Name: Filipinos in the East Bay
Brand: Evangeline Canonizado Buell
SKU: 9780738558325
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Filipinos in the East Bay

9780738558325

$24.99

Filipinos are a community nearly 2.5-million strong in the United States in 2007. At the turn of the 20th century, the first wave of Filipino migration began, continuing until the start of World War II. During this time span, sponsored students, veterans of the Philippine-American War and their families, and young men recruited in the Philippines to serve in the U.S. military or work in California and Hawaii's expanding agricultural industries would all arrive in the United States. On the San Francisco Bay Area's eastern shore, Filipino presence in the labor force transitioned with the region's economic and social evolution from mainly farm and service laborers to industrial workers to professional, administrative, and service workers. Today the East Bay is a vibrant center of the Filipino community's deeply rooted and rich cultural, political, and economic life.

Cover image for Filipinos in the East Bay, isbn: 9780738558325

Yuba Feather Hills

9780738531021

$24.99

The Yuba and Feather Rivers flank a rugged portion of the Sierra Nevada as they rush south. Gold in creeks and streams here attracted thousands of treasure hunters who panned, dug, or scoured the hills with hydraulic jets of water. At the height of the rush, mule teams loaded with supplies and stagecoaches filled with miners passed through every few minutes, heading from Marysville or Oroville to the high Sierra camps. Thriving towns sprang up along the way, one boasting five hotels and seven saloons. Later others came to log the massive pine and fir or make their home in a land they valued for its beauty. Ten towns survive today: Brownsville, Challenge, Clipper Mills, Dobbins, Forbestown, La Porte, Oregon House, Rackerby, Strawberry Valley, and Woodleaf. Although siblings at birth, over the last 150 years, each has developed a unique character and charm.

Cover image for Yuba Feather Hills, isbn: 9780738531021

Anaheim

9780738547435

$24.99

After the developments that the World War II era brought to the small agricultural community of Anaheim, the major transformation arrived in 1955. Anaheim changed forever from a sleepy and proud little town into the center for entertainment and tourism in Southern California with the arrival of Disneyland. Other national and regional businesses and franchises arrived in and around this Orange County anchor city--including the California Angels baseball club, the Anaheim Convention Center, and such aerospace giants as Boeing and Rockwell International--and Anaheim grew exponentially. This collection of more than 200 vintage and contemporary images depict the results of Anaheim's far-sighted elected and business leaders, who nurtured the city from its agrarian roots and made it into one of the nation's fastest growing cities in the 1960s.

Point Reyes Peninsula

9780738558486

$24.99 $12.50 Save 50%

The Point Reyes Peninsula has a rich history encompassing thriving Native American settlements, visits by Francis Drake and Spanish explorers, dramatic shipwrecks, Mexican rancheros, famous dairy farms, railroads, and one of the country's most spectacular lighthouses. These historical facets spawned the three small towns of Olema, Point Reyes Station, and Inverness; each is unique with its own distinctive foundations. Most of the land is now within Point Reyes National Seashore, a refuge created during the Kennedy administration and now one of the more popular destinations on the California coast. The unique geography of the forest, bay, and ocean environments and the abundant wildlife in Point Reyes offers fine scenery, diverse recreational opportunities, and good food and lodging, while the towns retain their old-time character.

Cemeteries of the Western Sierra

9781467134965

$24.99

Cemeteries are more than final resting places for the dead; they are gateways to an area's shared history. Every hand-carved granite or marble monument, every faded wooden marker, holds a clue. Western Sierra populations boomed with the discovery of gold and often dwindled as gold fever waned. Cemeteries of the Western Sierra uses the lens of the cemetery to glimpse a rich and disappearing history. Displaced indigenous populations, miners, dueling newspaper magnates, Chinese pioneers: all are part of the mosaic of history represented in a historical cemetery. From solitary graves in the forest to almost forgotten graveyards near the center of a town, cemeteries tell a story not just of who may have died but also of who lived and what was meaningful in their time.

Maritime Contra Costa County

9780738599939

$24.99

San Francisco's "opposite shore" is showcased for its maritime role in securing the city's financial preeminence. Located minutes from San Francisco by ferry or automobile, Contra Costa County provided deepwater ports for shipping agricultural, mineral, and manufactured goods around the world. Pacific commodity traders made use of these ports to ship products, ensuring California's unique global economic role. Immense wealth was created from goods shipped from maritime Contra Costa County, securing a vibrant economy from the Gaslight Era to the days of Haight-Ashbury.

Carmel-by-the-Sea

9780738531229

$24.99

A local poet once described Carmel-by-the-Sea, with its haunting pines, fog, and white sand, as "our inevitable place." The area had been inhabited for more than 3,000 years when Fr. Junipero Serra chose the site for his mission
headquarters in 1771. The romantic name, Carmel-by-the-Sea, was the gift of a group of women real estate developers, later used in advertising lots for "brain workers at in-door employment." Many Stanford and UC Berkeley professors, artists, writers, and musicians left a lasting legacy here in their art and in their rejection of largescale commercial development. Although impoverished artists may no longer afford to live here, many residents and millions of sojourners still consider the lovely village packed with galleries and eateries their "inevitable place."

Jungleland

9780738574448

$24.99

In 1926, animal attendant Louis Goebel bought five lots at $10 apiece as a home for his seven African lions along old Ventura Boulevard in a remote, sparsely populated portion of Ventura County just over the Los Angeles County line--where the city of Thousand Oaks eventually grew. Not surprisingly, the big predators became a roadside attraction. By 1929, Goebel added exotic birds and other animals. Premier woman tiger trainer Mabel Stark arrived as Goebel's Lion Farm accrued regional fame, and Capt. Frank Phillips trained Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's famous Leo the Lion after the name changed to World Jungle Compound. The park maintained Hollywood ties, renting animals and hosting scenes for dozens of movies and television shows. Jungleland became the zoo's lasting moniker after name and ownership changes. The enthusiastic opening of Disneyland in 1955 on the other side of Los Angeles inspired big plans for the Ventura County attraction, including a monorail. These plans fizzled, however, and Goebel resumed ownership in 1961. The park closed eight years later, and 1,800 animals were sold at auction. After four decades, the distinctive Conejo Valley lion roars were silenced.

Fairfax

9780738530901

$24.99

Fairfax is surrounded by oak-draped glens that have enchanted many, including its early owner and namesake, Lord Charles Snowden Fairfax. The hereditary baron, whose family once owned much of Virginia, entertained guests in grand Southern style on his lovely estate known as Bird's Nest Glen. Later the home became Pastori's, the beloved local landmark hotel and restaurant visited by famous guests like Irving Berlin, who once serenaded diners from a piano perched on a tree house. The 1906 earthquake chased refugees from San Francisco across the bay, and new Fairfax subdivisions appeared, along with the Fairfax Incline Railway, built to help sell hillside lots. In the same era, its meadows, hay fields, and dairy ranches provided the setting for early silent movie Westerns. Today Bird's Nest Glen is known as the Marin Town and Country Club property, and the city boasts a thriving business district and prosperous residential areas. But it has never lost its rustic charm and hospitality.

Tustin

9780738570372

$24.99

Tustin's big early loss was in many ways its salvation. Founding father Columbus Tustin's real estate venture in 1868 found few takers, leading to his fervent campaign to make his town the southern terminus for the Southern Pacific Railroad. The depot duel was won by rival settlement Santa Ana, and Tustin City became just another backwater. Columbus Tustin died embittered, but his namesake, which dropped "City" in 1899, prospered as a pretty place with charming homes. Many early homes and downtown commercial buildings still survive, and where apricot, walnut, and orange trees once grew at mid century, comfortable tract homes and residential innovations such as Tustin Meadows and Enderle Gardens maintain the distinct small-town feel through Orange County's postwar freeway sprawl and identity loss. Tustin's past also included a wild and ramshackle quicksilver mine at Red Hill and two of the world's largest wooden structures--the Lighter-Than-Air (LTA or blimp) hangars--at Marine Corps Air Station Tustin.

San Francisco's Aquatic Park

9780738530840

$24.99

Aquatic Park has long been the place where San Franciscans and tourists alike go to enjoy an authentic maritime experience. Along Hyde Street Pier and the sandy strip of beach near the Maritime Museum, this area was once called Black Point Cove. It now hosts a dramatic array of historic ships such as the Balclutha (formerly Star of Alaska) and a graceful curvilinear pier with a sweeping vista of the Golden Gate. For most of its history, this park has seen recreational use of every stripe. Members of the delightful Dolphin Club have braved the chilly bay waters ever since the club was founded in 1877. Then there is the South End Rowing Club, which for many decades has carried on its graceful traditions in the protected lagoon.

Cover image for San Francisco's Aquatic Park, isbn: 9780738530840

Niles Canyon Railways

9780738529837

$24.99

All aboard for this photographic journey through the unique railroad history of Niles Canyon, near the city of Fremont. The melodic wail of the steam whistle first echoed off these canyon walls in 1866 when the Western Pacific Railroad laid track into Niles as part of a planned route from San Jose to Sacramento. That was three years before the transcontinental route from Sacramento to Omaha was completed in May 1869. Four months after the driving of the Golden Spike that joined the eastern and western United States by rail, the connecting route from Sacramento to Oakland through Niles Canyon was finished--the very last leg of a rail route that truly joined the Atlantic to the Pacific waters for the first time.

San Francisco Seals

9780738529851

$24.99

For more than half a century, San Francisco Seals baseball was a fertile source of future major league players, with a legacy firmly grounded in the annals of Pacific Coast League baseball. Paul and Lloyd Waner, Ping Bodie, Earl Averill, William Kamm, Ferris Fain, Harry Heilmann, Smead Jolley, "Lefty" O'Doul, Frankie Crosetti, the DiMaggio brothers (Joe, Vince, and Dom), Larry Jansen, and others all launched their careers as Seals. From 1903 to 1957, the Seals were the toast of the town, offering tight pennant races and intense games with the Oakland Oaks--their cross-bay rivals--while playing at Recreation Park and Seals Stadium. In almost 6 decades, the Seals won 11 pennants and 4 Governor's Cups. They survived the earthquake and fire of 1906, the Great Depression, and two world wars. Never forgotten will be Smead Jolley, who in 1928 had what many consider the best all-around season in PCL history by hitting .404 and winning the Triple Crown; Gus Suhr's record-breaking 51 homeruns in 1929; Joe DiMaggio's 61-game hitting streak during his 1933 rookie season; and pitcher Bob Joyce's 31 victories and 35 complete games in 1945.

Alameda

9780738530390

$24.99

Alameda was once a peninsula of grassy fields and sandy beaches, separated from Oakland by a snaking estuary. A tidal canal made Alameda an island in 1902 and its waterfront became a major shipping port. Park Street's bay-windowed commercial buildings looked out on a prosperous city of streetcars and comfortable homes. Between the two world wars, Alameda's Neptune Beach resort and amusement park became the "Coney Island of the West," eventually boasting a Moorish entrance tower on Webster Street, a stadium, two swimming pools, a high dive, and a roller coaster called the "Whoopie." Alameda's strategic location made its "airdrome" the busiest in the world in the 1930s and eventually attracted a U.S. Coast Guard base, known as Government Island, and the Alameda Naval Air Station.

Seal Beach

9780738529806

$24.99

Situated along the Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Beach is the coastal portal between Los Angeles and Orange Counties. This vacation spot and largely residential community separates the City of Long Beach from the broad, open, southerly beaches of the OC--Sunset, Bolsa Chica, Huntington, Newport, Laguna, and beyond. The regional fame of Anaheim Landing and Anaheim Bay preceded the founding of Bay City, which became Seal Beach after too much mail intended for Bay City found its way to the "City by the Bay," San Francisco. In the early 20th century, the popular Joy Zone was a huge beachside amusement park in Seal Beach enjoyed by thousands of vacationers brought south by the Pacific Electric Red Car Line. This entertaining retrospective documents these landmarks, as well as local residents, events, Seal Beach Pier, the nearby U.S. Naval Weapons Station, and other points of interest.

Early Pomona

9780738547763

$24.99

The first settlers to carve the Pomona Valley out of the California wilderness were Ricardo Vejar and Ygnacio Palomares, who received land grants in 1837 for fighting for Mexico's independence. Nearly three decades after California was ceded to the United States, Southerners escaping the aftermath of the Civil War migrated to the area, and the city was incorporated in 1888. Pomona's landscape evolved from vast Mexican ranchos into prosperous vineyards and orchards, and later into one of Los Angeles's major suburbs. Pomona today is home to the world's largest county fair, the Los Angeles County Fair, as well as to California Polytechnic University and Western University of Health Sciences. The city boasts a thriving art colony, three historic districts, and a unique mix of architecture, including Victorian, Craftsman, transitional, and Spanish-style homes. The more than 150,000 Pomona residents pride themselves on a neighborly small-town flavor that belies the city's large population.

Mariposa County

9780738529493

$24.99

One of the original 27 counties of California, Mariposa County, located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and containing more than 900,000 acres, once covered one-fifth of the state and was considered the "Mother of California Counties." First inhabited by several Native American tribes, the land that became Mariposa County saw a flood of miners and other white settlers to the area with the discovery of gold in 1849. The county produced not only $48 million in gold, but also millions in copper, lead, zinc, and chromite, among other minerals. Now home to more than 20,000 residents, as well as most of the famous Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County takes pride in the history that lives in the Gold Rush buildings lining downtown Mariposa and Coulterville's main streets and still standing in early mining towns like Hornitos and Bear Valley.

Dixon

9780738529721

$24.99

The charming town of Dixon lies on the pastoral plains of Solano County. Its history stretches back to the 1850s and a settlement called Silveyville, where Elijah Silvey guided in pony express riders and stagecoaches with a red lantern swung from the porch of his hotel. When the California Pacific Railroad bypassed their young town to build a depot on Thomas Dickson's ranch, the cooperative citizens of Silveyville opted to move their buildings four miles to the station on log rollers, pulled by gangs of men and 40-mule teams. Legend has it that the first train schedules arrived with the name misspelled as "Dixon," but Thomas Dickson agreeably went along with the change. Now a town of almost 18,000, it is home to the Dixon May Fair, the oldest fair in the state, and the Lambtown, U.S.A. Festival. It remains, as it has throughout its history, the same cooperative, close-knit community.

Big Meadows and Lake Almanor

9781467132299

$24.99

Few among the thousands of vacationers who recreate on and around Lake Almanor each summer realize that beneath its waters lie the remains of a vanished way of life. This tiny Atlantis, Big Meadows, was a microcosm of the cultural forces and conflicts that racked the West in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Rich in natural resources, the Meadows sustained the lives of the native Maidu and the hundreds of encroaching whites who followed on the heels of the Lassen Trail immigrant parties. White men came seeking to exploit those precious resources for gold mining, stock raising, dairying, tourism, timber, and later, hydroelectric power. In the tumult of cultural and industrial change, a pastoral way of life was lost and a native culture vanquished.

Hermosa Beach

9780738529745

$24.99

Hermosa Beach has been one of Los Angeles County's most eclectic summertime destinations for vacationing families, surfers, sunbathers, fishermen, volleyball players, and other beachgoers. They ranged from students in search of one crazy summer to their spiritual forefathers and mothers who came, saw, and stayed year-round. The city grew through the 20th century from a train stop into a vital mix of residential housing with businesses strung along Pacific Coast Highway. The city has been homey enough to accommodate statesman William Jennings Bryant and television's iconic Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. Its nationally recognized nightclubs and other venues included the Biltmore Hotel; the Comedy & Magic Club; and the legendary Lighthouse, home of West Coast jazz.

Hercules

9780738574400

$24.99

The history of explosives manufacturing in Hercules began in 1879, when the California Powder Works acquired a site on San Pablo Bay, 20 miles northeast of San Francisco. The powder works, subsequently owned by Dupont and the Hercules Powder Company, produced one of the first internationally branded products: Hercules dynamite. It became the world's leading producer of TNT during World War I. The town of Hercules was incorporated in 1900, and for nearly 75 years its population remained under 300. The company-owned village had no retail district, but its employee clubhouse was the anchor for the city's social life. After the explosives plant closed, buildings comprising a small historic district were restored, while a diverse residential suburb grew rapidly around it. Hercules chronicles the city's industrial past and a vanishing way of life.

Filipinos in Ventura County

9780738574738

$24.99

Filipino immigrants came to Ventura County in the 1920s, beginning American lives mostly as farm laborers in work camps, notably the Arneill Ranch and Springville Ranch in Camarillo. They organized early societies like the Filipino Brotherhood Association of Ventura County, the Jordan Lodge 604 Legionarios del Trabajo, the Caballeros de Dimas Alang, the Filipino Optimist Club, and the Filipino Community of Ventura County. During World War II, Filipinos served in the 1st and 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiments of the U.S. Army. The omnipresence of the U.S. Navy in coastal Ventura prodded many second- and third-generation Filipinos to serve their country in Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and the Persian Gulf. Today the same spirit of community engagement is illustrated in the 26 local Filipino organizations all under the umbrella of the Filipino American Council, which celebrates history, community, and culture.

Sam's Castle

9780738574868

$24.99 $12.50 Save 50%

With romance, elegant parties, and dashing, uniformed gentlemen, this charming castle story is almost what one might expect. But add in dramatic police raids and rumors of bodies buried in the garden, and it becomes the very unique tale of Sam's Castle. Built in 1908 as a haven for the earthquake-rattled Henry Harrison McCloskey (grandfather of former congressman Pete McCloskey), the castle served as a home, speakeasy, rum-runner signaling station, abortion clinic, and U.S. Coast Guard lookout during World War II. Despite its turbulent history, however, this castle story has a happy ending. In the care of the Sam Mazza Foundation, the magnificent estate will remain a treasured Pacifica landmark for all to enjoy.

The Pomo of Lake County

9780738556048

$24.99

Secure in their isolated valley until the arrival of the white man, the Native Americans of Lake County and their ancestors lived for more than 12,000 years in this temperate Eden of abundance. The anthropologist who labeled them all by one name was mistaken though; the Pomo were actually 72 independent villages, or tribelets, that spoke at least seven distinct and mutually unintelligible languages. Theirs was a culture without war, without tyranny, without greed--until the Gold Rush. Like native plant seeds, they have blown and been carried and have taken root again and again. Though their history far predates the camera, the artifacts, stories, and historical images collected from this region and its inhabitants can portray, in part, their joy and pain and their powerful ability to change and endure.

Ceres

9780738581019

$24.99

Fertile soil drew Ceres founder Daniel Whitmore to the flat land south of the Tuolumne River in California's San Joaquin Valley in 1867. Named for the Roman goddess of agriculture, Ceres was laid out in 1875 among the stalks of grain. A devout Baptist, Whitmore offered free lots to anyone who wanted to make Ceres their home with a pledge never to use alcohol. As irrigation water and railroad tracks were later introduced, the town flourished as an agricultural community where peaches, almonds, and walnuts are grown. Today Ceres has retained its agricultural roots, and drinking is now permissible. In fact, one of the nation's largest wine producers, Bronco Winery, calls Ceres home. Residents come together as a community with the Ceres Street Faire, summer Concerts in the Park, Farmers Market and the dazzling Christmas Tree Lane.

Huntington Beach Lifeguards

9780738556055

$24.99

The Surf City USA® lifeguards and marine safety officers protect and serve one of the busiest and most famous beaches in the world. World-class surfing events, volleyball tournaments, and other activities transform Huntington Beach's waterfront into a sea of humanity regularly each summer. The lifeguards patrol three and a half miles of beautiful wide, sandy Orange County shores, which can draw more than 10 million annual visitors, necessitating as many as 3,000 rescues. The ultimate lifeguard sentinel and guardian is the iconic structure on the HB Municipal Pier called Tower Zero, known as "The Eye in the Sky," from which lifeguards can see for miles. These vintage photographs include shots of the pier, beach, junior lifeguard activities, competitions, and neighboring Huntington State Beach. Thousands of people and families owe gratitude to the lifeguards of Huntington Beach for nearly a century of vigilance, dedication, and service.

The San Jose Police Department

9781467131247

$24.99

Originally known as San Jose de Guadalupe, San Jose was ruled by Mexico until 1848, when, after the Mexican-American War, California joined the United States of America. In 1849, the newly elected government appointed a chief of police, and the San Jose Police Department was born. Its mission has been to respond to the distinctive needs of the community from the early agricultural age to today's high technology age. The San Jose Police Department has been a leader in law enforcement technology and training and is considered a model for modern police departments. Today, with a thousand sworn officers and 200 support personnel, the San Jose Police Department serves over a million citizens in the city and polices an area of over 180 square miles. The wonderful photographs compiled over the department's history illustrate the efforts of the hundreds of men and women who built the San Jose Police Department into one of the premier law enforcement agencies in the United States.

Heritage Valley

9781467105538

$24.99 $12.50 Save 50%

The Heritage Valley is a unique visitors' mecca that includes the communities of Santa Paula, Fillmore, Bardsdale, and Piru. The early ranchos of Limoneira, Rancho Sespe, and Rancho Camulos are a part of the rich history of the region. The Limoneira Ranch, founded by Nathan Weston Blanchard and Wallace Hardison, is still a success today. Santa Paula became the "citrus capital of the world," boasting the largest lemon ranch in the world. It was also the home of the Union Oil Company, and the original building now houses the Union Oil Museum. Further contributing to the area's growth, the Southern Pacific Railroad built railway lines from Ventura to Los Angeles, which allowed citrus to be shipped throughout the United States. Following the St. Francis Dam disaster in 1928, the communities worked together, rebuilt the homes destroyed, and replanted all the citrus trees lost in the flood. The Heritage Valley offers a rare combination of a close-knit community woven into a rich fabric of local history to both visitors and longtime residents alike.

University of California, Davis

9780738596990

$24.99

More than a century ago, the University of California established the University Farm at Davis to showcase the achievements of its thriving College of Agriculture and to train students in the practical arts of farming. Since enrolling its first students in 1908, UC Davis has evolved into a world-class university offering a full spectrum of studies. UC Davis research over the decades has had far-reaching impacts, including innovations in viticulture and enology that have improved winemaking around the world. Colorful traditions like Picnic Day celebrate the depth and breadth of this historic institution and show off its handsome campus. Most pictures in this book come from the university archives, with some images from the McCurry and Eastman collections and others taken by the distinguished photographer Ansel Adams.

Bolinas and Stinson Beach

9780738528953

$24.99

This is the story of two small towns, Bolinas and Stinson Beach, and the body of water that separates and joins them. Although San Francisco's packed urban skyline is visible from its shores, this part of West Marin is isolated in spirit and in fact. For thousands of years the territory of the Coast Miwok Indians, this land became the six-mile-long Briones Mexican land grant, a ranch that lasted less than a decade before being overrun with entrepreneurs, farmers, and failed gold miners. The towns that they built have been visited by earthquake, shipwreck, forest fires, ranchers, rumrunners, bohemians, and the National Park Service, and all of these have shaped their story. While Bolinas maintained its spirit of isolation, removing the road sign that might beckon visitors, Stinson Beach grew from a tent camp for urban refugees to a favorite coastal beach town visited by millions annually.

Logging in Plumas County

9780738559292

$24.99

Located within the northern Sierra Nevada mountain range, the forests of Plumas County were once seen as a source of endless timber. Lumber was needed during the Gold Rush for water flumes, mine timbers, and an array of buildings. While timber was abundant, the abilities of the early settlers to harvest, transport, and mill the logs were often very limited. Markets remained relatively local throughout the second half of the 19th century until the completion of the Western Pacific Railroad in 1909. This sparked a new rush of industry into the region. Vast tracts of untapped Plumas County timber were bought up by speculators, and many sawmills were erected. Logging in the western United States moved from animal power to steam engines to internal combustion in the space of about 50 years. While Plumas County's lumber industry was reflective of these developments, it also found its own identity as a timber-producing region that was nearly unequaled.

Sacramento Baseball

9781467117104

$24.99

Sacramento has enjoyed baseball since the Gold Rush. As early as 1869, the first professional baseball team in America, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, came to Sacramento and played against a locally organized team. A few years later, the Sacramento team joined the California League to compete against those from San Francisco and Oakland, becoming a charter member of the newly formed Pacific Coast League in 1903. All the while, children and adults alike were picking up the sport in the many parks, sandlots, and schoolyards throughout the city. In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, amateur and sponsored teams competed against each other for trophies and bragging rights. Then, in the 1950s, Little League, Babe Ruth League, and American Legion Baseball flourished.

Ojai

9780738555775

$24.99

A resort community surrounded by mountains, Ojai is the gateway to Los Padres National Forest, the Sespe Creek Valley, and Lake Casitas Recreational Area. The setting offers inspiring views of and from Chief Peak and the majestic Topa Topa bluffs. The sleepy, spa reputation of Ojai (pronounced Oh-hi) belies one of the busier civic schedules of any California community its size. This corner of Ventura County is home of the world-renowned Ojai Music Festival and the century-old Ojai Tennis Tournament, as well as a concentration of top-quality boarding schools. It's a meeting and greeting place known for its painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians, and filmmakers. The valley also welcomed the New Age when it was still very new--as many of the area's denizens are committed to the well-being of body, mind, and soul--and has been favored through the years by such resident spiritual leaders as the philosopher Krishnamurti.

Levi Strauss & Co.

9780738555539

$24.99

When Bavarian immigrant Levi Strauss opened his wholesale dry goods warehouse on the San Francisco waterfront in 1853, he likely had no inkling that his business would become one of the world's largest clothing companies. Levi Strauss & Co. started with imported clothing, bedding, and notions to supply the many small stores serving the Gold Rush and the expanding American West. By 1873, he and partner Jacob Davis invented the very first blue jeans, which were soon worn by working men from Los Angeles to Laramie. Strauss parlayed his business acumen into social progress by giving back to his community and embedding a company culture committed to positively impacting society. In this spirit, the Levi Strauss Foundation was created after World War II, formalizing the philanthropic work started by Strauss himself a century earlier. All the while, the company has evolved with successive generations of family owners, expanding product lines to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers around the world.

San Francisco's Bayview Hunters Point

9780738530079

$24.99

It's hard to imagine cows walking up Third Street or sheep on Innes Avenue, yet a large portion of the area known today as Bayview Hunters Point was once extremely rural. Called Butchertown by locals, the neighborhood was a source of much of San Francisco's food. Over the years, it evolved into an interesting combination of residences, businesses, and industries. The area was home to slaughterhouses, tanneries, tallow works, a saddle shop, the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, numerous boat yards including the legendary Allemand Brothers Boat Repair, and the U.S. Naval operations at Hunters Point Shipyard. Alongside these entities lived thousands of residents with unique stories and lifestyles.