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...
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 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...
In the past century, dreams have flourished in the deserts of California, fueled by gold, war, optimism and wealth, only to later be abandoned. Homes, mines, utopian societies, railroads, airports,...
The Sweater Girl, Queen of the Silver Screen, Lanita, Nightclub Queen—Lana Turner was known by many nicknames after her rise to fame, most of which she detested. Her private life,...
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...
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....
Night Salvage is a nocturnal love letter to three rarely seen collections of junk cars, lost in the deserts of Southern California. Follow the author as he haunts these vehicular...
Somewhere between the Hollywood sign and the Pacific Ocean, underneath the palm trees and above the crowded highways, there they are. You may have seen one in your favorite movie,...
In Southern California, settlers have long ventured into the Mojave Desert, seduced by its capacious horizons and fragile beauty, only to be abased by the intense heat, bone-dry terrain and...
Northern California has a fascinating criminal history. Some of America’s most infamous criminals and outlaws lived and died in the area, including John Paul Chase, partner of Public Enemy Number...
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...
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...
The San Francisco East Bay is home to a large and expanding variety of graffiti artists. In this collection of cities, you can find their expressions and experimentations in secret...
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...
“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...
Junkyard Nights is a nocturnal love letter to the ghosts of our automotive past. Follow photographer, Troy Paiva, as he shoots two old school junkyards in California’s agricultural heartland by...
Murder is shocking. The savagery of Elizabeth Short’s (also known as the Black Dahlia) slaying was beyond anything Los Angeles, indeed the U.S., had experienced. Short would not be the...
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...
The Salton Sea, California’s largest inland body of water, was a spectacular oasis in the desert which attracted droves of boating, fishing, and beach enthusiasts for fun in the sun....
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...
Southern California can be called a sunny place for shady people. Its criminal history is as rich and varied as anywhere. Old West outlaws, serial killers, gangsters and thieves have...
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...
Throughout its rich and storied history, California has seen the rise and fall of countless individuals, industries, and empires. Men have dug deep into her rich soil in search of...
Abandoned Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: California Revealed is an unforgettable nocturnal journey through secret locations hidden in the deserts of California. California has more than its share of abandoned planes,...
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...
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...
In 1832, the captain of the brigantine Catalina ordered Scotsman James Black, dying of typhus, abandoned at Monterey, California. Nursed by J. B. R. Cooper's wife, Black survived to hunt...
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...
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...
Abandoned Salton Sea: Dystopian Panoramas presents a journey into this unique Southern California region. An initial glimpse of the Salton Sea and its environs is a surreal experience—the landscape is...
In Northern California, there are four tourist railroads that have established themselves as go-to destinations for railroad enthusiasts and tourists alike: Niles Canyon Railway, Napa Valley Wine Train, California State...
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...
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....
Somewhere between the allure of the Hollywood sign and Pacific Ocean, there it is. You may have seen it in your favorite movie, walked by it a thousand times, or...
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...
