Name: Ocean Beach
Brand: Kathy Blavatt
SKU: 9781467128025
Price: 17.49 USD
Availability: InStock

Ocean Beach

9781467128025

$24.99 $17.49 Save 30%

Water defines Ocean Beach by its unique location where the Pacific Ocean meets the mouth of the San Diego River, alongside Mission Bay, formerly known as False Bay, which connected to tidal marsh areas. The beach town's natural attractions and new prospects brought early settlers to Ocean Beach when it was established in 1887 by William "Billy" Carlson and Frank Huggins. Ocean Beach's landmass history is shaped and reshaped by major storms, wave and tidal surges, and droughts, which in turn transform the community's natural habitat, culture, and development. For example, the Ocean Beach Woman's Club's (OBWC) Flatiron Building, constructed on the shoreline, was destroyed by several storms from 1939 through 1941 and later removed, and the area where it once stood was turned into a park. The OBWC later moved its permanent headquarters away from the beach. The history and fabric of this unique ocean community is made up of an assortment of characters and spirited generations of individuals who have left their loving marks through their homes, gardens, businesses, stories, achievements, and community activities.

Yosemite's Historic Hotels and Camps

9780738599977

$24.99

Yosemite National Park is a place of extraordinary natural beauty with renowned waterfalls, spectacular granite rock formations, and serene meadows. Although indigenous peoples already inhabited Yosemite, settlers of European descent found their way there beginning in 1851. To serve the steady growth of tourists and visitors, lodging and accommodations have always been central to the park's history. The popularity of postcards starting in the early 1900s and lasting several decades coincided with the growth of the park's hotels and camps, transportation, and entertainment. This book of vintage postcards illustrates and chronicles those places and events. It provides visitors with an understanding and appreciation for the unique and diverse places made available to tourists throughout Yosemite's history.

Lemon Grove

9780738571935

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Lemon Grove dates to 1892 when it first appeared in the San Diego County records as "Lemon Grove." The tiny, whistle-stop town emerged during the "second gold rush," the rise of California's citrus industry, which was facilitated by the 1849 Gold Rush, the break up of the Mexican ranchos in Alta California, and the advent of statehood for California in 1850. Land speculators poured into California, lured by the exquisite climate, five growing seasons, and the possibilities for success in agriculture and business. Lemon Grove became home to gentlemen farmers from the East and Midwest, whose descendants live on in the community to this day.

Clayton

9780738530932

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Today's Clayton is an elegant, relaxing place, an oasis of calm isolated from the rest of fast-paced Contra Costa County. This place exists because of the vision of founder Joel Clayton, who was born in Bugsworth, England, in 1812. Clayton made his way to the United States, where he became an entrepreneur and land developer in the East before moving with his family to California, where he envisioned and then built an agricultural and mining center in these rolling hills in 1857. The miners and farmers here worked the land to serve the rapidly developing urban civilization in the Bay Area, which before long reached the little village. Gradually the farms and mining camps gave way to country estates and, later, to the sylvan community we know today.

Cover image for Clayton, isbn: 9780738530932

Aptos

9780738599656

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Aptos is a coastal town filled with beaches, a federally protected redwood forest, a community college, shopping centers, a golf course, and more. It is also home to the self-proclaimed "World's Shortest Parade," which takes place every Fourth of July. The true meaning of Aptos lacks definitive evidence; however, all sources agree that it is derived from an Indian word. The most common belief is that Aptos translates to "the meeting of two streams" or some variation of that phrase. The two bodies of water the name describes are known today as the Valencia and Aptos Creeks. Another explanation is that the town is named after a famous Indian chief. A third theory comes from Fr. Juan Crespi's interpretation of the native language on the Portola Expedition of 1769. Although the native people had been here for thousands of years, the first deed of land was not granted to Rafael Castro until 1833. In its relatively short life, Aptos has changed significantly.

Barstow

9781467134095

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This book tells the story of Barstow, a town born along the enigmatic Mojave River in the middle of the formidable Mojave Desert, nurtured by countless (and mostly nameless) fortune seekers and adventurers and settled by plain folks looking for something they could not quite name. Their footprints became the foundation for a trail, a road, a railroad, and, over time, part of the most legendary highway in the country: Route 66. The early arrival of an important centralized railyard, two major military installations, and spectacular silver and borax mining projects led the population to grow and thrive. Through this collection of photographs, Barstow's fascinating history is brought to life.

Long Beach in Vintage Postcards

9780738507880

$24.99

Long Beach successfully incorporated as a city in 1888, and would eventually become California's fifth largest city. Author Marlin Heckman has compiled over 200 vintage postcards to chronicle the history of the "Queen of Beaches." Competition between the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroads brought great numbers of visitors to Southern California at the turn of the century. Resort hotels, apartments, pavilions, and band shells quickly dotted the landscape to accommodate the massive influx of tourists. Seen here are the more famous Long Beach attractions, including Rainbow Pier, the Sun Pavilion, the Hotel del Mar, and the great "Walk of a Thousand Lights," or the Pike, as it was better known.

Daly City

9780738528670

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Nestled in the shadow of San Bruno Mountain and known as "The Gateway City" for its proximity to San Francisco, Daly City is much more than a typical suburb. A thriving and diverse community built along El Camino Real (The King's Highway), the road that connected all of the Spanish Missions in California, the city has evolved from a quaint agricultural town to an important business, residential, and transit center. This new collection of images, mostly vintage and rarely seen photographs, tells the city's journey from the original Spanish land grant through its 1911 incorporation and on to modern times. The town has always been cosmopolitan, developed with the help of Irish, German, and Italian settlers, and today's large numbers of Hispanic and Filipino residents. Aside from natural wonders like San Bruno Mountain and the dramatic Pacific coastline, Daly City also has man-made landmarks like the Cow Palace, which has long been host to large-scale events such as the Grand National Rodeo and political conventions. Nearby Colma is known for its cemeteries, but as readers will see in this book, shares a surprisingly rich history with Daly City.

Cemeteries of San Diego

9780738547145

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San Diego has a rich and unique cultural history that can be effectively told through the commemoration of its dead. Local cemeteries throughout the city reflect San Diego's multiethnic cultural dynamism and pinpoint marked shifts in power from Native American to Spanish to Mexican to American governance. They also reveal the current struggle for space in a burgeoning metropolis. Graveyards, with their individually detailed and hauntingly beautiful monuments, offer an unrivaled historic yet continuous glimpse at the essence of this diverse community. The story of San Diego's cemeteries is a telling narrative that offers remarkable insight into the evolution of "America's Finest City."

The Benicia State Capitol

9781467143844

$21.99

In February 1853, Benicia was chosen as the third capital of the new state of California. Along with San Jose, Vallejo and Sacramento, Benicia had been vying for the honor of hosting the legislature, and competition was fierce. Benicia was not the first choice, nor did it have what many politicians considered critical amenities, but it had something the others didn’t: a beautiful, Greek-style capitol building available for use. Political rivalries and land disputes would eventually cause Sacramento to be awarded the capital, but for nearly thirteen months, Benicia held that distinction. Author James E. Lessenger provides an inside look at the politics at play in the fledgling Golden State and their effect on the ambitions of Benicia.

Cover image for The Benicia State Capitol, isbn: 9781467143844

Scotts Valley

9781467115711

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Nestled among the spreading oaks of Santa Cruz County, just north of Monterey Bay, lies the city of Scotts Valley. First used as a hunting and camping spot on a Native American trading route, and later a stop on the stage route over the Santa Cruz Mountains, Scotts Valley has a long tradition of providing respite to weary travelers. Hiram Scott purchased the 4,447-acre Rancho San Agustin in 1850, built the community's first wood-frame house, and sold parcels of land that became dairies, farms, ranches, and lumber mills. In the 20th century, with the popularity of the family automobile, several attractions were opened throughout the valley. Travelers escaped the summer heat by flocking to the Tree Circus, Santa's Village, and the Lost World. Today, Scotts Valley remains a family-oriented community offering small-town charm and hospitality.

Canyon Country

9781467129978

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Located in northern Los Angeles County in the Santa Clarita Valley, Canyon Country was once the ancestral home of the Tataviam people, who were the area's first inhabitants as early as 500 ad. The first recorded American resident was Col. Thomas Mitchell, who established the area's first school in 1872 with his wife, Martha. In 1876, when Southern Pacific Railroad president Charles Crocker drove in the golden spike that connected Northern and Southern California at Lang Station, Canyon Country's significance as a crossroads community began. The town also became a section of US Route 6, the longest transcontinental highway. Today, Canyon Country is a blend of old and new, juxtaposing hundred-year-old ranch houses with 21st-century golf courses and providing locations for Hollywood's newest depictions of the Old West.

Hanford

9780738529486

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Hanford, created by the Southern Pacific Railroad and named for paymaster James Madison Hanford, is located in the southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley near the San Joaquin and Kings Rivers. Incorporated in 1891 and named the seat of Kings County two years later, this city has grown from humble origins to become a center for business and government while also maintaining its agricultural tradition in ranching, dairy farms, vineyards, and other crops. The story of Hanford is captured here in vintage photographs that detail its history from the Tache tribe of the Yokut Indians, who were first to inhabit the region, to the coming of the railroad and the infamous Mussel Slough tragedy that led to monopoly reform laws, and finally to the building of the town itself.

San Francisco's Market Street Railway

9780738529677

$24.99

The Market Street Railway Company thrived in an age when rails ruled San Francisco. Spanning the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, and the boom times of World War II, it had a long and legendary lifetime that is deeply ingrained in the city's early identity. Gradually, however, it became challenged by the emergence of the automobile, cheaper motor coaches, and "nickel jitneys"--competing cars on the same routes. The MSRy painted the fronts of its cars white to show up well in San Francisco's misty weather, and for many years people called them "the White Front cars." Franchise competition and city regulations undid MSRy, and its assets were absorbed into MUNI in 1944. However, the name lives on as the nonprofit Market Street Railway organization, dedicated to preserving the history of this company and also to retrofitting early streetcars from across the globe, putting them back in service on Market Street.

Cucamonga Valley Wine

9781625859112

$21.99

The Cucamonga Valley was once America's largest wine-producing region, crafting quality vintages decades before Napa and Sonoma. Secondo Guasti, an ambitious and enterprising Italian immigrant, established the region's first vineyard in 1901, and others soon followed. Wineries like the Vai Brothers, Padre, Galleano, Brookside and more made the valley the epicenter of a burgeoning industry. Not even Prohibition could halt production. While domestic breweries and distilleries shuttered, Cucamonga's brandy and sherry continued to be legally made for culinary and medicinal purposes. Yet by the late 1970s, harvests had dwindled and vineyards vanished. Urbanization, vine disease and property taxes effectively ended production. Today, local vintners and wine enthusiasts are reviving the region's proud heritage. Authors George M. Walker and John Peragine uncork a legacy too delectable to die.

Bay Area Cocktails

9781467137539

$21.99

The cocktail fluctuated in popularity following Prohibition but had firmly taken root in the culinary landscape by the 1990s-- the Bay Area played a significant role in reviving it.

An American invention, the cocktail has gone on to be enjoyed by people all over the world, but few places make a drink quite like the Bay Area. From the distillers who pioneered craft spirits and Alice Waters' revolutionary take on simple, fresh food at Chez Panisse to the bartenders who cared enough to grow a dedicated cocktail community, this is the story of how the Bay Area shaped the art of elevated drinking in America. Through oral history interviews and recipes, author Shanna Farrell chronicles the narrative history of the modern cocktail renaissance.

Spreckels

9780738546841

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The community of Spreckels in the Salinas Valley was the manifestation of the dreams of immigrant Claus Spreckels, later known as the "Sugar King." Architect W. H. Weeks designed Spreckels Sugar Company's town near its massive sugar beet factory, the largest in the world. Neat rows of single-story homes sprang up on the valley floor, opening to workers in 1899. Spreckels also built a narrow-gauge railroad to cart his cargo to the docks at Moss Landing. Sugar beet production changed the focus of valley agriculture from dry to irrigated crops, resulting in the vast modern agricultural-industrial economy in today's "Salad Bowl of the World." Although Spreckels died in 1908, his company continued to own and operate the factory and much of the town until 1982, and almost 500 residents still call it home.

Santa Margarita

9781467133746

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Santa Margarita de Cortona was founded in 1775 as part of the original Spanish mission system. Its asistencia, in fact, has been considered a lost mission. Santa Margarita Ranch was later founded from a Mexican land grant. In 1889, the arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad, with its terminus in Santa Margarita, created a boomtown with dance halls, blacksmiths, hotels, pool halls, saloons, and a jail. And with the popularity of auto travel half a century later, Santa Margarita was once again revitalized with garages, gas stations, motor inns, restaurants, and bars. It fell into a deep sleep, however, as Highway 101 bypassed the town in the mid-1950s. Landlocked by the 17,000-plus-acre Santa Margarita Ranch, the town has remained frozen in time until recently.

Oceanside Police Department

9780738531120

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The Oceanside Police Department has provided a century of service to a community that has grown from a small seaside resort--doubling as a bedroom community for the U.S. Marine Corps's nearby Camp Pendleton--into a city of more than 170,000 people. City marshals patrolled Oceanside from 1888 to 1906, and it is indicative of the city's formative years that the first lawman, former Texas Ranger Charlie Wilson, was also the first to be killed in the line of duty. The photographs in this remarkable collection inventory the department's past, covering the administrations of city marshal J. Keno Wilson (Charlie Wilson's brother), Chiefs Charles Goss, Ward Ratcliff, and others. Showcased are images from the archives of the Oceanside Police Department and the collection of Delores Davis Sloan, the daughter of former captain Harold B. Davis, Oceanside's top cop of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.

A Brief History of Eastvale

9781609499501

$21.99

The vibrant and beloved community of Eastvale was once an agrarian paradise. Developed initially as ranchlands, this area tucked along the Santa Ana River was transformed by industrious farmers who produced alfalfa and other crops, raised poultry and eventually thrived as dairymen. Eastvale's latest agents of change, however, weren't cattlemen or farmers but real estate agents. Indeed, land developers saw the same potential in Eastvale as the initial ranchers did. Beginning in the 1990s, developers created charming homes and planned neighborhoods for former city dwellers eager to live in Riverside County. Despite the changes, the bucolic ambiance of the bygone era remains. Authors Loren P. Meissner and Kim Jarrell Johnson recount the dynamic changes, important people and exciting events that created Eastvale.

Selections from the Oakland Tribune Archives

9780738546780

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The landmark Oakland Tribune clock tower has been telling the time in neon in downtown Oakland since it was built in 1923, but the paper itself first appeared on city streets as early as 1874. For over a half century, the paper was owned and published by the influential and civic-minded Knowland family, who spearheaded efforts to modernize the Port of Oakland, construct the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, and establish a regional park system for Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Following the Loma Prieta earthquake, the damaged clock tower on Thirteenth Street-where Harry Houdini once hung by his heels above gawking crowds on Broadway-was sadly vacant, but today it is once again busy with the buzz and bustle of the newsroom.

Selections from the Oakland Tribune Archives

Ghosts of Santa Barbara and the Ojai Valley

9781625859495

$21.99

From the Chumash legends of the Dolphins and the Whispering Tree to the ghostly sightings at Sedgwick Reserve, hauntings abound here. In beautiful La Conchita, nightfall reveals dark secrets to anyone who will listen. Sightings of mysterious apparitions are common along Creek Road, considered one of the most haunted highways in California. In the 1800s, Summerland was home to spiritualists who held séances in the Big Yellow House. The Santa Barbara Mission is home to many specters, including the famous Franciscan monk said to roam the cemetery and gardens. Discover these stories and more with author Evie Ybarra as she explores the haunted side of history.

Ghosts of Santa Barbara and the Ojai Valley

San Francisco's Fillmore District

9780738529882

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Today's Fillmore District, while one of San Francisco's most diverse neighborhoods, bears little resemblance to the cosmopolitan place it once was. This district, which has arguably changed more than any other in the city, once held a large Jewish settlement, replete with synagogues, bakeries, and kosher markets. It also had a huge Japanese community, now centered in Japantown but not as extensive as in the prewar years; amusements like the Chutes, Dreamland boxing ring, and theatres; schools, churches, and a celebrated "Jazz District" that hosted the top names in music for many years. And in one of the most controversial displays of civic power, this densely populated area fell to the forces of redevelopment, bisected by the ambitious plan to widen Geary Boulevard, creating a freeway-like road through the district and forcing out thousands of dwellers whose homes were either moved or demolished.

Growing Up in La Colonia

9781467141819

$21.99

La Colonia is half a square mile of land separated from the rest of Oxnard by the railroad tracks and home to the people who keep an agricultural empire running. In decades past, milpas of corn and squash grew in tiny front yards, kids played in the alleys and neighbors ran tortillerias out of their homes. Back then, it was the place to get the best raspadas on Earth. It was a home to Cesar Chavez and a campaign stop for presidential candidate Robert Kennedy. As one Colonia native put it, "We may not have had what the other kids had, but we were just as rich." Through the voices of the people, the authors share the challenges and triumphs of growing up in this treasured place.

Ocean Beach

9781467131988

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Ocean Beach, a neighborhood of San Diego, California, is known throughout the city, county, and beyond as a unique and quirky place with the feel of a small town, despite being a stone's throw from the center of a major metropolis. Founded in 1887 in a coastal area known for its beautiful cliffs and rock formations, Ocean Beach went through growing pains in the early 1900s before establishing itself as a family-oriented, self-contained beach community by the mid-1930s. Full of mom-and-pop stores and very walkable, Ocean Beach is a favorite destination for thousands of tourists and San Diegans each year.

Lafayette

9780738547558

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Today's Lafayette is a modern East Bay suburb with a long and intriguing history of people, agriculture, and commerce. The story began in the summer of 1846, when Elam Brown and 13 families left St. Joseph, Missouri, in wagon trains and embarked on a sixmonth journey west to establish new homes and lives. By February 1848, Brown and his family had purchased the Rancho Acalanes in Contra Costa County from a San Francisco financier and had established the settlement that would later became Lafayette. Gradually Brown sold his land to other settlers, and the community began to grow. Eventually homes, stores, roads, schools, and churches were built. In these pages, the genesis of Lafayette, along with the story of its creators and early residents, is revealed in stirring early imagery.

Petaluma

9780738530048

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Petaluma's past is uniquely reflected in its historic architecture. The town's earliest commercial buildings tightly lined the waterfront of the Petaluma River, at one time the busiest transportation corridor in the North Bay. After the railroad arrived, an already thriving dairy and manufacturing city became the nation's largest poultry and egg producer. A vital economy brought factories like the impressive Sunset Line & Twine plant, hatcheries, vast warehouses, and grain elevators that have become defining Petaluma landmarks. Its handsome downtown, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is noted for its Italianate cast iron-front commercial buildings, and a variety of pre-World War II residential styles surround it in charming neighborhoods. A favorite of moviemakers, its classic main streets played a
central role in the film American Graffiti.

The Sutter Buttes

9780738580135

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A small, mysterious, and isolated mountain range juts up in the center of the flat farmlands of California's sprawling Sacramento Valley. Fifty-thousand travelers pass through the valley every day along Interstate 5 and Highway 99 or overhead by air, noticing the unusual formation and wondering about it. It is the Sutter Buttes. To nearby native peoples it was, and still is, revered as Spirit Mountain. It provoked the curiosity of the first explorers and trappers who sought the promontory for its panoramic strategic value. Later researchers and educators were also drawn to the site to further their understanding of the natural world. Productive farmland around the scenic peaks brought many settlers to "Butte Mountain." Today those who live and work in and around the Buttes feel a deep connection to the landscape. Many of their family histories are featured here, revealing a ranching and farming heritage that has been handed down for generations over the past 150 years, preserving this landmark from development. Most of the Sutter Buttes remain a vestige of California's past.

Downey

9780738571645

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Pioneers traveling in the former Shoshonean lands that became the city of Downey in eastern Los Angeles County were drawn to the water sources of the San Gabriel River and Rio Hondo. In 1837, historian Hugo Reid described a village called Carpenters Farm along the banks of the Rio Hondo. Don Carpenter's Rancho Santa Gertrudes occupied a portion of the original 300,000-acre Nieto land grant of prime ranch and farmlands, a fertile "garden spot." In 1859, a year before becoming California's youngest governor at age 32, John Gately Downey and druggist James McFarland effectively closed the era of missions and ranchos by buying 17,600 acres of Rancho Santa Gertrudes at a sheriff's auction for $60,000. Downey offered land at $10 an acre with a low interest rate, claiming it "the best land for homesteads and vineyards in this section of the state." The community of Downey began shaping up in 1873 as the Southern Pacific Railroad connected the early settlements of Gallatin and College.

Early Glendale

9780738529905

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The ridges and ranchlands that once covered the expanse between Burbank and Pasadena became the 16th city in Los Angeles County to incorporate. This 1906 act formalized the Township of Glendale, which had grown from the Rancho San Rafael of the Verdugo family through the Spanish, Mexican, and American colonial eras. In the 20th century, some of the oldest film studios called Glendale home, as did their royalty, including Marion Michael Morrison, who graduated from Glendale High in 1925, yet a few years away from his notoriety as John Wayne. Seven movie theaters operated in the city in the 1920s and so did the first airport offering cross-country flight, Grand Central. In
this book, nearly 200 vintage photographs provide a window to the city's bygone days, focusing on the era up to the Second World War, when Glendale's pleasant neighborhoods were evolving together to form one of the county's most populous and ethnically diverse cities.

California State University, Dominguez Hills

9780738580050

$24.99

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2010, California State University Dominguez Hills has been a dynamic urban university tasked with educating students who often become the first in their families to attend college. CSU Dominguez Hills is located in Carson, Los Angeles County, and boasts one of the most ethnically diverse enrollments in the United States. Chartered in 1960 as a liberal arts college serving baby boomers in Los Angeles's South Bay region, CSU Dominguez Hills has grown into a university dedicated to personalized learning. After years of wrangling over the college's location, classes began in 1965 in a bank building and the next year moved to Dominguez Hills. By the end of the 1970s, the campus included several thousand students attending classes in 10 architecturally unique buildings. In the 21st century, CSU Dominguez Hills offers 45 undergraduate majors and 24 master's degrees.

Italian Oakland

9780738581705

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Oakland, the other city by the bay, was a magnet for Italian immigrants in the early decades of the 20th century. Some relocated from San Francisco after the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire; many more came to Oakland predominantly from Italy's northern regions of Piedmont, Liguria, and Lombardy in search of opportunity and prosperity. These pioneers worked hard, typically at backbreaking labor, to build new lives. They raised a generation of children who succeeded in their own right and contributed in various ways to their community and nation. As they established new roots and adopted new ways, congregating largely in north Oakland's vibrant and bustling Temescal neighborhood, these Italian Americans also nurtured their Old Country customs and traditions--many of which, along with rare glimpses of bygone days, are portrayed in this charming trip through time.

Dana Point

9780738547329

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For two centuries before it was sculpted into a modern marina, the curve of the Pacific coast that is now Dana Point Harbor was a natural anchorage within Capistrano Bay for winddependent trading ships. Boston sailor Richard Henry Dana arrived on one and later described the site as "the only romantic spot in California" in his 1840 classic, Two Years Before the Mast. Situated halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles, Dana Point's rugged coves attracted mainly fishermen and surfers. Then in the 1920s, the marine terraces above the surf were carved into streets, but the community's development was stilled by the national financial crash of 1929. Now Dana Point has matured into a popular recreation and resort port, as well as a thriving residential city, while much of the natural beauty that inspired namesake Dana has been preserved.

Smartsville and Timbuctoo

9780738556062

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Smartsville and Timbuctoo (California State Landmarks Nos. 321 and 320) are essentially one place with two names. As worked-out claims and floods forced placer forty-niners up from the sandbars into the hills above the Yuba River, and as word spread around the world about gold in the California hills, towns and communities formed. The Smartsville and Timbuctoo area was once the most populated place in eastern Yuba County. Black Bart, Jim "the Timbuctoo Terror" Webster, and other desperadoes haunted the local roads. Eventually fires, worked-out diggings, and the Sawyer Decision succeeded in driving out all but the most dedicated (and in some cases eccentric) residents. Neither town, though, is ready yet for the dustbin of history: the population might once again explode--this time not with gold seekers but with long-distance commuters, turning the former boomtowns into future bedroom communities.

Early San Rafael

9780738559414

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The Coast Miwok and the early friars of Mission Dolores chose San Rafael both for its good weather and running streams, and the mission was named after the Archangel Raphael, the patron saint of bodily healing. When looking for a country estate, many wealthy San Franciscans sought the clean air and ideal weather here to escape the city's damp fog. San Rafael grew fast thereafter--it was the first city in Marin County to incorporate, the first to build a railroad, and the first to build a luxury hotel. San Rafael is the seat of county government, the center of commerce, and a cosmopolitan community in a natural setting. The dusty village of long ago was refined by fine schools and churches, the coming of the library, and by the ambitious efforts of the San Rafael Improvement Club. These early efforts made this a charming place to live, with Victorian homes, sylvan streets, and historic buildings in the business district. The pioneers would be pleased with the state of today's San Rafael.