel. A third bore of the Caldecott Tunnel was opened in 1964 and a long-awaited fourth bore in late 2013. The tunnels have not been without disaster and tragedy over their hundred-plus years of existence, yet they remain an integral part of the commercial, social, and historic fabric of the region.

Vanishing Los Angeles County

9780738581002

$24.99

Home to more than 10 million people, modern Los Angeles County bears little resemblance to the largely agricultural landscape, dotted with small towns, of just over a century ago. Los Angeles County has surged forward on a path of phenomenal growth and constant transformation. Over this course, much of what was both famous and familiar to Angelenos 100 or even 50 years ago has been lost in the name of progress. This collection of more than 200 vintage postcards explores a sampling of these vanishing sites, including the once ubiquitous orange groves, views from the early days of the county's towns, yesteryear's famed attractions, landmarks, hotels, and restaurants, and scenes from the roadside era.

William S. Hart Park

9781467107440

$23.99

Nickelodeon cowboy star William S. Hart thrilled millions of fans in over 70 shoot-'em-ups in the early days of silent cinema. After completing his film career in 1925, Hart retired to Horseshoe Ranch in Newhall, California, where he lived until his death in 1946. Hart willed the property to the County of Los Angeles, requesting that it become a park and museum, stating: "When I was making pictures, the people gave me their nickels, dimes, and quarters. When I am gone, I want them to have my home." William S. Hart Park stands as a fitting testament to Hart's life and generosity. On its 265 acres, visitors can tour his 22-room retirement mansion and ranch house, picnic on the park's spacious tree-shaded lawns, wander miles of trails, feed animals at the barnyard, and admire the herd of American bison, descendants of those gifted to the park by Walt Disney. The park is also home to Heritage Junction, which houses many of Santa Clarita's most historic buildings and serves as headquarters for the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society.

Mira Mesa

9780738582030

$24.99

Mira Mesa is a suburban community in the northern part of the city of San Diego with many qualities of a small town. Mira Mesa is San Diego's largest suburb, with over 75,000 residents, stretching from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on the south to Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve on the north, and from I-15 on the east to I-805 on the west. When rapid growth in the early 1970s transformed the mesa from rocks and rattlesnakes to tract homes, there were no schools, parks, or other facilities, not even a grocery store. Residents held rallies and marches, and the first schools in Mira Mesa were created inside houses leased from developers. Mira Mesa today is a happily multiethnic community that includes schools, parks, a library, industrial and retail centers, and several supermarkets.

Early Long Beach

9780738575773

$24.99

Few other cities can boast of the natural assets, the people, and the events that shaped the first 50 years of their history, as can the city of Long Beach, California. First inhabited by the Tongva people, the land was taken away by the Spanish, then granted to "friends of the King," who in turn sold parcels to real estate speculators working with the railroads. It was called many names before Belle Lowe suggested in 1884 that the townsite be known for its eight miles of long beaches. Its oceanfront provided a resort area, a landing strip for early aviators, a fishing industry, a port for shipbuilding and trade, and a location for the US Navy to anchor its "battle fleet" in 1919. However, discovery of oil in 1921 transformed the city, bringing incredible wealth and an explosive growth in population. By 1938, the city's population was 200,000 and would be a major factor in the Southern California war effort.

Lighthouses of the Bay Area

9780738559438

$24.99

The 1848 discovery of gold in the hills of California brought prospectors and adventurers west; many came across the country on the treacherous western trails, while others came by sea. The rugged coast of California and the dangers of the San Francisco Bay waters claimed many ships and their passengers. The loss of these ships and the ever-increasing number of vessels converging in the San Francisco Bay made it evident that navigational aids were desperately needed. To enhance maritime safety in the region, the San Francisco Bay's first light, located on Alcatraz Island, began construction in 1852. Light stations soon followed at Fort Point, Point Bonita, and the Farallon Islands. An additional 15 lights later served the bay, and two lightships were stationed outside the Golden Gate.

Berkeley and the New Deal

9781467132398

$24.99

Berkeley's 1930s and early 1940s New Deal structures and projects left a lasting legacy of utilitarian and beautiful infrastructure. These public buildings, schools, parks, and artworks helped shape the city and thus the lives of its residents; it is hard to imagine Berkeley without them. The artists and architects of these projects mention several themes: working for the community, responsibility, the importance of government support, collaboration, and creating a cultural renaissance. These New Deal projects, however, can be called "hidden history" because their legacies have been mostly ignored and forgotten. Comprehending the impact of the New Deal on one American city is only possible when viewed as a whole. Berkeley might have gotten a little more or a little less New Deal funding than other towns, but this time it wasn't "Bezerkeley" but very much typical and mainstream. More than history, this book shows the period's relevance to today's social, political, and economic realities. The times may again call for comprehensive public policy that reaches Main Street.

Historic Buildings of Downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea

9781467103039

$24.99

Carmel-by-the-Sea was established in the early 1900s and has been described as a quaint, European-like village among the trees along Central California's coast. The architectural styles that shaped the downtown character emerged predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s and were mostly Northern and Southern European-influenced Romantic Revival styles. The Court of the Golden Bough features Tudor Revival-style buildings, with medieval influence, while many of the larger buildings and hotels downtown are in the Mediterranean and Spanish Revival styles. Fairy-tale storybook designs add to the town's one-of-a-kind charm. A few Western false-front and Craftsman-style buildings from the start of the 20th century, some post-World War II modernist works in the Second and Third Bay Region styles, and ones inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's organic architecture all add to the eclectic mix. Carmel-by-the-Sea has emphasized walking and the outdoors, with its courtyards and passageways, parks, gardens, and landscaping. Take a journey and discover the historic buildings that make up the downtown of this unique seaside town.

Historic Buildings of Downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea

Columbia

9780738530215

$24.99

Columbia started life in 1850 when Dr. Thaddeus Hildreth and his brother set up the camp known as Hildreth's Diggins in the lovely Sierra foothills. More than 150 tumultuous years later, Columbia is an amazing example of a true gold rush community frozen in time. But this is no ghost town either--the downtown area, with its plank sidewalks, ornate hotels, and saloons, is preserved as a California State Historic Park. The town today is a living, breathing, modern community at peace with both its past and its present. It's easy to imagine characters from the Old West swaggering through these streets, which served as the backdrop to Gary Cooper's Marshall Will Kane in High Noon. Of course, given Columbia's frequent historical reenactments, one doesn't have to think too hard to conjure such imagery.

Cover image for Columbia, isbn: 9780738530215

Redding

9780738529349

$24.99

Pierson B. Reading settled on a large land grant in Shasta County in the 1840s, planting California's first cotton and northern California's first grapevines on his Rancho Buena Ventura, which included the current town of Redding. Although first nicknamed Poverty Flats by the early settlers, the Southern Pacific Railroad chose this spot for its turnaround roundhouse in 1872, ignoring the neighboring mining boomtown of Shasta. To honor a powerful Sacramento politician who acted as their general land agent, the railroad named the new town Redding.As Redding grew, so did the tug-of-war with the town of Shasta over the location of the county seat, a contest Redding won in 1884. Redding experienced two growth spurts, one during a copper mining boom before World War I, and the other at the end of the Great Depression, when thousands of workers poured in to build Shasta Dam. A gateway city to the large recreational area that surrounds it, Redding now enjoys fame for its world-renowned bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava.

North Sacramento

9780738580036

$24.99

In 1910, the North Sacramento Land Company purchased 3,339 acres to establish the city of North Sacramento. Three years later, Del Paso and Company set up power and water operations, along with rail transport. A police and fire department and school sealed the deal, and the city incorporated on June 18, 1924. In this idyllic hometown, parents allowed their kids to walk "the Boulevard" unattended, skate at Iceland, and cool off in Woodlake Pool, after they stopped in at Li'l Joe's or Sammy's for a bite or a donut at Hoyt's. The city thrived with characters like Mama Marks, Mayor Olga Roth, and entrepreneur Betty "Boop" Bryan. Pugilist Max Baer sparred in the open-air theater before the screen came down to the sawdust floor for a Tom Mix movie.

Ripon

9781467106108

$24.99

Through this juxtaposition of old and new photographs, see why so many historic buildings in Ripon, CA have endured into the present day through the thoughtful care and preservation of its citizens.

Ripon is a charming and quiet city in the San Joaquin Valley in Central California. The community is very faith-based, prioritizing tolerance, gratitude, and family, and these values have played out in the development of the town. In the past 100 years, very few buildings have been demolished but instead have been repaired and repurposed. John P. Mangelos has always had a passion for preserving the history of Ripon and has collected photographs for many years. Most of the images are from his collection.

Oakland

9780738530147

$24.99

Oakland became a transportation and industrial hub in the late 19th century as its oak-studded ranches and fruit orchards evolved into urban neighborhoods. Just as the postcard was born at the 1893 Chicago Columbian Exposition, Oakland began its transformation into a major city. As postcards grew in popularity, Oakland grew astride, led by two ambitious mayors, Frank K. Mott and John L. Davie. Mott, a proponent of the "City Beautiful" movement, fostered the creation of grand boulevards and imposing civic buildings, while his successor Davie oversaw expansion of the port, a regional parks system, and one of the first commercial airports in the nation. All of these, along with picturesque Lake Merritt, made excellent subjects for hundreds of postcards.

Missions of San Diego

9780738596839

$24.99

California's first settlement began on a trail called El Camino Real, or "The Royal Road," that was traveled by missionary pathfinders, soldiers, and conquistadors on a dramatic journey into a mysterious land. Monterey was discovered in 1603, leading to the quest. Explorers Don Gaspar de Portolá and Juan Bautista de Anza, along with ambitious Franciscan missionaries, founded 21 monumental Spanish missions and several asistencias and chapels for native neophytes, travelers, and visitors to Alta California. Following the initial landing in 1769 at San Diego's seaport, Fr. Junípero Serra founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá, California's first landmark, at the original presidio site. The mission stands today exactly where it was moved, rebuilt, and completed in 1813. The native populations of California witnessed years of change from a sleepy province to the status of US statehood. The Spanish missions forged the powerful underpinnings of the Golden State's earliest settlements 80 years prior to the world's largest migration to California, the 1849 Gold Rush.

San Diego Drag Racing and the Bean Bandits

9781467127103

$24.99

San Diego enjoys a long and storied race car and drag racing history, and the Bean Bandits are a huge part of that heritage. Yet their story remains buried in plain sight. Told here in photographs garnered from private, personal, and historical collections, the 1950s pioneering exploits of Bean Bandits leader Joaquin Arnett and his contributions to that racing history come to life. The San Diego native led his Bean Bandits to over 300 wins and several land speed records while competing against other local clubs, like the Prowlers, Oilers, Roadsters, and Roadrunners. Eventually, the Bean Bandits' streamliners set records on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Arnett won the first National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Championship in 1953, was named to the International Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1992, and was awarded an NHRA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. Arnett and his Bean Bandits' car also graced the cover of Hot Rod magazine's special drag strip issue in 1953.

San Diego Drag Racing and the Bean Bandits

Central Coast Motor Sports

9781467126335

$24.99

From action-packed Model T racing in the 1930s to exotic sports car racing during the 1950s and 1960s, Images of America: Central Coast Motor Sports reveals the colorful history of motor sports and hot rodding in Central California. Sam Foose, one of the pioneers of West Coast car customizing, created several designs that led to fame, while locals raced at the world-famous Bonneville Salt Flats and joined the exclusive 200 MPH Club. Don Edwards entered the exciting world of drag boat and hydrofoil racing and became one of the most successful drag boat racers of the 1960s. This collection of historic images spotlights the many drag strips, racetracks, car clubs, and personalities in the region during racing's golden age. It also features some of the coolest hot rods, customs, dragsters, lake racers, sports cars, formula racers, sprint cars, jalopies, off-road vehicles, and motorcycles around.

Hollister

9780738595795

$24.99

The history of Rancho San Justo and Hollister began in 1839 when Gov. Juan Alvarado gave the land grant to Jose Castro. Castro sold the land to Francisco Pacheco, who, in turn, sold the land grant to William Hollister and his partners Llwellyn Bixby and Thomas and Benjamin Flint. In 1861, the men agreed to split the property. The site for the town was surveyed in 1868 with plans to divide the site into 50 homestead lots. Colonel Hollister sold his portion of the rancho to a group of men who called themselves the San Justo Homestead Association. At that time, the town of Hollister was still in Monterey County; however, the homestead association started agitating for a division of the county. An act to create the county of San Benito was approved by the governor on February 12, 1874, and Hollister became the county seat.

Castro Valley

9780738530673

$24.99

An officer in the Mexican army bequeathed his name to the crescent-shaped basin once known as Castro's Valley. Driven to ruin by squatters, drought, and gambling debts, he sold a portion of his cattle ranch to Methodist minister Zachariah Hughes, who built a church and school in what is now Crow Canyon. The one-room, redwood school Hughes christened Eden Vale educated about 50 children until a group from the burgeoning town to the south, "Hayward's," stole it by wagon in the dead of night. Undaunted, Castro Valley, delineated from its now friendly neighbors by hills, Lake Chabot, and an independent spirit, built and fully supported its own Redwood School. It has now developed into one of the most populous unincorporated areas in the United States.

Sacramento's Gold Rush Saloons:

9781626191709

$21.99

As early as 1839, Sacramento, California, was home to one of the most enduring symbols of the American West: the saloon. From the portability of the Stinking Tent to the Gold Rush favorite El Dorado Gambling Saloon to the venerable Sutter's Fort, Sacramento saloons offered not simply a nip of whiskey and a round of monte but also operated as polling place, museum, political hothouse, vigilante court and site of some of the nineteenth century's worst violence. From librarian James Scott and the Special Collections of the Sacramento Public Library comes a fascinating history of Sacramento saloons featuring the advent of all types of gaming, the rise of local alcohol production and the color and guile of some of the region's most compelling personalities..

The Hollywood Stars

9780738530567

$24.99

The Hollywood Stars were created in 1926, when the Salt Lake City franchise of the Pacific Coast League was transferred to the greater Los Angeles area. To avoid confusion with the resident Los Angeles Angels, the new ballclub was called Hollywood. It was a wise choice of names. The movie capital had a glamour that was soon attached to the Stars and created an interest wherever they played. But the Hollywood story is actually one of two separate entities. The first operated from 1926 to 1935 and played at Wrigley Field as a tenant of the Angels. When a dispute arose in 1935 over a proposed increase in rent, owner Bill Lane moved his team to San Diego. After a hiatus of two years, the second incarnation was created in 1938 when the Mission Reds of San Francisco moved to Southern California. They moved into their new park, Gilmore Field, in 1939 and remained there through 1957, when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. Hollywood won pennants in 1949, 1952, and 1953 and was the team of choice for the movie world.

Rock 'n' Roll in Orange County:

9781626196094

$21.99

The great acts--from Hendrix to Joplin and from Kiss to Korn--played to the Orange County crowd at such classic venues as Huntington Beach's Golden Bear, the Anaheim Convention Center and Anaheim's Doll Hut. Rock 'n' roll's OC roots include Leo Fender's electric guitar factory in Fullerton and the birthplace for the garage-band standard Louie Louie" in Anaheim. As the music changed, iconic OC groups like Social Distortion and Avenged Sevenfold helped lead the way. Final curtains came down here, too: though killed in England, Eddie Cochran is buried in Cypress, and Bobby Hatfield, half of the Righteous Brothers, is interred at Corona del Mar. Join pop culture expert Chris Epting for the essential big hits plus idiosyncratic flip-side riffs of Orange County's mighty rock 'n' roll history."

The Santa Barbara B-24 Disasters: A Chain of Tragedies Across Air, Land & Sea

9781609495718

$21.99

Three separate and related tragedies occurred during and after a training run of a B-24 Liberator on July 4, 1943, over the Pacific off Santa Barbara County: The heavy bomber crashed near Santa Barbara and two of the crew were never found, another B-24 search-and-rescue crew looking for survivors off the coast never returned at all and was found later to have cashed on San Miguel Island, killing all 12 aboard, and the Air Force investigators of that accident, years later, in 1954, coming to the island in a Coast Guard cutter, hit a yacht, killing two more people. Author Robert A. Burtness takes you inside these somber stories with recorded first-hand accounts and vintage images.

The Santa Barbara B-24 Disasters: A Chain of Tragedies Across Air, Land & Sea

San Diego Yesterday

9781609499761

$19.99

San Diego today is a vibrant and bustling coastal city, but it wasn't always so. The city's transformation from a rough-hewn border town and frontier port to a vital military center was marked by growing pains and political clashes. Civic highs and criminal lows have defined San Diego's rise through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries into a preeminent Sun Belt city. Historian Richard W. Crawford recalls the significant events and one-of-a-kind characters like benefactor Frank "Booze" Beyer, baseball hero Albert Spalding and novelist Scott O'Dell. Join Crawford for a collection that recounts how San Diego yesterday laid the foundation for the city's bright future.

Port Costa

9780738546544

$24.99

Port Costa may be a quiet place now, but it wasn't always thus. The town was born in 1879, when the Central Pacific Railroad built its southern ferry-transfer slip at the mouth of the Bull Valley. For 50 years, trains, passengers, and cargo were transported across the Carquinez Strait from Benicia. A thriving waterfront community with a wild side reminiscent of San Francisco's Barbary Coast sprang up around the ferry terminal and grew during the California wheat boom of the 1880s and 1890s. During this time, Port Costa became one of the busiest ports on the West Coast. The wheat ships and ferryboats are gone now, but Port Costa remains a popular local tourist destination for people who wish to catch a glimpse of Contra Costa County's historic past.

San Francisco's West Portal Neighborhoods

9780738529974

$24.99

When you're in West Portal and the adjacent Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood, it's hard to believe you're still in San Francisco. These quiet and picturesque neighborhoods are decidedly non-urban, yet they are connected by a streetcar tunnel that leads under Twin Peaks to the bustling downtown area, two miles through the city's mountainous core. In fact, West Portal is named for the western end of this tunnel, which opened in 1917 to bring residents from the city center to what were new garden suburbs. Originally West Portal was sandy and scruffy, while Forest Hill and St. Francis Wood were heavily forested. The neighborhoods grew rapidly in the 1920s, and today West Portal is a popular shopping and entertainment district, while St. Francis Wood and Forest Hill boast some of the city's finest architecture and landscaping.

San Francisco's West Portal Neighborhoods

Palos Verdes Estates

9780738581446

$21.99

Situated on the westernmost cliffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, the city of Palos Verdes Estates continues to fulfill former landowner and developer Frank Vanderlip's vision of the area as the nation's "most fashionable and exclusive residential colony," and it remains one of Los Angeles County's most affluent cities. Development of open land began in 1922 under the direction of landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. One of the first master-planned communities in the United States, Palos Verdes Estates (PVE) became the first of the four peninsula cities to be incorporated, in 1939. Early community life revolved around the Palos Verdes Golf Club, La Venta Inn, Malaga Cove School, and the charming Malaga Cove and Lunada Bay commercial areas, both of which have been graced by their own distinctive fountains. The Malaga Cove Library, a fine example of Early Californian design executed by architect Myron Hunt in 1930, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Bernardino County

9781626190122

$21.99

Weather, darkness and twists of fate have contributed to more than three hundred airplane crashes in San Bernardino County, California. Many of these accidents occurred in the vast Mojave Desert, others on the cloud-shrouded, snow-capped mountains of the largest county in the lower forty-eight states. Searches often were labored yet fruitless, even for the privileged: Frank Sinatra's mother perished here in a downed plane. The quest for an aircraft containing $5,000 in cash has become the stuff of legend. Tales of survival in uninhabited, rugged landscapes have been especially harrowing. Join renowned aircraft-crash search specialist G. Pat Macha for dozens of sorrowful, triumphant, touching and surprising true stories of those who lived through the ordeals of plane crashes--and others who didn't.

Historic Aircraft Wrecks of San Bernardino County

Historic Tales from Palos Verdes and the South Bay

9781626196070

$21.99

Palos Verdes and the South Bay's dramatic beauty is mirrored by a dramatic history. Feuding over claims to the Rancho San Pedro continued for seventy-three years. The Vanderlip family's forty-year development of the Palos Verdes Peninsula resulted in one of California's wealthiest and most well-kept enclaves of coastal cities. Marineland of the Pacific on the Peninsula's end was one of the West Coast's more popular tourism draws before its controversial closing. But that's only the beginning. In this exciting compilation of articles, authors Bruce and Maureen Megowan reveal some of the intriguing secrets and little-known facts nestled within the hills, valleys and nearby cities of this beautiful area. Discover some of the fascinating stories about the development of the South Bay and Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Historic Tales from Palos Verdes and the South Bay

Prohibition in the Napa Valley:

9781626190894

$21.99

To a region flush with the success of alcohol, Prohibition was a sobering thought. Against the backdrop of national events, author Lin Weber introduces a cast of Napa Valley's leading citizens, embroiled in a fight for their livelihood with temperance champions and federal agents. Theodore Bell filed a Hail Mary suit to stop California's ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment. Vintner Georges de Latour made money hand over fist on altar wine. The Nichelini winery hid a cache of contraband under the floorboards, and the Blaufuss Brewery avoided prosecution when the law turned a blind eye. Join Weber as she relates a wry tale of cherished vines, widespread corruption and alcohol-inspired mayhem during a time when morality" tightened the noose around Napa's prized alcohol industry."

Wheatland

9780738569772

$24.99

Against the backdrop of this western town, a number of dramatic historic events took place. While California was still Mexican territory, William Johnson purchased at auction the Mexican land grant formerly belonging to Pablo Gutierrez. Johnson's Rancho, as it came to be called, was the last stop on the Emigrant Trail to Sutter's Fort in Sacramento. Seven members of the ill-fated Donner Party staggered into this ranch in 1847, seeking help for those left in the snowbound Sierra Nevada Mountains. Camp Far West was established here in 1849 as a military outpost to protect wagon trains heading into California, and when the state entered the Union in 1850, the area had become the logistic gateway to the Sierra foothill gold mines. Ultimately carved from Johnson's Rancho and incorporated in 1874, Wheatland became known for its agriculture and as a supply center to the mines, as well as being the site of the bloody 1913 Hop Riot, the first major migrant-worker labor confrontation in California.