Weed

9780738569321

$24.99

Weed acquired its intriguing name from its founder, Abner Weed, who began purchasing land for a mill site in the 1890s. By 1905, Weed boasted two mills, a box factory, bunkhouse, boardinghouse, cookhouse, company store, post office, and hospital. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Thomas and Georgeanna "Anna" (Sullaway) Sullivan bought land for a ranch in 1898. When they divided some of their land into lots, Shastina was born, with the first building constructed in 1905-1906. Division Street divided the town in two, with the company town to the north and the once-rowdy town of Shastina to the south, known for its saloon-lined streets, brothels, and private businesses that allowed residents a shopping choice despite company policies.

Downey's Aerospace History:

9780738569536

$24.99

The city of Downey has been host to one of aerospace history's most sacred sites. For more than six decades, men and women have gathered in this Los Angeles County town to make the dreams of tomorrow a reality--inventing the future and starting America's journey to the stars. A wealthy Los Angeles industrialist, E. M. Smith, began this history with the purchase of a portion of the Huynan Ranch in August 1929. His company, EMSCO Aircraft, was the first of what would become a memorable list of pioneers in aviation and space. The story of the site's aerospace history extends from North American Aviation's tenancy in 1947 to the site closure in 1999 when engineers and scientists designed and developed the aerospace technology that took man to the moon and established a permanent presence in space.

City College of San Francisco

9780738581347

$24.99

With an annual student population of more than 100,000, City College of San Francisco has educated one in seven city residents and has alumni in every state. A Depression-era dream of Archibald Cloud, the college opened in 1935 with 1,483 students and no central campus. Today the college not only has a main campus at Ocean and Phelan Avenues, but also has 10 others spread throughout San Francisco. Science Hall, designed by Timothy Pflueger, proudly stands on the hill, a visible landmark beckoning students to walk through its portals. Pflueger's dream also included the incorporation of art into his buildings. His organization of the Art in Action program at the 1939-1940 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island resulted in the acquisition of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity, as well as mosaics and sculptures by other artists that adorn Science Hall.

The Rose Bowl

9780738580586

$24.99

The Rose Bowl is best known for playing host to the "granddaddy of them all"--the much anticipated major college football game held every January 1. It has further secured its place in sports history by playing host to Super Bowls, BCS football championships, Olympic games, and World Cup finals. For the residents of Pasadena, the Rose Bowl is also an important community center. In addition to football games (and Caltech pranks), many Pasadenans remember graduating at the bowl. Over the years, the Rose Bowl has held numerous concerts, peace rallies, festivals, flea markets, and Fourth of July celebrations. And the structure itself, designed by architect Myron Hunt, is seen by many as a proud testament to Pasadena's commitment to architectural innovation. The photographs in this book, many from the archives of the Pasadena Museum of History, highlight the Rose Bowl's memorable sports moments as well as the stadium's unique role in Pasadena's cultural life.

Early Livermore

9780738530994

$24.99

Englishman Robert Livermore jumped ship in Southern California in 1822, yet just 15 years later became the respected owner of the 40,000-acre Las Positas land grant. Here he built his new Californio wife an adobe house in 1839. The wealth that flowed into California during the gold rush allowed Livermore to import a two-story house around the Horn, but entrepreneurs and squatters flowed in as well. Nathaniel Patterson opened the first hotel in the old Livermore adobe, frequented by miners on their way from the South Bay to the Sierra gold mines. Laddsville, a village built where the roads to Stockton and Dublin met, was also a going concern until the Central Pacific pushed over the Altamont Pass. On this line grew the town founded by William Mendenhall in 1869, named for pioneer Livermore, who had died more than a decade earlier. Soon Livermore became the valley's commercial center for hay, wheat, barley, wine grapes, and ranching.

Los Angeles Street Food:

9781626199910

$21.99

Los Angeles is the uncontested street food champion of the United States, and it isn't even a fair fight. Millions of hungry locals and wide-eyed tourists take to the streets to eat tacos, down bacon-wrapped hot dogs and indulge in the latest offerings from a fleet of gourmet food trucks and vendors. Dating back to the late nineteenth century when tamale men first hawked their fare from pushcarts and wagons, street food is now a billion-dollar industry in L.A.--and it isn't going anywhere! So hit the streets and dig in with local food writer Farley Elliott, who tackles the sometimes dicey subject of street food and serves up all there is to know about the greasy, cheesy, spicy and everything in between.

Grover Beach

9780738555966

$24.99

The city of Grover Beach is nestled in the dunes of the California coastline in San Luis Obispo County. In 1842, Jose Ortego received a Mexican land grant and made the first claim on the area. Ortego sold his 8,838 acres to Isaac Sparks in 1867, and Sparks later sold half to John Price. Price sold his share to Dwight William Grover for $22,982.20 in gold. By 1887, Grover had filed with the county and founded the Town of Grover. Developers John F. Beckett in 1892 and Horace V. Bagwell in 1935 followed. Growing gradually, the city incorporated in 1959, changed its name to Grover Beach in 1992, and received Amtrak rail service in 1996--a permanent connection to the surrounding communities and commerce. The city has come full circle, from D. W. Grover's dream to reality.

Georgetown

9780738581132

$24.99

At the beginning of the 20th century, historian Herman Daniel Jerrett noted that there was "no other part of the world with a placer seam formation filled with small gold-bearing veins and veinlets, so great or so crumpled, crushed and its fold mashed together, as that on the Georgetown Divide." First a simple base and supply camp for early miners, Georgetown survived despite repeated challenges from fires and economic slumps. Now rebuilt, it offers physical proof of the hardy pioneer spirit that settled this small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Historic Main Street offers numerous examples of "fireproof" architectural styles, more hopeful than realistic, including the 100-foot-wide Main Street itself, unique in Mother Lode mining towns.

Lordsburg and La Verne in Southern California

9780738502496

$24.99

From the 1890s through the 1920s, the postcard was an extraordinarily popular means of communication, and many of the postcards produced during this "golden age" can today be considered works of art. Postcard photographers traveled the length and breadth of the nation snapping photographs of busy street scenes, documenting local landmarks, and assembling crowds of local children only too happy to pose for a picture. These images, printed as postcards and sold in general stores across the country, survive as telling reminders of an important era in America's history. This fascinating history of Lordsburg and La Verne, California, showcases more than 200 of the best vintage postcards available.

Lordsburg and La Verne in Southern California

Sonora

9780738547831

$24.99

When California's gold fever of the 1850s subsided, Sonora was a town well established as "The Queen of the Southern Mines," a community with a solid foundation. Transients working the goldfields were gone, and the mining camps' early lawlessness and impermanency were replaced by an organized township. Established as the Tuolumne County seat in 1851, Sonora soon boasted schools, churches, civic and fraternal organizations, a vast array of commercial enterprises and support services, and a diverse population. Served by early railway lines, the town quickly became a commercial hub for logging and ranching. In modern times, Sonora's surrounding natural wonders and proximity to Yosemite make it a favored destination for such outdoor activities as fishing, hiking, camping, skiing, boating, and even Western moviemaking. With many of its early buildings and stately homes still standing, Sonora has a welcoming historic downtown and residential district.

Hesperia

9780738581071

$24.99

Set at the top of the Cajon Pass in the High Desert of Southern California, Hesperia was built on the spirit and strength of character of American frontiersmen. From the time of the first documented travelers through the area in the late 1700s and continuing into the 1900s, the region has been a place of innovation and magnificent feats, where men have traveled through to new lands for a new start, striking it rich or making that big business deal in a new frontier. Named for Hesperus, the Greek god of the evening star in the West, Hesperia has proven to be a place of resilience and perseverance. The second largest land purchase in the western United States became the original Hesperia land holdings. In many areas, the people of Hesperia might be considered trendsetters, and Hesperia a land before its time.

Torrance Airport

9780738546629

$24.99

Californians were panicked by the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941, and civilian flights within 200 miles of the coast were immediately terminated. Airfields were commandeered and new ones hastily built. One of these was the Lomita Flight Strip, known today as Zamperini Field, the Torrance Municipal Airport, or TOA. This 490-acre parcel sent four squadrons of P-38 fighter pilots off to war with one commanded by the judge of the Charles Manson trial, an ex-Flying Tiger. Six other pilots became generals, two became commandants of cadets at the Air Force Academy, and one became the only fighter pilot with combat victories in both World War II and the Vietnam War. Japanese Americans returning from World War II internment camps found temporary housing at the field, and the world's largest manufacturer of civilian helicopters settled there in 1973. The first runway takeoff of a Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft was pioneered at TOA, and aerobatic champ Bob Herendeen trained at the site.

Sacramento

9780738559001

$24.99

California's capital city, Sacramento, has played many roles over time, including Gold Rush boomtown, railroad terminus, regional industrial center, and seat of state government. These varied roles meant dramatic changes as the city grew outward and upward.

Mission Hills

9781467132688

$24.99

Several visionaries shaped the character that defines present-day Mission Hills. First, there was Sarah Miller, stepdaughter of Captain Johnston of the SS Orizaba. She inherited land from him and built a dream home overlooking Old Town and the Pacific Ocean. There was also Kate Sessions, the mother of Balboa Park, whose nursery growing grounds just outside the original Mission Hills subdivision proved difficult for her clientele to traverse, leading her to convince transportation mogul John D. Spreckles to expand the streetcar route to accommodate her business. In 1905, George Marston, a San Diego civic leader, commissioned landscape architect and urban planner John Nolan to implement a development plan for the city. Nolan's plan, however, was never adopted. In 1908, as if to prove what was possible, Marston's syndicate formed the restricted subdivision of Mission Hills. Then, in 1909, the city announced plans to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal. The fuse was lit, and the boom that followed brought builders and skilled artisans to San Diego. As a result, Mission Hills became architecturally magnificent.

San Dimas

9780738559346

$24.99

The Santa Fe Railroad laid tracks from the east and the west beneath the southern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains in 1887, meeting in San Dimas and opening the area to more than sparse settlement. The Rancho San Jose formerly included San Dimas in a Spanish land grant of 23,000 acres, given in 1837 to Don Ygnacio Palomares and Don Ricardo Vejar by the king of Spain. The new town became integral to the huge citrus industry that stretched for 65 miles from Pasadena to the Inland Empire. Residential development renewed growth in the 1950s, yet much of today's designated historic portion of this eastern Los Angeles County community remains the same as it was in the early 1900s. Part of the Lemon Association packinghouse still stands, once the largest such packinghouse in the world. San Dimas is a vital city thriving in the midst of Southern California's rush through the 21st century but is also rich in the historical building blocks that created prosperity in the greater Los Angeles region.

The Portuguese in San Jose

9780738547817

$24.99

For hundreds of years, Portuguese explorers have swept across the globe, many of them landing in California in the 1840s as whalers, ship jumpers, and Gold Rush immigrants. Gold was the lure, but land was the anchor. San Jose became home to
Portuguese immigrants who overcame prejudice to contribute to the area politically, socially, and economically. They worked hard, transplanting farming, family, and festa traditions while working in orchards and dairies. Many came from the Azores Islands, 800 miles out to sea from mainland Portugal. For over 160 years, the Portuguese have
enriched San Jose with colorful figures, including radio star Joaquim Esteves; jeweler and filmmaker Antonio Furtado; the charismatic and controversial Fr. Lionel Noia; educator Goretti Silveira; and community leaders Vicki and Joe Machado.

Reedley

9781467132671

$24.99

It was in 1888, four short years after he first came to Fresno County to farm wheat, that Thomas Law Reed made a deal with the Southern Pacific Railroad. In exchange for a half-interest in 360 acres of Reed's farmland, the railroad would build a depot along its east side branch and help develop a townsite. The town was Reedley. See what happened when settlers arrived. Watch as homes are built, as businesses are started, and as schools and churches are founded. Witness farmers cultivate the region's rich soil, and with irrigation, grow a bounty of crops that they will ship near and far. View a place of dusty streets and simple wooden buildings transformed into a modern 20th-century community. Meet the people of Reedley as they work, learn, worship, and celebrate. This book is Reedley's family photo album.

Marin County

9780738555713

$24.99

Marin County has long been known for its beautiful woodlands, seashores, and hills, but its towns, people, and architecture tell an equally compelling story. The largest of the Bay Area's nine counties, Marin has an amazingly varied makeup in both its populace and its natural setting. From the sparse, rocky seascapes and sandy beaches along the Point Reyes Peninsula, Bolinas, and Stinson Beach, to the suburban tracts of San Rafael, Corte Madera, and Novato, this county runs the gamut of California lifestyles and landscapes.

Glendale

9780738547657

$24.99

Glendale is one of the oldest towns in Southern California, getting its start during the rail boom of the 1880s. In 1904, it was one of the earliest communities to be served by the vast electric streetcar system consolidated throughout the Los Angeles region by tycoon Henry Huntington. In the postwar era, Glendale became a model of suburban growth and today is the third largest city in Los Angeles County. Glendale's diverse neighborhoods and commercial districts have offered pleasant living and a gamut of goods and services to residents, workers, and visitors alike. These vintage postcards spanning generations showed them a vision of Glendale at its most attractive.

Oak Glen and Los Rios Rancho

9780738546537

$24.99

The 500-acre Los Rios Rancho has operated through a greater century as the largest apple orchard in Southern California and the centerpiece of Oak Glen, the heart of a dozen orchards on the southern slopes of the San Bernardino Range about eight miles from Yucaipa. Los Rios Rancho is owned by the Wildlands Conservancy, a privately funded corporation headquartered at Oak Glen since 1996 that has purchased more than 750,000 California acres to preserve as natural landscapes for public benefit. The ranch is leased today to the Devon Riley family, which carries on in the tradition of the ranch's founder, H. L. Rivers. The Rivers family--la familia de los Rios--has been a fruit label name known throughout California grocery stores and roadside stands since before World War I. In this collection, more than 180 vintage photographs pay tribute to the Rivers, Wilshire, and other family orchards at Oak Glen over the years.

Princeton-by-the-Sea

9780738555836

$24.99

The isolation imposed by the sometimes raging Pacific Ocean and breathtaking coastal barrier mountains helped mold the historic personalities of Princeton-by-the-Sea and neighboring Miramar. In the early 1900s, these towns were placed along the Ocean Shore Railroad to attract visitors and settlers from San Francisco to these peaceful shores. Rumrunners, bootleggers, operators of shady roadhouses, and a brazen red-haired madam were characters here in the 1920s. In the 1940s, wind-gnarled fishermen, funky eateries, and a miniature cannery row stood watch over the northern end of the bay, under the stunning rock landmark of Pillar Point. In these pages are the boats, fishermen, buildings, beaches, and personalities that make Princeton-by-the-Sea and Miramar anything but typical Bay Area suburbs.

Along the Tuolumne River

9781467132930

$24.99

The Tuolumne River begins up in the Sierra Nevada and flows through Mariposa County, Tuolumne County, and, finally, Stanislaus County. From its origins to the endpoint flowing into the San Joaquin River, it provides life and an economic source for this entire region. Once a major shipping route, it now provides irrigation water to one of the most agriculturally industrious regions in the world. The history of the Tuolumne River is the story of Stanislaus County and the surrounding areas.

San Francisco's California Street Cable Cars

9780738559636

$24.99

San Francisco's internationally recognized cable cars are the symbol of the individual character of a great city. The California Street cable car line is one of only three remaining lines in the city. The California Street Railway, or Cal Cable, was developed and opened by Leland Stanford, one of the builders of the transcontinental railroad and later founder of Stanford University. Indeed, the iconic line, intimately connected with some of the West's pioneer businessmen, was sold, expanded, and reached its peak mileage just after 1890, only to be destroyed in the great earthquake and fire of 1906. As resilient as the city it served, Cal Cable was rebuilt and lasted as an independent business longer than any other private San Francisco transit operation. Cut down to its present form in 1954, that remnant and its double-ended cars survive as an integral part of today's cable car system.

San Francisco's California Street Cable Cars

Marysville's Chinatown

9780738559766

$24.99

Marysville's Chinatown was once one of the most important Chinatowns in America. The early Chinese settlers called Marysville Sanfow, or "the third city," meaning the third city by river to the goldfields. Two of the first four Chinese American judges in California were from Marysville as was the first Chinese American elected to the San Francisco Board of Education. The Marysville Chinatown was among the first Chinatowns built in California's Gold Country and is the only one to survive to this day. Because of this, it is possible to view the full panorama of Chinese-American history through the viewpoint of this one Chinatown.

San Diego's Little Italy

9780738547800

$24.99

Italian immigrants settled along San Diego's waterfront in the early 1900s and formed the "Italian Colony," a tightly knit community that provided refuge, shared culture, and heritage. Extended families, new businesses, and church traditions formed the foundation for a lasting social code. It was no coincidence that the area would become known as "Little Italy"--it was exactly that for its inhabitants--a home away from their native land. But by the mid-1960s, changes brought by
war and urban modernization began to unravel the community. Take a compelling journey through this unique immigrant enclave. Vivid images and descriptive captions highlight essential elements of this community, such as labor and longing, fishing and family, ritual and revitalization. Through photographs contributed by local community members, this volume traces the evolution of a humble fishing village into the chic urban neighborhood that is Little Italy today.

San Diego's Balboa Park

9780738547541

$24.99

Balboa Park began in 1868 when San Diego's civic leaders dedicated 1,400 prime acres to create an urban oasis. Originally the land, crisscrossed with canyons and dominated by native scrub, was called
simply "City Park." In later years, Balboa Park hosted two successful world expositions: the 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition and the 1935-1936 California Pacific International Exposition. The unique evolution of the park included occupation by the U.S. Navy, a zoo, a Native American village, and even a nudist colony. Balboa Park also suffered periods of neglect and demolition before citizens groups united to save and restore the beloved Spanish Colonial Revival buildings.

Willows

9780738580609

$24.99

Hot, thirsty range cattle led cowboys to a shady, spring-fed pond midway between the coastal and sierra foothills in Northern California. The area was referred to as "the Willows." It was a place no doubt well known to the native Wintun Indians long before white men came exploring. Settlers began buying up land at $4 an acre after the Gold Rush. Milton French was ranching to the west of town as early as 1857. In June 1876, Johnson and Hochheimer opened a general store. Daniel Zumwalt provided land to railroad magnate Charlie Crocker, who extended train service to the "the Willows" by 1878. Broad streets were laid out in an east-to-west orientation. The town was on its way to becoming the center of one of the most productive agricultural areas in the state, thanks to the development of deep-water wells and the building of canals.

Escalon

9780738559032

$24.99

Between San Francisco and the Sierra Nevada stands the small farming community of Escalon. In the mid-1800s, miners and freight haulers traveled rough roads through this unpopulated part of the state to the foothills, much as tourists today travel its highways on their way to Yosemite National Park. Pioneer John Wheeler Jones settled here with his family in the late 1800s and was instrumental in the development and growth of agricultural production, the routing of the railroad through the area, and the creation of this crossroads community. John's son James chose the name Escalon, Spanish for "step" or "stepping stone," for this important gateway to the Sierra Nevada.

Magalia to Stirling City

9780738530185

$24.99

The West Branch of the Feather River in northern Butte County was once a rich mining region. In 1859, an incredible 54-pound gold nugget washed from the flanks of Sawmill Peak, named for the ridge's other main industry, logging. An intricate web of stage roads, and later railroads, linked the little mining and lumber towns that dotted these peaks covered in giant white and ponderosa pine. Steam engines hauled huge logs to mills like the Diamond Match Company, crossing steep canyons on wooden trestles stretched to heart-stopping heights. Some early mining towns like Magalia (once known as Dogtown--site of the gargantuan nugget) and Stirling City, are still there. Others like Nimshew, Lovelock, Toadtown, Powellton, Chaparral, Coutelenc, and Inskip, are ghost towns, inhabiting only the photographs that memorialize their short heyday.

Artesia 1875-1975

9780738508788

$24.99

This three-generation endeavor started in 1975 when Albert O. Little, known for his dedication to the community as "Mr. Artesia," began working on two volumes of history: The Artesians: How It Began One Hundred Years Ago and The Artesians: Twenty Years of Incorporation. He gathered photographs and considerable narrative material, hoping that one day he would be able to share his historical knowledge and his love for the city with the rest of the community in a pictorial history. Sadly, while in the process of putting it together, he passed away. Nothing would have made him more proud than to have seen this project be completed and made available to the residents of Artesia. Veronica Little Bloomfield is Albert Little's daughter, and coauthor Veronica Elizabeth Bloomfield is his granddaughter. Together, they have honored his legacy of love and dedication by going through old pictures, talking about the faces and places that defined Artesia, and compiling
these materials into a history. The images and words in this text come from Little's archives and the many friends and associates he had in this town over the years. Images of ranchos, farming, schools and homes, incorporation and consolidation, and of course, the Artesian wells for which the city was
named, document the early agricultural community that was Artesia.

Redwood City

9780738559247

$24.99

Redwood City's slogan, "Climate Best By Government Test," describes the fair weather at San Mateo County's seat, which was established in 1851 as the bayside terminus for the peninsula's lumber industry. Wharfs located along Redwood Creek formed the basis of the town's commercial district, and in the 20th century, the city's port expanded with new industries, such as the Pacific-Portland Cement Company, the Morgan Oyster Company, and Leslie Salt. Meanwhile, Redwood City's downtown area hosted many civic events, numerous theaters, and the region's largest retail district. In the 1950s, the city grew along Woodside Road and, soon thereafter, when Redwood Shores was added to its boundaries, expanded north. Today Redwood City has come full circle with a revitalized downtown and a beautifully restored courthouse square.

Black Artists in Oakland

9780738547251

$24.99

Oakland's famous and vibrant arts heritage is known throughout the country, but many people are unaware of the extent of this city's contribution to the national stage in terms of music, dance, visual arts,
and literature. Black Artists in Oakland celebrates this amazing story over the past half century through vintage images, from the early days of Slim Jenkins's nightclub to the changing styles of Esther's Orbit Room and the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts. More than 200 photographs lift the curtain on many inspiring artists--masters in their chosen aesthetic and neighbors to the community. Among the artists highlighted in these pages are Ruth Beckford, Raymond Saunders, Alice
Walker, and E. W. Wainwright.

Livermore

9780738596976

$24.99

Mid-century Livermore saw a demographic shift from farms and ranches to suburbanization and continuing support of the existing health care industry, New Deal programs, a naval airbase, and two national laboratories. The health care industry flourished with the dedication in 1925 of a veterans' hospital, which is still operational today; the Livermore Sanitarium for the treatment of alcoholism and mental disorders; and the Del Valle Sanitarium for the treatment of tuberculosis. During the 1930s, Livermore residents supported the Hetch Hetchy Project and numerous efforts of the Works Progress Administration. A naval airbase for training pilots was established in 1942, during World War II. This base became the Lawrence Livermore Radiation Laboratory in the 1950s and was soon accompanied by an extension of Sandia National Laboratories across the street.

Mexican American Baseball in Ventura County

9781467117159

$24.99

Mexican American Baseball in Ventura County pays tribute to the legendary teams and players from Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Santa Paula, and other surrounding neighborhoods. From the early 20th century through the 1950s, baseball in Ventura County safeguarded opportunities for nurturing athletic and educational skills, asserting ethnic identity, promoting political self-confidence, developing economic autonomy, and redefining gender roles for women. Outside the ball field, these players and their families helped create the multibillion-dollar agricultural wealth that relied heavily on their backbreaking labor. These extraordinary photographs and remarkable stories shed unparalleled light on the long and rich history of baseball and softball in this celebrated region of California.

Tuolumne City

9780738589183

$24.99

Tuolumne City traces its history back to the historic Gold Rush of the mid-19th century. Founded in 1854, the town--first named Summersville, then changed to Carters in the 1880s before finally becoming Tuolumne in 1906--played host to one of the most prominent gold- and quartz-mining outposts in the region. When many of the more profitable camps along Turnback Creek and Tuolumne River began to wane, the industry of choice for Tuolumne shifted to timber, which would drive the town and shape its character for the greater part of the 20th century. The West Side Lumber Company harvested huge, lucrative stands of virgin pine, fir, and cedar, reaching deep into the forest alongside treacherous 40-degree to 60-degree curves and along a unique narrow gauge track. Tuolumne's lumber-rich past is celebrated to this day with the annual Lumber Jubilee.