Arcadia Public Library

"Over time, the land of the Mechoopda Indians, where elk herds grazed on blue-stemmed grass, became Rancho Arroyo Chico, the land chosen by California pioneer John Bidwell for his stately creekside mansion. Bidwell later founded the town of Chico with its wooden plank sidewalks and iron-front and brick commercial buildings. Today Chico is a dynamic modern city with its own California State University, a wide, tree-lined Esplanade, and--thanks to the...

"Though it has specific geographic borders, La Crescenta is politically split, straddling portions of unincorporated Los Angeles County, Glendale, and even a portion of Los Angeles itself. The Tongva Indians roamed the valley for hundreds of years until cattlemen moved in and loggers harvested the tall trees in the canyons above. Then came orchards, sanitariums, resort hotels, and, ultimately, suburban sprawl. These bucolic hills belied a penchant...

As one of the largest cities in one of the nation's most populous counties, Anaheim anchors a host of Orange County attractions, not the least of which are Disneyland, the 2002 World Champion Anaheim Angels, and the Anaheim Convention Center. But Anaheim's early history followed the hardscrabble route, with fitful years of early cityhood steered in part by hardy immigrant German vintners who, with a civic-mindedness, advanced the establishment

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"The city of La Canada Flintridge is made up of the nearly century-long communities of La Canada--once a mosaic of ranchlands honeycombed with vineyards and olive and citrus groves--and Flintridge, an affluent enclave and health resort in the early 1900s. La Canada's various neighborhoods were renamed La Canada Flintridge during the city's incorporation in 1976. Known for its excellent schools and as a gateway to the Angeles National Forest, La Canada...

"Frank Putnam Flint began accruing ranches in the San Rafael foothills of La Canada during his term as a U.S. senator (1905-1911), initially with the purchase of the Turner Ranch. Flint's dream of an enclave for Republican society ended abruptly when his brother, Motley Flint, ensnared him in an entrepreneurial endeavor that became the infamous C. C. Julian petroleum scandal. This imbroglio overshadowed Frank Flint's myriad accomplishments, and he...