San Francisco Through Time depicts the evolution of a cosmopolitan city that began as the settlement of Yerba Buena (Spanish for good herb), and was renamed San Francisco (Spanish for...
The Tenderloin District of San Francisco Through Time is a brief history of a neighborhood known to early San Franciscans as St. Ann’s Valley. The story of this once-placid piece...
It was a sailor's dream: more than 100 bars, casinos and whorehouses, just a short boat ride across the Napa River that separated the sprawling Mare Island Naval Shipyard from...
Idyllwild, California, is an extraordinary mountain village. On weekends and holidays, it hosts a flood of visitors. Many are drawn by its reputation as an arts community; more come simply...
The columns in this book focus on the colorful and fascinating history of Vallejo, a shipyard town just north of San Francisco. The writing began following the publishing of author...
How could a circle of women without power, money, or political position become one with the tapestry of a city? This is the question arising from the story of the...
Hollywood, California, Through Time is a visual discovery of the most dreamed about city in the world. Hollywood is a physical place, with over a century of cinema, where you...
The San Francisco Bay Area is a beautiful region of California with diverse scenery, population, and history. Over the years, many businesses and institutions have come and gone. Sometimes these...
For well over a century, San Diego has been at the forefront of air and space innovation, development, and exploration. From the first flights by John J. Montgomery in 1883...
Mountains and Molehills is essential reading for anyone wishing to build a mental picture of San Francisco and the Sacramento areas during the period of the Gold Rush from 1850...
Making sense of Monroe is problematic. Her so-called autobiography cannot be relied upon, not least because she was insecure, introspective and unable to even make sense of herself There has...
History often focuses on people of prominence—political, social, and economic leaders. However, the role of “ordinary people” often gets neglected. Sacramento has had many “hidden figures” in its past. These...
California is known as the "Golden State." However, it has been said that "all that glitters is not gold." Within the pages of this book are true stories including the...
The history of Marin County is intimately connected with the birth and early growth of the state of California. Marin is home to one of the last Spanish missions and...
In Weird Crescenta Valley, we learn about the odd events, people, and places of the valley, along with natural and supernatural oddities. For instance, a new-age religion was briefly located...
The story of Lake Tahoe is the story of people and the environment and their reciprocal influences. The environment shaped the lives of the early people of Tahoe, and later,...
Three miles outside California’s jurisdiction amid the second half of the roaring twenties, a handful of bootleggers, gamblers, Mafiosi, and political fixers sank their earnings into a boisterous new venture....
From native peoples to today’s inhabitants, this anthology collects Delta stories. For native peoples, the Delta satisfied mind, body, and spirit. For the Spanish recruiting native labor and souls, it...
Creating a “fun” history book can be a tall order, but author Bo Grebitus has made a real go of it in his new book, Touching History. In rediscovering Tahoe...
The Crescenta Valley is an upper middle-class suburb of Los Angeles. It enjoys a low crime rate and high property values. But like any community, it has a distasteful side...
It was as if the word GOLD echoed around the world as people came to the Pacific Northwest in droves in search of sudden wealth in the 1850s. Thousands of...
Ghost Stories from the San Joaquin Delta provides an introduction to local history through stories that reflect our culture and identity. Tule fog, railroads, waterways and remote homesteads provide a...
San Mateo is situated on the San Francisco Peninsula, just 15 miles south from San Francisco. It was named by the De Anza exploration party when they set up camp...
The San Francisco Bay Area is in perpetual transformation.From the ancient Gold Rush to the recent Tech Boom, the city is always reinventing itself, and leaving behind artifacts of transitions...
“Hooray for Hollywood,” the 1937 anthem by Johnny Mercer for the film Hollywood Hotel, says it all cinematically as dozens of star wannabes head for Hollywood in a full production...
In Journal Across the Plains, 1852: The Brothers Verdenal, Missouri to California, pre-teen brothers John and Dominique Verdenal document the day-to-day events of the El Dorado wagon train traveling between...
Professional and amateur photographers have captured images of Lake Tahoe, California and Nevada, since the invention of the camera. In this photographic journal, we experience the transformation of Lake Tahoe...
This is a book that takes the reader to destinations in Northern California that most people seldom visit or are even aware of. Venturing into these abandoned worlds, Manol Z....
The discovery of gold on the magical date of January 24, 1848, when James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill near Coloma, started a rush that was unprecedented in all...
Grapes have been grown in the Temecula Valley since the mission days in the 1830s, but the development of the region as a renowned wine-producing area occurred centuries later. Temecula...
The Mendocino Coast is known for its breathtaking beauty. Jagged cliffs surround pristine beaches. Giant redwoods follow the coastline. It’s no surprise that many movies have been filmed here. Artists...
Plenty of tales of heroism have been shared about the Second World War, but few illustrate the anxiety and injustices endured on U.S. soil. Dick is a fatherless boy and...
Echoing a sentiment that could be expressed by many Santa Cruz residents today, Sara White wrote this about Santa Cruz to a friend in 1896: “The country is so beautifully...
The settlement and development of Oakley is the story of a thriving California pioneer town. Nestled in California’s San Joaquin Delta, the area quickly became San Francisco’s easternmost frontier for...
Howard Hughes was an industrialist, aviator, and eccentric, but he was also the most important movie producer during the golden age of Hollywood. At a time when filmmaking was tightly...
This book is a photographic essay on the history of Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, highlighting continuity and changes from the late nineteenth century into the twenty-first through the prism...
