California (58)

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....

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...

“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...

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...

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...

Judge Richard Harvey Chambers served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from his appointment in 1954 to his death in 1994. Serving for seventeen years...

Los Angeles is one of the biggest cities in the world, but is incongruously a ten-minute drive from a vast impenetrable mountain wilderness, the Angeles National Forest. This 700,000-acre forest...

American Prisoner of War Camps in Southern California describes the impact of the large number of prisoners of war on the population of Southern California, as well as the impact...

Over one hundred years ago, volunteer firemen sold a book, titled Santa Monica Fire Department, Souvenir Book of Santa Monica, 1902, door to door. Legend has it that the newly-established...

In November of 1989, as workers were finishing their repairs to the quake damaged section of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, an 18-inch metal sculpture of a troll was smuggled...

The Crescenta Valley is a typical suburb of the metropolis of Los Angeles, containing residential neighborhoods nestled in chaparral-covered hills. But hidden in these typical neighborhoods are remnants of an...

On May 21, 1927 the Carquinez Bridge opened to traffic between Crockett and Vallejo, California. Just a few miles north of San Francisco, the Carquinez Bridge was the longest highway...

This book was inspired by San Rafael Illustrated & Described, a rare promotional brochure published by W. W. Elliott & Co. in 1884. The brochure's purpose was to attract new...

Pinole is a small city with a very big history. Pinole holds the unique distinction of having the oldest name in Contra Costa County. The area's first fast food, "pinolli,"...

Lancaster, California Through Time enables the reader to explore the community's architectural legacy, which is constantly changing; although many of its earliest structures have disappeared or exist in dilapidated remains,...