The legendary swallows arent the only annual returnees to San Juan Capistrano. The great coastal mission draws more than 500,000 visitors a year into the southern reaches of Orange County. The most famous of all the missions in the California system established in the 18th century by Franciscan friar Junipero Serra, Mission San Juan Capistrano still contains the Serra Chapel, the oldest church in California, and the only building still standing where the good padre celebrated mass. But San Juan Capistrano is more than its well-known mission. Its epic story encompasses the rancho days and land barons, California statehood, the arrival of the San Diego Freeway in 1958, city incorporation in 1961, and recent growth from 10,000 residents in 1974 to 34,000 in 2004.
San Juan County was established in 1880 following the famous winter trek and steep descent through the Hole-in-the-Rock Trail to Bluff, Utah. Behind the settlement of this community by the San Juan River is a story of tenacity, determination, and hardship. The Hole-in-the-Rock was a sandstone crevice discovered fortuitously by pioneers when a wild ram escaped its pursuers and descended to the river by that route. After blasting, building up the grade, and lowering by ropes, the wagon train finally emerged through the crevice to the river below and finished the last difficult miles into Bluff. Miner and photographer Charles Goodman documented the early days of San Juan County, from the production of bricks and molasses to the establishment of Bluff Oil Company, and many of his unique images, dating from 1892 to 1913, are included in this volume.
With sheltered harbors, open prairies, and secluded woodlands, San Juan Island has been a magnet for human habitation for thousands of years. Salmon runs and rich soil promised not only an abundant food source but also a good living for those willing to work hard. But it was not until the islands became the focus of an international boundary dispute between Great Britain and the United States in the late 1850s that San Juan Island drew the attention of Europeans and Americans. These newcomers watched how Coast Salish and Northwest Coast peoples harvested natural resources and adapted their techniques. Settlers and Indians sometimes intermarried, and many of their descendants remain to this day. San Juan Islanders of all generations have worked hard to preserve their home, thus maintaining a sense of place that is as evident today as it was when the first canoes came ashore.
According to legend, the name San Marcos can be attributed to a group of Spaniards who, while out on a mission to capture suspected horse thieves, accidently stumbled upon a beautiful "little valley" on the feast day of St. Mark. This little valley would remain sparsely populated for years to come, as a Mexican land grant tenanted by vaqueros, an agricultural salvation for homesteading early Californians, and the site of small towns that would nearly disappear between the pages of history. With the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad, eventual official incorporation in 1963, and continuous progression today, San Marcos has formed an identity as a prospering and growing community that still retains the feel of a rural small town.
In the 1920s, San Clemente founder Ole Hanson envisioned a "Spanish Village" on the Pacific coast halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. His city would have streets that followed the natural contours of the land. Sunny beaches and perfect climate enticed many to settle in this charming community. Known for its hospitality and neighborly atmosphere, the city became host and home to dignitaries such as Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Pres. Richard M. Nixon. Today, professional surfers, skateboarders, and small businesses call San Clemente home--the perfect place for work and leisure.
The legendary swallows arent the only annual returnees to San Juan Capistrano. The great coastal mission draws more than 500,000 visitors a year into the southern reaches of Orange County. The most famous of all the missions in the California system established in the 18th century by Franciscan friar Junipero Serra, Mission San Juan Capistrano still contains the Serra Chapel, the oldest church in California, and the only building still standing where the good padre celebrated mass. But San Juan Capistrano is more than its well-known mission. Its epic story encompasses the rancho days and land barons, California statehood, the arrival of the San Diego Freeway in 1958, city incorporation in 1961, and recent growth from 10,000 residents in 1974 to 34,000 in 2004.
San Anselmo has been a crossroads if not a center of activity from the days when the Coast Miwok inhabited the valley and fished the fresh waters of the creek. Red Hill, a town landmark, was the meeting point of three 1840s Mexican land grants. The rancho days had come to an end by 1875, when the North Pacific Coast Railroad completed its line, with its tracks branching east and west at San Anselmo. Railroad officials encouraged real estate activity, but it was not until the San Francisco Theological Seminary was completed in 1892 that the town began to grow. Incorporation followed in 1907, after refugees from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire built permanent homes. The population grew in the years following World War II, but San Anselmo has remained a small, family town.
The Santa Fe Railroad laid tracks from the east and the west beneath the southern slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains in 1887, meeting in San Dimas and opening the area to more than sparse settlement. The Rancho San Jose formerly included San Dimas in a Spanish land grant of 23,000 acres, given in 1837 to Don Ygnacio Palomares and Don Ricardo Vejar by the king of Spain. The new town became integral to the huge citrus industry that stretched for 65 miles from Pasadena to the Inland Empire. Residential development renewed growth in the 1950s, yet much of todays designated historic portion of this eastern Los Angeles County community remains the same as it was in the early 1900s. Part of the Lemon Association packinghouse still stands, once the largest such packinghouse in the world. San Dimas is a vital city thriving in the midst of Southern Californias rush through the 21st century but is also rich in the historical building blocks that created prosperity in the greater Los Angeles region.
For hundreds of years, Portuguese explorers have swept across the globe, many of them landing in California in the 1840s as whalers, ship jumpers, and Gold Rush immigrants. Gold was the lure, but land was the anchor. San Jose became home to Portuguese immigrants who overcame prejudice to contribute to the area politically, socially, and economically. They worked hard, transplanting farming, family, and festa traditions while working in orchards and dairies. Many came from the Azores Islands, 800 miles out to sea from mainland Portugal. For over 160 years, the Portuguese have enriched San Jose with colorful figures, including radio star Joaquim Esteves; jeweler and filmmaker Antonio Furtado; the charismatic and controversial Fr. Lionel Noia; educator Goretti Silveira; and community leaders Vicki and Joe Machado.
In the 1920s, San Clemente founder Ole Hanson envisioned a Spanish Village on the Pacific coast halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. His city would have streets that followed the natural contours of the land. Sunny beaches and perfect climate enticed many to settle in this charming community. Known for its hospitality and neighborly atmosphere, the city became host and home to dignitaries such as Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Pres. Richard M. Nixon. Today, professional surfers, skateboarders, and small businesses call San Clemente homethe perfect place for work and leisure.
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