Name: Los Angeles's Bunker Hill
Brand: Jim Dawson
SKU: 9781609495466
Price: 21.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Los Angeles's Bunker Hill

9781609495466

$21.99

When postwar movie directors went looking for a gritty location to shoot their psychological crime thrillers, they found Bunker Hill, a neighborhood of fading Victorians, flophouses, tough bars, stairways and dark alleys in downtown Los Angeles. Novelist Raymond Chandler had already been there exploring the real-life "mean streets" that his hardboiled detective, Philip Marlowe, prowled in the writer's exacting prose. But the biggest crime was going on behind the scenes, run by the city's power elite. And Hollywood just happened to capture it on film. Using nearly eighty photos, writer Jim Dawson enlarges the record of L.A. history with this grassroots investigation of a vanished place.

Los Angeles Dodgers Pitchers:

9781609497125

$21.99

The Los Angeles Dodgers have always fielded one of the best pitching staffs in the Major Leagues. With Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser and closers Mike Marshall and Eric Gagne, it's hard to imagine a more sterling roster. After their 1958 arrival from Brooklyn, the Dodgers won five World Series, competed in nine and made the playoffs in eleven other seasons--by leaning on their pitchers. The Dodgers have nine Cy Young Awards, more than any other franchise. In their fifty-three years in LA, the Dodgers have led the National League in team earned run average a staggering twenty times. Join author Don Lechman, a Los Angeles newspaperman for forty years, as he recounts the history of the team's aces.

The Great Crescenta Valley Flood: New Year's Day 1934

9781609494490

$21.99

As Crescenta Valley residents gathered to ring in the 1934 New Year, a cloudburst broke over Southern California's San Gabriel Mountains, unleashing a deluge on mountainsides denuded by recent fires. A roaring wall of rocks, mud and water crashed down the canyons, uprooting trees, tossing boulders and automobiles like toys and carving a path of destruction. Using painstaking research and heart-rending firsthand accounts, historian Art Cobery paints a picture of survival and redemption in the face of natural disaster, including the heroic efforts of eleven-year-old Marcie Warfield to save her father and younger brother, the devastating debris flow that claimed the lives of refugees and aid workers at the American Legion Hall and the selfless acts of neighbors caught in the storm of events.

The Great Crescenta Valley Flood: New Year's Day 1934

Growing Up in Long Beach

9781626193581

$21.99

How quickly the memories fade of local and favorite hangouts that once helped define Long Beach. In this collection, Tim Grobaty remembers growing up in the fast-growing new neighborhoods of East Long Beach, the beloved places downtown that were part of the city's mid-twentieth-century fabric and a few obscure spots in the margins. Long Beach's memory lane includes the dearly departed restaurants the Golden Lantern in Los Altos and Rusty's in the Wrigley District, the Circle and Los Altos Drive-Ins, great concerts of the 1970s in the arena and auditorium and the shoppers' paradises of Uncle Al's Toy Korral in the Plaza and Buffum's downtown. Join "Press-Telegram" columnist Tim Grobaty as he records Long Beach residents' recollections and taps his own boomer-years memories.

Long Beach State:

9781626196018

$21.99

Long Beach State grew up right along with the sprawling Southern California suburbs. Born in 1949, it swelled to accommodate the post-world war enthusiasm for education and land. The rapid expansion brought its share of growing pains. Students took classes in a cramped converted apartment with no books and playing ring-around-the-rosie for physical education. Money was scarce, and faculty at times feuded with the administration. But the new college's "let's put on a show" spirit produced a scrappiness that endures today. Read about the personalities that grew the college from Fred Bixby's bean fields into one of the largest universities in California.

Los Angeles Sports Memories

9781626199897

$21.99

For five decades, distinguished sportswriter Doug Krikorian chronicled LA's most transcendent sports moments. Revisit revered columns enshrining iconic achievements like when rookie Magic Johnson scored forty-two points and collected fifteen rebounds, leading the Lakers to the NBA title against the Philadelphia 76ers. Celebrate with the Angels all over again after their 2002 World Series victory. Reflect on momentous stories featuring Eric Dickerson, Wayne Gretzky, Muhammad Ali and many other illustrious personalities. From Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's fervent feud to Dodger Kirk Gibson's legendary game-winning 1988 World Series opener home run, relive the triumphs and tribulations of one of America's marquee sports towns.

Growing Up in San Francisco's Western Neighborhoods

9781626193840

$21.99

From football games at Kezar Stadium to a perfectly broiled Zim burger, San Franciscans have fond memories of the decades after World War II. Dressing up for a movie at the Fox Theatre on Market Street, catching the train at the old S.P. Station on Third and Townsend, taking the streetcar downtown to see magnificent displays in the Emporium's windows or spending a day at Golden Gate Park, the "outside lands" of San Francisco were teeming with youngsters and the young-at-heart alike. Western Neighborhoods Project columnist and San Francisco native Frank Dunnigan offers a charming collection of nostalgic vignettes about the thriving Western communities of unforgettable people and places that defined generations.

Growing Up in San Francisco's Western Neighborhoods

Location Filming in Long Beach

9781609497408

$21.99

Long Beach's proximity to Hollywood has made the waterfront city a picturesque and easily accessed locale for hundreds of films and television shows. Silent movies produced by Balboa Studios here starred Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton, and the city's resume includes the Oscar-winning best pictures The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and American Beauty (1999). Cameras continue to roll in the port metropolis, which has been host for such TV favorites as CHiPs and The Mod Squad and now twenty-first-century series such as NCIS, Dexter and CSI: Miami. Longtime newspaperman Tim Grobaty has been watching, in person and in his living room, and tracks the history of the city on celluloid in the comprehensive Location Filming in Long Beach.

Life On Route 66:

9781609496227

$21.99

Winding through the rugged heartland of the American West, Route 66 has resonated for generations in hardscrabble stories of hopeful seekers of new homes and lives. The Mother Road has inspired books and shows by the dozens, exploring the mythology and anticipation of freedom road. But here is something new. Coauthors Alan and Claudia Heller, longtime residents of Duarte, California, along Route 66, hitched their trailer to a retirement dream and traveled the road again, in their home state and back to Chicago. They collected stories of the iconic highway, and what it means to the people who live along its way, for a series in the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group. Retrace their journey with this collection and find the people and places that make Route 66 truly historic.

Long Beach Chronicles

9781609495480

$21.99

Incorporated in 1888, Long Beach was the nation's fastest-growing city for much of the early twentieth century. Tim Grobaty, columnist for two decades for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, looks back at the major events and compelling personalities that shaped the city's formative years. Early settlers such as William Willmore, Charles Rivers Drake and the Bixby family are brought into sharp focus as Grobaty recounts the city's defining moments. From the naming of city streets to early local newspaper wars, and culminating with the devastating earthquake of 1933, Long Beach Chronicles presents a fascinating collection of tales from the city's provocative past.

Spirits of Rancho Buena Vista Adobe

9781467139472

$21.99

The Rancho Buena Vista Adobe stands as a testament to California's diverse past and offers a glimpse into the supernatural. Learn the identity of the apparition known as the "Lady in White," which startles unsuspecting guests by serenely floating across the rancho's courtyard, and the tale of a skeleton rumored to be sealed up somewhere within the rancho's walls. Discover the story of Cave Johnson Couts and family, who continue to chat with visitors in spirit form. And explore the rooms where whispering voices are often heard, even when they're empty. Join author Nicole Strickland as she uncovers spine-tingling haunts and restless souls.

Pioneers of Eagle Rock

9781609498276

$21.99

After the Rancho San Rafael was divided, Benjamin Dreyfus was awarded the hilly area north of downtown Los Angeles known as Eagle Rock Valley. By 1911, this farming community had rapidly grown into a city. The Los Angeles Railway made downtown LA a trolley ride away, and continued growth led to Eagle Rock's consolidation with the city in 1923. Today, Eagle Rock is one of LA's most distinctive neighborhoods, and a pride instilled by early settlers remains here. These inspirational settlers include soldier and ranchero Jose Maria Verdugo, diarist and historian Elena Frackelton Murdock, farmer and amateur hydrologist Mayor Cromwell Galpin and publicist Ann Hare Harrison. Join editors Eric H. Warren and Frank F. Parrello as they profile the bedrock personalities who built Eagle Rock.

Pioneers of Riverside County

9781609498313

$21.99

Riverside County encompasses more than two million people and most of the width of California, from Los Angeles's eastern suburbs to the Arizona state line at the Colorado River. Historian Steve Loch captures the vanished past of this vast swath of deserts and mountains--the eras of Spanish and then Mexican rule and the exploits of the earliest settlers of the American period. Juan Bautista de Anza, Louis Robidoux and many other namesake figures of today's geography are described in this unabridged excerpt of the author's comprehensive and masterly history Along the Old Roads.

World War I and the Sacramento Valley

9781467119054

$21.99

When the First World War thrust the United States into a dire global conflict, the Sacramento Valley was quick to mobilize. Many of America's first air units for combat were trained at Mather Field, while local farms filled some of the largest food supply orders for the Allies. Many women eschewed tradition and joined the industrial workforce at Liberty Iron Works, Southern Pacific Railroad and more. Though many banded together, the region's homefront was not without tension. Gripped by xenophobia, groups like the Liberty League formed local chapters to hunt spies, and local police forced displays of patriotism from suspected German sympathizers. With exclusive content from the Sacramento Public Library's Special Collections, librarians Amanda DeWilde and James Scott reveal the struggles and triumphs of the Sacramento region during the First World War.

Crescenta Valley Pioneers & Their Legacies

9781609495626

$21.99

Their names run deep through local history and lore, adorning street signs, canyons, historical buildings, homes and ranches in the swath of suburbia between Pasadena and Tujunga, where the towns of La Crescenta and La Ca ada took shape, along with the unique community of Montrose. Profiled in the pages of Crescenta Valley Pioneers and Their Legacies by author Jo Anne Sadler, a researcher and frequent writer for the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, are such singularly important local characters as Theodor Pickens, the first permanent settler; Dr. Benjamin B. Briggs, the founder of La Crescenta; Jacob L. Lanterman and Adolphus W. Williams, the original developers of Rancho La Ca ada; and the Le Mesnager family, whose historic wine barn still stands in Deukmejian Wilderness Park.

Crescenta Valley Pioneers & Their Legacies

Culver City Chronicles

9781609497774

$21.99

Culver City has rivaled Hollywood for nearly a century as the "Heart of Screenland"--a center of the movie and television trades. Here, the giant Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer evolved into Sony Pictures, and the Ince and Selznick movie empires became today's Culver Studios. But the same lands along Ballona Creek had been a wilderness traversed by Native Americans and settled by hardy Spanish pioneers named Machado, Talamantes and Higuera. Union soldiers occupied the area's Civil War-era Camp Latham. By 1910, visionary Harry H. Culver saw possibilities for these ranchlands and led Culver City to incorporate in 1917. Join official city historian Julie Lugo Cerra, a descendant of early settlers, as she relates the fascinating stories of how and why Culver City grew and prospered.

Crestline Chronicles

9781609495848

$21.99

Situated in the beautiful San Bernardino Range, Crestline is the gateway community to the famous mountain resorts of Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. Historically, the area was known for timber-cutting, hunting and fishing, fruit and nut harvesting and, later on, skiing and other winter sports. The first visitors to the area were Native Americans escaping the Mojave Desert summers; followed in the 1850s by Mormon lumberjacks who built San Bernardino Town at the base of the mountains; and then successors who bought the sawmills and settled into mountain living. In these stories of Crestline's formative times, historian Rhea-Frances Tetley recalls some of the more intrepid and colorful characters to have trekked through the western San Bernardinos.

Del Mar:

9781609493103

$21.99

For nearly seventy five years, summertime at Del Mar Racetrack has been a place for fun and entertainment, a place, as Eddie Read said, where nobody's in a hurry but the horses." Since its founding by Bing Crosby and his Hollywood friends in 1937, Del Mar has hosted some of thoroughbred racing's finest: from dancing Zenyatta and scrappy Seabiscuit to San Diego's own hall-of-famers Best Pal and Azeri. In this collection of vignettes, celebrated turf writer and San Diego sports journalist Hank Wesch recalls noted jockeys, infamous matchups, and the best of Del Mar."

Bay Area Iron Master Al Zampa:

9781467119139

$21.99

Orange County Chronicles

9781626191334

$21.99

Orange County is one of the best-known, yet least understood, counties in California. The popular image of beautiful people in beach cities is certainly accurate. But the Orange County that is often overlooked includes workaday lives in Anaheim, the barrios of Santa Ana, townhouse living in Brea and the diverse communities of Little Saigon, Little Texas, Los Rios, La Habra and Silverado Canyon. Modern Orange County offers very little sense of history, and it sometimes seems as if the urbanization of the 1960s is all that defines the place. Orange County historian Phil Brigandi fills in the gaps with this collection of essays that explores the very creation of the county, as well as pressing issues of race, citrus, attractions and annexation.

Orange County Pioneers:

9781626197589

$21.99

Orange County's pioneer history is filled with harrowing tales every bit as entertaining as a western novel. These stories, culled from oral histories recorded by old-timers in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration, offer a rarely seen look into Orange County's frontier days. From bear hunts and bullfights to social gatherings at the home of the most famous Shakespearean actress of the day, these tales are a window into the earliest days of every corner of the county. Join editor Charles Epting for these wonderfully evocative portraits of the past recounted in the words of the eyewitnesses.

Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles County

9781626190207

$21.99

The variably named and numbered Pacific Coast Highway spans 1,700 miles from Canada to Mexico. Seventy-five of those create a dramatic drive through Los Angeles County, showcasing the iconic cities of Malibu, Santa Monica, South Bay, San Pedro and Long Beach. Past scenic seascapes and famous beaches, "PCH" has become over the decades a symbol for Southern California coastal life, encompassing pleasure piers and amusements parks, surfing, yachting and other water sports. No longer just a road, PCH is a ribbon of destinations and the byway through the California dream. Ride with author Carina Monica Montoya via vintage images from the California Department of Transportation and new photos by John Moss through this remarkable road's history and the picturesque coastal communities it serves.

Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles County

On these Promising Shores of the Pacific:

9781626192768

$23.99

The original fog-soaked Saint Mary's College campus in San Francisco enrolled both boys and young men and was born in 1863 from the educational vision of Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany. In 1889, the campus moved to Oakland and was affectionately dubbed the Old Brickpile." Through fires, earthquakes, two world wars and bankruptcy, the college persevered and matured, eventually moving to its present location in Moraga Valley. From United States Navy cadets and "Slip" Madigan's Galloping Gaels to the Latin Question and iconic phone booth stuffing, historian and retired Saint Mary's College professor Ronald Eugene Isetti offers a detailed look at the college's legacy. Join Isetti as he chronicles the academic vision, institutional challenges and student traditions of one of California's oldest establishments of higher learning."

On these Promising Shores of the Pacific:

California Vines, Wines and Pioneers

9781609498849

$21.99

Grab your glass and take to the wine trail with food genealogist Sherry Monahan as she traces the roots of California's Vines, Wines & Pioneers." While cowboys and early settlers were writing the oft-told history of the Wild West, California's wine pioneers were cultivating a delicious industry. The story begins when Franciscan missionaries planted the first grapes in Southern California in 1769. Almost a century later, news of gold drew thirsty prospectors and European immigrants to California's promise of wealth. From Old World vines sprang a robust and varied tradition of wine cultivation that overcame threats of pests and Prohibition to win global prestige. Journey with Monahan as she uncorks this vintage history and savors the stories of California's historic wineries and vineyards."

California Apricots

9781609497958

$21.99

Picked warm from a tree, a California apricot opens into halves as easily as if it came with a dotted line down its center. The seed infuses the core with a hint of almond; the fruit carries the scent of citrus and jasmine; and it tastes, some say, like manna from heaven. In these pages, Robin Chapman recalls the season when the Santa Clara Valley was the largest apricot producer in the world and recounts the stories of Silicon Valley's now lost orchards. From the Spaniards in the eighteenth century who first planted apricots in the Mission Santa Clara gardens to the post-World War II families who built their homes among subdivided orchards, relive the long summer days ripe with bumper crops of this much-anticipated delicacy.

Murder in Pleasanton:

9781467117654

$21.99

In April 1984, Foothill High freshman Tina Faelz took a shortcut on her walk home. About an hour later, she was found in a ditch, brutally stabbed to death. The murder shook the quiet East Bay suburb of Pleasanton and left investigators baffled. With no witnesses or leads, the case went cold and remained so for nearly thirty years. In 2011, the investigation finally got a break. Improved forensics recovered DNA from a drop of blood found at the scene matching Tina's classmate, Steven Carlson. Through dusty police files, personal interviews, letters and firsthand accounts, journalist Joshua Suchon revisits his childhood home to uncover the story of a disturbing crime and the controversial sentencing that brought long-awaited answers to a city tormented by questions.

Duarte Chronicles

9781609498825

$21.99

Andres Duarte was a Mexican army veteran who was awarded a 6,595-acre grant south of the San Gabriel Mountains in 1841. Parceled out to settlers and farmers, the Rancho Azusa de Duarte began thriving when rail lines were built to access the citrus crops. Duarte was home to the City of Hope, a tuberculosis clinic that became a world-class cancer research and treatment center. The old U.S. Route 66 brought thousands of new Californians through the residential melting pot from points east. Residents have included such notables as big-band leader Glenn Miller and playwright Sam Shepard. Join coauthors Claudia and Alan Heller as they recall the people, institutions, events and natural elements that have made Duarte a unique Los Angeles County city.

Max Factor and Hollywood

9781467136105

$21.99

When Polish wigmaker and cosmetician Max Factor arrived in Los Angeles at the dawn of the motion picture industry, "make-up" had been associated only with stage performers and ladies of the oldest profession. Appalled by the garish paints worn by actors, Factor introduced the first "flexible" greasepaint for film in 1914. With a few careful brush strokes, a lot of innovation and the kind of luck that can happen only in Hollywood, Max Factor changed the meaning of glamour. His innovations can be experienced in every tube of lipstick, palette of eye shadow and bottle of nail lacquer used today. Join author Erika Thomas as she reveals the makeup guru's expert beauty tips and the story of how he created the most iconic golden-era looks that are as relevant today as they were nearly a century ago.

Sacramento

9780738594804

$21.99

Of the state of California and its resources, much of late years has been written and printed for dissemination among people of the eastern states. Particularly has such information been published concerning the resources of the southern section of the state. As yet but little has been written of the central section--a vast, rich, but comparatively undeveloped territory--which in the very near future will as much astonish the world by the demonstration of its agricultural wealth, as did the state in 1849 by the richness of its gold mines. In the pages following, nothing but facts, capable of absolute and satisfactory demonstration, are presented. Of the section of which this work treats, the facts furnish an ample and convincing argument of its resources and capabilities. It has been the endeavor of the writers--and they are gentlemen of state-wide reputation--to present but the actual facts.

Fanny Bixby Spencer

9781609498757

$23.99

The last daughter born to Jotham Bixby, the Father of Long Beach," Fanny Bixby Spencer (1879-1930) carved her own singular and eccentric path across California history. Born to wealth and power, she chose a boldly independent, egalitarian lifestyle in an age when women's lives were largely confined to domesticity. Fanny served with the Long Beach Police Department as America's first policewoman. She was a founder of the city of Costa Mesa in Orange County. Her humanitarian efforts reached across ethnicities and social standing. Yet beyond her civic accomplishments, Fanny was provocative as a poet, artist, pacifist, suffragist, child advocate, foster mother and humanitarian. Marcia Lee Harris captures this fascinating woman's remarkable life, enhanced by Fanny's own poetry and soulful reflections."

Football in Long Beach

9781609495459

$23.99

The roots of football run deep in Long Beach, where Long Beach Polytechnic High School has produced more players who have played in the National Football League than any other high school in the United States. Poly's storied program has fed the NFL a wide variety of top players, including such receivers as Johnny Morris, Gene Washington, Tony Hill, Stephone Paige, Marcedes Lewis and DeSean Jackson. This authoritative citywide pigskin history by Mike Guardabascio includes the football sagas of other area high schools, as well as the legacies of Long Beach State and Long Beach City College, which have enjoyed their own brands of national recognition.

Football in the South Bay

9781626193086

$23.99

Hardly a season passes in which one or more South Bay football stars don't shine in major college or NFL play. Vince Ferragamo led the Rams to a Super Bowl, but in Wilmington, he's the pride of Banning High School. Before he was television's Hunter" or an NFL All-Pro, Fred Dryer was an El Camino College and Lawndale High star. Wesley Walker snagged deep passes for the New York Jets but honed his skills under legendary coach Gene Vollnogle for the Carson High Colts, historically the top prep team in the South Bay. From the inspirational coaches like Mira Costa's Don Morrow and San Pedro's Mike Walsh to the greatest players raised here, author Don Lechman presents the full story of South Bay gridiron glory."

The New Deal in Orange County, California

9781626194885

$21.99

Unpredictably harsh elements wreaked havoc in Orange County during the Great Depression. The 1933 Long Beach earthquake claimed 115 lives, shattering lands eastward across the Los Angeles County line into the Orange County cities. Then 60 people perished in the devastating 1938 Santa Ana River flood, which washed out roads and buildings and much of the county's namesake citrus industry. Orange County's 130,000 people received a greater density of federal public aid than LA County's 2.2 million and San Diego County's 210,000. Join Charles Epting on this tour of the buildings, bridges, harbors, trails, libraries, highways and other infrastructure gains--many still in use--that were revitalized by the Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps and other agencies of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal.

The New Deal in Orange County, California

Napa Valley Chronicles

9781609499266

$21.99

In 1905, Napa's mayor, J.A. Fuller, announced, Napa for half a century has been slumbering in a Rip Van Winkle sleep but she has awakened at last." Back then, fifteen cents bought coffee and a donut at the Depot and Sawyer's Tannery made soft leather baseball gloves. In this collection, local author Lauren Coodley reimagines the unvarnished country life of historic Napa Valley through the stories of notables like postmaster Ernest Kincaid, "Napa Register" reporter Phyllis King, firefighter historian Rita Bordwell and Brewster's owners Rachel and Larry Friedman. Trace the region's lasting legacy, from the time when a horse and buggy purchased Browns Valley to the days when art galleries replaced blue-collar businesses and the California grape took center stage from Sunsweet prunes."

Murder and Mayhem in the Napa Valley

9781609495442

$21.99

The picturesque vineyards of California's Napa Valley, one of the world's premier tourist destinations, disguise a tangled history of lawlessness, depravity and frontier justice. Some crimes were committed over debts, some for retribution and others in the name of love. Famed photographer Eadweard Muybridge killed a man for seducing his wife but was acquitted. Other criminals were not so lucky and met the gallows, like murderer William Roe, the state's final public execution. From the Pomo massacre--the first criminal case heard by the California Supreme Court--to the cold cases that continue to haunt the region, Napa Police Detective Todd Shulman decants the crimes of the Napa Valley, memorializing the victims and honoring the efforts of local law enforcement.