Name: The Benicia Arsenal
Brand: James Lessenger
SKU: 9781467109635
Price: 23.99 USD
Availability: InStock

The Benicia Arsenal

9781467109635

$23.99

The Benicia Arsenal served the US Army in the West for 117 years. Located at a strategic location between the San Francisco Bay and the interior of California, the military reservation began as cavalry barracks. During the Civil War, the arsenal was the logistics headquarters of the California Volunteers, a force that replaced the Army units that went east to fight. In the later 19th century, the arsenal supported missions in Russia, Hawaii, and South America. The 20th century took the arsenal from the horse-and-buggy era to Nike missiles and provided support during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. During World War II, half the workforce was made up of women, and in the postwar period, as the Army integrated, so did the arsenal. The arsenal closed in 1964, and the land was converted into an industrial park that now houses over 300 companies.

Bakersfield

9781467109918

$23.99

Bakersfield was established in 1863 in the western shadow of the Sierra Nevada at the intersection of two of the country's defining events: the California Gold Rush and the Civil War. Bakersfield's first generation of pioneers--gold-seekers, Southern sympathizers, and European immigrants--tamed the region's confluence of swamps and built a frontier town. Over the next century, the town at the southern tip of California's San Joaquin Valley produced a noteworthy array of heroes, poets, leaders, and scoundrels, including the most influential Supreme Court chief justice in the nation's history, two best-selling country artists, decorated athletes, brilliant innovators, and corrupt lawmen. Founded by Col. Thomas Baker, Bakersfield prospered atop fertile soil unmatched anywhere on the planet and crude oil reserves that had few peers. During the Dust Bowl migration, it became a beacon of hope to the refugees of the nation's most dire ecological disaster and, consequently, a unique region that writer Gerald Haslam came to call the Other California. Today, Bakersfield is California's ninth-largest city and among its fastest-growing. The story of its first century is presented here in words and pictures.

Lost Department Stores of San Francisco

9781467140713

$21.99

In the late nineteenth century, San Francisco's merchant princes built grand stores for a booming city, each with its own niche. For the eager clientele, a trip downtown meant dressing up--hats, gloves and stockings required--and going to Blum's for Coffee Crunch cake or Townsend's for creamed spinach. The I. Magnin empire catered to a selective upper-class clientele, while middle-class shoppers loved the Emporium department store with its Bargain Basement and Santa for the kids. Gump's defined good taste, the City of Paris satisfied desires for anything French and edgy, youth-oriented Joseph Magnin ensnared the younger shoppers with the latest trends. Join author Anne Evers Hitz as she looks back at the colorful personalities that created six major stores and defined shopping in San Francisco.

Hollywoodland

9780738574783

$24.99

Established by real estate developers Tracy E. Shoults and S. H. Woodruff in 1923, Hollywoodland was one of the first hillside developments built in Hollywood. Touting its class and sophistication, the neighborhood promoted a European influence, featuring such unique elements as stone retaining walls and stairways, along with elegant Spanish, Mediterranean, French Normandy, and English Tudor styled homes thoughtfully placed onto the hillsides. The community contains one of the world's most recognizable landmarks, the Hollywood sign, originally constructed as a giant billboard for the development and reading "Hollywoodland." The book illustrates the development of the upper section of Beachwood Canyon known as Hollywoodland with historic photographs from Hollywood Heritage's S. H. Woodruff Collection as well as from other archives, institutions, and individuals.

Hot Rodding in the San Fernando Valley

9781467160650

$24.99

This book chronicles the once-vibrant hot rod scene in California's San Fernando Valley--from the iconic Bob's Big Boy drive-in to the San Fernando drag strip.

Author and Los Angeles native, Tony Baker, grew up in Hollywood during the height of the sixties hot-rod scene. He has written six books on the subject of motor sports in California for Arcadia Publishing and has had articles published in Hot Rod magazine, Hot Rod Deluxe , and Rodder's Journal as well as regional history publications like the Ventura County Historical Society Quarterly Journal . He currently lives in Ventura, California.

Cover image for Hot Rodding in the San Fernando Valley, isbn: 9781467160650

Forgotten San Diego

9781467160261

$24.99

Memories are fleeting, and a region's history can easily be forgotten. This book features over 200 unique and interesting historical postcards that vividly capture San Diego County's forgotten past from 1890 to 1990. From bowling alleys to military bases, from giant dirigibles to sleek airplanes, from billionaires to bulldogs--San Diego has changed so fundamentally that much of its charming history has faded from our memories. Forgotten San Diego showcases the unique evolution of San Diego and its neighboring cities, making sure that the triumphs, tragedies, and oddities of this region live on.

San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury

9780738559940

$24.99

At the turn of the 20th century, the Haight-Ashbury first gained prominence as the gateway to Golden Gate Park; six decades later, it would anchor the worldwide cultural revolution that blossomed in the 1960s. Though synonymous with peace, love, and living outside the mainstream, its history goes back long before the Summer of Love. Starting as a dairy farm in San Francisco's Outlands, the area saw a building boom of Queen Anne country homes for well-heeled San Franciscans and served as a refuge for victims of the 1906 earthquake and fire. Through world wars, industrial and cultural revolutions, the dot-com boom, and beyond, the Haight-Ashbury has one of the most fascinating histories of any place, anywhere. Here is the story of a vibrant neighborhood that attracts throngs of visitors, while maintaining a core community of families, young people, and long-timers.

Huntington Beach, California

9780738518787

$24.99

Incorporated in 1909, Huntington Beach remained a sleepy seaside town until the city's legendary oil boom in the 1920s. Wells sprang up overnight, and in less than a month, the city's population more than doubled. As the area developed culturally through the decades, the once tiny farming community increased its size with 25 miles of annexations to become one of Southern California's major tourist destinations. Pictured here in nearly 200 vintage photographs is the evolution of this small seaside village into a classic, Southern California beach city, known as Surf City to nearly a million tourists a year. Showcased here are images acquired from city records, including shots of the famous Huntington Beach Pier as it evolved over the century, rare amateur photos of one of the largest gushers in city history, vintage beach scenes, rarely seen historic aerial views, images of the turn of the century "Tent City," the infamous flood of 1938, and nostalgic shots of the Saltwater Plunge.

Shasta County Copper Towns

9781467105965

$24.99

Placer gold first attracted adventurers to the northern mines after its discovery in Shasta County in 1848, but almost immediately, valuable deposits of copper were also noted. Copper production remained idle until the Mountain Copper Company acquired Iron Mountain in 1896. British and eastern financiers such as Guggenheim and Rothschild saw the potential in the unique combination of high-grade copper ore, a functioning railway, and vast quantities of limestone and quartz for flux, and they invested in major smelters to conquer the difficult sulfide ore. The decades that followed were the greatest period of prosperity in Shasta County's history, producing towns such as Coram, Keswick, Kennett, and Copper City and attracting thousands of hardworking miners and townspeople as well as new railroads such as the Sacramento Valley & Eastern, Quartz Hill, and Iron Mountain. While the boom ended in deforestation and erosion, the actions of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Shasta Dam brought prosperity to the area. Today, most of the copper towns rest under Lake Shasta.

Ghosts and Legends of Alcatraz

9781467143875

$21.99

Alcatraz is one of the most infamous prisons in the world. Evil spirits, unknown beasts, vicious murderers and an untold number of ghosts all are said to reside on this tiny island in San Francisco Bay. Rufus McCain, who died a brutal death at the hands of a fellow inmate, is said to roam the grounds, and the basement cells used for solitary confinement were rumored to be so frightening that inmates who endured one stint never wanted to go back. Multiple escape attempts were thwarted, including two attempts by Sam Shockley, who was later executed with fellow inmate Miran Thomson. Join Bob Davis and Brian Clune as they explore chilling tales of death, murder and savagery from America's Devil's Island.

Vandenberg Air Force Base

9781467132091

$24.99

A historical cornucopia ranging from native tribal lands and ranch living to infantry training grounds and missile launch site, the location currently known as Vandenberg Air Force Base has held an amazing legacy that continues today. Stretching over 45 miles of pristine California coastline and covering over 99,000 acres, the base has been the vanguard for the United States' space and missile program. Showcasing over 1,900 launches since 1957, Vandenberg put the world's first photoreconnaissance (spy) satellite into orbit and is the only launch location for America's operational intercontinental ballistic missile force. Within Vandenberg's lands are ancient rock drawings from the native Chumash tribe, hundreds of species of plants, insects, and animals, and untouched beaches--protected and thriving under the military's stewardship of the lands. Within these pages are stories and photographs that highlight Vandenberg Air Force Base's legacy as the free world's first missile base.

San Diego and Arizona Railway

9780738581484

$24.99

Surveyors called the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A) "The Impossible Railroad" because of its jagged, mountainous, and brutal desert route. The financier and driving force behind building this binational 148-mile rail connection to the east from San Diego, California, was businessman John D. Spreckels. Because of his perseverance, the jinxed 1907-1919 construction overcame a series of disasters, including the Mexican Revolution, a prolonged lawsuit, floods, World War I, labor shortages, a tunnel cave-in, and a lethal pandemic. Once up and running, the line was intermittently in and out of service and later sold and renamed the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway. While "The Impossible Railroad" still faces constant challenges and partial closures, freight and trolley service currently operate on its right-of-way, and tourist excursions are offered at its Campo, California, depot.

Location Filming in the Alabama Hills

9781467131315

$24.99

Forged from glaciers and sacred to Native Americans, the mountains, boulders, and rocks of the Alabama Hills mirror landscapes found all over the world. A scenic three-hour drive from the Hollywood sign, this location would prove to serve as the place to make movies. Early Hollywood studios sent location scouts to the area after hearing stories shared by travelers, and the rest is movie history. Over 500 films have completed shooting here, including silents, A movies, B Westerns, serials, sci-fi, film noir, television shows, and commercials. Tom Mix, Errol Flynn, John Wayne, William Boyd, Clayton Moore, Lucille Ball, Roy Rogers, Natalie Wood, Humphrey Bogart, Steve McQueen, Russell Crowe, Jamie Foxx, and many more have all scrambled amongst the terrain in the Alabama Hills.

Lost Amusement Parks of Southern California

9781467106917

$23.99

After World War II, veterans and their growing families flocked to sunny Southern California for jobs in the aerospace and defense industries. Capitalizing on the baby boom and expanding suburbs, amusement parks sprang up to entertain residents and their visiting relatives. The crown jewel was Disneyland, which focused on themed sections and changed amusement parks forever. Other parks followed, transforming Southern California into one of the world's top vacation destinations. Parks like Lion Country Safari, Corriganville, and Marineland--along with many kiddie lands and animal, water, and theme parks--came and went in the postwar decades. Some were planned but never developed, while existing popular parks like Disneyland and Universal Studios periodically close rides only to substitute them with attractions considered more crowd-pleasing.

Lost Amusement Parks of Southern California

Los Angeles, California

9780738508122

$23.99

Los Angeles was founded in 1781 as one of the two original Spanish pueblos in California. At the time of statehood in 1851, Los Angeles began to reconsider its "cow town" condition, and gradually transformed an American city into the magnificent metropolis we know today. Drawn from the collections of the University of Southern California, the Los Angeles Public Library, and the Los Angeles City Archives, Jeffrey Samudio and Portia Lee record the history of a community that established itself culturally as it grew exponentially. By 1945, the small town that had begun with 28 square miles in the late 19th century had grown to 450 square miles through almost 100 annexations. Businessmen constructed a downtown streetscape whose architecture elicited envy in other cities, hotels catered to visitors with such enthusiasm that guests eventually returned with ambitious schemes of their own, and the construction of an elaborate freeway system suddenly made Los Angeles a drive-in city.

Los Angeles Underworld

9781467106382

$24.99

From the blackhanders and bootleggers of the early 20th century to political corruption and the rise and eventual toppling of a Mafia family, the history of organized crime in Los Angeles visually chronicled within this work possesses the same level of intrigue, glamour, and murder as the films that made the City of Angels iconic. Los Angeles Underworld showcases an extraordinary collection of rare and previously unpublished images pulled directly from family photo albums and top secret police files.

Rosie the Riveter in Long Beach

9780738558141

$24.99

During World War II, an unprecedented number of women
took jobs at aircraft plants, shipyards, munitions factories, and other concerns across the nation to produce material essential to winning the war. Affectionately and collectively called "Rosie the Riveter" after a popular 1943 song, thousands of these women came to the U.S. Army-financed Douglas Aircraft Plant in Long Beach, the largest wartime plane manufacturer, to help produce an astonishing number of the aircraft used in the war. They riveted,
welded, assembled, and installed, doing man-sized jobs, making attack bombers, other war birds, and cargo transports. They trained at Long Beach City Schools and worked 8- and 10-hour shifts in a windowless, bomb-proof plant. Their children attended Long Beach Day Nursery, and their households ran on rations and victory gardens. When the men came home after the war ended, most of these resilient women lost their jobs.

San Bernardino, California

9780738520834

$24.99

Strategically located about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, San Bernardino was colonized in 1851 as an expansion outpost for the Mormon Church. Today, it is the county seat for the largest county in the United States. Captured here in over 200 vintage photographs is the history of this Southern California city and its role in the state's development for more than two centuries. Many famous, as well as infamous, faces have passed through the area, contributing to the rich history of the region, including Kit Carson, Wyatt Earp, President Lyndon Johnson, and early explorer Jedediah Smith. Featuring images from the San Bernardino Historical Society, this book brings readers back in time to the city's earliest development, from early Native American settlements, through the Mission period, the Mexican Rancho era, the arrival of Mormon families, the impact of the railroads, and up to the challenges of the 20th century.

Motorcycling in California's Central Valley

9781467108911

$23.99

The heart of California's Central Valley--from Lodi, Stockton, and Tracy through Modesto, Oakdale, and Turlock--embraced motorcycling from the beginning of the sport and lifestyle. Eleven riders from the region are in the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Hall of Fame, spanning every decade from the 1900s. The popularity of bicycling in the 1890s led to early motorcycle shops, riders, and champion racers in the 1900-1910s. Area motorcycle club recreational rides and field meets started in 1914. Central Valley police departments were among the first to develop motorcycle traffic units in the 1920s, before the California Highway Patrol. Early racing venues such as repurposed bicycle velodromes, college stadiums, and horse tracks were expanded when the Lodi Cycle Bowl was developed in the 1950s; it gave newcomers such as Modesto's Kenny Roberts and Stockton's Alex Jorgensen, Chris Carr, and Fred Merkel--all now AMA Hall of Famers--a track at which to compete weekly.

Motorcycling in California's Central Valley

Record Plant, Sausalito Studios

9781467109468

$23.99

The Record Plant studio in Sausalito, California, was one of America's top-of-the-line music recording facilities. Opened in 1972, Record Plant was known as the "resort studio," just across the Golden Gate Bridge in Northern California and away from the big city. One of three studios, the first Record Plant was opened in New York City in 1968 by Chris Stone and Gary Kellgren. The second studio in Los Angeles opened in 1969, followed by the third studio in Sausalito. San Francisco Bay Area-based radio station KSAN FM hosted live studio broadcasts from the Sausalito studio. With its nautical-inspired interior wood artistry, the building known as the "Plant" had a groovy aesthetic that drew in some of the most iconic musical artists of all time, including Fleetwood Mac, Bob Marley, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone, Prince, Tom Petty, Metallica, Santana, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Dave Matthews Band, and many more. Katiana Giacona, a Marin County native, was resident DJ at the former Sausalito Studio location when it was a spa and yoga event center called Harmonia. For Record Plant, Sausalito Studio she has assembled a collection of discography and photographs from the studio as well as interviews from former receptionists, managers, audio engineers, producers, and staff. Ken Caillat was the producer of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album, one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time.

Kaiser Steel of Fontana

9781467151498

$21.99

The steel facility that helped advance the modern American West.

Through his record-busting construction career, Henry J. Kaiser continuously pulled off the impossible. When he announced his plans to enter the wartime shipbuilding business and to mass-produce steel in the small, agricultural town of Fontana, experts were shocked, but his determination made him a national figure. "Miracle Man Kaiser" built a steel plant in record time, and it churned out over a million tons of the invaluable metal for the 1940s war effort. In an industry rocked by disharmony, his company adopted the slogan 'Together We Build', and his skill in navigating labor relations made it a powerhouse.

Join author and historian Ric A. Dias as he highlights the successes, failures, and limits of this trailblazer's dreams.

Abalone Diving on the California Coast

9781467160285

$23.99

Abalones are marine snails from the family Haliotidae. This family of shellfish is comprised of 56 recognized species worldwide and eight known species in California. The Native Peoples of California fished and dove for abalone for thousands of years. Chinese immigrants first arrived in California around 1850 to work in the goldfields and on the railroads. Some found their way to Monterey and discovered an abundance of large red abalone that nobody was using. By the mid-1890s, Japanese fishermen had also discovered this rich abundance of abalone. Soon, the Japanese introduced helmet diving technology to the fishery. In 1908, a German restaurateur in Monterey began slicing abalone into steaks. Soon, men from the Azores and elsewhere started fishing abalone along the Central Coast of California. By the 1950s, there were hundreds of people and families fishing this delicacy commercially and thousands more fishing for recreation and subsistence. Steven L. Rebuck grew up in the abalone fishery and served as the abalone technical consultant to the Southern Sea Otter Recovery Team from 1993 to 2004. Christopher Rebuck, a software development manager, is a native Californian and Steven’s oldest son. He began surfing and hunting abalone at the age of five. Tim Thomas is the former historian and curator of the Monterey Maritime Museum. He authored The Abalone King of Monterey: “Pop” Ernest Doelter, Pioneering Japanese Fishermen & the Culinary Classic that Saved an Industry with The History Press in 2013.

Sierra Railway

9781467115308

$24.99

The Sierra Railway is one of the most intact steam railroads in the United States. It is operated today by California State Parks to interpret and celebrate the importance of steam railroading in California history. Located in the Gold Rush town of Jamestown, in Tuolumne County, the railway began operations in 1897 and played an important role in developing the economy of Tuolumne and adjoining Calaveras County. While nearly all other steam short-line railroads in the United States were dismantled in the 1950s, the Sierra line has survived in a remarkably complete condition. The railway was a big hit among railfans, who flocked to it as early as the 1930s and in increasing numbers in the 1950s. Now operated as Railtown 1897 State Historic Park, the steam operation of the railroad is very much alive.

Homes of Hollywood Stars

9781467127301

$23.99

Homes of Hollywood Stars highlights the souvenir postcards and folders that were sold to millions of tourists who visited Hollywood between 1920 and 1970--an era known as the "Golden Age of Hollywood." Some of the actors of those years permitted their elegant residences to be photographed for the pleasure of their fans who wanted to know something about the off-screen lives of their favorite players. Usually located in exclusive communities like Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, Pacific Palisades, or Palm Springs, the houses were designed to show that the performer had achieved the sort of wealth and acclaim that only Tinseltown could grant. This book highlights screen favorites such as Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, Norma Talmadge, Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Norma Shearer, Bing Crosby, Ginger Rogers, Gary Cooper, and Marilyn Monroe.

Sequoia National Park

9780738559407

$23.99

Sequoia National Park is the nation's second-oldest national park, a spectacular, awe-inspiring place preserving the world's largest trees and the highest peak in the continental United States. The park's human history glows as richly as its natural splendor--among the stories are a utopian collective targeting social change with lumber profits, a newspaperman's tireless editorializing to preserve giant Sequoias, a Spanish-American War veteran ushering in an era of preservationism, and the army's only African American commanding officer whose tenure as park superintendent still inspires. The Civilian Conservation Corps toiled here, turning the hardships of the Great Depression into lasting contributions for the common good. And, most importantly, generations of visitors have discovered here sights and experiences on a scale that challenges human comprehension and stirs the sense of wonder.

Orinda

9781467108652

$23.99

In 1835, cousins Joaquin Moraga and Juan Bernal were granted 13,326 acres in present-day Lamorinda, California, in grateful thanks to their ancestor, Lt. José Joaquin Moraga, second in command during Mexico's 1776 Anza Expedition. By 1850, California had become America's 31st state, and squatters were overrunning the property. Within 34 years of receiving its land grant, the family had lost everything. But the house that Moraga built still remains--the oldest surviving adobe in the county. Over the years, land was bought and sold, fortunes made and lost, and a railroad, intended to go all the way from Emeryville to Utah, ran out of steam when it reached Orinda. Families, long gone now, gave their names to familiar landmarks, but it was not until the 1920s, when E.I. de Laveaga laid down the blueprint for this jewel in the East Bay's crown, that Orinda truly began to take shape. One hundred years later, Orinda, home to over 20,000 people within 13 square miles, has become the 299th largest city in California.

California Highway Patrol

9780738556208

$23.99

The California Highway Patrol has its roots in the early 1920s motorcycle traffic cops employed by counties and cities. The CHP became a separate state entity in 1929 and has grown from the early traffic enforcement role to that of one of the premier law enforcement agencies in the United States. Their responsibilities range from patrolling the freeways and county roads of California to providing security for the state capital and other state buildings to protecting the governor and visiting dignitaries from around the world. The CHP has marshaled its forces to restore and maintain peace in times of war, civil unrest, or natural disasters.

Cover image for California Highway Patrol, isbn: 9780738556208

Los Angeles Railway

9781467105880

$23.99

The Los Angeles Railway's Yellow Cars, a system cobbled together from numerous horse-powered lines, cable car lines, and upstart narrow-gauge trolley companies, served downtown and its environs in some iteration from 1898 to 1963. Henry Huntington assembled this conglomerate, making it functionally effective and well patronized.

Alameda Naval Air Station

9780738580401

$24.99

The 56-year history of the Alameda Naval Air Station from 1940 to 1997 was a major military presence in the San Francisco Bay Area. As one of the largest and most important naval air stations in the United States, with a population of 45,000, it occupied 300 buildings to service squadrons and Carrier Air Groups. The large Overhaul and Repair facility operated from 1941 through the jet age, and U.S. Naval Reserve squadrons were added in the postwar years.

Ghosts of the Queen Mary

9781626193147

$21.99

For thirty-one years, the RMS "Queen Mary" sailed the North Atlantic. It helped defeat Hitler and was the ship of choice for the world's rich and famous. Now in retirement in the Port of Long Beach, the "Stateliest Ship Afloat" plays host to tourists, travelers and more than six hundred spirits that roam her halls and passageways. These choice decks remain the floating home of a few regulars, including the oft-glimpsed White Lady, as well as Little Jackie, John Henry and, of course, Grumpy. Join paranormal investigators Brian Clune and Bob Davis as they take you to the hot spots of activity from port to starboard and relate tales from the dockside about the spirits that haunt the grandest liner ever built.

Lindsay

9781467115728

$24.99

A picturesque town nestled among the wildflower-covered foothills of the Sierras, Lindsay is the epitome of the ideal California life--one of health, wealth and sunshine. Lindsay became the heart of the state's second gold rush, when large-scale farming became popular, by hitting the mother lode with oranges. With over 16 citrus packinghouses, people initially came to Lindsay to seek their fortune. The success of the citrus groves attracted not only many skilled Japanese farmers but also many immigrants who were new to the trade. By the 1920s, Lindsay's most famous crop became Lindsay Ripe Olives. Lindsay is a town of surprising inventions and innovations that revolutionized agriculture, citrus farming, irrigation, and especially the olive industry.

Lost California

9781467160605

$24.99

The postcards in this collection reflect a hidden past of California that exists now only on the page. From college gates at Stanford destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and hotels in Catalina, Santa Barbara, and Oakland ravaged by fire to giant redwoods on the coast felled by storms and much of downtown Los Angeles razed in the name of the progress, California's landscape has changed dramatically in the last 125 years. The buildings demolished in San Diego's Balboa Park after the 1915 exposition closed are shown here as is downtown San Francisco before the earthquake and fire of 1906, amusement parks that decorated waterfronts from Long Beach to Santa Monica, and city halls from Anaheim to San Jose.

Yreka Western Railroad

9780738574301

$24.99

The city of Yreka was determined to have a railroad. When the Southern Pacific Railroad decided in 1883 to bypass Yreka, the citizens constructed their own railroad known as the Yreka Railroad Company. This railroad managed to eke out a living over the next few decades. In the 1930s, the railroad was reincorporated as the Yreka Western Railroad. By the mid-1930s, the railroad went bankrupt and was forced into receivership, and a new manager was put in charge. Through perseverance of the new manager, the railroad began to grow and prosper. By the late 1970s, the railroad once again started to decline, but as in the past, it managed to hold on. In 1986, the railroad started an excursion train known as the "Blue Goose," and steam locomotive No. 19 was added in 1989. Throughout all the hardships, the railroad still continues today and has been given the nickname "the Little Railroad that Refuses to Die."

San Francisco's North Beach and Telegraph Hill

9780738581583

$24.99

North Beach and Telegraph Hill are among San Francisco's most charming and historic districts. In the early years, Mexican and Spanish settlements dotted the beach and the hill, but the area was heavily developed during California's Gold Rush as gold seekers flooded the city. Later, European immigrants added many layers of unique character. North Beach was home to A. P. Giannini, founder of the Bank of Italy (later the Bank of America), and in the 1950s, the Beat Generation evolved from the creative character of this artistic neighborhood. Charming cottages and architectural gems, such as famed landmark Coit Tower, decorate the slopes down to the bay, delighting residents and tourists alike. Many cafés and restaurants offer delicious foods, while the breathtaking views provide food for the soul.

San Francisco's North Beach and Telegraph Hill

San Francisco Landmarks

9780738595801

$24.99

San Francisco is one of the most recognized and beloved cities in the United States, brilliantly illustrated through a visual history of 493 designated local, state, and national landmarks. San Francisco's attributes speak to us through stunning topography, the arts, and a unique array of architectural styles. The city inherited the imprint left by the Spanish with Mission Dolores, by the Gold Rush with Jackson Square, and by 20th-century entrepreneurs with the Bank of Italy. The period from the 1920s to 1950s brought a growing cosmopolitan metropolis with such landmarks as the Mark Hopkins Hotel and the Golden Gate Bridge. Residents and visitors want to know why there is a monument in the neighborhood park and why the delightful Victorians next door have a historic plaque by their front steps. Each landmark embodies the characteristics of the surrounding community and the history of the "City by the Bay."