Geography:

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area (after Alaska and Texas). It is home to the nation's second- and sixth-largest census statistical areas (Los Angeles Metropolitan Area and San Francisco Bay Area), and eight of the nation's 50 most populous cities (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach and Oakland). The capital city is Sacramento.

California's diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast in the west, to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east - from the Redwood-Douglas-fir forests of the northwest, to the Mojave Desert areas in the southeast. The center of the state is dominated by Central Valley, a major agricultural area. California contains both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States (Mount Whitney and Death Valley), and has the third-longest coastline of all states (after Alaska and Florida). Earthquakes are a common occurrence due to the state's location along the Pacific Ring of Fire: about 37,000 are recorded annually.

The name California once referred to a large area of North America claimed by Spain that included much of modern-day Southwestern United States and the Baja California peninsula. Beginning in the late 18th century, the area known as Alta California, comprising the California territory north of the Baja Peninsula, was colonized by the Spanish Empire as part of New Spain. In 1821, Alta California became a part of Mexico following its successful war for independence. Shortly after the beginning of the Mexican-American War in 1846, a group of American settlers in Sonoma declared an independent California Republic in Alta California. Though its existence was short-lived, its flag became the precursor for California's current state flag. American victory in the war led to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in which Mexico ceded Alta California to the United States. Western areas of Alta California became the state of California, which was admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850.

The California Gold Rush beginning in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic change, with large scale immigration from the U.S. and abroad and an accompanying economic boom. Key developments in the early 20th century included the emergence of Los Angeles as the center of the American entertainment industry, and the growth of a large, state-wide tourism sector. The late 20th century saw the development of the technology and information sectors, punctuated by the growth of Silicon Valley. In addition to California's prosperous agricultural industry, other important contributors to its economy include aerospace, education, and manufacturing. If California were a country, it would be the eighth-largest economy in the world and the 35th most populous nation.

California adjoins the Pacific Ocean to the west, Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. With an area of 160,000 square miles (414,000 km²), it is the third-largest state in the United States in size, after Alaska and Texas. If it were a country, California would be the 59th-largest in the world in area.

In the middle of the state lies the California Central Valley, bounded by the coastal mountain ranges in the west, the Sierra Nevada to the east, the Cascade Range in the north and the Tehachapi Mountains in the south. The Central Valley is California's agricultural heartland and grows approximately one-third of the nation's food.

Divided in two by the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the northern portion, the Sacramento Valley serves as the watershed of the Sacramento River, while the southern portion, the San Joaquin Valley is the watershed for the San Joaquin River; both areas derive their names from the rivers that transit them. With dredging, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin Rivers have remained sufficiently deep that several inland cities are seaports.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta serves as a critical water supply hub for the state. Water is routed through an extensive network of canals and pumps out of the delta, that traverse nearly the length of the state, including the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. Water from the Delta provides drinking water for nearly 23 million people, almost two-thirds of the state's population, and provides water to farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The Channel Islands are located off the southern coast.

The Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "snowy range") includes the highest peak in the contiguous forty-eight states, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 ft (4,421 m). The range embraces Yosemite Valley, famous for its glacially carved domes, and Sequoia National Park, home to the giant sequoia trees, the largest living organisms on Earth, and the deep freshwater lake, Lake Tahoe, the largest lake in the state by volume.

To the east of the Sierra Nevada are Owens Valley and Mono Lake, an essential migratory bird habitat. In the western part of the state is Clear Lake, the largest freshwater lake by area entirely in California. Though Lake Tahoe is larger, it is divided by the California/Nevada border. The Sierra Nevada falls to Arctic temperatures in winter and has several dozen small glaciers, including Palisade Glacier, the southernmost glacier in the United States.

About 45 percent of the state's total surface area is covered by forests, and California's diversity of pine species is unmatched by any other state. California contains more forestland than any other state except Alaska. Many of the trees in the California White Mountains are the oldest in the world; one Bristlecone pine has an age of 4,700 years.

In the south is a large inland salt lake, the Salton Sea. The south-central desert is called the Mojave; to the northeast of the Mojave lies Death Valley, which contains the lowest, hottest point in North America, Badwater Basin. The horizontal distance from the lowest point of Death Valley to the peak of Mount Whitney is less than 90 miles (140 km). Indeed, almost all of southeastern California is arid, hot desert, with routine extreme high temperatures during the summer. The southeastern border of California with Arizona is entirely formed by the Colorado River, from which the southern part of the state gets about half of its water.

Along the California coast are several major metropolitan areas, including Greater Los Angeles Area, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the San Diego metropolitan area. As part of the Ring of Fire, California is subject to tsunamis, floods, droughts, Santa Ana winds, wildfires, landslides on steep terrain, and has several volcanoes. It sees numerous earthquakes due to several faults, in particular the San Andreas Fault.

Agriculture:

California leads all of the other states in farm income. It's positioned as the agricultural powerhouse of the United States. About 73% of the state's agricultural revenues are derived from crops while the other 27% of revenues are generated by livestock commodities. In terms of revenue generated, California's top five agricultural products are dairy products, greenhouse and nursery products, grapes, almonds, and cattle and calves.

California grows over 200 different crops, some grown nowhere else in the nation. Crops include grapes, almonds, strawberries, oranges and walnuts. California produces almost all of the country's almonds, apricots, dates, figs, kiwi fruit, nectarines, olives, pistachios, prunes, and walnuts. It leads in the production of avocados, grapes, lemons, melons, peaches, plums, and strawberries. Only Florida produces more oranges. The most important vegetable crops grown in the state are lettuce and tomatoes. Again, California leads the way. Broccoli and carrots rank second followed by asparagus, cauliflower, celery, garlic, mushrooms, onions, and peppers. Only Texas grows more cotton than California. Hay, rice, corn, sugar beets, and wheat are also grown in large quantities.

Livestock and livestock products include milk, beef cattle, eggs, sheep, turkeys, hogs and horses. Dairy products are California's most valuable products followed by cattle and calves and chicken eggs. California is the second ranked producer of livestock products behind Texas.

Economy:

As of 2007, the gross state product (GSP) is about $1.812 trillion, the largest in the United States. California is responsible for 13 percent of the United States gross domestic product (GDP). As of 2006, California's GDP is larger than all but eight countries in the world (all but eleven countries by Purchasing Power Parity). In terms of jobs, the five largest sectors in California are trade, transportation, and utilities; government; professional and business services; education and health services; and leisure and hospitality. In terms of output, the five largest sectors are financial services, followed by trade, transportation, and utilities; education and health services; government; and manufacturing.

California currently has the 5th highest unemployment rate in the nation at 12.5% as of January 2010 and had continued to rise, up significantly from 5.9% in 2007. California's economy is very dependent on trade and international related commerce accounts for approximately one-quarter of the state's economy. In 2008, California exported $144 billion worth of goods, up from $134 billion in 2007 and $127 billion in 2006. Computers and electronic products are California's top export, accounting for 42 percent of all the state's exports in 2008.

Agriculture is an important sector in California's economy. Farming-related sales more than quadrupled over the past three decades, from $7.3 billion in 1974 to nearly $31 billion in 2004. This increase has occurred despite a 15 percent decline in acreage devoted to farming during the period, and water supply suffering from chronic instability. Factors contributing to the growth in sales-per-acre include more intensive use of active farmlands and technological improvements in crop production. In 2008, California's 81,500 farms and ranches generated $36.2 billion products revenue.

Per capita GDP in 2007 was $38,956, ranking eleventh in the nation. Per capita income varies widely by geographic region and profession. The Central Valley is the most impoverished, with migrant farm workers making less than minimum wage. Recently, the San Joaquin Valley was characterized as one of the most economically depressed regions in the U.S., on par with the region of Appalachia. Many coastal cities include some of the wealthiest per-capita areas in the U.S. The high-technology sectors in Northern California, specifically Silicon Valley, in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, have emerged from the economic downturn caused by the dot-com bust. In 2010, there were more than 663,000 millionaires in the state, more than any other state in the nation.

Weather:

California's climate varies from Mediterranean to subarctic. Much of the state has a Mediterranean climate, with cool, rainy winters and dry summers. The cool California Current offshore often creates summer fog near the coast. Further inland, one encounters colder winters and hotter summers.

Northern parts of the state average higher annual rainfall than the south. California's mountain ranges influence the climate as well: some of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes. Northwestern California has a temperate climate, and the Central Valley has a Mediterranean climate but with greater temperature extremes than the coast. The high mountains, including the Sierra Nevada, have a mountain climate with snow in winter and mild to moderate heat in summer.

The east side of California's mountains produce a rain shadow, creating expansive deserts. The higher elevation deserts of eastern California see hot summers and cold winters, while the low deserts east of the southern California mountains experience hot summers and nearly frost less mild winters. Death Valley, a desert with large expanses below sea level, is considered the hottest location in North America; the highest temperature in the Western Hemisphere, 134 °F (57 °C), was recorded there on July 10, 1913.

Visiting in California:

By law, everyone in a vehicle must wear a seat belt, and motorcyclists must wear a helmet. Speed limits are posted in miles-per-hour (mph). Generally, the speed limit on multi-lane freeways is 65mph. On two-lane highways it is usually 55mph. The speed limit on city streets is usually 35mph. In residential areas, near schools and in areas with heavy foot traffic, the speed limit is almost always 25mph.

Along freeways with heavy traffic, car pool lanes (or "diamond lanes") are identified by small black-and-white signs and by diamonds painted on the roadway. To drive in a car pool lane, you must usually have two people (including the driver) in the car. Some car pool lanes in the San Francisco Bay Area require three people (including the driver).

The new Wireless Communications Device Law (effective January 1, 2009) makes it an infraction to write, send, or read text-based communication on an electronic wireless communications device, such as a cell phone, while driving a motor vehicle. Drivers must also use a hands-free device when speaking on a cell phone.

Roundabouts are uncommon in California. Most intersections are either signed by traffic lights or by stop signs. Unless signed otherwise, it is legal to make a right turn on a red light after you come to a complete stop. The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) publishes an online version of its California Driver Handbook which thoroughly explains California road rules.

California is a year-round travel destination, with weather that will please everyone from snowbirds to sun worshippers. The best time to visit really comes down to what you want to do and what you want to see.

Most people visit California between mid-June and August. It's summertime! Summer in California is undeniably delicious, but there are some things to consider: The state's top attractions and parks can be very crowded with visitors paying top dollar for lodging and waiting in long lines for popular sites. That said, it's never hard to hop off the beaten path and have forests, fields and even beaches all to yourself. If you're planning on visiting the Sierra Nevada high country, you have no choice but to wait until summer: roads above 8000ft (2450m) are often closed until late June or early July.

Spring (March through early May) is a marvelous time to visit California. Although it can still be cold at higher elevations, temperatures are comfortable throughout much of the state. The hillsides are green, the air is fresh, and wildflowers are blooming. During these months, you'll also encounter shorter lines and better deals: Many of the state's top tourist attractions are still operating at a slower pace, and hotels often charge low-season rates until June. California's desert areas are much more pleasant during spring than they are during the scorching heat of summer.

Fall (September through November) is another good time to beat the crowds, and it can be an especially beautiful time to see Northern California and the state's wine regions. San Francisco, often shrouded in fog all summer long, sees some of its sunniest days during its "Indian Summer," which generally lasts from September through October.

If you plan to ski, visit between December and February, when the Sierra Nevada almost always has snow. It's not uncommon for ski resorts to open by late October, but the snow is rarely as good as it will be later in the season. Lift lines are mobbed between mid December and the first week of January, when everyone hits the slopes during their holiday break.

• Agoura Hills, California:

  Agoura Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, and has the ZIP code 91301. The population was 20,330 at the 2010 census, down from 20,537 at the 2000 census. It is located in the eastern Conejo Valley between the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains. This city on the Ventura Freeway (U.S. Route 101) straddles the border between the county of Los Angeles to the east, west and south and Ventura County to the north. It is approximately 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Downtown Los Angeles and less than 10 miles (16 km) west of the Los Angeles City limits (Woodland Hills). Agoura Hills and unincorporated Agoura are also situated next to Calabasas, Malibu, Oak Park, and Westlake Village.

  The area was first settled by the Chumash Native Americans around 10,000 years before present. As the Alta California (Upper California) coast was settled by Spanish Franciscan missionaries in the late 18th century, the El Camino Real (the Royal Road or King's Highway), a road from Loreto, Baja California, Mexico to Sonoma, California, and connecting the Spanish missions in California, was established through the heart of what would later be known as Agoura Hills.

  In about 1800, Miguel Ortega was granted a Spanish grazing concession called Rancho Las Virgenes or El Rancho de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Las Virgenes. The grant was abandoned after Ortega's death in 1810, and José Maria Dominguez was given Rancho Las Virgenes as a Mexican land grant in 1834. Maria Antonia Machado de Reyes purchased the rancho from Dominguez in 1845. The "Reyes Adobe" ranch headquarters can still be found today in a museum along Reyes Adobe Rd. in central Agoura Hills. The historic Reyes Adobe Museum, owned by the Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department, was built in the mid-first decade of the 21st century around the site of the old adobe.

  By 1900, Agoura Hills was being used as a popular stage stop for travelers along the Camino Real because of its natural spring at the foothills of Ladyface Mountain, one of Agoura Hills' defining geographic features.

  In the 1920s, the community was briefly known as Picture City, as Paramount Pictures owned a ranch in the area used for filming Westerns. To obtain a post office of its own the residents were required to choose a one word name, and in 1927 chose a misspelling of the last name of Pierre Agoure, a local Basque man and French immigrant who had settled in the area in 1871 to live the lifestyle of the Mexican rancher and styled himself Don Pierre Agoure, accordingly. Agoure was a successful sheep herder and had a reputation as a swashbuckler. His name was chosen for the post office as it was the shortest name proposed.

  Rapid growth occurred in the Agoura Hills area starting in the late 1960s, in the wake of the construction of the Ventura Freeway section of U.S. Route 101 through the city's heart, an action that isolated the northern half of the city from the south. The first housing tracts started in Agoura were Hillrise, Liberty Canyon and Lake Lindero. Growth continued at a rapid pace during the 1970s. Schools were built and much of downtown was erected.

  In 1978, residents of the Agoura Hills area banded together to lobby Sacramento to widen the Kanan Bridge. Legislation was introduced and passed requiring the State Department of Transportation to award contracts for widening of the Kanan Road bridge overpass, over the Ventura Freeway, from two lanes to four lanes.

  In 1982, the residents of the City of Agoura Hills voted in favor of cityhood by a 68% majority. Agoura Hills became the 83rd City in Los Angeles County. Elected to the first City Council were Mayor Fran Pavley, Mayor Pro Tem Carol Sahm, Councilmembers Ernest Dynda, John Hood and Vicky Leary. Incorporating a year after neighboring Westlake Village, the drive for cityhood in the region was largely based on public discontent with the county's failure to limit residential development of the area, motives that influenced Malibu and Calabasas to follow suit in 1991.

  The 1980s was a period of tremendous growth, with large land areas being subdivided into housing tracts and a great wave of migration of people into the city. In the 1990s numerous businesses also set up shop in the city, and the downtown area was filled with shops and restaurants.

  In 1996, however, the murder of Jimmy Farris (the infamous Brandon Hein case) shook the city and awakened it to a rising drug problem and petty theft crime wave among its young. As a result, the city began sponsoring live music competitions and concerts in local parks.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.2 square miles (21 km²). 8.2 square miles (21 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) of it (0.37%) is water.

  Agoura Hills has a mountain called Ballard Mountain named after pioneer settler and freed slave John Ballard. The name of the mountain was officially changed from Negrohead to Ballard in a ceremony on February 20, 2010.

  Agoura Hills is called the "Gateway to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area". The city is unofficially divided into a number of varied districts centered on the modern Downtown area of the city. The most notable of these districts include Downtown, Forest Cove, South End, Malibu Junction, East Agoura, and Old Agoura.

  Natural areas of Agoura Hills are part of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion and are covered by hundreds of local plant species, some of which are very rare, and others of which have become popular ornamentals. The range is host to an immense variety of wildlife, from mountain lions to the endangered steelhead. The Mountain lion population within the Santa Monica Mountains (which includes the Simi Hills & Santa Susana Pass) is severely depleted with only seven known living adult individuals. The primary cause of the decline is due to a combination of traffic related mortality (three from the area were killed within a matter of months,) anti-coagulants ingested from human poisoned prey (two individuals within the Simi Hills) and attacks by other, more dominant mountain lions (an elder male, known as P1, killed both his son and his mate, this is though to be due to a lack of space available.) Snakes are common but only occasionally seen- the Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (the only venomous species), Mountain Kingsnake, California Kingsnake, Gopher snake, and Garter snake. The mountains are also home to the Western fence lizard.

  In 2010, the Los Angeles Times reported that the New Zealand mud snail had infested watersheds in the Santa Monica Mountains, posing serious threats to native species and complicating efforts to improve stream-water quality for the endangered steelhead trout. According to the article, the snails have expanded "from the first confirmed sample in Medea Creek in Agoura Hills to nearly 30 other stream sites in four years." Researchers at the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission believe that the snails' expansion may have been expedited after the mollusks traveled from stream to stream on the gear of contractors and volunteers.

  Agoura Hills is known regionally for its live music scene and originality in the nu metal scene, a fame that has given rise to such acts as Linkin Park, Incubus, Hoobastank, Dead By Sunrise, and Fort Minor.

  This music scene was born amid the coming of age of the children of the first wave of migration into Agoura Hills, those that settled in the 1960s. The 1980s was the first boom in the music scene, but by the late 1980s, as many of these original rockers moved off to college or aged, the scene quietly began to slip away.

  However, in the mid-1990s the music scene began to take off again, energized by the coming of age of the children of those who had settled in the early 1980s. The 1996 Jimmy Farris murder case (popularized by defendant Brandon Hein) spurred many city leaders to action in promoting the arts among teenagers, hoping to ward off a rising crime wave. This patronage helped re-popularize live music among teenagers, and created the fertile ground that led to the take off of Linkin Park and Hoobastank.

  However, by the first decade of the 21st century, much of this wave of teenagers had aged or gone to college, leaving the scene with only a shell of the energy it once had. Although the scene lives on, pushed forward by various Battle of the Bands competitions and garage concerts, the lack of a third major wave of migration to Agoura Hills (construction having been relatively maxed out in the second migration) makes a major renaissance seem doubtful as of early 2007. Demographic data suggests a possible resurgence within the coming years, but current data shows that the majority of young people in the city are in the 10 to 14 years old age group, leaving a comeback to some years in the future. With mean house prices in Agoura at $1.03 million, families with younger children (age 0-9) are probably not expected for a generation.

  As a result of this decline, it has become equally common to hear alt-rock blaring from stereos in Agoura as to hear reggaeton, a fact evidenced by radio station Latino 96.3's advertising campaign and runaway popularity in Agoura Hills.

  Agoura Hills is home to The Canyon Club, a highly regarded concert venue that hosts national and regional touring acts such as Peter Frampton, Pat Benetar, Cyndi Lauper, REO Speedwagon, X, Steel Pulse, The New Cars, Asia, Boyz II Men, Alan Parsons, and The Smithereens.

  There are 14,899 people at least 16 years old, of which 10,645 are in the Civilian Labor Group and 11 are in the Armed Forces. 360 are unemployed.

  Of 7,660 females that are at least 16 years old, 4,865 are in the Civilian Labor Group and 0 are in the Armed Forces. 4,715 are employed, and 150 are unemployed.

  Of 10,166 out of the 10,285 workers 16 years or older, 8,454 drive to work alone in a motor vehicle, 793 carpool, 90 use public transportation (including taxicabs), 76 walk, and 82 use other means of transportation to commute to work. 671 workers work at home.

  The mean time to commute to work (one-way) is 30.5 minutes.

  Of the 10,285 workers, 7,900 are privately employed, 1,124 are government workers, 1,211 are self-employed, and 50 are unpaid family workers.

  Gaming company NovaLogic has their headquarters in Agoura Hills.

  Agoura Hills is governed by a City Council/City Manager form of government. A five-member City Council is elected by the residents to oversee city operations and guide the development of the community. Councilmembers are elected to four-year terms. The terms are staggered so that a measure of continuity is maintained from one Council to the next. The role of Mayor rotates among the Councilmembers. The Mayor is chosen by the City Councilmembers to serve a one-year term. The City Manager is appointed by the City Council to supervise the administrative personnel and contract services. As of August 2010, the Agoura Hills City Council consists of William D. Koehler (Mayor), Harry Schwarz (Mayor Pro Tem) and councilmembers John M. Edelston, Dan Kuperberg and Denis Weber. The City Manager is Greg Ramirez and the city attorney is Craig Steele.

  In the state legislature Agoura Hills is located in the 23rd Senate District, represented by Democrat Fran Pavley, and in the 41st Assembly District, represented by Democrat Julia Brownley. Federally, Agoura Hills is located in California's 30th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +20 and is represented by Democrat Henry Waxman.

  In the 2004 presidential election John Kerry won 52% of the vote, whereas George W. Bush won 46% of the vote. In the 2006 state governor election, Arnold Schwarzenegger got just over 62% of the vote, while Democratic opponent Phil Angelides got over 34%.

  The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Malibu/Lost Hills Station in Calabasas, serving Agoura Hills.

  The United States Postal Service Agoura Hills Post Office is located at 5158 Clareton Drive.

  The Las Virgenes Unified School District serves Agoura Hills.

• Alameda, California:

  Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island (also known as Harbor Bay) portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 73,812. Alameda is a charter city, rather than a general law city, meaning that the city can provide for any form of government. Alameda became a charter city and adopted a council-manager government in 1916, which it retains to the present.

  The island that Alameda occupies was originally a peninsula connected to Oakland. Much of the peninsula was low-lying and marshy, but on higher ground the peninsula and adjacent parts of what is now downtown Oakland were home to one of the largest coastal oak forests in the world. The area was therefore called Encinal, Spanish for "oak grove". Alameda is Spanish for "grove of poplar trees" or "tree-lined avenue", and was chosen in 1853 by popular vote.

  The inhabitants at the time of the arrival of the Spanish in the late 18th Century were a local band of the Ohlone tribe. The peninsula became part of the vast Rancho San Antonio granted to Luis Peralta by the Spanish king who claimed California. The grant was later confirmed by the new Republic of Mexico upon its independence from Spain.

  Over time, the place became known as Bolsa de Encinal or Encinal de San Antonio.

  The city was founded on June 6, 1853, and originally three small settlements were located in the town. "Alameda" referred to the village at Encinal and High Streets, Hibbardsville was at the North Shore ferry and shipping terminal, and Woodstock was on the west near the ferry piers of the South Pacific Coast Railroad and the Central Pacific. Eventually, the Central Pacific's ferry pier became the Alameda Mole, featuring transit connections between San Francisco ferries and local trollies, Key System buses, and Southern Pacific (formerly Central Pacific) commuter lines.

  The first post office opened in 1854. The San Francisco and Alameda Railroad opened the Encinal station in 1864. The Encinal area was also known as Fasskings Station in honor of Frederick Louis Fassking. Encinal's own post office opened in 1876, was renamed West End in 1877, and closed in 1891. The West End area was originally called Bowman's Point in honor of Charles G. Bowman, an early settler.

  The Alameda Terminal was the site of the arrival of the first train via the First Transcontinental Railroad into the San Francisco Bay Area on September 6, 1869. The transcontinental terminus was switched to the Oakland Mole two months later, on November 8, 1869.

  The borders of Alameda were made co-extensive with the island in 1872, incorporating Woodstock into Alameda.

  In 1917, an attraction called Neptune Beach was built in the area now known as Crab Cove. Often compared to Coney Island, the park was a major attraction in the 1920s and 1930s. The original owners of the facility, the Strehlow family, partnered with a local confectioner to create tastes unique to Neptune Beach. It is not widely known that both the American snow cone and the popsicle were first sold at Neptune Beach. The Kewpie doll, handpainted and dressed in unique hand-sewn dresses, became the original prize for winning games at the beach – another Neptune Beach invention. The Strehlows owned and operated the beach on their own, even filling in a section of the bay to add an additional Olympic-size swimming pool and an exceptional roller coaster which must have given riders a tremendous view of the bay. The Cottage Baths were available for rent.

  Neptune Beach's two huge outdoor pools hosted swimming races and exhibitions by famous swimmers such as Olympian Johnny Weismuller, who later starred as the original Tarzan, and Jack LaLanne, who started a chain of health clubs. The park closed down in 1939 because of the Great Depression, the completion of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge, people circumventing paying the admission price and in general, the rise of car culture. Once the Bay Bridge was complete, the rail lines, which ran right past the entrance to Neptune Beach on the way to the Alameda Mole and the Ferry, lost riders in droves. People began using their cars to escape the city and the immediate suburbs like Alameda and traveling further afield in California. Alameda lost its resort status as more distant locations became more attractive to cash-rich San Francisco tourists. Youngsters in town became aware of ways to avoid paying the dime for admission to the park. Strong swimmers or even waders could sneak in on the bay side, just by swimming around the fence.

  Some of the resort homes and buildings from the Neptune beach era still exist in present-day Alameda. The Croll Building, on the corner of Webster Street and Central Avenue, was the site of Croll's Gardens and Hotel, famous as training quarters for the some of the greatest fighters in boxing history from 1883 to 1914. James J. Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, Jim Jefferies, Jack Johnson, and many other champions all stayed and trained here. Today this beautiful preserved building is home to Croll's Pizza and the New Zealander Restaurant. Neptune Court, just a block away on the corner of Central Ave. and McKay Ave., provides another glimpse of what resort life was like in Alameda in the 1920s. A short walk near Crab Cove will reveal many more historic gems.

  The vast majority of the Neptune Beach structures – the hand-carved carousel from the world-famed Dentzel Company, the Ferris wheel, the roller coaster, and other rides – were auctioned off in 1940 for mere pennies on the dollar of their original cost. Today, Alameda resident Michael Schiess seeks to preserve some of the historic artifacts from the Neptune Beach era at the Neptune Beach Amusement Museum. A consequence of the Neptune Beach closing around 1940 was a total dearth of quality, clean swimming facilities in town. A grass roots effort to create swimming pools at two high schools and two city parks would continue into the early 1960s.

  When the railroad came to town in the 1860s Park Street developed into the major thoroughfare of the city and the location of the main Alameda train station, residents of Old Alameda pulled up stakes and moved across town to the new downtown. The street's location was chosen by two landowners who wished to attract tenants and development to their land. As a result they designated their mutual property line as Park Street.

  The need for expanded shipping facilities led to the dredging of a canal through the marshland between Oakland and Alameda in 1902, turning Alameda into an island. Most of the soil from the canal was used to fill in nearby marshland. The area of Alameda called Bay Farm Island is no longer an island, but is attached by fill to Oakland. In his youth, author Jack London was known to take part in oyster pirating in the highly productive oyster beds near Bay Farm Island, today long gone. The Alameda Works Shipyard was one of the largest and best equipped shipyards in the country. In the 1950s, Alameda's industrial and ship building industries thrived along the estuary, where the world's first-ever, land-based, containerized shipping crane was used. Today, the Port of Oakland across the estuary serves as one of the largest ports on the West Coast, using the shipping technologies originally experimented with in Alameda. As of March 21, 2006, Alameda is a "Coast Guard City," one of seven in the country.

  In addition to the regular trains running to the Alameda Mole, Alameda was also served by local steam commuter lines of the Southern Pacific (initially, the Central Pacific) which were later transformed into the East Bay Electric Lines. Southern Pacific's electrified trains were not streetcars, but full-sized railroad cars which connected to the mainland by bridges at Webster Street and Fruitvale (only the latter bridge survives today). The trains ran to both the Oakland Mole and the Alameda Mole. In fact, one line which ran between the two moles was dubbed the "Horseshoe Line" for the shape of the route on a map. Soon after the completion of the Bay Bridge, Alameda trains ran directly to San Francisco on the lower deck of the bridge, the ferries having been rendered unnecessary. Alameda was the site of the Southern Pacific's West Alameda Shops where all the electric trains were maintained and repaired.

  In the 1930s Pan American Airways established a seaplane port along the fill that led to the Alameda Mole. This was the original home base for the famous China Clipper flying boat. In 1929, the University of California established the San Francisco Airdrome located near the current Webster Street tube as a public airport. The Bay Airdrome had its gala christening party in 1930. The airfield was a busy place, as an early home base for Coastal Air Freight, Varney Air Lines, West Coast Air Transport, Western Air Express, the transbay Air Ferries, and Boeing's Pacific Air Transport. The Airdrome was closed in 1941 when its air traffic interfered with the newly built Naval Air Station. With the advent of World War II, a vast stretch of the marshy area southwest of the Alameda Mole was filled and the Naval Air Station Alameda established. This major Naval facility included a large airfield, as well as docks for several aircraft carriers. It closed in 1997.

  In the late 1950s the Utah Construction Company began a land fill beyond the Old Sea Wall and created South Shore.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 23.0 square miles (60 km²), of which, 10.6 square miles (27 km²) of it is land and 12.3 square miles (32 km²) (53.79%) is water.

  Although Alameda's nickname is "The Island City" (or simply "the island"), the current city occupies two islands as well as a small section of the mainland. Today, the city consists of the main original section, with the former Naval Air Station (NAS) at the west end of Alameda Island, "Southshore" along the southern side of Alameda Island, and Bay Farm Island, which is part of the mainland proper. The area of the former NAS is now known as "Alameda Point." The Southshore area is separated from the main part of Alameda Island by a lagoon; the north shore of the lagoon is located approximately where the original south shore of the island was. Alameda Point and Southshore are built on bay fill.

  Not all of Alameda Island is part of the City of Alameda. Although nearly all of the island is in Alameda city limits, a small portion of a dump site west of the former runways at Alameda Point pokes out far enough into San Francisco Bay that it is over the county line and part of the City and County of San Francisco.

  Coast Guard Island which is a small island between Alameda Island and Oakland is also part of Alameda and is the home of Integrated Support Command Alameda.

  Vehicle access to Alameda Island is via three bridges from Oakland (Park Street, Fruitvale Avenue, and High Street Bridges), as well as the two one-way Posey and Webster Street Tubes leading into Oakland's Chinatown. Connections from Alameda to Bay Farm Island is provided via the Bay Farm Island Bridge for vehicular traffic as well as the Bay Farm Island Bicycle Bridge (the only pedestrian/bicycle-only drawbridge in the United States). California State Route 61 runs down city streets from the Posey and Webster Street Tubes, across the Bay Farm Island Bridge, and south to the Oakland Airport.

  Public transportation includes the AC Transit buses (which include express buses to San Francisco) and two ferry services — the Alameda/Oakland Ferry and the Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry. Both ferry services may soon be transferred to the Water Transit Authority. The island is also close to the BART train service, with the closest stations being Lake Merritt, near the exit to the Posey Tube, and Fruitvale, near the Fruitvale Bridge.

  Even though the island is just minutes off Interstate 880 in Oakland, the speed limit for the city is 25 mph (40 km/h) on almost every road. Many unaware drivers fail to slow down after exiting the highway. Groups like Pedestrian Friendly Alameda and BikeAlameda advocate stronger enforcement of speeding laws.

  Alameda has also featured prominently on automotive blog Jalopnik, with their "Down on The Street" segment consisting of cars found on the streets of Alameda. Jalopnik has nicknamed it "The Island That Rust Forgot".

  Due to its proximity to the Bay, wind surfers and kite surfers can often be seen along Crown Memorial State Beach and Shoreline Drive. From the beach there are also views of the San Francisco skyline and the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge.

  One of the recent attractions is the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, a museum ship now moored at the former Naval Air Station as the USS Hornet Museum. This ship was originally named the USS Kearsarge, but was renamed in honor of the previous Hornet CV-8 (famous for the Doolittle raid), which was lost in October 1942.

  Alameda is known for its Victorian houses; 9% of all single-family houses (1500) in Alameda are Victorian, and many more have been divided into two to four-unit dwellings. It is said that Alameda has more pre-1906 earthquake era homes than any other city in the Bay Area.

  Alameda is home to the official offices and training facility of the Oakland Raiders American football team, which is located on Bay Farm Island. The facility is also home to The Raider Image, the merchandise arm of the franchise, which the public can visit.

  At the turn of the 19th century, the city of Alameda took a large chunk of Charles Froling's land away to build a street. Froling had planned to build his dream house on the plot of land he received through inheritance. To spite the city and an unsympathetic neighbor, Froling built a house 10 feet (3.0 m) wide, 54 feet (16 m) long and 20 feet (6.1 m) high on the tiny strip of land left to him. The Froling spite house is still standing and occupied.

  Alameda is also known for its Fourth of July parade, which is advertised as the second oldest and second longest Fourth of July parade in the United States. It features homemade floats, classic cars, motorized living room furniture, fire-breathing dragons, marching bands, and large crowds. The parade route is about 3 miles (5 km) long.

  The Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS) was decommissioned in 1997, and now is in process of being turned over to the City of Alameda for civilian development. The area of the former NAS is now known as Alameda Point. Portions of this area are now in commercial use, but the transfer process has been slowed down by disputes between the Navy and the city regarding payment for environmental cleanup of the land. In late July 2006, the City of Alameda announced a deal with the Navy that would turn the land over to the city for $108M. The preliminary development concept calls for 1700 housing units to be developed at Alameda Point.

  In September 2006, the developer, Alameda Point Community Partners, withdrew from development of Alameda Point. In May 2007, the City selected the SunCal Companies as the Master Developer of Alameda Point and, in July 2007, the parties were negotiating terms for a development agreement. In August 2010, the Alameda City Council voted unanimously to deny SunCal's development proposal for Alameda Point. Many reasons were cited in the staff report including a developer-initiated ballot measure that was defeated in February 2010 by a margin of 85%.

  After two previous failures, voters in the city passed a ballot measure in 2000 authorizing a bond measure for construction of a new library to replace the city's Carnegie library, damaged during the Loma Prieta earthquake. The city also received state funds for the new library and opened the doors to the new facility in November 2006.

  Celera, UTStarcom and BioTime are among the companies based in Alameda.

  The 33rd America's Cup Race was won by Golden Gate Yacht Club racing team BMW Oracle, founded by Larry Ellison. One possible use of the air station would be an alternate or partnered site with San Francisco for 34th America's Cup. Within 2 weeks of the Golden Gate Yacht Club winning the America's Cup, Alameda city council with local support sent a unanimous letter of support to hold AC 34 in San Francisco Bay Area.

  Rosenblum Cellars Winery and St. George Spirits are located at Alameda Point. In 1978, Alameda veterinarian Dr. Kent Rosenblum and his wife Kathy founded Rosenblum Cellars. In 2008, the company was purchased by Diageo Estates.

  In December, 2007, St. George Absinthe Verte, produced by St. George Spirits became the first brand of American-made absinthe to be legally produced in the United States since a ban was enacted in 1912.

  City officials continue to seek ways to spur economic development on the island, including the restoration of the historic Art Deco city landmark Alameda Theatre. The theater restoration project included a multiplex to make the project financially feasible and a parking structure to accommodate patrons of the theater and avoid excessive impact on parking in the Park Street area. Following some setbacks during construction the public opening was May 21, 2008, with a gala event.

  The South Shore Mall Twin Cinema opened in 1969 and served as a prominent theater on the island until its closure in 1998. In 2002, the building was demolished and its former site is now a parking lot.

  Alameda also had one other operating movie theater, Central Cinema. The theater opened in December 2004 and closed in June 2008. It was a 42-seat house at 842 Central Avenue (near the western end of Webster Street). The building had previously been both a community center and a mortuary, and the operator of the movie theater was able to use a quirk of the site zoning to legally operate a movie theater. The theatre had only one screen, but featured couches and armchairs for seating.

  Alameda's first newspaper, the Encinal, appeared in the early 1850s and the paper's editor was instrumental in the movement to incorporate the city. Following the Encinal, several other papers appeared along geographic lines, and the Daily Argus eventually rose to prominence. A young Alameda native, Joseph R. Knowland, wrote political and historical articles for the Alameda papers. Later, Knowland owned the powerful Oakland Tribune. Around 1900, the Daily Argus began to fade in importance and east and west papers The Times and The Star combined to take the leading role as the Alameda Times-Star in the 1930s. The Times-Star was sold to the Alameda Newspaper Group in the 1970s.

  In 1997, the Hills Newspaper chain was bought by Knight Ridder, at the time, the second-largest newspaper chain in the U.S. Following the buyout, former Hills Newspapers employees recognized the lack of a local community voice in Alameda, and again formed a new locally-based newspaper, the Alameda Sun, in 2001. In 2006, Knight Ridder announced its impending sale to McClatchy Corp., a Sacramento-based publishing firm. McClatchy Corp. has put the Contra Costa Times, which under the Knight Ridder reorganization included all five of the original Hills Newspapers, up for sale. The current owners of the Alameda Times-Star, MediaNews, Inc., based in Colorado, have announced a strong interest in buying both the Contra Costa Times chain and the San Jose Mercury News, consolidating the daily newspaper market of the East Bay, effectively under one owner.

  The Alameda community is currently served by two weekly newspapers, the Alameda Journal, owned by the MediaNews Group, and the Alameda Sun.

  Unlike surrounding communities, Alameda has a municipal power service, Alameda Municipal Power (AMP), that delivers services directly to consumers. AMP sold the majority of its telecommunications business to Comcast in 2008 but continues to provide telecommunication service at Alameda Point.

  During the California electricity crisis of 2000 and 2001, Alameda Municipal Power did not raise electricity rates, while residents in most of the state endured significant price increases.

  The Alameda Arts Council (AAC) serves as the local Alameda City arts council.

  The Alameda Museum, on Alameda Avenue near Park Street, features displays on the history of Alameda. There is also an active monthly lecture series on topics of local interest.

  Alameda Women Artists holds yearly shows at the Alameda Museum and has many active artists exhibiting around the Island City.

  Rhythmix Cultural Works, founded by Janet Koike, is located on Blanding Avenue. It is a combination live/work studio, gallery, and performance space and has hosted events from musical and theatrical productions to religious services and birthday parties. According to Rhythmix' web site, "Rhythmix Cultural Works (RCW) opened its doors (on June 2), 2007. The 501(c) (3) was established in 1999 as the umbrella for RhythMix world music ensemble and RCW cultural exchange programs. From 1999-2002, RCW coordinated six successful cultural exchange trips to Cuba and Japan. During this same period, the RhythMix ensemble (now Maze Daiko) reached thousands of children through San Francisco Symphony Adventures in Music, Young Audiences and Bread & Roses programs. Inspired by these experiences, Artistic Director-Janet Koike, spent five years renovating an industrial space in Alameda to provide a home for RCW..."

  The Frank Bette Center for the Arts defines its mission as "... a place for meetings, readings, showings, and other creative doings," based on the late artist/poet Frank Bette's intention to have his home become an art center after his death. The FBCA offers classes, poetry reading events, and a rotating "Endless Call for Art" that encourages creatives of many disciplines to display and market their work. Events and classes include figure drawing, watercolor, beading, photography, Artist Trading Card swaps, poetry for teens, poetry readings and slams, and more. The FBCA is home to an annual "Plein Air Paint-Out" hosting plein-air artists from all over the world, who are invited to paint outdoors in Alameda's amazing range of light and temperate climate. The FBCA is also home to the West Coast's only regularly scheduled Body Art Jam. Professional and amateur body artists - including body painters and henna artists - from all over the San Francisco Bay Area come to practice and share knowledge at these jams, held the 2nd Wednesday monthly.

  The Alameda Art Association has about 80 members as of January 2011, and has a gallery space at South Shore Center mall. The Association began in 1944.

  Bridgehead Studios, located on Blanding Avenue, hosts the monthly Estuary Art Attack gallery crawl on the second Friday of every month. Helmed by photographer Chuck diGuida, Bridghead Studios is housed in a repurposed propellor factory. The facility is divided into small and large studio spaces used by photographers, artists, fashion designers, and at one time, a shark-diving expedition company.

  The annual benefit, Circus for Arts in the Schools, is held at Kofman Auditorium on Central Avenue. The brain child of acclaimed clown Jeff Raz, this circus is a professional-level display of humor, silliness, skilled movement, and acrobatics that has delighted audiences since its first performance in April 2004. The Circus has raised thousands of dollars to bring teaching artists into classrooms in the Alameda Unified School District.

  Pacific Pinball Museum is a nonprofit center on Webster Street, dedicated to teaching about the art, science, and joy of pinball.

  Alameda has been home to many movie sets. Some of the movies filmed on the island have included Bicentennial Man, The Net, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix: Revolutions, Bee Season, the original 1968 Your, Mine and Ours and the movie musical Rent. Parts of Alameda High School were animated for the Animatrix episode "Kid's Story". A massive hangar at the former Naval Air Station Alameda was used to film special scenes requiring computer-generated imagery for movies such as Bicentennial Man, Flubber, What Dreams May Come, Mission: Impossible II and many scenes from the Matrix trilogy, including the signature bullet time scene. The open space of the decommissioned naval base often hosts MythBusters' more dangerous experiments.

  Photo-realist Robert Bechtle has painted numerous Alameda subjects, including "Alameda Gran Torino," which was acquired by SFMOMA in 1974 and remains one of Bechtle's most famous works.

  Alameda was briefly the home of Robert Louis Stevenson. Benjamin Reed's novel The Bow Tie Gang takes place almost entirely in Alameda circa 1961.

  The Alameda Civic Light Opera, which performed Broadway-style musical productions was founded in 1996. It closed in 2010.

  The Altarena Playhouse, which performs comedies, dramas and musicals, was founded in 1938 and is the longest continuously operating community theatre in the San Francisco Bay Area.

  Dance Arts Project was founded by noted instructor and choreographer Michaela Lynch and has offered classes and performance opportunities for Alameda's children for 20 years. Still under the direction of Ms. Lynch, Dance Arts Project has become a fixture in the community and the premier locality for performance arts training in Alameda. In 1992, Miss Michaela Lynch debuted Dance Arts Project at Harbor Bay Club in Alameda. In that first year, the school had one teacher and an enrollment of 50 dancers. With those 50 students, in July 1993, Dance Arts Project had its grand opening on Chestnut Street, where it still operates today. Dance Arts Project has always offered ballet, children’s creative movement and modern dance. Recently, the school added classes in ballroom dance. In 2002, Dance Arts Project expanded its facility to include a second studio, Deux. Today, Dance Arts Project has six teachers working with hundreds of dancers every day, inspiring and encouraging self-esteem, creativity and the love of dance.

  Webster Street in Alameda has long been the host of many arts, crafts and holiday festivals. During these festivals the city of Alameda will block of a portion of Webster St. for the entertainment of festival goers. Festivals such as the Peanut Butter Jam Festival brings a lot of local and outside visitors to Alameda to enjoy the fun, food and games.

  Spring Fling is in April. Park street Art & Wine fair that is the end of every July.

  Like almost all cities in California, the municipal government and the school administration are two separate entities. The Alameda Unified School District has the same boundaries as the City of Alameda, but has a separately elected board to oversee its operations, and its funding comes directly from the county and state governments without oversight by the city council. The AUSD educates approximately 10,000 students each year, in eight elementary schools, three middle schools, two traditional high schools, three alternative learning schools including ACLC, one continuation school - Island High, and one high school within the College of Alameda. The Elementary Schools include Bay Farm Elementary, Earhart Elementary, Edison Elementary, Haight Elementary, Lum Elementary, Otis Elementary, Paden Elementary, Ruby Bridges Elementary, and Washington Elementary. The Middle Schools are Lincoln Middle, Wood Middle, and Chipman Middle(Now Academy of Alameda, AOA.) Most high school students attend Encinal High or Alameda High. The district also operates an Adult School and a Child Development Center. Two elementary schools were closed at the end of the 2005–2006 school year. However, a new elementary school, Ruby Bridges, opened for the 2006–2007 school year.

• Alamo, California:

  Alamo is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, in the United States. It is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,750.

  Alamo was named by the Spanish in 1850 for the poplar trees that lined San Ramon Creek.

  As an unincorporated community, Alamo does not have a government of its own. Police services are provided by the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff. Fire and EMS services are provided by the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District.

  In August, 2007, a group of citizens launched a new initiative to incorporate the community, the latest in a series of attempts that go back to the early 1960s or before. Previous failed Alamo incorporation efforts always included parts of other nearby unincorporated areas: Alamo-Danville (1964) and Alamo-Danville-San Ramon (1976).

  The latest Alamo incorporation came to a vote on March 3, 2009 when the measure was defeated.

  In 1985, Alamo almost had a chance to vote on its own incorporation, but Contra Costa County turned down the effort. Alamo has never had an opportunity to vote on incorporation by itself.

  People have lived in this area for over 5,000 years. The Tatcan Indians, a Bay Miwok tribe closely connected to the Saclans of Walnut Creek, lived in Alamo in the eighteenth century.

  After Mission San José was founded in 1797, its grazing area stretched throughout the San Ramon Valley. The Mexican land grant Rancho San Ramon was deeded to Mariano Castro and his uncle Bartolo Pacheco in 1833. It covered today's Danville and Alamo. Castro owned the northern half, which included Alamo.

  In 1843 much of the Alamo, Las Trampas and Tice Valley areas were granted to brothers Inocencio and Jose Romero. It was called Rancho El Sobrante de San Ramon. Because of missing title papers, the brothers lost their ranch in American courts in 1857.

  Pioneers Mary Ann and John Jones traveled through Alamo in 1847. she provided the earliest English description of the area in her diary. Her husband stopped the wagon saying, "Mary, look! Did you ever see anything so beautiful?" She wrote later: On every side, the valley and surrounding hills were covered with thick, velvety clover, and with wild oats standing waist high waving and rippling in the summer breeze, like the bosom of a lake.

  The Jones family returned to Alamo in 1851, after California had become a state. John became the first postmaster in 1852 and she applied her considerable energies to schooling children and beginning a Cumberland Presbyterian church. Other early Alamo founders included David Glass, George Engelmeyer, Silas and Susanna Stone, Captain Wall, Joshua Bollinger, and James Foster.

  The area was named Alamo, which means "poplar" or "cottonwood" in Spanish. Because of its location and fine weather, Alamo grew quickly. An early road from the redwoods near Moraga ran through Tice Valley to Alamo, since Americans preferred redwood for building materials instead of Mexican adobe brick.

  The Hemme, Bollinger, Jones and Stone ranches began by grazing cattle and raising wheat and other grains. In 1891 the Hemme train station was placed near today's Hemme Avenue; later it was re-named the Alamo station.

  Eventually orchards and vineyards spread across the area. Almonds, walnuts, pears, grapes and other fruit thrived in the mild climate. In 1873, Alamo pioneer Myron Hall grafted Persian cuttings to native walnut trees and helped start the prosperous walnut industry in Contra Costa County. This "mother tree" was tended for over 100 years.

  The Alamo post office is the oldest continuously operated one in the valley. It was always an important community gathering place. According to longtime postmaster Bertha Linhares, when the mail was expected the men sat in the post office-store in the winter … the women went into our sitting room and visited with my mother … We always heard all the news and troubles of the Alamo residents.

  Her father, brother and sister were also postmasters from 1905 to 1960.

  On September 5, 2008, a 4.0 earthquake occurred in the area of Round Hill North.

  During World War II, an Alamo air watch tower was built by the community. Volunteers watched for Japanese war planes round the clock from 1942 to 1945. San Ramon Valley's population totaled 2,126 at that time.

  The Alamo Improvement Association (AIA) began in 1953. For 50 years its purpose has been to advance and improve the welfare of properties in Alamo and to preserve the established character of Alamo as an agricultural and semi-rural residential area.

  After the war, hundreds and then thousands of new people arrived. Round Hill Country Club opened in 1960 on land that had belonged to the Mott sisters and Grover Squire. In 1964, Interstate 680 was completed through San Ramon Valley, which encouraged even more growth.

  Rapid valley growth fueled controversies. In the mid-'60s, one controversy focused on the philosophy of a new, visionary superintendent of the San Ramon Unified School District, Richard L. Foster. The Superintendent of the Alamo School District, John "Jock" Waugh, strongly supported Richard Foster and his visionary educational philosophy. Also, debates about the pace of development led to several votes on cityhood, spearheaded by residents who wanted more local control. An Alamo-Danville incorporation election in 1964 lost 2,086 to 1,958 with "loss of identity for Alamo" a main concern.

  Today Alamo is an enclave of green with many homes on lots of 0.5 acres (2,000 m²) between Walnut Creek and Danville. Its population in 2000 was 15,626. It is governed by the County Board of Supervisors, with the AIA and several active county service areas advising on police, landscape and park issues.

  St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa resides in Alamo.

  Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi resides in Alamo.

  Denver Broncos Kansas City Chiefs Carolina Panthers ex NFL player Greg Kragen resides in Alamo.

  Safeway Inc. supermarket president and CEO Steven Burd resides in Alamo.

  Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted resides in Alamo.

  Alamo is located in Contra Costa County. Adjoining towns and cities are Walnut Creek to the north, Danville, Dublin, and San Ramon to the south, and Diablo plus Blackhawk to the southeast.

  Interstate 680 serves as the main means of transport out of the town.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 9.7 square miles (25 km²), all of it land.

  Andrew H. Young Park is located at the corner of Danville Blvd. & Jackson Way. This park is named in memory of Alamo resident Andrew H. Young who was instrumental in preserving the charm of Alamo.

  Livorna Park is at the corner of Livorna Road & Miranda Avenue. It features a large open-air gazebo, a sand volleyball court, a multi-use sports court, playground structures, large play areas, drinking fountain, restrooms and off-street parking.

  Alamo School Sports Field located at 100 Wilson Road offers soccer and baseball fields, batting cages, and a picnic and barbecue area.

  Hap Magee Ranch Park is on the Alamo-Danville Border on La Gonda Way. This park has several historic structures. There are picnic facilities, children's water play area, a large meadow with a spectacular heritage oak, dog parks and off-street parking. The park sits near the intersection of the Iron Horse Trail and the Las Trampas to Mt. Diablo Regional Trail.

  Las Trampas Regional Wilderness is a 5,342-acre (21.62 km²) park located to the immediate southwest of the town. The wilderness contains numerous plant and animal communities, including forested hillsides and riparian woods. The park is also host to several secluded waterfalls, many of which are difficult to reach.

  The Mount Diablo thrust fault runs through Alamo releasing small tremors about every other month. The fault line has never had a history of being dangerous. However, the Hayward Fault, a close neighbor, is extremely active.

• Albany, California:

  Albany is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. The population was 18,539 at the 2010 census.

  In 1908, a group of local women protested the dumping of Berkeley garbage in their community. Armed with two shotguns and a twenty-two-caliber rifle, they confronted the drivers of the wagons near what is now the corner of San Pablo Avenue and Buchanan Street. The women told the drivers of the horse-drawn garbage wagons to go home, which they did quickly and without complaint. Shortly thereafter, the residents of the town voted to incorporate as the City of Ocean View. In 1909, voters changed the name of the city, primarily to distinguish the city from the adjacent section of Berkeley which had previously been named Ocean View. On a vote of 38 to 6 the city was renamed in honor of Albany, New York, the birthplace of the city's first mayor, Frank Roberts.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.5 square miles (14 km²), of which, 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²) of it is land and 3.7 square miles (9.6 km²) of it (67.28%) is water.

  The principal shopping street in Albany is Solano Avenue, which cuts across the city from west to east. Another important street is San Pablo Avenue, which travels from north to south.

  Albany is located on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, bordering the city of Berkeley to the south and east, and the Contra Costa County cities of El Cerrito and Richmond to the north. Albany's northern and southern borders are defined by two creeks, Codornices Creek on the south and Cerrito Creek on the north. Cerrito Creek takes its name from "El Cerrito de San Antonio", now known as Albany Hill. The hill's unusual location near the bay shore makes it a prominent landmark in the East Bay. The rest of the city is relatively flat by Bay Area standards, except for a small area near the base of the Berkeley Hills.

  Albany's waterfront has undergone significant man-made changes; the most prominent landform is now the Albany Bulb, a former garbage landfill jutting out into San Francisco Bay. The bulb was the site of a small art colony and shanty town until it was cleared to turn the area into part of the new Eastshore State Park.

  University Village, a housing unit of the University of California Berkeley, is located in Albany.

  The major retail and business areas in Albany are Solano Avenue, which is a pedestrian-oriented street lined with mainly small shops, restaurants, and services; San Pablo Avenue, which is more automobile-oriented; and an area near the Eastshore Freeway, which the city is trying to attract big-box stores and offices, and currently houses a two-story Target store.

  Albany is the site of Golden Gate Fields, the only horse racing track in the Bay Area.

  Real estate prices have been rising steeply in recent years until the 2008 financial crisis and recession. The median price of a single family home and condo in Census 2000, June 2007, November 2009 and July 2011 were $334,800, $687,500, $610,000 and $590,000 respectively.

  Public schools in Albany are operated by the Albany Unified School District, a special-purpose district whose borders match the city's. The school district operates three elementary schools, one middle school, one traditional high school, and one continuation high school, in addition to an adult school. Albany High School is known as one of the best public schools of the San Francisco Bay Area for its academic excellence. The high school had a graduation rate of 92.1%, according to the 2009-10 School Accountability Report Card for the prior academic year.

  There are two private high schools in Albany: Tilden Preparatory School (formerly School for Independent Learners) on Solano Avenue and St. Mary's College High School, whose campus straddles the border with Berkeley, CA.

  The University of California, Berkeley owns a large student housing complex in Albany, University Village, which is primarily used for family housing.

  The Solano Stroll, an annual street festival held on Solano Avenue in Albany and Berkeley, attracts more than 250,000 visitors on the second Sunday of September. The event was started in 1975 by The Iris store owner and Solano Avenue Association founder Ira Klein as a "thank you party" from Solano Avenue business owners to customers. The Library of Congress designated the Solano Stroll as a "National Local Legacy" in 2001.

  Albany also has a large little league, which draws children from around the area. The Albany Little League has gone to state tournaments with their junior and Majors levels. In 2008, Albany won its first championship in the Little League.

  Albany is home to Golden Gate Fields, the only commercial racetrack in the Bay Area, as well as a the Eastshore State Park which skirts the San Francisco Bay, and the Albany Bulb.

  Albany also boasts its very advanced school music program. High school music groups, both instrumental and choral, have performed in at least a superior manner at the CMEA, Reno Jazz, and other festivals. The Albany High School Jazz Band was also accepted the Essentially Ellington festival at the Lincoln Center in New York, New York in 2010. Albany was one of 15 schools accepted into the festival.

  Friends of Five Creeks is an all-volunteer group working hands-on for clean water and healthy watersheds.

  The Albany Strollers & Rollers group was founded in 2004 to address safety hazards to bicyclists in the Albany area and to improve bicycle awareness.

• Alpaugh, California:

  Alpaugh is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tulare County, California, United States. The population was 1,026 at the 2010 census, up from 761 at the 2000 census.

  It is named for John Alpaugh, one of the officers of the Home Extension Colony which reclaimed the land the town is built on.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²), all of it land.

  In the state legislature Alpaugh is located in the 16th Senate District, represented by Democrat Dean Florez, and in the 30th Assembly District, represented by Republican Danny Gilmore. Federally, Alpaugh is located in California's 21st congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +13 and is represented by Republican Devin Nunes.

  Alpaugh is served by the West Isle Line, a private carrier railroad owned by Western Farm Services. Since 1998 the West Isle Line has operated over the 6-mile (9.7 km) "Alpaugh Branch" of the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The West Isle Line runs east from Alpaugh to a connection with the BNSF Railway at "Stoil". The "Alpaugh Branch" was constructed in 1914.

• Alta, California:

  Alta is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Placer County, California, United States, about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Auburn. The village is located off Interstate 80 and along the historical First Transcontinental Railroad. The ZIP code is 95701 and the area code 530. One of the few buildings other than private residences is the Alta-Dutch Flat Grammar School serving kindergarten through eighth grade students. The high school that serves Alta is Colfax high School, is 11 miles east in the incorporated town of Colfax. The population was 610 at the 2010 census.

  A historical California place once named Alta was located in San Diego County near the present-day La Mesa-El Cajon boundary. This historical place was along the San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway, now the San Diego Trolley Orange Line, at its Murray Drive undercrossing in La Mesa.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²), 99.72% of it land, and 0.28% of it water.

• Alturas, California:

  Alturas is the county seat of Modoc County, California, United States. Alturas is located on the Pit River, east of the center of Modoc County, at an elevation of 4370 feet (1332 m). As the county seat, the town is a home to regional government offices, including a California Highway Patrol office and a state Department of Motor Vehicles office. Modoc Subdivision track of the Union Pacific Railroad, and the Lake County Railroad, (of Lake County, Oregon) serve the area.

  The population was 2,827 at the 2010 census, and the ZIP code for the community is 96101.

  Alturas straddles the North Fork of the Pit River, near its confluence with the South Fork in the north end of South Fork Valley, in the extreme northeastern corner of California. The tall Warner Mountains lie to the east, the wetlands and wild rice fields of South Fork Valley to the south, and the extensive Modoc Plateau to the north.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km²) and 0.57% of it is covered by water.

  Alturas has wet, cold winters and warm, dry summers. The average January temperatures are a high of 41.6°F (5.3°C) and a low of 16.5°F (-8.6°C). The average July temperatures are a high of 88.2°F (31.2°C) and a low of 44.3°F (6.8°C). There are an average of 36.2 days with highs of 90°F (32°C) or higher and an average of 203.8 days with lows of 32°F (0°C) or lower. The record high was 108°F (42.2°C) on July 8, 2007, and the record low was -34°F (-36.7°C) on December 9, 1972. Freezing temperatures have occurred in every month of the year; cool nights are common even on the warmest summer days.

  Precipitation averages 12.43 inches (315.7 mm) annually. There are an average of 78 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1998 with 20.89 inches(530.6 mm) and the dryest year was 1976 with 6.54 inches (166.1 mm). The most rainfall in one month was 6.17 inches (156.7 mm) in October 1962. The most rainfall in 24 hours was 3.51 inches (89.2 mm) on December 11, 1937. Snowfall averages 30.9 inches. (78.5 cm) The most snowfall in one year was 85.5 inches (217.2 cm) in 1952.

  Alturas now occupies what was initially an Achumawi (Pit River) village known as Kosealekte or Kasalektawi. The city was initially known as Dorris Bridge (or Dorris' Bridge), named after Pressley and James Dorris, who built a bridge across the Pit River at this location.

  The Dorris Bridge post office opened in 1871, renamed Dorrisville in 1874, and in 1876, was renamed Alturas, which is Spanish for "heights". The census of 1880 showed a population of 148. However, settlement continued over the next two decades, until the city was officially incorporated on September 16, 1901; the county's only incorporated city. Because of its central location, Dorrisville became the county seat when Modoc County formed in 1874, even though both Adin and Cedarville were then larger towns.

  In the state legislature Alturas is located in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Ted Gaines, and in the 2nd Assembly District, represented by Republican Jim Nielsen. Federally, Alturas is located in California's 4th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +11 and is represented by Republican Tom McClintock.

  Alturas is the headquarters to the Modoc National Forest, the Alturas Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management, the Modoc National Wildlife Refuge and other recreation areas, and is the trade center for the agricultural region, which produces beef, sheep, potatoes, alfalfa and lumber. Despite its abundance of wilderness, recreational opportunities, hunting and fishing resources, and resplendent natural beauty, tourism is not a major sector of the local economy—largely due to the city's remote location.

  Local, State, Federal, and Tribal governments are the largest employers in Alturas. A vibrant timber industry collapsed in the early 1980s due to increased production costs and low market prices for softwood lumber.

  The Modoc Joint Unified School District is headquartered in Alturas.

  The Alturas Rancheria, a band of Pit River Indians, operates a small casino just outside the city limits.

  Alturas/Modoc County has a local independent television station KMDC on channel 9.

• Alum Rock, California:

  Alum Rock is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Clara County, California, United States and a community of San Jose. The CDP, which excludes all annexed areas, had a population of 15,536 at the 2010 census. Alum Rock was named after a rock formerly thought to be composed of alum in nearby Alum Rock Park. Formerly a separate town, much of the community is unincorporated surrounded by incorporated San Jose; neighborhoods between White Road and Capitol Avenue are part of a city/county agreement for annexation. James Lick High School (which is part of the East Side Union High School District), Joseph George Middle School, Ocala Middle School, and other schools in the Alum Rock Union School District serve the neighborhood. Near the center of the community is a small neighborhood commercial strip along Alum Rock Avenue at White Road.

  In the 19th century and early 20th century Alum Rock was mostly fruit orchard land. During the 1940s and 1950s, developers began building residential housing and formed the community of Alum Rock. During that time, Alum Rock Avenue and a passenger railroad passed through the town on the way to Alum Rock Park. In the 1980s and 1990s, Alum Rock's neighborhood became increasing older and more populated with Latino immigrants as "white flight" affected the area. Today, Alum Rock remains a unique community separated from the rest of San Jose.

  The 5.4 magnitude “Alum Rock earthquake” occurred just northeast of the community on October 30, 2007, the strongest to hit the region since the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989. No significant damage or injuries were reported.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²), all of it land.

  In the state legislature Alum Rock is located in the 13th Senate District, represented by Democrat Elaine Alquist, and in the 23rd Assembly District, represented by Democrat Nora Campos. Federally, Alum Rock is located in California's 16th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +16 and is represented by Democrat Zoe Lofgren.

• Amador City, California:

  Amador City is a city in Amador County, California, United States. The population was 185 at the 2010 census, down from 196 at the 2000 census.

  Only two miles from Sutter Creek on Highway 49, Amador City is the state's smallest incorporated city by area. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.78 km²), all land.

  Amador City was incorporated into a city around 1915. Historically located in a rich gold bearing area in the Motherlode of California. In 1848-1849 an unknown creek was prospected by a wealthy rancher named Jose Maria Amador. There were no known settlements until 1851. The California Gold Rush changed the landscape of California. Amador's most famous and productive mine, the Keystone produced about $24 million in gold during 1853-1942. These prices would be higher using today's gold standard.

  A post office was established at Amador City in 1863.

  In the state legislature Amador City is located in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Dave Cox, and in the 10th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Alyson Huber. Federally, Amador City is located in California's 3rd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +7 and is represented by Republican Dan Lungren.

  Traveling the two blocks on Highway 49 the traveler can see signs of abandonment in this once thriving city, a contrast to the time when the placers and underground mines produced in abundance. An abandoned brick building stand next to the Fleetheart Store, a beautiful reflection of the stone masonry of the time. On Main street in Amador City is the old Imperial Hotel, another example of the beautiful brickwork of California's Past.

  Little Amador Railroad — G-Scale model train set in a garden that features miniature mines and mills and turn-of-the-century full-size mining equipment.

  Amador City Cemetery — located behind the Imperial Hotel. Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the 1.25-acre (5,100 m²) cemetery that dates back to the beginning of the town. Historic Highway 49.

• American Canyon, California:

  American Canyon is a city located in southern Napa County, California, 35 miles (56 km) northeast of San Francisco. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area. The 2010 census reported the city's population at 19,454. Its zip code is 94503, and its area code is 707. It is in the Pacific Time time zone and observes daylight-saving time.

  The city was incorporated in 1992.

  American Canyon is bounded geographically by the Napa River to the west, the foothills of the Sulfur Springs Mountains to the east, Vallejo and Solano County to the south and vineyards and the Napa County Airport (IATA airport code APC) to the north. American Canyon Creek, a tributary of the Napa River, runs through the city.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.8 square miles (12 km²), 99.83% of it land and 0.17% of it water.

  Major employers in American Canyon include Owens Corning Masonry Products and Mezzetta.

  The mayor of American Canyon is popularly elected to a two year term. The current mayor is Leon Garcia. City Council members are elected to four year terms, and select one of their members to serve as Vice Mayor. The current Vice Mayor is Joan Bennett, and the other City Council members are Cindy Coffey, Mark Joseph and Belia Ramos Bennett. Leon Garcia is serving his third term as mayor.

  In the state legislature American Canyon is located in the 2nd Senate District, represented by Democrat Noreen Evans, and in the 7th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Michael Allen. Federally, American Canyon is located in California's 1st congressional district, represented by Democrat Mike Thompson.

• Amesti, California:

  Amesti is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 3,478 at the 2010 census.

  Amesti is named for José Amesti, a Basque who came to California in 1822, and who was the grantee of Rancho Los Corralitos.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.1 square miles (8.0 km²), of which, 3.0 square miles (7.8 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (2.10%) is water.

  In the state legislature Amesti is located in the 15th Senate District, represented by Republican Abel Maldonado, and in the 28th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Anna M. Caballero. Federally, Amesti is located in California's 17th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +17 and is represented by Democrat Sam Farr.

• Anderson, California:

  Anderson is a city in Shasta County, California, USA, approximately 10 miles south of Redding. The population was 9,932 at the 2010 census, up from 9,022 at the 2000 census.

  The city was named after ranch owner Elias Anderson who granted the Oregon and California Railroad trackage rights and land for a station.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.6 square miles (17 km²), of which, 6.4 square miles (17 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km²) of it (3.74%) is water.

  In the state legislature Anderson is located in the 4th Senate District, represented by Republican Doug LaMalfa, and in the 2nd Assembly District, represented by Republican Jim Nielsen. Federally, Anderson is located in California's 2nd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +13 and is represented by Republican Wally Herger.

  Anderson's main industry was lumber up until a few years ago. Now, it is getting many retail jobs, especially with the opening of a brand new Wal-Mart Supercenter across the street from the Shasta Outlets in 2006. Wal-Mart in addition to Prime Cinemas are creating a whole new shopping district similar to Redding, on its south side.

  New housing construction has begun in the development off Gateway Drive and Red Bud.

  Though, as of 8/7/2009, many high ticket store fronts remain empty as there is a shortage of low rent retail space available to smaller operations.

  The city is home to Anderson River Park, North Volonte Park, and South Volonte Park. Anderson River Park is located off of Stingy Ln. down Rupert Rd. The park is situated on the Sacramento River. It provides an array of accessible and diverse recreational opportunities. The park consists of athletic fields, picnic areas, fishing access, play structures, and a disc golf course. The amphitheater in the park houses the Mosquito Serenade, a free concert series, every year during the months of July thru August.

  North Volonte Park is located off South St. on Emily Rd. North Volonte Park is separated from South Volonte Park. North Volonte Park is a developed park which consists of softball and baseball fields.

  It also, has a permanent skate park that provides skating opportunities for local residents.

  South Volonte Park is located behind North Volonte Park. South Volonte Park is wetlands that are outlined by jogging trail that also contains exercise equipment.

• Angels Camp, California:

  Angels Camp, also known as City of Angels, is the only incorporated city in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 3,835 at the 2010 census, up from 3,004 at the 2000 census. It lies at an elevation of 1378 feet (420 m).

  Mark Twain based his short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" on a story he claimed he heard at the Angels Hotel in 1865. The event is commemorated with a Jumping Frog Jubileeeach May at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds, just east of the city. Because of this, Angels Camp is sometimes referred to as "Frogtown."

  United States Ski Team member and two time Alpine skiing World Cup Downhill Champion Kyle Rasmussen lives in Angels Camp.

  The city is California Historical Landmark #287.

  Henry and George Angel were soldiers serving under John C. Frémont during the Mexican-American War. When the California Gold Rush started, they tried their hand at prospecting, but decided they didn't like the labor involved, so they set up a trading post, which became a camp, and eventually a town. The placers around their camp were very productive but gave out after a few years, and the population began to dwindle until gold-bearing quartz veins were discovered in the town, which brought people back. Those mines operated for the next few decades, producing over $20 million worth of gold, processed by stamp mills in town. It was said that when the last mill finally ceased operations, the townspeople couldn't sleep, the silence was so loud.

  The first post office was established in 1851 (and called Carson's Creek). It was renamed along with the town in 1853. The city was incorporated under the name of "Angels" in 1912.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.6 square miles (9.3 km²), all land.

  Angels Camp is approximately 1,400 feet (430 m) above sea level, with Angels Creek flowing through the middle of town.

  In the state legislature Angels Camp is located in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Dave Cox, and in the 25th Assembly District, represented by Republican Kristin Olsen. Federally, Angels Camp is located in California's 3rd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +7 and is represented by Republican Dan Lungren.

• Antioch, California:

  Antioch is a city in Contra Costa County, California. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, it is a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland. The city's population was 102,371 at the U.S. 2010 census.

  Antioch is one of the oldest towns in California, having been founded in 1850. The year following the discovery of gold, there was a plague that over-took the city and wiped out most of the population.

  The town was founded by two brothers, William and Joseph Smith, who named the town Smith’s Landing. In 1851, the town's new minister persuaded the residents to change the name of the town to Antioch, for the Biblical city of Antioch, Turkey.

  Around 1859, coal was discovered in several places in the hills south of Antioch and coal mining formed the first substantial business apart from farming and dairying by the inhabitants of this community. This new industry resulted in the founding of the towns of Nortonville, Somersville, Stewartsville, and Black Diamond (now Pittsburg, California), and added greatly to the economic activity of the Antioch area. The Empire Coal Company was formed by John C. Rouse and George Hawxhurst in 1876, which built a railroad that passed from Antioch toward the mines over what is now "F Street" (formerly Kimball Street). However, later on, both the mine and the railroad passed into the hands of the Belshaw brothers. The mines have long ago ceased operation, and the railroad tracks have been dug up, though the building that served as the Antioch terminus of the railroad still stands on the corner of F Street and Fourth Street, and the grading and trestles still remain much as they were in those early days.

  In 1863, a great excitement arose over the discovery of copper ore near Antioch. Smelting works were built at Antioch, and a value of fifteen to twenty-five dollars per ton was paid for the ore, according to its quality. Unfortunately the copper bubble eventually burst, to the dismay of the citizens with connections. Petroleum was first drilled for near Antioch in 1865, but not enough oil was found to make a decent profit.

  The Antioch Post Office was opened in 1851, closed in 1852, re-opened in 1855, closed again in 1862, and it has operated continuously since re-opening in 1863. The city of Antioch was incorporated in 1872.

  The Antioch Ledger was first issued on March 10, 1870, and in all its forty-seven years never missed an issue. In memory of when the paper was formed, a copy of its first issue has been framed and hangs over the desk of the present editor. It is five by eight inches in size, printed on one side only, and its sole news item is a report and editorial comment on women's suffrage meeting that had just been held in the town. The Ledger later merged with the Contra Costa Times and printed its last issue in 2005.

  During the mid 1950's the Fibreboard Research patented a method of applying wax coatings to cardboard containers that spawned the first milk, juice and ice cream containers hence making Antioch "the home of the milk carton".

  Today, Antioch is mainly a "bedroom" community, with most adults working in larger cities toward Oakland and San Francisco. The town has seen an enormous amount of growth in the last 30 years, as the population of the Bay Area continues to grow, and real estate prices force families to move towards the outskirts of the Bay Area.

  In late 2009, Antioch received worldwide media attention following the news of kidnap victim Jaycee Lee Dugard being discovered alive there, and became the focus of several news stories regarding its 122 registered sex offenders. The LA Times ran a story titled "Sex offenders move to Antioch area 'because they can'", The Independent ran a story titled "How Jessica's Law turned Antioch into a paedophile ghetto", and CNN's Anderson Cooper and Larry King both did similar stories for television; the latter with commentary by TV judge Judy Sheindlin. However, the Contra Costa Times and affiliated newspapers contradicted their claim: "Disturbing, if true. Only it's not, according to a Bay Area News Group analysis of sex offender addresses and census data." The report concluded that the 94509 zip code ranked only 39th in the state with 1.5 sex offenders per 1000 (k), with Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose, Bethel Island and Vallejo ZIP codes ranked in the top ten. Monte Rio ranked first with 4.5 per 1000.

  Antioch is located along the San Joaquin River at the western end of the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 29.1 square miles (75 km²), of which, 28.3 square miles (73 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) of it (2.52%) is water.

  In late 2008, Western Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) moved into a 25-acre (100,000 m²) housing development slated for construction called Blue Ridge, owned by Kiper Homes. In November 2009 the California Department of Fish & Game gave the developer permission to evict the owls before nesting season begins in February 2010. Eviction is controversial because the birds regularly reuse burrows for years, and there is no requirement that suitable new habitat be found for the owls. Despite being listed as a Species of Special Concern (a pre-listing category under the Endangered Species Act) by the California Department of Fish and Game in 1979, California's population declined 60% from the 1980s to the early 90's, and continues to decline at roughly 8% per year. In 1994, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service nominated the Western Burrowing Owl as a Federal Category 2 candidate for listing as endangered or threatened, but loss of habitat continues due to development of the flat, grassy lands used by the owl. According to The Institute for Bird Populations at Point Reyes, there has been a 50 percent decline in burrowing owl populations in the Bay Area in the last 10 to 15 years. Their status protects them from disturbance during nesting season or killing at any time, but does not guarantee them a permanent home, as outside of breeding season, owls can be removed. In November, 2009 local resident Scott Artis tallied 11 owls in the area, including four pairs. Antioch is the first East Bay city to designate habitat protected by deed for burrowing owls, since residents pushed for protections for those displaced by the community center at Prewett Park, said local resident Dee Vieira, who spearheaded the effort. Despite organized protests at Kiper Homes' Blue Ridge property by Friends of East Bay Owls, one-way doors were installed in the birds' burrows so that the owl families could not return to their nests. A 1992-93 survey reported no breeding burrowing owls in Napa, Marin, and San Francisco counties, and only a few in San Mateo and Sonoma. The Santa Clara County population is declining and restricted to a few breeding locations, leaving only Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties as the remnant breeding range. To assist the displaced Antioch owls in finding new homes a group of local residents and environmental group Friends of Marsh Creek Watershed constructed six artificial burrows at a designated burrowing owl habitat preserve in the hills north of Prewett Water Park.

  According to the Public Works Department of Antioch, Antioch is home to 31 parks covering a total of 310 acres (1.3 km²) with an additional 600 acres (2.4 km²) of city-owned open space. It also has 11 miles (18 km) of walking paths connecting communities to parks and schools.

  Within its boundaries it has Contra Loma Regional Park, the Antioch/Oakley Regional Shoreline and Black Diamond Mines Regional Park, and the Mokelumne Coast to Crest Trail and Delta de Anza Regional Trail. According to the East Bay Regional Parks District, these three parks take up 6,493 acres (26.28 km²); approximately 38% of Antioch’s total land mass.

  Just outside Antioch’s city limit is the 2,024 acres (8.19 km²) Round Valley Regional Preserve.

  Established in 1980, Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge was the first national wildlife refuge in the country established for the purpose of protecting endangered plants and insects. It is located on the south shore of the San Joaquin River in Antioch.

  The city has a municipal marina, along with other private marinas, boatyards, and yacht clubs. There is a public fishing pier in town, and another out near the Antioch Bridge.

  There is fishing in the San Joaquin River along the Antioch/Oakley Regional Shoreline, located just upstream from Highway 160's Antioch Bridge (also known as Nejedly Bridge).

  Antioch is served by both the Antioch-Pittsburg Amtrak station, and access to Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is available at the Pittsburg/Bay Point Station in Pittsburg. Although public transportation agency Tri-Delta Transit is the predominant provider of public transportation in the Antioch area, County Connection bus #930 also serves Antioch going to John Muir Medical Center, Mitchell Park n' Ride, Railroad Castlewood, Delta Fair Sommersville and Hillcrest Park 'n Ride.

  Antioch currently has 4 Historic Places or Buildings on the National Register of Historical Places. The Black Diamond Mines, Roswell Butler Hard House, Riverview Union High School Building and the Shannon-Williamson Ranch.

  The historic El Campanil Theatre opened on November 1, 1928 in downtown Antioch. It now presents a wide variety of entertainment opportunities including Classic Films, Live Theatre, Concerts, Symphony, Ballet, Comedy and is host to numerous local dance and community based organizations such as the Antioch Rivertown Theatre Group.

  The Arts & Cultural Foundation of Antioch organizes education in graphic arts, sculpture, pottery, and performance arts for various age groups. It also hosts the Saturday Summer Concert Series, Delta Blues Festival, Holiday De Lights along with other community events.

  Run by the Antioch Historical Society, the museum is located in the Riverview Union High School Building. This high school was the first high school constructed in Contra Costa County. It houses moving historical exhibits and offers tours of the grounds.

  The Lynn House Gallery houses exhibits throughout the year, with an emphasis on providing opportunities for local artists.

  Rivertown Art Center is housed in a historic bank building built in 1923. It is administered by the Arts & Cultural Foundation of Antioch and was created to allow local artists additional opportunities to exhibit their art and to conduct art classes.

  The ESPACE Academy is located within Deer Valley High School and includes a planetarium.

  The city is protected by Contra Costa Fire and the Antioch Police Department.

  Public schools are run by the Antioch Unified School District, which consists of four high schools, four middle schools, and numerous elementary schools. The four high schools are Antioch High School, Deer Valley High School, Dozier-Libbey Medical High School and Delta Academy for the Performing Arts. The four middle schools are Antioch Middle School, Park Middle School, Black Diamond Middle School, and Dallas Ranch Middle School. All schools in the district follow a single track schedule, where school begins in late August or early September and concludes in June.

  The private schools are primarily religious. The private high schools are: Heritage Baptist Academy (K-12), Delta Christian High School, Cornerstone Christian Academy, and Promised Land Christian High School. The private primary and middle schools are: Cornerstone Christian Academy, Holy Rosary Elementary School, Hilltop Christian School, Kinder Care Learning Center, Antioch Christian School, Golden Hills Christian School, and Great Beginnings Elementary School.

  Antioch is also home to Western Career College, located on Lone Tree Way. Also Antioch has one school for CPR and First Aid Training, Event First Aid & Safety Services located at 201 G Street, 2nd and G streets.

  The Antioch Library of the Contra Costa County Library is located in Antioch, across the street from Antioch Middle School.

  Antioch, CA is served by the Antioch Press, published by Brentwood Press & Publishing Corporation. Antioch Press is a weekly newspaper that is published every Friday. The current circulation is just over 4,000.

• Applegate, California:

  Applegate is an unincorporated community in Placer County, California. Applegate is located 7.25 miles (11.7 km) south-southwest of Colfax. It lies at an elevation of 2005 feet (611 m). Its ZIP code is 95703 and its area code 530.

  It is ten miles northeast of Auburn.

  Applegate was originally settled in 1849 by Lisbon Applegate. The small community became known as Lisbon, in honor of its founder. As the town grew it was called Bear River House. When a post office was established 1855, the community officially became known as Lisbon. George W. Applegate became postmaster and in the 1870s, the settlement was renamed to Applegate to honor its founder.

  At one time, Applegate was a station on the Central Pacific Railroad, and since the tracks are separated by about 1/4 mile, the station on the eastbound track was known as East Applegate.

• Aptos, California:

  Aptos is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 6,220 at the 2010 census.

  Aptos is an unincorporated area of Santa Cruz county, consisting of several small communities.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.4 square miles (17 km²), all of it land.

  Aptos lies near the San Andreas Fault, and it was close to the epicenter of 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

  The name Aptos is Ohlone, meaning "the meeting of two creeks". Aptos is pronounced "app-toss" by residents. The name is often mispronounced "app-tose" by tourists.

  In 1833 the government of Mexico granted Rafael Castro the 6,656-acre (26.94 km²) Rancho Aptos. Initially Castro raised cattle for their hides, but after California became a state in 1850, Castro leased his land to Americans who built a wharf, general store, and lumber mill. The original town was located where Aptos Village Square is now. In 1853 a leather tannery was built, and the main building is now the Apple Lane Bed & Breakfast Inn.

  By 1872, Claus Spreckels, the sugar millionaire, began buying the land from Castro. He built a hotel near the beach and a summer mansion and ranch with a racetrack for his horses. A large area was fenced and stocked with deer for hunting, and became known as "the Deer Park," home of today's Deer Park Center. With the coming of the railroad, the town moved to the other side of Aptos Creek.

  From 1880 to 1920 redwood timber harvesting became the major industry, and Aptos became a boom town. The Loma Prieta Lumber Company logged all of what is now The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. The Valencia Mill logged everything to the east. Within 40 years the hills were bare, and apples became the next industry. Village Fair Antiques is now located in the old apple packing plant.

  After Spreckels' death, Seacliff Park and Rio Del Mar Country Club (today's Seacliff State Beach) were developed in the late 1920s. Rio Del Mar Country Club included a clubhouse, a grand hotel on the bluffs, a beach club, a polo field, and a golf course. The estuary was filled in, and the S.S. Palo Alto cement ship was moored and converted into an amusement pier with restaurants, swimming pool, and a dance pavilion. Both Rio Del Mar and Seacliff were popular during prohibition as drinking and gambling were discreetly available. These amusements were interrupted by the great depression and World War II.

  In the early 1960s Aptos began a period of rapid development, including Cabrillo College, Rancho Del Mar Shopping Center, the Seascape Resort development, and many residential developments.

  In the state legislature Aptos is located in the 11th Senate District, represented by Democrat Joe Simitian, and in the 27th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Bill Monning. Federally, Aptos is located in California's 17th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +17 and is represented by Democrat Sam Farr.

  Aptos is home to both the The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park and Seacliff State Beach California state parks. Nisene Marks is popular with hikers and mountain bikers, and also contains the epicenter of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (7.1 on the Richter scale).

  Many Aptos beaches are popular spots for surfing and bodyboarding. Aptos is also a popular spot for Freeride biking and street skateboarding. Efforts have gone towards attempting to build a skate park in Aptos, however it appears unlikely at this point. Although unclear why a skate park was rejected two Bicycle parks adorn the Aptos village, and quite possibly a third in the near future.

  The beaches of Aptos are frequented by a small but dedicated group of surfers. Due to exclusively sand-bottom beaches, wave shape in Aptos is typically not as high quality as in neighboring Capitola and Santa Cruz. However, during the Autumn and Winter, local spots "Platforms" and "Beer Can" are frequently surfed.

  Aptos is also home to the annual Fourth of July "World's Shortest Parade," so called because the parade route is about one-fourth of a mile.

  Aptos Park is the site of the annual Aptos Blues Festival. Several well-known performers have performed at the festival, such as Robert Cray, Coco Montoya, Elvin Bishop, Sista Monica, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Charlie Musselwhite, Bonnie Raitt, and Al Green.

  Being a small town, Aptos does not have as many entertainment possibilities to offer as neighboring Santa Cruz, California. However, there are a few notable local establishments. The Aptos Cinemas, long a mainstream movie theater, has become an indie movie house under the leadership of the Nickelodeon corporation in Santa Cruz. Located next to the theater in the Rancho Del Mar shopping center is the 30 year old local favorite Erik's DeliCafe that serves soups, sandwiches and salads; and also Taqueria Sofia's is just around the corner. Several local bars such as the Brittania Arms offer a low-key atmosphere. Manuel's Restaurant is a well-known landmark that has been serving Mexican food for over 30 years. Other notable restaurants include Ma Maison (fine French dining), Bittersweet Bistro, Palapas, and Sanderlings (Seascape neighborhood), and Cafe Sparrow (Aptos Village). A world famous set of dirt jumps is also located there (generally referred to as "The Post Office").

  Cabrillo College is a two-year community college in Aptos.

  Aptos has three public elementary schools: Valencia Elementary, Rio Del Mar Elementary, and Mar Vista Elementary. It also has one junior high school, Aptos Junior High School, and one high school, Aptos High School. Private schools include Santa Cruz Montessori School, Orchard School, Twin Lakes Christian School, and Aptos Academy.

  The Aptos High Mariners varsity boys basketball team reached the state finals in the spring of 1986 and the NorCal Championship in the spring of 1987. The Aptos High Mariners boys soccer team was nationally ranked and advanced to the California Interscholastic Federation - Central Coast Section (CCS) Division 1 finals. The Aptos girls soccer accomplished the same that year and advanced to the CCS Division 1 finals. The Aptos High Mariners football team won the 2003 CCS Div II title, its first football CCS title. The High School's winningest team, however, is the Aptos track and field team. The girls team has won the past twelve league championships, and the boys team has won eleven of the last twelve. The varsity cheer leading team also took home 2 State Championship trophies in the 90's.

  The Aptos Little League baseball team made it to the Little League World Series in 2002, and was the subject of a documentary film on PBS, Small Ball: A Little League Story.

  In 2005 the Aptos High girls and boys cross country team won the CCS championship and the boys finished third at state championships while the girls were crowned state champions.

  In 2007, the Aptos High boys' cross-country team won CCS, and took third in state. The girls' team took second in CCS.

  In 2007, the baseball team at Aptos High was nationally ranked and advanced to the CCS D2 finals losing out by a single home run. Team is coached by ex-MLB Pitcher and Coach Randall Kramer, ex-MLB World Series Pitcher Mark Eichhorn, and ex-MLB Scout Matt King.

  In 2008, the boys' cross-country team won CCS for the second year in a row and took fifth at state. The girls' team was second at CCS and eighth in state.

• Arden-Arcade, California:

  Arden-Arcade is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, United States. The population was 92,186 at the 2010 census. It is east of the city of Sacramento and west of the community of Carmichael.

  Arden-Arcade is a principal locality of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

  The history of this area is documented in the "Sacramento ALC Historical Study 82", Ranch Del Paso, Office of History, Sacramento Air Logistics Center, McClellan Air Force Base, California, March 1983, by Raymond Oliver. Originally part of a Mexican land grant deeded to John Sutter, the Rancho Del Paso grant was negotiated from the Mexican governor by John Sutter on August 10, 1843. Then, Sutter deeded the Rancho Del Paso to Eliab and Hiram Grimes and John Sinclair. Samuel Norris was the next owner of Rancho Del Paso, then James Haggin. The Rancho Del Paso was purchased from Mr. Haggin's corporation, "The Rancho del Paso Land Company" in 1910 by the Sacramento Valley Colonization Company for $1.5 million.

  Subdividing started in earnest in 1910. Under owner James Ben Ali Haggin, the Rancho was famous for its horse breeding; one of the horses bred on the Rancho won the Ben Ali Stakes, also known as the Kentucky Derby. The "arcade" was the old name of a large meadow of oak trees once located on the Arcade Creek, northwest of the present "Marconi Curve" on the Capital City Freeway, I-80. The natural occurring oak trees near the horse loading area were used to tie up hundreds of horses going east to Kentucky by rail. Some trains had more than a thousand horses loaded at one time from Rancho Del Paso. The oak trees were lined up like an architectural arcade (a number of arches supporting a wall), hence the name of the area, "Arcade".

  The Arcade Meadow of Oak Trees was used as a staging area to load by rail transport all horses out to Kentucky, and beyond, from about 1880 to 1905. There were 24 barns with 64 stalls each and out buildings to support the manpower needed for the horse racing business. Among the oldest surviving buildings in the area are the Arden Middle School, built in 1914, and the Del Paso Country Club, from 1919, named for the original Rancho on which it was built. The first residential neighborhoods in the area were constructed in the 1920s and 1930s, as the city developed over the river, but many more were built later.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 17.9 square miles (46 km²), of which, 17.8 square miles (46 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (0.50%) is water.

  Arden-Arcade's northern border is Interstate 80, its southern border is the American River, its western border is Ethan Way and its eastern border is Mission Avenue.

  Arden-Arcade is served well by three major highways. Interstate 80 runs on the northern part of community and also serves as a northern border. Just to the east of the CDP is the Capital City Freeway and just to the south of the American River (the community's southern border) is Highway 50. Major east-west thoroughfares include El Camino Avenue, Marconi Avenue, Arden Way, Alta Arden Expressway, and Fair Oaks Boulevard while major north-south thoroughfares include Fulton Avenue, Watt Avenue, Howe Avenue, and Eastern Avenue.

  Many of the major arterial streets that criss-cross through Arden-Arcade are named for the major inventors of the Industrial Revolution.

  Arden-Arcade is home to Town & Country Village, which has been around since the 1940s, is a specialty shopping center located at Fulton and Marconi Avenue. The newly renovated Country Club Plaza lies at the corner of El Camino and Watt Avenues, and Pavilions is an upscale shopping and dining center located on Fair Oaks Boulevard east of Howe Avenue.

  Country Club Plaza Mall is a shopping mall located in Arden-Arcade. It is anchored by Gottschalks(filed bankruptcy in 2009 and now out of business), Macy's and Ross Dress For Less. It was opened in the 1960s but was recently renovated. It has 700,000 square feet (65,000 m²) of gross leasable area.

  Loretto High School, which opened in 1955 and closed after the 2008-2009 school year was located in Arden-Arcade. It is now operated as an elementary school by Aspire Public Schools.

  Del Paso Country Club is a private country club located within Arden-Arcade. The Club was founded in 1916 on what had once been part of Rancho Del Paso. Membership is by invitation. The Club includes newly renovated 18-hole golf course, state-of-the-art fitness center and other facilities.

  Arden-Arcade has some of the more posh neighborhoods in the Sacramento area. There are neighborhoods along the American River and the American River Parkway with million-dollar home prices. However, there is also significant amounts of housing that are priced more affordably. Neighborhoods with ritzy homes include Wilhaggin, Sierra Oaks, Sierra Oaks Vista, Arden Park, Arden Oaks, and some of the areas surrounding the Del Paso Country Club.

  The closest thing that California has had to a governor's mansion since 1967 was located in Arden-Arcade from 1984 until 2004. Governors George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson, and Gray Davis all occupied a home on Lake Wilhaggin Drive in the Wilhaggin area. The house was sold in 2004 after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger decided not to live in the home and instead occupy the penthouse at the Hyatt in Downtown Sacramento when he did not commute back to Brentwood which he did most nights.

  On November 2, 2010, area residents voted on Measure D. The measure was defeated by a margin of 76% to 24%. If approved, the area bounded by Auburn Boulevard on the north, the American River Drive, Ethan Way on the west, and Mission Avenue/Jacob Lane on the east would have become the City of Arden-Arcade.

  The city would have been governed by a council-manager form of government. Twenty-two candidates ran for the seven-member city council. If Measure D passed, seven would have become city council members and the top vote-getter would have become mayor. A city manager would have been hired by the council to implement goals, policies and ordinances approved by the city council. The defeat of Measure D rendered the results of the election a moot point.

  According to the fiscal analysis completed under the auspices of the Sacramento Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCo), the city as proposed “may be fiscally feasible” (p. 7). LAFCo assesses the feasibility of a new city according to three standards: it is likely to feasible; it is not likely; or it may be feasible. The financials for the proposed new city were not strong enough to warrant finding the proposed new city likely to be feasible.

  The fiscal analysis includes “revenue neutrality payments” that the city must pay Sacramento County to be in compliance with California Code section 56815. City taxpayers would be required to reimburse Sacramento County over $6 million a year, and $219 million over a 35 year period for loss of sales tax revenue.

  The new local government would have cost $37 million each year by year 10 of the analysis. At that point, the city would have been expected to spend $32,086,600 on general fund expenses for the city manager’s office, attorney services, city clerk’s office, the development office, animal control, etc. Road maintenance expenses are expected to cost 4,948,000 by year 10. The analysis does not include an assessment of capital requirements such as the cost of financing and building a city hall. According to the salary survey released in September by the League of California Cities, salaries for city managers in the region range from $181,135 (Woodland) to 353,000 (Roseville), with most earning compensation over $200,000.

  Proponents claimed that the new city would have improved services and created community pride in the City of Arden-Arcade without any new taxes. Opponents believed that revenue assumptions were risky and, if wrong, could lead to higher taxes.

  Revenues would have largely come from property taxes and sales taxes. LAFCo's projections of property taxes are based on this assumption about area property values: “The fiscal model assumes a nominal annual property appreciation rate of 5.2% excluding the additional value from new development” (p. 45). Property sales and retail sales are closely tied to the unemployment rate, and Sacramento ranks 326 out of 372 cities according to the most recent information available from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

  As of August 24, 2010, the City of Sacramento posted on their website that they have no plans to annex Arden-Arcade. Only the Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCo) has the regulatory authority under state law to approve or disapprove of the annexation of territory by a city (Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Act of 2000, California Government Code Section 56000). LAFCo requires cities to keep up their general plan and look at overlapping jurisdictions. In that context, the City of Sacramento has collected information about Arden-Arcade but has not taken any steps toward incorporation, the first of which would be identifying Arden-Arcade as within its sphere of influence.

  Incorporation proponents have repeatedly claimed that the city could take over the area in as little as six months with no opportunity for residents to vote. The City of Sacramento's process includes a dozen steps that would conservatively take three to five years to go through the lengthy and expensive process required. The most recent piece of land to be annexed was several hundred acres of fallow agricultural land, Greenbriar. The process took four years for this small, non-controversial annexation at the request of the developer after four rounds of Environmental Impact Reviews, municipal service reviews, organization plans, finance plan, taxation agreements and more.

  As the city describes on its website, residents of an area may request annexation, or the city may investigate it. "With inhabited areas, annexation must also be supported by a majority of voters within the area proposed for annexation."With inhabited areas, annexation must also be supported by a majority of voters within the area proposed for annexation.

  If the city undertook the lengthy road toward annexation and ultimately voted to approve, it would then have to file an application with the Local Agency Formation Commission. The many factors that LAFCo considers when reviewing applications are listed in detail on its website as are its powers and authority. It includes the opportunity for public testimony.

  The City of Sacramento's last annexation of an inhabited area, College Greens, was in the late 1950s. While it discussed interest in Arden-Arcade in the 1960s, the City of Sacramento did not initiate formal steps toward incorporation.

  In its analysis of the area as part of its general plan update, city staff noted that Arden-Arcade is "mostly built out". The city has also noted that the area has significant infrastructure needs and the likelihood of community opposition to incorporation.

  The Arden-Arcade Community Planning Council is a nine-member council that helps make decisions for the community of Arden-Arcade. These nine members are appointed by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.

  In the state legislature, Arden-Arcade is located in the 1st and 6th Senate Districts, represented by Republican Ted Gaines and Democrat Darrell Steinberg respectively, and in the 5th and 10th Assembly Districts, represented by Democrat Richard Pan and Democrat Alyson Huber respectively. Federally, Arden-Arcade is located in California's 3rd congressional district and California's 5th congressional district, which are represented by Republican Dan Lungren and Democrat Doris Matsui respectively.

• Armona, California:

  Armona is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kings County, California, United States. Armona is located 3.5 miles (6 km) west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of 239 feet (73 m). It is part of the Hanford–Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,156 at the 2010 census. Armona's motto is "Small But Proud".

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.9 square miles (4.9 km²), all of it land.

  The name "Armona" was applied to a railroad station in the 1880s. It was subsequently transferred to the present location on the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1891. Reportedly, the name was coined by transposing the first two letters of the name "Ramona".

  The first school in the Armona vicinity was the Giddings School built in 1880. The Giddings School District was renamed Armona in 1907. A new brick school house was constructed in the early 1920s. As that structure did not comply with California's earthquake standards, it was replaced in 1953 with what is now the Armona Elementary School.

  The Armona post office was established in 1887.

  At the time of the 2000 census, the median income for a household in the CDP was $32,790, and the median income for a family was $32,232. Males had a median income of $26,905 versus $22,981 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $11,850. About 24.2% of families and 26.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.8% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over. The unemployment rate was 19.3% in November 2011.

  Kings Area Rural Transit (KART) operates regularly scheduled fixed route bus service, vanpool service for commuters and Dial-A-Ride (demand response) services throughout Kings County as well as to Fresno.

  Amtrak provides passenger service to Hanford, which is 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Armona. Freight service is available from the San Joaquin Valley Railroad, which passes through Armona.

  Public schools in the community are operated by the Armona Union Elementary School District. They include: Armona Elementary School and Parkview Middle School.

  The District also sponsors the Crossroads Charter Academy, a K-12 independent study charter school.

  There is one K-12 private school, Armona Union Academy, which is operated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

  Armona is in the Hanford Joint Union High School District.

  Nearby community colleges include the Hanford campus of College of the Sequoias and the Lemoore campus of West Hills College.

  In the state legislature, Armona is located in the 16th Senate District, represented by Democrat Michael Rubio, and in the 30th Assembly District, represented by Republican David Valadao. Federally, Armona is located in California's 20th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +5 and is represented by Democrat Jim Costa.

  Armona is represented on the Kings County Board of Supervisors by Tony Barba of Hanford.

  Raven's Deli, located on 14th Avenue and operated by Bill Raven and his family, produces various meats and foodstuffs. Raven's Brand jerky is sold throughout the region and easily recognized by its distinctive taste and black raven on a bright yellow background on the otherwise clear bag. Raven's also markets its own line of meat seasonings that is sold at local grocery stores.

  The United Methodist Church was constructed in 1910.

• Arnold, California:

  Arnold is a census-designated place (CDP) in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 3,843 at the 2010 census, down from 4,218 at the 2000 census. Arnold is located on State Route 4.

  Arnold is named after Bob and Bernice Arnold, who, in 1927 opened the Ebbetts Pass Inn. Prior to that, the community consisted of two large ranches where logging was the main industry. The inn served as a stop for people traveling along the Ebbetts Pass route as well as lodging for those visiting nearby Calaveras Big Trees State Park. In 1928, Camp Wolfeboro was established nearby as a Boy Scout camp and continues to be in operation today. The first post office was opened in 1934.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 14.9 square miles (39 km²), of which, 14.8 square miles (38 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (0.47%) is water.

  In the state legislature Arnold is located in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Dave Cox, and in the 25th Assembly District, represented by Republican Kristin Olsen. Federally, Arnold is located in California's 3rd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +7 and is represented by Republican Dan Lungren.

• Aromas, California:

  Aromas is a census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County, and San Benito County, California, United States. The CDP straddles the border of the two counties, with Monterey County to the west and San Benito County to the east. The Santa Cruz County line is less than a mile to the Northwest, and Santa Clara County about two miles (3 km) to the North. The population was 2,650 at the 2010 census, and was almost equally distributed between the two counties with 1,358 in Monterey County and 1,292 in San Benito County; this was down from a population of 2,797 at the 2000 census (1,427 in Monterey County and 1,370 in San Benito County). Aromas is one of two CDPs in California that is divided between two or more counties with the other being Kingvale, divided between Placer County and Nevada County.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.747 square miles (12.29 km²). 4.736 square miles (12.27 km²) of it is land and 0.011 square miles (0.028 km²) or 0.22% is water.

  Aromas is home to a Graniterock quarry.

• Arroyo Grande, California:

  Arroyo Grande is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 17,252 at the 2010 census.

  Arroyo Grande is a small coastal town with historic, suburban, and rural elements. It is one of the cities on the Central Coast known as the Five Cities (Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Oceano, Shell Beach, and Pismo Beach). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.8 square miles (15 km²), all of it land.

  In the state legislature Arroyo Grande is located in the 15th Senate District, represented by Republican Katcho Achadjian, and in the 33rd Assembly District, represented by Republican Sam Blakeslee. Federally, Arroyo Grande is located in California's 22nd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +16 and is represented by Republican Kevin McCarthy.

  The earliest inhabitants of the Arroyo Grande valley were Chumash Indians, who conducted extensive trade with other Native American tribes at considerable distance. A photograph appears in Jones book taken in Arroyo Grande of the last known speaker of the native Obispena Chumash language.

  The first European to see the area was Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo. The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was established nearby, and agricultural activities expanded into the area. The Arroyo Grande valley was found to have particularly fertile ground, and was given the name for "wide riverbed" in Spanish.

  Francis Ziba Branch, originally from New York, saw the area on a hunting expedition during the period when California was part of Mexico. Branch married María Manuela Carlón, and this marriage entitled Branch to file claim for a Mexican land grant. In 1836 he and his wife and baby son moved onto Rancho Santa Manuela. They were managing a successful cattle ranching operation when California became a U.S. territory, and then a U.S. State. But some years later they suffered financial difficulties during a drought when many cattle died. They sold off smaller parcels of land to settlers.

  In 1862, the San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors established the township of Arroyo Grande. Businesses developed along a road called Branch Street to serve local agriculture. A railroad depot was built in 1882. The city of Arroyo Grande was incorporated on July 10, 1911.

  This community experienced rapid growth in the 1970s and 1980s, partially due to the expansion of the wastewater treatment plant, under an EPA‎ Clean Water Grant, that removed a growth constraint. This federal grant program required preparation of an Environmental Impact Report, which document provided much of the initial environmental database for Arroyo Grande.

  Arroyo Grande is located in a coastal ecosystem within the California floristic province, and the native habitats include coast live oak woodland, central coastal scrub, willow and mixed riparian along Arroyo Grande Creek and numerous tributaries, native bunch-grass grassland, coastal prairie, dunes and intertidal zone, and non-native and agricultural areas.

  Francis Ziba Branch (July 24, 1802 - May 8, 1874) was born in Scipio, New York. In 1820, Francis became a sailor out of Buffalo, New York, working Great Lakes boats for about five years. Early in 1830 Branch found himself in St. Louis, Missouri where he joined a pack train, possibly led by Ceran St. Vrain, headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico. (In 1830, St. Vrain partnered with the Bent Brothers to form the Bent, St. Vrain & Company.) In the fall of 1832 Branch joined a fur brigade being formed by William Wolfskill in Santa Fe. Wolfskill was planning to trap beaver in the Tulare Valley of California. The trip to California was filled with hardships. The Wolfskill party arrived in the San Bernardino area in February 1831. The path they took would eventually become known as the “Old Spanish Trail” for travel and trade between Taos/Santa Fe to Los Angeles. Branch was able to successfully hunt sea otter, the furs of which commanded a high price in the trade with China, to earn a for three years. With sea otter becoming scarce, he became a merchant in Santa Barbara for a short period of time. In 1835 he married Manuela Carlon with whom he would eventually have eleven children. In 1836, he joined the Catholic Church, probably becoming a Mexican citizen at this time. On April 6, 1837, Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado granted Branch Rancho Santa Manuela, at the time an expanse of wilderness. Francis Branch was later the owner of Rancho Arroyo Grande, Rancho Bolsa de Chamisal, Rancho Huerhuero and half of Rancho Pismo. Francis Branch died of bronchitis at his home on at the age of 71.

• Ashland, California:

  Ashland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Alameda County, California, United States. The population was 21,925 at the 2010 census.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²), all of it land.

  Ashland developed in the 1940s. It was named for an Oregon ash tree.

  Ashland is an unincorporated community and thus is governed directly by Alameda County. The area is policed by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.

• Atascadero, California:

  Atascadero is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, about equidistant from San Francisco and Los Angeles on U-S Highway 101. Atascadero is farther inland than most other San Luis Obispo County cities, and as a result, usually experiences warmer, drier summers and cooler winters than neighboring cities such as San Luis Obispo and Pismo Beach. Nearby CA Highways 41 and 46 provide easy access to the Pacific Coast and the Central Valley of California. The population was 28,310 at the 2010 census. The brainchild of mega-entrepreneur E.G. Lewis, Atascadero is the result of nearly a century of organic community evolution. It is an amalgamation of rolling hills studded with oaks; historic buildings; quaint lake park and zoo; enclaves of artists, musicians and writers; all surrounded by visitor vistas and wineries.

  Atascadero is a Spanish word loosely translated as bog, from the verb "atascar" which means to become stuck or hindered.

  The area was originally home to the Salinan Indians. In the half century between 1769 and 1823 the Spanish Franciscans established 21 missions along the California coast, including the nearby Mission San Miguel Arcángel, and Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. In 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain, and California became a Mexican province. In 1833, the Mexican government secularized the mission lands. Mexican Governor Juan Alvarado granted Rancho Atascadero to Trifon Garcia in 1842, and Pio Pico granted Pedro Estrada Rancho Asuncion in 1845. Patrick Washington Murphy held ownership of 61,000 acres (25,000 ha) at one time.

  Edward Gardner Lewis, a successful magazine publisher from the East, founded the community of Atascadero in 1913 as a utopian, planned colony. He had previously created such a community, at University City, Missouri. After purchasing the Atascadero Ranch in 1912, Lewis put together a group of investors from across the country, paid J.H. Henry $37.50 per acre ($93/ha), and celebrated acquisition of the ranch on July 4, 1913. As investors came to homestead the land that they had bought with their down payments, the area was transformed into a "tent city" with tents situated on land now occupied by Century Plaza and Bank of America. Lewis employed the services of experts in agriculture, engineering and city planning to develop his dream colony for the anticipated 30,000 residents. In 1914 the land was surveyed and subdivided. Thousands of acres of orchards were planted, a water system was installed, and construction began on an 18 mi (29 km) road (now Highway 41 west) through the rugged Santa Lucia Mountains to the ocean (Morro Bay), where Lewis built cottages and a beachfront hotel called the Cloisters.

  The first civic building in Atascadero, The Printery, had the first rotogravure presses west of Chicago. Lewis then published the Atascadero News newspaper and the Illustrated Review, a photo/news magazine. The centerpiece of Lewis' planned community was an Italian Renaissance-style building, which was the home to Atascadero City Hall and the Museum until it was damaged in the 2003 earthquake. Built between 1914 and 1918 with bricks made from local clay, this unique and beautiful building has become one of California's Historical Landmarks (No. 958).

  Founded in 1913 by Edward Gardner Lewis and incorporated in 1979, the Atascadero Colony as it was known at the time was originally envisioned as a model community. Little evidence of Atascadero's original architecture and urban design remain, as historic buildings and homes have been torn down to make way for more modern developments and the Sunken Gardens bisected by U.S. Route 101. One of the few surviving examples of original urban design can be found, however, in the Rotunda Building located near the Junior High School on Palma Avenue in the Sunken Gardens public park. Designed by Walter D. Bliss of San Francisco, construction was completed in 1918 at a cost of $180,000. It was the headquarters for the Atascadero Colony, built of reinforced concrete and locally produced brick, it had also served as a private school for boys, a veteran's memorial building, and county offices. Location: 6500 Palma Ave, Atascadero. This building was purchased by San Luis Obispo County in the 1950s as a Memorial Building. The building housed the county library, Atascadero Historical Social Museum and then the city offices following incorporation in 1979. The historic City Hall is adorned with a 40 ft (12 m) dome atop the third story, originally intended to house the library. The building was designated a California Historical Landmark. The City Hall was damaged by the magnitude 6.5 San Simeon Earthquake on the morning of December 22, 2003.

  Another example of Atascadero's early architecture is The Carlton Hotel, built in 1929, located just west of the Sunken Gardens on El Camino Real, the city's main commercial street. Vacant since 1987, David Weyrich, a local businessman, helped rejuvenate the derelict building with an estimated $15 million renovation project completed in 2003.

  The Skytherm house was developed in Atascadero. This private home pioneered solar powered cooling and heating using an integrated rooftop water system. Solar roof ponds are unique solar heating and cooling systems developed by Harold Hay in the 1960s. A basic system consists of a roof-mounted water bladder with a movable insulating cover. This system can control heat exchange between interior and exterior environments by covering and uncovering the bladder between night and day. When heating is a concern the bladder is uncovered during the day allowing sunlight to warm the water bladder and store heat for evening use. When cooling is a concern the covered bladder draws heat from the building's interior during the day and is uncovered at night to radiate heat to the cooler atmosphere. The Skytherm house in Atascadero, California uses a prototype roof pond for heating and cooling.

  Atascadero is nearby the Carrizo Plain, a center for large scale photovoltaic solar energy projects that are planned to reach the gigawatt scale by 2012.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 26.1 sq mi (68 km²), of which, 25.6 sq mi (66 km²) is land and 0.5 sq mi (1.3 km²) or 1.87 percent is water. Atascadero is geographically the largest city in San Luis Obispo County.

  Atascadero experiences a hot semi-arid climate.

  In the state legislature Atascadero is located in the 15th Senate District, represented by Republican Abel Maldonado, and in the 33rd Assembly District, represented by Republican Sam Blakeslee. Federally, Atascadero is located in California's 22nd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +16 and is represented by Republican Kevin McCarthy.

• Atherton, California:

  Atherton is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. Its population was 6,914 at the 2010 census. In September 2010, Forbes magazine placed Atherton's zip code of 94027 at #2 on its annual list of America's most expensive zip codes, with a median home price of $4,010,200. Atherton is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States.

  In 1866, Fair Oaks (Atherton) was a flag stop on the California Coast Line of the Southern Pacific Railroad between San Francisco and San Jose for the convenience of the owners of the large estates who lived north of Menlo Park. The entire area was called Menlo Park. It had been part of the Rancho de las Pulgas that had covered most of the area, which is now southern San Mateo County. There were several attempts to incorporate Fair Oaks, one in 1874 and another in 1911.

  In 1923, Menlo Park wished to incorporate its lands to include the Fair Oaks lands. During a meeting of the representatives of the two communities, it became clear to the Fair Oaks property owners that in order to maintain their community as a strictly residential area, they would have to incorporate separately. Both groups rushed to Sacramento but the Fair Oaks committee arrived first. It was at that time they realized that they could not keep the name Fair Oaks, as it was already the name of a town near Sacramento. It was decided to honor Faxon Dean Atherton who had been one of the first property owners in the south peninsula and name the Town for him. Atherton was incorporated on September 12, 1923.

  Faxon D. Atherton, a native of Massachusetts, had spent several years in Chile and Hawaii as a trader in tallow, hides and merchandise. His friend and business associate, Thomas Lark had written to him "there is education available for your children and a dignity of living on landed estates down the San Francisco peninsula (that is) convenient and accessible." Atherton purchased 640 acres (2.6 km²) for ten dollars an acre ($2470/km²)in 1860. His home, "Valparaiso Park", was built several years later. It was simple in design and ample for his family of seven children.

  Because of the development of the railroad, other San Franciscans traveled south and established summer homes. Because the dirt roads were usually impassable in the winter, the families were only in residence from May through September.

  Thomas H. Selby purchased 420 acres (1.7 km²). A successful businessman, he served as mayor of San Francisco. His country estate was called "Almendral". John T. Doyle, an attorney, built a home off Middlefield Road, "Ringwood". James C. Flood purchased successive parcels and built an extravagant mansion, "Linden Towers".This is now Lindenwood. The Joseph A Donohoe estate was "Holmgrove" and is now the site of Menlo Atherton High School. James Thomas Watkins' home was "Fair Oaks" and after two moves, stands restored today on Alejandra Avenue.

  The government was established with Edward E. Eyre as the first mayor. In 1928, the residents voted to build a Town Hall, which stands today. The early residents wanted a Town that would be divided into large parcels and would not contain businesses. The author Gertrude Atherton, daughter-in-law to Faxon D. Atherton wrote in "The Californians", "Menlo Park (Atherton) has been cut up into country places for what might be termed the 'old families of San Francisco', the eight or ten families who owned the haughty precinct were as exclusive, as conservative, as any group of ancient country families in Europe." A few of the large land holdings were subdivided during the 1920s and 1930s, James Flood estate in 1938. In the 1940s and 1950s over eighty subdivisions were recorded. With the minimum size of one acre (4,000 m²), the era of the large estates was over. Atherton is still a "plain of oaks". Native live oaks, white oaks, bays, redwoods, cedars, pines and other ornamental trees cover the six square miles (16 km²) of town. There are approximately 50 miles (80 km) of roads. The population is around 7500 with approximately 2500 households.

  By 1936, ridership on the Southern Pacific Coast Line was sufficient that there were 23 round trips between Atherton and San Francisco, a distance of 28 miles (45 km).

  Olive Holbrook-Palmer left Holbrook-Palmer Park, a 22 acre (89,000 m²) park, to the Town in 1958. It is an open, tree-covered park, which offers recreational programs and has facilities for functions.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 5.0 square miles (13 km²), of which, 5.0 square miles (13 km²) of it is land and 0.03 square miles (0.078 km²) of it (0.63%) is water.

  Atherton lies two miles (3 km) southeast of Redwood City, and 18 miles (29 km) northwest of San Jose. The town is considered to be part of the San Francisco metropolitan area.

  There are a number of active community organizations; the Atherton Heritage Association, the Atherton Arts Committee, the Atherton Tree Committee, the Friends of the Atherton Community Library, the Holbrook-Palmer Park Foundation, the Atherton Dames, the Police Task force, and the Atherton Civic Interest League. There are also home owners' associations. The Menlo Circus Club is a private club with stables and a riding ring located within the town.

  Atherton's current land use goal is "To preserve the Town's character as a scenic, rural, thickly wooded residential area with abundant open space."

  In the state legislature Atherton is located in the 11th Senate district, represented by Democrat Joe Simitian, and in the 21st Assembly district, represented by Democrat Rich Gordon. Federally, Atherton is located in California's 14th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +18 and is represented by Democrat Anna Eshoo.

  The city is served by the Peninsula Library System.

  Among Atherton's public schools, Encinal, Las Lomitas, and Laurel are elementary schools, while Selby Lane is both an elementary and a middle school. Menlo-Atherton is a high school. Atherton does not have its own public school system. Selby Lane is part of the Redwood City School District, the high school is part of the Sequoia Union High School District, Las Lomitas Elementary School is part of the Las Lomitas Elementary School District, and both Encinal and Laurel are part of the Menlo Park City School District.

  Among the town's private schools, St. Joseph's is an elementary and middle school, Sacred Heart Preparatory is a high school, and Menlo School is a middle and high school.

  Menlo College is a private four-year college.

• Atwater, California:

  Atwater is a city on U.S. Route 99 in Merced County, California, United States. Atwater is 8 miles (13 km) west-northwest of Merced, at an elevation of 151 feet (46 m). The population as of the 2010 census was 28,168.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles (16 km²). 99.86% of it is land and 0.14% water.

  The city includes Castle Air Museum, but does not include Castle Air Force Base proper.

  The railroad reached Atwater in the 1870s, and a town grew up. The first post office opened in 1880. Atwater incorporated in 1922. The name honors Marshall D. Atwater, a wheat farmer whose land was used by the railroad for its station.

  In the state legislature Atwater is in the 12th Senate District, represented by Republican Anthony Cannella, and in the 17th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Cathleen Galgiani. Federally, Atwater is in California's 18th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +3 and is represented by Democrat Dennis Cardoza.

  A small section of eastern Atwater is located in the Merced City School District; that section is zoned to Rivera Middle School. Franklin Elementary School is the closest elementary school to the section of Atwater.

  Merced Union High School District operates Atwater High School and Buhach Colony High School, both of which serve and reside in Atwater.

  Atwater currently does not have a daily newspaper, although many of its residents use the daily paper, the Merced Sun-Star, which is published in nearby Merced. Atwater has two weekly newspapers called The Atwater Signal and The Atwater Times. The Atwater Signal was first published in 1911. The Atwater Times is published by Mid Valley Publications, once a week.

• Auberry, California:

  Auberry is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 2,369 at the 2010 census, up from 2,053 at the 2000 census. Auberry is located on Little Sandy Creek 9.5 miles (15 km) east of Shaver Lake Heights, at an elevation of 2018 feet (615 m).

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 19.2 square miles (50 km²), of which, 19.1 square miles (49 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (0.32%) is water.

  The Auberry post office was established in 1884, and following moves in 1887 and 1888, it was located at its present site in 1906. The place is named for Al Yarborough and is spelled phonetically as his name was pronounced.

• Auburn, California:

  Auburn is the county seat of Placer County, California. Its population at the 2010 census was 13,330. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history.

  Auburn is part of the Greater Sacramento area.

  Archaeological finds place the southwestern border for the prehistoric Martis people in the Auburn area. The indigenous Nisenan, an offshoot of the Maidu, were the first to establish a permanent settlement in the Auburn area.

  In the spring of 1849, a group of French gold miners arrived and camped in what would later be known as the Auburn Ravine. This group was on its way to the gold fields in Coloma, California, and it included Francois Gendron, Philibert Courteau, and Claude Chana. The young Chana discovered gold on May 16, 1848. After finding the gold deposits in the soil, the trio decided to stay for more prospecting and mining.

  Placer mining in the Auburn area was very good, with the camp first becoming known as the North Fork Dry Diggings. This name was changed to the Woods Dry Diggings, after John S. Wood settled down, built a cabin, and started to mine in the ravine. The area soon developed into a mining camp, and it was officially named Auburn in August 1849. By 1850, the town's population had grown to about 1500 people, and in 1851, Auburn was chosen as the seat of Placer County. Gold mining operations moved up the ravine to the site of present-day Auburn. In 1865, the Central Pacific Railroad, the western leg of the First Transcontinental Railroad, reached Auburn, as it was being built east from Sacramento toward Ogden, Utah.

  The restored Old Town has houses and retail buildings from the middle of the 19th century. The oldest fire station and the Post Office date from the Gold Rush years. Casual gold-mining accessories, as well as American Indian and Chinese artifacts, can also be viewed by visitors at the Placer County Museum.

  Auburn is home of the Auburn State Recreation Area. The park is the site of more sporting endurance events than any other place in the world, giving Auburn the undisputed and internationally acclaimed title of Endurance Capital of the World. Examples include the Western States Endurance Run; the Western States Trail Ride, also known as Tevis Cup Equestrian Ride; American River 50 Mile Endurance Run; American River 50 Mile Equestrian Ride; Way Too Cool 50 Kilometer Endurance Run; Auburn International Half-Ironman Triathlon; Auburn Century 100 Mile Bike Ride, Coolest 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race, Rio Del Lago 100 Mile Endurance Run, Sierra Nevada 50 Mile Endurance Run, and the Coolest Run: Ride & Tie.

  Auburn is home to Placer High School, which is one of the oldest high schools in California.

  Local dentist Kenneth H. Fox's colossal sculptures are perhaps the most famous in town. The statues chronicle Auburn's history with a middle-aged Claud Chana gold panning in the nearby American River, and a Chinese "coolie" worker building the Transcontinental Railroad.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.2 square miles (19 km²), of which 0.03 square miles (0.078 km²), or 0.38%, is water. The city is located at 38.89199 N, 121.07606 W.

  Auburn is situated approximately 800 vertical feet above the confluence of the North Fork and Middle Fork of the American River between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe in central California, along the Interstate 80 freeway. Mountainous wilderness canyons and the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Range lie adjacent eastward, while gentle rolling foothills well-suited for agriculture lie to the west. The crest of the Sierra Nevada lies approximately 45 miles (72 km) eastward, and the Central Valley lies approximately ten miles to the west.

  Auburn has cool, wet winters and very warm, mostly dry summers. Average January temperatures are a maximum of 54.0 °F (12.2 °C) and a minimum of 36.6 °F (2.6 °C). Average July temperatures are a maximum of 92.6 °F (33.7 °C) and a minimum of 61.8 °F (16.6 °C). Annually, there are an average of 67.9 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and an average of 22.7 days with 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The record high temperature was 113 °F (45 °C) on July 15, 1972. The record low temperature was 16 °F (−9 °C) on December 9, 1972.

  Average annual precipitation is 34.27 inches (870 mm). There are an average of 66 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1983 with 64.87 inches (1,648 mm) and the driest year was 1976 with 11.76 inches (299 mm). The most precipitation in one month was 23.08 inches (586 mm) in January 1909. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 5.41 inches (137 mm) on October 13, 1962, during the Columbus Day Storm. Snow rarely falls in Auburn; average annual snowfall is only 1.4 inches (36 mm). The most snowfall in one year was 10.7 inches (270 mm) in 1972, including 6.5 inches (170 mm) in January 1972.

  Auburn is served by Amtrak passenger rail service a few times a day, and its railroad station is the eastern terminus of AMTRAK's California-based Capitol Corridor train. Interstate Highway 80 is the main east-west highway through this area, connecting Sacramento to the west and the Lake Tahoe/Reno areas to the east. This town can be reached through several interchanges on Interstate 80, three of which (exits 118, 119 A through C, and 120) are somewhat within the town limits. California Highway 49 is the main north-south highway through this area. Highway 49 connects Auburn with the towns of Grass Valley and Nevada City to its north.

  The Auburn Municipal Airport is located three miles (5 km) north of town, and it is a General Aviation airport, only. Auburn owns and operates this airport and an industrial site. The airport site covers 285 acres (1.15 km²) including an 80-acre (320,000 m²) industrial site. This airport has a single 3,700 ft (1,128 m)-long runway. Services available there include the usual General Aviation ones.

• Avenal, California:

  Avenal is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Avenal is located 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of 807 feet (246 m). It is part of the Hanford–Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 25260), which encompasses all of Kings County. In area, it is the largest city in Kings County. The Zip Code for this community is 93204, and telephone numbers use the sequence (559) 386-XXXX. The population was 15,505 in the 2010 census, which includes inmates at the Avenal State Prison, the first prison actively solicited by a community in the state of California. Many of the remaining residents largely either work at the prison or in the agriculture industry. The prison provides approximately 1,000 jobs to residents.

  The city's motto is "Oasis in the Sun".

  The City of Avenal was named by Spanish soldiers and explorers. In Spanish, "avena" means oats, and "avenal" means oatfield. This area was covered with wild oats, "waist high," that looked like golden silk and covered the Kettleman Plains.

  Early American settlers arrived in the Kettleman Hills during the 1850s with dreams of raising cattle and farming. Oil, however, would bring fame, fortune and people to the area. Indians had always known oil was in the hills, with natural seepage around Coalinga and Tar Canyon. The first Kettleman Hills well was drilled in 1900, followed by countless unproductive efforts.

  On March 27, 1927, the Milham Exploration Company began work on Elliot No. 1. The crew toiled for 19 months, drilling past the 7,000-foot (2,100 m) mark. On October 5, 1928, the well blew out with a roar which was heard 20 miles (32 km) away, spewing forth an oil so fine that its color was white, and could reportedly be used unrefined as gasoline in automobiles.

  The discovery of oil transformed Avenal into a boomtown. In 1929, Standard Oil surveyed the current site of Avenal to build a town. Makeshift houses were hauled in from Taft to take the place of the tents. A water line was laid and later a sewer plant was installed, a post office replaced a cigar box in the general store, a fire department was organized and a community grew. Standard Oil Company built the residents a 600-seat theater and a hospital.

  Also in the first year (1929), nearly 20 businesses occupied Kings Street and Skyline Boulevard. By 1936, Avenal boasted a population of 3,000 - mostly oil workers - with 100 businesses and 69 private telephones and numerous community organizations. In 1940, Avenal was the second largest town in Kings County with a population of over 4,000 and was known to have some of the best services and schools in the state.

  Although today Avenal and its economy are largely reliant on the Avenal State Prison and agriculture, Avenal was once a booming oil town known as the "Oil Fields Capital."

  The teeming life of the oil fields, the forward thrust of civilization into the sun-baked hills so recently in their pristine state meant the early development of nearby towns where adequate living facilities could be provided to care for the fast growing population.

  Milham City was projected by a group of Kings County citizens who owned lands on the slope of the hills east of the oil field. It scarcely had emerged from the dream stage when the Standard Oil Company announced in 1929, that a townsite had been set aside on the northwestern slope of the hills and that it would be called Avenal.

  Thus the present thriving, interesting little town of Avenal came into being as the "oil capital" of the great field. Roads and streets were surveyed and laid out, water mains were laid, the town was launched on its purposeful career almost overnight.

  An emergency hospital was built. Small and large homes were purposefully constructed to enjoy a fuller life in the erstwhile barren plains and trees were planted to provide much needed shade.

  On December 5, 1929, the first mail arrived at the new Avenal post office located at Moore's Soda Fountain.

  Among the first business establishments at Avenal were Koepp's Welding Works, The Republic Supply Company, Mac's Coffee Shop, Moore's Soda Fountain and the Cross Lumber Company. Presently, the town included 26 oil field supply houses, 12 oil field service company branches, 9 grocery stores, 9 service stations, 8 restaurants, 5 welding establishments, 4 builders' supply houses and numerous other enterprises.

  While the oil fields and their urban center were populated with industrious, lay-abiding people the problem of keeping the peace and maintaining the dignity of the law existed there just as it does in all other communities where there is life, action and big payrolls. To meet this commonplace problem a township was established and on April 1, 1937, E.W. Oliver was appointed as justice of the peace and William "Bill" Brendal was named constable. Aiding and cooperating with them in the enforcement of the law was Deputy Sheriff Richard "Dick" Doty, who was appointed by Sheriff L.P. Loftis in 1935.

  Two other county offices maintained deputies at Avenal for service in the oil fields. They were Orville Robbins, deputy county assessor; and R. W. Zivnuska, deputy county treasurer.

  By election in February 1934, the Avenal Township formed a fire district, which served efficiently both in the town and country districts. The three fire district commissioners originally elected were Ray Mohler, Floyd Rice and Jess Hamilton.

  The Avenal district owned one well-equipped White fire truck and a half interest with the West Side Fire Protection District, of a 2-ton Reo fire truck. Two full-time drivers were regularly employed and 20 firemen worked call. The firehouse provided living quarters for the employees. Fire Chief L. H. Dell was assisted by M. L. Sperling.

  By April 1930, Dr. S. V. Dragoo was the head of the emergency hospital. Dr. Dragoo was assisted by one office worker and two nurses, having two special nurses on call. Between five and six hundred calls per month with about thirty accident cases were handled by this organization, not to mention the ambulance service extended.

  Appointed postmistress in November 1931, Mrs. Marie Eads served in that office until July 1933, when she resigned and Charles E. Day was appointed. The post office later occupied a two-story building leased by the Standard Oil Company in 1935. Later in Avenal's history, the Post Office leased a space adjacent to Finster's Market (later T&T Market). In the late 1990s, the post office was relocated to its current location near the intersection of Skyline Blvd and San Joaquin Street.

  The collapse of oil and gas production came with the intrusion of salt water into the oil reservoir, leaving 65 to 70 percent of the North Dome of the Kettleman Hills still undisturbed.

  In 1953, oil companies with holdings in the area fields unitized, naming the Standard Oil Company of California to operate the fields. Avenal's economy dwindled and with it, many stores, buildings and houses were vacated until the 1960s when an influx of agricultural workers made a major impact on Avenal and surrounding area.

  The early 1970s saw two substantial projects that had significant impacts on the city: the completion of the California Aqueduct which brought in needed water to the westside, and the opening of Interstate 5.

  The citizens of Avenal voted for incorporation in September 1979, and while going through the early stages of being a new City, the citizens pursued and were successful in bringing a state prison to Avenal. Avenal State Prison opened in 1987. By 2009, it housed 6,577 inmates and employed 1,517 people, making it a vital part of the community. The building of the facility dramatically increased the City's total valuation with construction, improvements and activity that could be seen in every area of the City.

  Avenal is also home to the Central California Soaring Club headquartered at the Avenal Gliderport. This year round operation is one of the few glider-only airports in the western United States, and one of only a few in the entire US that owns/operates its own airport. A soaring contest is held there every spring.

  Construction has been completed on the renovation of Skyline Boulevard (California State Route 269) in the City's joint effort with Caltrans. Avenal has also completed a massive public improvement project with the development of 52 miles (84 km) of new curbs, gutters and sidewalks throughout the City.

  In November 2010, the Avenal Police Department was initiated with 14 sworn officers. Jack Amoroso was the first police chief.

  Although Avenal's future is no longer closely tied to oil, it will always mark its beginnings from "the day Milham came in," and the cigar box on the counter of the general store which was its first post office.

  Avenal is located at 180 miles (290 km) north of Los Angeles and 200 miles (320 km) south of both San Francisco and Sacramento. The city boasts at being located, "Half the way from the Bay to L.A." According to the United States Census Bureau, Avenal has a total area of 19.4 square miles (50 km²), all of it land.

  Most of the population resides in the southwestern portion of the city. The northeastern areas, separated by hills, and where Interstate 5 passes through, remain mostly rural.

  Avenal State Prison employs over 1,500 people.

  The City has been actively pursuing industrial development and is looking at future development of the Interstate 5 interchange area for both commercial and industrial uses.

  In 2008, a 600-megawatt electric power generating plant was proposed to be built and operated in Avenal by Macquarie Cook Power, a subsidiary of the Macquarie Group, doing business as Avenal Power Center, LLC. The project application indicates that the power plant would be fueled with natural gas and that it would be air-cooled. The capital cost of the project would be $530 million. According to the project's proponents, the plant would generate enough electricity to supply 450,000 homes and businesses annually. The California Energy Commission gave its final approval to the project on December 16, 2009. However, opponents of the power plant vowed to continue to fight. Bradley Angel, Executive Director of Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, threatened to file a lawsuit if the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) approved the project. However, federal approval was delayed, causing the company to sue the USEPA. In February 2011, an EPA official told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that the agency would allow the project to proceed. According to a newspaper story, Bradley Angel commented that Greenaction would continue to fight the project. On May 26, 2011, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon ordered the USEPA to make a final permit decision, which the agency did the following day. Construction of the power plant could begin after a 60-day administrative appeal period. Paul Cort of Earthjustice was quoted in a news story as saying that an administrative appeal would be filed, and if that is unsuccessful, the organization would appeal to the federal court. In June 2011, both People for Clean Air and Water and the Sierra Club filed petitions for review with the USEPA's environmental appeals board. The Center for Biological Diversity joined the Sierra Club's petition. Their petition alleged that the proposed plant would emit excessive nitrogen oxides and is being wrongfully grandfathered in under old clean air rules. On August 18, 2011, the USEPA's environmental appeals board denied the petition. Bradley Angel renewed his vow to continue the fight in court. A news story quoted him as saying: "Basically the fix was in when EPA boss Lisa Jackson broke her committment to environmental justice and illegally approved the permit. We're going to continue to challenge it. It's going to court." On November 3, 2011, The Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity and Greenaction filed suit with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the EPA permit.

  Many local residents are employed in agriculture, which experienced significant growth on the westside of the San Joaquin Valley after the completion of the California Aqueduct in the early 1970s. However, the community has been impacted by the late 2000s recession as well as drought and restrictions on pumping from the Sacramento River delta to protect endangered species. In October 2011, the unemployment rate was 22.6%.

  Avenal has an annual celebration held on the last weekend in April called Avenal Old Timers Day.

  In the state legislature Avenal is located in the 16th Senate District, represented by Democrat Michael Rubio, and in the 30th Assembly District, represented by Republican David Valadao. Federally, Avenal is located in California's 20th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +5 and is represented by Democrat Jim Costa.

  Avenal is represented on the Kings County Board of Supervisors by Richard Valle of Corcoran.

  All of the schools in the city of Avenal are within the Reef-Sunset Unified School District (RSUSD) located at 205 N. Park Avenue, Avenal CA, 93204. Suzanne Monroe was appointed Interim Superintendent of the school district in 2008.

  West Hills Community College is located in Coalinga about 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Avenal.

• Avery, California:

  Avery is a census-designated place (CDP) in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 646 at the 2010 census, down from 672 at the 2000 census. Avery is located on State Route 4 and is home to the oldest continually operating hotel in the county, the Avery Hotel Restaurant & Saloon. Built in 1853, it was known as the "Half Way House," being located between Murphys, Arnold, and Calaveras Big Trees State Park.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.5 square miles (12 km²), all of it land.

  The place is named after George J. Avery, its first postmaster. The first post office was established in 1885, closed in 1943, and re-established in 1949.

  In the state legislature Avery is located in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Dave Cox, and in the 25th Assembly District, represented by Republican Kristin Olsen. Federally, Avery is located in California's 3rd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +7 and is represented by Republican Dan Lungren.

• Bakersfield, California:

  Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, 110 mi (180 km) to the north and south respectively.

  The city's population was 347,483 at the 2010 census, making it the 9th largest city in California and the 51st largest city in the United States. The Bakersfield Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has a population of 800,458 making it the 63rd largest metropolitan area in the country. It is California's third largest inland city, after Fresno and Sacramento. The city's economy relies on agriculture, petroleum extraction and refining, and manufacturing.

  Bakersfield has been briefly known as Baker's Field, Kern Island, and Alkalai City.

  Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of Native American settlements dating thousand of years. The Yokuts lived in lodges along the branches of the Kern River Delta and hunted antelope, tule elk, deer, bear, fish, and game birds. In 1776, the Spanish missionary Father Francisco Garcés became the first European to explore the area. Owing to the remoteness and inaccessibility of the region, however, the Yokuts were spared intensive contact until the 1820s when Mexican settlers began to migrate to the area. Following the discovery of gold in California in 1848, settlers flooded into the San Joaquin Valley. In 1851, gold was discovered along the Kern River in the southern Sierra Nevada, and in 1865, oil was discovered in the valley. The Bakersfield area, once a tule-reed-covered marshland, was first known as Kern Island to the handful of pioneers who built log cabins there in 1860. The area was subject to flooding from the Kern River, which occupied what is now the downtown area, and experienced outbreaks of malaria.

  At its founding ceremony in 1869, it was named Bakersfield to honor Colonel Thomas Baker. The California Gold Rush brought him to California, and he moved to the banks of the Kern River in 1863. In 1862 disastrous floods had swept away the settlement founded there in 1860 by the German-born Christian Bohna, and the area's name changed from Kern Island to Baker's Field.

  By 1870, with a population of 600, Bakersfield was becoming the principal town in Kern County. In 1873 it was officially incorporated as a city, by 1874 it officially replaced the dying town of Havilah as the county seat. By 1880, the town had a population of 801, and by 1890, it had a population of 2,626. Migration from Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Southern California brought new residents, who were mostly employed by the oil industry. By 1980, Bakersfield's population was about 105,000. During the next 20 years, Bakersfield's population exploded and surpassed 250,000 by 2000. Bakersfield is now one of the major cities of California.

  On July 21, 1952, an earthquake struck at 4:52 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. The earthquake, which was felt from San Francisco to the Mexican border, destroyed the nearby communities of Tehachapi and Arvin. The earthquake's destructive force also bent cotton fields into U shapes, slid a shoulder of the Tehachapi Mountains across all four lanes of the Ridge Route, collapsed a water tower creating a flash flood, and destroyed the railroad tunnels in the mountain chain. Bakersfield was spared, experiencing minor architectural damage without loss of life. The earthquake measured 7.3 on the Richter scale.

  A large aftershock occurred on July 29, and did minor architectural damage, but raised fears that the flow of the Friant-Kern Canal could be dangerously altered, potentially flooding the city and surrounding areas.

  Aftershocks, for the next month, had become normal to Bakersfield residents, until August 22 at 3:42 p.m. a 5.8 earthquake struck directly under the town's center in the most densely populated area of the Southern San Joaquin Valley. The town did have some good fortune, however, as the quake struck late on a Friday afternoon when businesses were already closed down or beginning to close down. Four people died in the aftershock, and many of the town's historic structures were permanently lost.

  Bakersfield lies near the southern "horseshoe" end of the San Joaquin Valley, with the southern tip of the Sierra Nevada just to the east. The city limits extend to the Sequoia National Forest, at the foot of the Greenhorn Mountain Range and at the entrance to the Kern Canyon. To the south, the Tehachapi Mountains feature the historic Tejon Ranch. To the west is the Temblor Range, behind which is the Carrizo Plain National Monument and the San Andreas Fault. The Temblor Range is approximately 35 miles (56 km) from Bakersfield across the valley floor.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 143.6 square miles (372 km²), of which 142.2 sq mi (368 km²) is land (98.99%) and 1.4 sq mi (3.6 km²) is water (1.01%).

  At the 2000 census, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total area of 114.4 square miles (296 km²), of which 113.1 sq mi (293 km²) was land (98.86%) and 1.3 sq mi (3.4 km²) was water (1.14%).

  Bakersfield lies approximately 100 miles (160 km) north of Los Angeles (about a 1½-hour drive on I-5 and State Route 99) and about 300 miles (480 km) southeast of the state capital, Sacramento (about a 4½-hour drive on State Route 99).

  Bakersfield has historically referred to its regions by directional names. They are: Central Bakersfield, North Bakersfield, Northeast, East Bakersfield, Southeast, South Bakersfield, Southwest, and Northwest. With the exception of Central and East Bakersfield, all regions extend to the city limits. East Bakersfield generally refers to the formal town of Sumner (later renamed East Bakersfield). As a result, the Northeast wraps around East Bakersfield.

  Regions are further broken down into neighborhoods and districts. Unlike regions, their boundaries are not as firmly established and tend to vary from person to person. Most of Bakersfield’s named neighborhoods tend to refer to upper-class areas. Most are centered around a golf course, either public or private.

  Bakersfield has a Desert climate, with long, hot, dry summers, and brief, cool, wet winters. In fact, Bakersfield is one of the sunniest cities in the U.S. (just behind Yuma, Arizona and Redding, California). Bakersfield enjoys long-lasting, mild autumns and early springs, giving the region a unique climate suitable for growing a wide variety of crops (ranging from citrus to carrots to almonds and pistachios). Rainfall averages only 6.5 inches (165 mm) annually, mostly falling during winter and spring. Typically, no rain falls from May through September.

  Summers see extended stretches of hot weather, with 108 days per year above 90 °F (32 °C); in addition, there are 36 days above 100 °F (38 °C) from late May to mid-September, and a 110 °F (43 °C) day can be seen every few years. Winters feature mild daytime temperatures, but frost can be occasionally seen, often coming with dense Tule fog and low visibility, causing many schools to have fog delays as long as three hours. The official time frame for Tule fog to form is from November 1 to March 31.

  Snow is rare on the valley floor; however, it does snow in Bakersfield about once every 20 to 30 years. The last time it snowed was on January 25, 1999 when Bakersfield received 6 inches (150 mm). The record maximum temperature was 118 °F (48 °C) on July 28, 1908, and the record minimum temperature was 11 °F (−12 °C) on January 3, 1908. The most rainfall in one month was 5.82 inches (148 mm) in December 2010, and the maximum 24-hour rainfall was 2.29 inches (58 mm) on February 9, 1978.

  The American Lung Association ranked Bakersfield as the most ozone-polluted city in the nation in 2006. It was also ranked as the second-most polluted city in terms of both short-term and year-round particle pollution. In Peter Greenberg's book Don't Go There!, Bakersfield is mentioned for its high ozone levels, and postulates that its rapid increase in size is causing the increasing rate of pollution from new construction.

  Bakersfield has been known for being a fast-growing city and has seen its population more than triple over nearly 30 years from approximately 105,000 in 1980 to 347,000 in 2010. Although the city is still growing, its growth rate has slowed in recent years due to the economic recession and high home foreclosure rates.

  The city of Shafter, a small farming town north of Bakersfield, has filed a suit to limit the northern expansion of Bakersfield's city limits. Shafter has also annexed large pieces of farmland to its east and south to ensure that Bakersfield does not envelop its southern area.

  The large bluff and plateau which lie east of Bakersfield—toward the Rio Bravo and Kern Canyon area—have been under development for the last sixty years. Because the steep, north-facing edge of the bluff provides a view of the foothills, mountains, oil fields, and Kern River, the city government has attempted to balance development and preservation in this area. In addition, city leaders recognize the possibility that extensive development may lead to erosion and landslides. It is estimated by local officials that Bakersfield and its outlying suburbs will reach a population of over one million people by 2020.

  Bakersfield’s historic and primary industries have related to Kern County’s two main industries, oil and agriculture. Kern County is the most oil productive county in America, with approximately 10% of the nation’s domestic production. Kern County is a part of the highly productive San Joaquin Valley, and ranks in the top five most productive agricultural counties in the nation. Major crops for Kern County include: grapes, citrus, almonds, carrots, alfalfa, cotton, and roses. The city serves as the home for both corporate and regional headquarters of companies engaged in these industries.

  Bakersfield also has a growing manufacturing and distribution sector. Several companies have moved to Bakersfield because of its inexpensive land and access to the rest of America, as well as international ports in both Los Angeles and Oakland. Other companies have opened regional offices and non-oil/agricultural businesses because of Bakersfield’s and Kern County’s business friendly policies, such as having no local utility or inventory taxes. Products manufactured in the city include: ice cream (world’s largest ice cream plant), central vacuums, highway paint, and stock racing cars.

  Bakersfield is the largest city with the lowest sales tax in California at the state minimum of 7.25%.

  Law enforcement is provided by the Bakersfield Police Department. Fire protection is provided by the Bakersfield Fire Department.

  The Bakersfield Police Department (BPD) is the agency responsible for law enforcement within the City of Bakersfield, California in the United States. It has over 400 officers and staff, covering an area of 131 square miles (340 km²) serving an urban population of more than 800,000. The current chief of the department (as of 2010) is Greg Williamson. The department protects the city, split between two areas: West area and East area, with stations in each area aside from the main department headquarters. The department administration is made up of the chief of department, two assistant chiefs, four captains and eleven lieutenants.

  The department headquarters are located at 1601 Truxtun Avenue. The West area station is located at 1301 Buena Vista Road. The department shooting range is located on Truxtun Avenue, with the K-9 training school next door to the range. The department training academy is located on Norris Road in conjunction with the Kern County Sheriff's Department.

  The Bakersfield Fire Department's communications division, known as ECC (Emergency Communications Center), is located in the Whiting Communications Center in Northeast Bakersfield. ECC is a joint dispatch center for the Kern County, Bakersfield City and California City Fire Departments. Built in 1988, ECC is responsible for dispatching resources over an area of approximately 8,100 square miles (21,000 km²) that includes 65 fire stations. ECC's approximate call volume is 82,000 calls a year and processes Emergency and Non-Emergency Fire and Medical 911 calls for the entire County of Kern.

  The number of violent crimes recorded by the Bakersfield Police Department in its 2008 Crime Reports was 5,961. 27 of those were murders and homicides. Data collected by Bakersfield Police Department, an anti-gang program under the City of Bakersfield, shows that the city of Bakersfield has experienced an increase in gang membership and gang activity since the early 2000s.

  The Bakersfield Police Department has a holding area, but In-Custody (Inmates) are transported to the Kern County Central Receiving Facility in Bakersfield. Sentenced criminals are held at the Lerdo Detention Facility, just outside the City's limits. The Kern County Sheriff's Office, Detentions Bureau has an average daily inmate population of approximately 2,500 inmates.

  The government of Bakersfield consists of a mayor, council, and city manager. The city council consists of seven members each of whom are elected from individual wards. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote. The city manager is chosen by the city council. Bakersfield uses the Council–Manager form of government.

  Bakersfield differs from many California cities in that it is overwhelmingly conservative. In the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, John McCain received 55.6% of the city's votes to Barack Obama's 42.9%. The same year, Bakersfield cast 75.2% of its votes in favor of Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. The city owes its socially conservative atmosphere in large part to a historically high number of migrants from Oklahoma and neighboring states during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

  Bakersfield is represented in the California State Senate by Dean Florez (D)and Roy Ashburn (R) and in the California State Assembly by Danny Gilmore (R) and Jean Fuller (R). The citizens of Bakersfield are represented in the U. S. Congress by Jim Costa (D) (CA-20) and Kevin McCarthy (R) (CA-22).

  An August 2005 article by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer listed Bakersfield as the 8th-most conservative city in the US out of the 237 ranked cities, listing it as the most conservative city in California.

  Two of the earliest schools founded in Kern County were Mrs. Thomas Baker's school, opened in 1863 at the Baker home (near present-day 19th and N Streets); and a Catholic parochial school opened by Reverend Father Daniel Dade in 1865 in Havilah (then the county seat). In 1880, Norris School was established. The land for this school was donated by William Norris, a local farmer. Thirteen to twenty students were taught in its one classroom during the 1880s. Bakersfield City School District (BCSD) is the state's largest elementary school district. The first high school in Bakersfield, Kern County Union High School, opened in 1893. It was renamed Bakersfield High School after World War II.

  The site at California Avenue and F Street is the location of the first campus of Bakersfield College, which was established in 1913 and relocated in 1956 to its current location overlooking the Panorama Bluffs in northeast Bakersfield. Bakersfield College has an enrollment of 16,000 students. To serve a growing baby-boomer population after World War II, the Kern High School District has steadily expanded to nineteen campuses and more than 35,000 students, making it the largest high school district in the state. In 1965, a university in the California State University system was founded in Bakersfield. California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) has approximately 7,800 students. It was an NCAA Division II sports powerhouse in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with some sports, including wrestling (PAC-10), competing in Division I. CSUB has become a Division I athletic school and is trying to begin the process of joining the Big West Conference. In 1982, Santa Barbara Business College was founded.

  Bakersfield is part of the Kern High School District (KHSD), California's largest high school district, comprising 28 schools and educating about 35,000 students.

  Private high schools include Garces Memorial High School, Bakersfield Christian High School, and Bakersfield Adventist Academy.

  California State University, Bakersfield (often abbreviated CSUB or shortened to CSU Bakersfield or Cal State Bakersfield) is a public university located in Bakersfield, California and was founded in 1965. CSUB opened in 1970 on a 375 acres (1.52 km²) campus, becoming the 19th school in the California State University system. The university offers 31 bachelor's, 22 master's degree programs, and one doctoral program, the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.). As of Fall 2002, some 7,700 undergraduate and graduate students attended CSUB, at either the main campus in Bakersfield or the satellite campus, Antelope Valley Center in Lancaster, California.

  Bakersfield College (BC) is a public community college located in Bakersfield, California. Its main campus is located on a 153-acre (0.62 km²) plot in northeast Bakersfield, and it also operates two satellite campuses: the Weill Institute in downtown Bakersfield, and at the Delano Center in Delano, California, approximately 35 miles (56 km) north of Bakersfield. BC serves more than 18,000 students each semester and is part of the Kern Community College District (KCCD). Currently there are a total of 184 Associate's degree and certificate programs for students to choose from. BC is a part of the California Community Colleges system.

  National University maintains a campus in Bakersfield, while the University of LaVerne, Fresno Pacific University, and Point Loma Nazarene University all have branch campuses located in Bakersfield. Santa Barbara Business College also has a campus in Bakersfield.

  Many of Bakersfield's oldest and most historic restaurants are Basque, including Woolgrowers, Noriega's, Pyrenees, Benji's, and Narducci's.

  The Kern County Museum, located on Chester Avenue just north of downtown Bakersfield holds a collection of regional artifacts. Permanent exhibits include: "Black Gold: The Oil Experience", a hands-on modern approach at showing how oil is extracted; and "The Lori Brock Children's Discovery Museum", a hands-on children's museum and a display on the influential "Bakersfield Sound" style of country music. Bakersfield is also home to the Buena Vista Museum of Natural History, which has a collection of Miocene era marine fossils collected from the region as well as other displays.

  Bakersfield hosts horse shows all year round, including local, 4H, and breed shows.

  Every spring, Bakersfield hosts one of California's Scottish Games and Clan Gatherings. In the late summer, the local St. George's Greek Orthodox Church hosts an annual Greek Festival.

  Every year during the summer, Bakersfield hosts the Lowrider National in the Kern County Fairgrounds.

  Memorial Day weekend features the Kern County Basque Festival, sponsored by the Kern County Basque Club. This three-day festival features food, music, dance, and handball games.

  In March, Auto Club Famoso Raceway holds the annual March Meet nostalgia drag racing event. The event dates back to the U.S. Fuel and Gas Finals held in March 1959.

  Twice a year, the CSUB Indigenous Native American Club hosts a Native Gathering on the California State University Bakersfield campus at Runner Park.

  Native American Preservation Council of Kern County hosts an annual inter-tribal Pow Wow every June (past 15 years). It's location moved from Bakersfield College to Kern County Fairgrounds for the upcoming, 2012, Pow Wow.

  In mid to late September, Bakersfield holds the annual Kern County Fair, which showcases the area's agricultural produce and animal husbandry, along with a rodeo, concerts, and a traditional carnival.

  Previously every year and now every five years, Bakersfield hosts a political conference known as the Bakersfield Business Conference. Since 1985, this conference has grown in attendance and as of 2007 the attendance numbered over 9,000. The Conference has had several notable political speakers to include Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, George Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Neil Armstrong, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell, Mike Wallace, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and Paul Harvey.

  In mid October, Bakersfield LGBTQ (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Question) holds its an annual Bakersfield Pride. It is a family welcoming event every year. Starting in 2004, it has grown from being located at the Bakersfield Museum of Art, to now being held at Stramler Park.

  Bakersfield has five movie multi-screen theaters: Edwards Bakersfield Stadium 14, Reading Cinemas Valley Plaza 16, Maya Cinemas Bakersfield 16, as well as two second-run theaters: Starplex Cinemas Movies 6 and Regency Theatres East Hills 10. The historic downtown Fox Theater (Bakersfield, California) has been renovated, and is now a venue for concerts, musicians, comedians, and movie showings.

  Although Bakersfield is known mostly for its country music roots, other styles of music are also quite prevalent in the area's nightlife. Bakersfield has its share of notable "native-born" musicians (country or not), including Country Music Hall of Famer Merle Haggard, renowned jazz pianist David Benoit, Cory Hohlbauch of the Northern California born hardcore band RISE!, Hall of Fame Guitarist Bill Aken (One of the first members of 'The Wrecking Crew'), country music artist Buck Owens, nu metal band Korn, rock band Adema, deathrock band Burning Image and American Latin jazz musician Louie Cruz Beltran, among others.

  In the 1950s and 1960s, local musicians such as Bill Woods, Tommy Collins, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and Wynn Stewart developed a streamlined country music style called the Bakersfield sound, which emphasized pedal steel guitar, the Fender Telecaster electric guitar and intense vocals. Bakersfield country was considered a spinoff of the honky-tonk style of country music that emerged from Texas, appropriate since many musicians there hailed from either Texas or surrounding states. Today, Bakersfield is third only to Nashville, Tennessee and Texas in country music fame, and Bakersfield continues to produce famous country music artists. The late Buck Owens' Crystal Palace is a respected concert venue, regularly featuring new recording artists as well as established country music stars. Buddy Alan (Buck's eldest son) performs with The Buckaroos (Doyle Curtsinger, Jim Shaw, Terry Christoffersen and David Wulfekuehler) regularly. Country music artist Gary Allan bases his music on the Bakersfield sound.

  In 1972, Bob Weir released the song "Mexicali Blues" on his first solo album, Ace. However, the album is basically a de facto Grateful Dead album. Not only does the sound of the song pay tribute to the Bakersfield sound, the name of the city is referenced in the lyics.

  In 1978, The Rolling Stones released the song "Far Away Eyes" on the album Some Girls. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards collaborated extensively on writing the song and it was recorded in late 1977. The Rolling Stones, longtime country music fans, incorporated many aspects of "Bakersfield sound" country music into this song. Bakersfield is mentioned in the first line of the song.

  In the early 1990s, a group of friends from the lower and middle-class parts of Northeast and East Bakersfield formed the band KoRn. The members of the band attended Highland High School (Jonathan Davis and Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu ), East High School (James "Munky" Shaffer and former lead guitarist Brian "Head" Welch) and South High School (David Silveria).

  Orange County punk band Social Distortion have a song on their 2011 album Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes entitled "Bakersfield."

  San Jose, California pop punk band Four O'clock Heroes have a song on their 2012 album "Take Control" named "Bakersfield."

  In 1974, Southern Gospel artist The Lighthouse Boys was formed.

  Pete Prevost joined Sparrow Records rock band Sanctus Real in 2006.

  Bakersfield is currently home to three minor league teams. They are: Blaze (Baseball, CL), Condors (Hockey, ECHL), and Jam (Basketball, D-League). In addition, Bakersfield has two colleges with strong athletics programs. Bakersfield College Renegades is a community college with 19 varsity sports, the most notable being football. It competes in the Western State Conference, which is a part of the California Community College Athletic Association. California State University, Bakersfield Roadrunners is a university with 15 varsity sports, the most notable being basketball. It is a part of NCAA division I and is currently attempting to join the Big West Conference.

  Bakersfield is also located near a variety of racing sports. Current racing sports include: drag strip (at Famoso Raceway), dirt (at Bakersfield Speedway), and paved (at Buttonwillow Raceway). The national jet boat association holds drag boat races at Lake Ming. Bakersfield was also home to Mesa Marin Raceway, a NASCAR associated oval track, but was demolished in 2004. A replacement, the Kern River Speedway, was under construction and was expected to open by 2008, but has been delayed because of a lack of funding. It was announced in February 2012 that the track has been purchased by a new ownership group with a grand opening slated for late in 2012.

  Bakersfield has many venues for a variety of different sports. One of the most notable and versatile is the Rabobank Arena (formerly the Centennial Garden) which hosts concerts, shows, and sporting events. In addition, Bakersfield has facilities that can host tournament games. The Kern County Soccer Field has 24 full-size light soccer fields. Also, currently under construction is the Bakersfield Sports Village. When completed, it will have 16 baseball fields, 6 football fields, and 16 soccer fields.

  Bakersfield also hosts various amateur sporting events, including shooting, cycling, boat drag, rugby, water skiing, soccer, youth baseball, tennis, horseshoes, and volleyball competitions. Other recreational opportunities include whitewater rafting, rock climbing, mountain biking, fossil collecting and skiing in the southern Sierras.

  Bakersfield is also home to a large population of off-highway vehicle (OHV) enthusiasts. As of May 2001, over 18,000 OHVs were registered in Kern County. On May 26, 2005, the City of Bakersfield and the State of California Parks department obtained an assignable option, using a grant from the OHV Trust funds, to purchase a prospective 11,000 acres (45 km²) site for an OHV park. Ruth Coleman, Director of California State Parks, remarked, "This project responds to the needs of the Bakersfield community for increased recreation opportunities and will provide a cornerstone for the Central Valley Strategy." Several programs, including National 4-H and California Off-Road PALS, exist to train youth in proper OHV recreation.

  Due to its key position in the southern San Joaquin Valley, Bakersfield is served by several media outlets. The primary newspaper is The Bakersfield Californian, which is a direct descendant of the first paper published in the region, The Daily Courier in 1866.

  The city has a number of television stations and network affiliates, including KERO-TV (ABC), KBAK-TV (CBS), KGET-TV (NBC), KBFX-CA (Fox), KABE-LP (Univision), KKEY-LP (Telemundo, KGET-DT2 (The CW) and is served by Fresno's PBS affiliate, KVPT. Bakersfield is also home to Spanish-language broadcaster Univision's only English-language station, KUVI-DT. The city also has a News Site Bakersfield News.

  Bakersfield is currently serviced by three freeways. State Route 99 bisects Bakersfield from north to south, while State Route 58 exists as a freeway east of SR 99, servicing the southeast part of the city and extending over the Tehachapi mountains to Tehachapi, Mojave, and Barstow. State Route 178 consists of a short segment of freeway that runs from a point near downtown to the northeastern part of the city, although there is currently no direct freeway connection between SR 99 and SR 178. Interstate 5, the fast north-south superhighway, bypasses the city several miles to the west.

  Bakersfield is also served by a short, unsigned, four-lane freeway called Alfred Harrell Highway. It was constructed between 1956 and 1958 and extends from China Grade Loop to Hart Park (a large recreation park in northeast Bakersfield). Unlike most freeways, Alfred Harrell Highway lacks the traditional signage used on divided freeways. There is also a 2-lane expressway to the east of the park. This section was originally reserved to be converted to a four-lane freeway similar to the constructed western portion. If it were ever constructed, it would have two interchanges at Morning Drive and Lake Ming Road and would terminate at the SR 178 adopted alignment (not constructed).

  Both SR 58 and SR 178 have planned future extensions. SR 58 western extension is known as the Centennial Corridor, and will extend the freeway west to I-5. Included in the Centennial Corridor is the Westside Parkway (sometime referred to by its formal name Kern River Freeway). This is a new freeway which will run through western Bakersfield, on a route parallel to the Kern River and Stockdale Highway. SR 178 western extension is known as the Crosstown Freeway/SR 178 Connection, although it was formally known as the Centennial Corridor before that name was moved to SR 58. It will connect SR 178 to the Westside Parkway.

  In addition to these freeway extensions, there is also a proposed network of beltways. Currently there are two beltways being considered in Bakersfield. The West Beltway would run north-south from Seventh Standard Rd. to Taft Highway. It will run parallel to Heath Road to the north and parallel to South Allen Road to the south. A future extension would connect the West Beltway to SR 99 and I-5, providing a bypass to Bakersfield. The South Beltway would run east-west from SR 58 to I-5. From SR 58, it would run south, parallel to Comanche Drive until Taft Highway. From there, the freeway would turn west, and run parallel to Taft Hwy. until terminating at I-5. A future extension would extend the freeway north to SR 178 and terminate at Alfred Harrell Highway. Bakersfield also envisioned CalTrans building a North Beltway as the western extension of SR 58, but has been withdrawn in favor of the Centennial Corridor.

  Bakersfield is one of the largest cities in the U.S. that is not directly linked to an Interstate highway. SR 99 and SR 58 have been considered for conversion to interstates. SR 99 would be a new interstate signed either as Interstate 7 or Interstate 9, while SR 58 would be an extension of I-40 which currently terminates in Barstow. In 2005 SR 99 was added to the FHWA list of high priority corridors as “California farm to market route” and designated a NHS Future Interstate.

  Garces Memorial Traffic Circle, informally known as Garces Circle or just The Circle, is the only traffic circle in Bakersfield, California. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Chester Avenue, Golden State Avenue (State Route 204) and 30th St in Bakersfield. The Circle was originally built as a part US 99 in approximately 1932. A large 1939 sculpture of Father Francisco Garces by John Palo-Kangas rests inside the circle.

  Bakersfield is served by the Golden Empire transit District. A total of 18 routes are operated, the majority of which serve the urbanized portion of the county which includes the city of Bakersfield.

  The Bakersfield Station, opened in 2000, provides Amtrak California passenger service to the city. Previously, Bakersfield had been served by two depots; the first was located in Old Town Kern and the second was built in downtown. Bakersfield is a planned station for the proposed California High Speed Rail system.

  Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield was recently rebuilt and dedicated as the William M. Thomas Terminal. In 2009, a grant was awarded to the Airport to fix Taxiway Alpha which is to be completed by a local company around the end of October 2009.

  Also located at the Airport: Hall Medivac Helicopter, International Flight Training Academy (a subsidiary of Japan's ANA Airlines), SRT Helicopter Flight School, and numerous other aviation mechanics and technicians.

  Bakersfield has approximately 88 taxicabs licensed by the City, half of which appear to be independent owner operators that can be hailed or flagged on the street. Independent owner operators and taxicabs from multiple companies can also be requested by calling 661-374-2227 (661-374-CABS). As of 2011 the rate for taxicab service in Bakersfield is $3.00 + $2.75 per mile.

• Bardsdale, California:

  Bardsdale is an unincorporated community in Ventura County, California, USA. It is located in the orange blossom and agricultural belt of the Santa Clara River Valley, south of the Santa Clara River and on the north slope of South Mountain. The closest town is Fillmore, which is on the north side of the Santa Clara about 3 miles (5 km) from Bardsdale. Santa Paula is about 7 miles (11 km) west, the most direct route being South Mountain Road. Moorpark is about 6 miles (10 km) south over the serpentine mountain road known as Grimes Canyon.

  The Bardsdale area has long been a center of citrus ranching, having a large number of verdant orange orchards with home sites interspersed among them. The citrus of Sunkist growers in Bardsdale is sold throughout the country and around the world. Among its lemons and other crops, there are avocado orchards west of Bardsdale toward Santa Paula.

  Bardsdale gently slopes from South Mountain to the river and has a sweeping, panoramic view of the Santa Clara River Valley, dominated by the peaks of the Sespe and San Cayetano Mountains. The community is home to the Bardsdale United Methodist Church, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

  The Bardsdale Cemetery serves the community as well as Fillmore, which has no other cemetery. The Elkins Ranch Golf Course is on the east edge of Bardsdale.

  The area is serviced by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department and the Ventura County Fire Department.

  Bardsdale was established in 1887 by real estate developer Royce G. Surdam (1835–1891) on 1,500 acres (6 km²) of the old Rancho Sespe grant that he purchased from his business accociate Thomas R. Bard, in whose honor he named the town. Surdam subdivided Bardsdale into 3-acre (12,141 m²) lots and 10-acre (40,469 m²) blocks. He laid out the town with such street names as San Cayetano, Hueneme, Sespe, Santa Paula, Ventura, Owen, Ojai and Simi Streets, running from north to south, including Chambersburg Street, which was named for Thomas Bard's hometown of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The others, from west to east, were named as avenues, such as Riverside, Pasadena, Bardsdale, Los Angeles and California Avenues.

  At about the same time that the town was laid out by Surdam, the Southern Pacific Railroad ran tracks through the valley, between Newhall and Ventura, on the north side of the Santa Clara River. They built a station about 5 miles (8 km) away from Bardsdale and named it Fillmore Station in honor of the company's general superintendent, Jerome A. Fillmore.

  On March 22, 1887, Surdam began running $4.00 round trip tri-weekly train excursions from Los Angeles to Fillmore Station, to see Bardsdale "the Eden of Southern California!," which he advertised in the Los Angeles Times. The U.S. Post Office Department established Bardsdale Post Office on May 18, 1887, and Surdam was appointed the first postmaster. The post office was located on Chambersberg Street. A small community began to develop around the train station, taking the name Fillmore. It had no post office then and the mail was delivered from Bardsdale. Surdam would ride over the Santa Clara River on horseback and pick up the mail bag at the station, then return to the post office in Bardsdale. After sorting, he would ride back over the river and deliver the mail to the few residents at Fillmore.

  The Bardsdale Cemetery was established soon after the town was founded. There were no citrus orchards in and around the center of Bardsdale at that time. Residents raised what they thought would grow best. Among the various crops were barley, cabbage and potatoes. A large German colony moved to Bardsdale from the Midwest. Their small church was used as the first school.

  The first meeting of the Bardsdale School Board was held on May 8, 1888. Two of the members, J.C. Wilson and B. Broderson, were appointed by the County Superintendent of Schools, while Brice Grimes was a member by virtue of the statute law. Their first duty was to call an election. The election was held in Robertson's Store in Bardsdale, and eight votes were cast. Henry Klages and B.T. Chadsey were elected to the Board. On May 22, 1888, the Board hired Miss Nettie Hamilton to teach for three weeks. The following August, Miss Jessie Fuller was hired to teach for four months at a salary of $65 a month.

  Bardsdale was still without a schoolhouse. A lot was donated for one on the east side of Ventura Street, between Pasadena and Bardsdale Avenues, but there were no funds to build it. On October 20, 1888, 11 votes were cast for the purpose of building and furnishing a shoolhouse for $1,722. The school term was divided into two parts. Fuller's term ended on December 14 and, on February 11, 1889, Miss Lillian Gibbons began the second term at $60 a month. In the meantime, O.J. Goodenough was awarded the "contract to build the Bardsdale Schoolhouse according to the plans and specifications, all complete, and he to furnish all material and do or cause to be done all work in a good and workman like manner for $1,397, excepting outhouses."

  An article about Bardsdale in the Los Angeles Times of May 22, 1889, reads: "This is a thriving settlement in the heart of the beautiful Santa Clara Valley, 52 miles from Los Angeles and 26 miles from San Buenaventura. It is two years old, has one church and parsonage, one store (general merchandise), post office, two blacksmith shops, one hotel, 13 residences, public schoolhouse under construction, ditch five miles long, which is being enlarged to six feet on bottom, eight feet on top, three feet deep, with a capacity of 2000 inches of water. Nearly the entire tract of 3200 acres is under a high state of cultivation. There is this year 200 acres of potatoes, 300 acres of corn, and the balance in barley, all of which promises an abundant harvest. The writer has been a resident for two years, and finds it the healthiest place in Southern California. Sunshine."

  On June 8, 1889, the new schoolhouse was accepted by the trustees. A motion was moved and carried, unanimously, "that the schoolhouse should not be used for dancing, and that smoking and chewing tobacco be prohibited in the schoolroom and smoking on the ground."

  Miss Minnie Taylor was the first teacher in the new schoolhouse. She began on August 12, 1889, earning $60 a month. The school had one room, with a huge sheet iron stove in the back, and a cloak room. There were two entrances, one for the girls and one for the boys, and the desks and seats were made for two students. There were nine grades, as the nearest high school was at Santa Paula.

  By 1891, a number of nice houses had been built in Bardsdale, surrounded with thriving trees and shrubs, and all was supplied with a good system of water works. Surdam died on September 2 of that year and was buried in Bardsdale Cemetery. Most of his land holdings in the Bardsdale tract were sold to Thomas Bard by his estate. An article about Ventura County in the Los Angeles Times of September 5, 1891, reads: "A few miles Farther west, Fillmore and Bardsdale, friendly rivals, greet each other from opposite slopes of the Santa Clara Valley. Either offers enough points of interest to occupy the whole of the space devoted to Ventura county. From the former large quantities of brown stone are being constantly shipped to San Francisco and Los Angeles. Bardsdale has a splendid irrigation system, in fact, the best in the county. Large tracts of land are devoted to potatoes, which, with irrigation, will produce two crops a year, or one crop of potatoes and one of barley or beans may be raised. Land here is worth $140 to $200 per acre, but fine inducements are offered to settlers. One-half of a fifty-acre tract will be given to any one planting the same to oranges and caring for it for three years. The low price of potatoes this year left many farmers in the hole here."

  A new Bardsdale Post Office was built in 1892. The tiny wooden structure, about 10 square feet (0.93 m²), was said to be one of the smallest post offices in the state. That same year, the Bardsdale Methodist Church was founded. The Bardsdale Cemetery Association was founded in 1895. In 1898, the Methodists had a new Carpenter Gothic church and parsonage built at the southeast corner of Bardsdale Avenue and Ventura Street, near Robertson's Store, on two lots donated by Thomas Bard.

  Operation of the Bardsdale Post Office was discontinued on May 15, 1906. In 1909, the first truss bridge was built across the Santa Clara River between Bardsdale and Fillmore. It was washed out in the winter flood of 1914 and another one was built. An article in the Los Angeles Times of March 23, 1915, reads: "With the completion of the new Bardsdale bridge, taking the place of one washed out a year ago, a new highway beautiful will be added to the county's road system. The County Forester has outlined plans for the planting of palms on both sides of the road from Bardsdale to the bridge, joining another palm-shaded highway. Citizens of Bardsdale and vicinity have co-operated in the work of grading and improving the highway, and all brush and weeds have been cleared from the sides."

  In 1918, the schoolhouse was replaced with a new one on the same lot. The new school had a central hallway, an office, auditorium with stage, a kitchen and three classrooms, one for 1st and 2nd grades, one for 3rd and 4th and one for 5th and 6th. The second Bardsdale Bridge was washed out in the early morning of March 13, 1928, when the St. Francis Dam, in northern Los Angeles County, collapsed and a flood wave of water went rushing down the Santa Clara River Valley to the Pacific Ocean at Ventura. Among the estimated 450 people who lost their lives throughout the county, a few of the victims lived at Bardsdale. The body of Harold Kelly was found on the morning of April 6, 1928. Construction of a new Bardsdale Bridge was completed by Los Angeles contractor Claude Fisher. The trusses of this bridge were eventually painted dark green.

  The nearby 18-hole Elkins Ranch Golf Course, where Belview Avenue veers north and becomes Chambersburg Road (Highway 23), was opened for public play in 1962. Bardsdale Elementary School, at 1098 Ventura Street, was in operation until the end of the 1965/1966 school year. After summer vacation, students were transferred to Fillmore schools. The Bardsdale School was a drug rehab facility for a while in the early 1970s, and later became a private home. The small 1892 post office stood on private property in Bardsdale until 1982. It was then donated to the Fillmore Historical Museum and moved to the north dock of the museam, which was then inside the old Fillmore Station depot. In 1994, Caltrans replaced the 66-year-old green truss bridge with a wider, modern concrete Bardsdale Bridge.

  In February 1997, the Bardsdale Post Office was moved with the Fillmore Station to the property of the Fillmore Historical Museum and Park on Main Street in Fillmore.

• Bay Point, California:

  Bay Point is a suburb and census-designated place located in eastern Contra Costa County, California, just west of the city of Pittsburg and northeast over a low range of hills from Concord. The population was 21,349 at the 2010 census, down from 21,534 reported at the 2000 census.

  The Pittsburg-Bay Point terminal of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) rail system is located here. The community is traversed by a freeway, State Route 4, the California Delta Highway.

  Being unincorporated, Bay Point does not have its own police department. The city is policed by the California Highway Patrol and the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.

  The ZIP code is 94565, and the area code is 925.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 7.4 square miles (19 km²), 88.3% land and 11.7% water.

  Bay Point borders the Suisun Bay.

  Bay Point was previously known by several names, including Bella Vista and, until 1993, West Pittsburg. An election was held in 1993 to vote on renaming the community Bay Point, reviving a historical name used in this area. "West Pittsburg," the former name, was sometimes confused with the western section of Pittsburg, an incorporated city. Bay Point is unincorporated.

  Members of the MAC were originally appointed by the Supervisor for the area, District 5. In the mid 1990s these turned into elected positions, and now have reverted back into appointments.

  The city of Pittsburg recently made overtures in attempting to annex Bay Point. After series of a community meetings were held during which residents voiced their opposition, Pittsburg has since dropped the issue.

  Ambrose Park, given to the residents of West Pittsburg by the Enes family, was annexed by Pittsburg in August 2010.

  The Bay Point Library of the Contra Costa County Library is located in Bay Point. Bay Point has many public schools such as Riverview Middle School, Rio Vista Elementary School, Shore Acres Elementary School and Bel Air Elementary School.

• Bear Valley, California:

  Bear Valley is a census-designated place in Mariposa County, California. It is located 10.5 miles (17 km) south-southeast of Coulterville, at an elevation of 2054 feet (626 m). Bear Valley was designated California Historical Landmark #331. The population was 125 at the 2010 census.

  The place was originally called Haydenville in honor of David, Charles, and William Hayden, gold miners. The place later bore the names Biddle's Camp and Biddleville in honor of William C. Biddle. It later was named Simpsonville in honor of Robert Simpson, local merchant. The name Johnsonville honored John F. Johnson. The name became Bear Valley in 1858.

  The Haydenville post office opened before January 21, 1851 and closed in 1852. The Bear Valley post office opereated from 1858 to 1912, from 1914 to 1919, and from 1933 to 1955.

  In 1847, John C. Frémont, a veteran of the Bear Flag Revolt, decided to settle down in the San Francisco Bay Area. Desiring a ranch near San José, California, he sent $3,000 to the American consul Thomas O. Larkin. Instead of his intended purchase, he was sold Rancho Las Mariposas, consisting of 44,387 acres (179.6 km²) in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills around Bear Valley. The original Mexican grant was a "floating grant", a grant of land for which the area was precisely given but the actual boundaries were left unspecified (usually due to inadequate surveys of the areas involved). After the beginning of the California Gold Rush in 1848, Fremont moved his grant's borders into the hills. Those hills proved to be lucrative and his mining operations centered in Bear Valley.

  At its peak, Bear Valley had a population of 3,000. During 1850-60 when Frémont's Pine Tree and Josephine Mines were producing, Frémont built an elegant hotel, Oso House; the structure, like many in the area, burned in the late 19th century. Frémont lived and worked in the city, and his large home was nicknamed the "Little White House", coincidentally built two years after he was the first Republican Party candidate for President; the home burned in 1866.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers 7.245 square miles (18.76 km²), virtually all of it land.

• Bel Air, California:

  Bel Air is an affluent residential community in the hills of the Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California. Together with Beverly Hills and Holmby Hills it forms the Platinum Triangle of Los Angeles neighborhoods.

  Bel Air is situated about 12 miles (19 km) west of downtown Los Angeles and includes some of the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. It borders the north side of UCLA along Sunset Boulevard. At the heart of the community sits the Bel Air Country Club and the Hotel Bel Air. The community was founded in 1923 by Alphonzo E. Bell, Sr.

  It is bordered by Brentwood on the west and southwest, Westwood on the south, Beverly Hills Post Office on the east, and Sherman Oaks on the north. Bel Air is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities and high-profile corporate executives. The Bel Air Association has been operational since 1942, dedicated to preserving the life-style and property-values of their residential community. The Bel Air Association is located at the entrance of the East Gate of Bel Air at 100 Bel Air Road.

  Residences in Bel Air tend to be private and hidden, by dense foliage and gates, from the winding roads of the community. Residences range from relatively modest ranch-style houses, to lavish mansions on magnificent estates. While some houses in Bel Air seem quite modest from the outside, often lying mere feet from the street, they still have large grounds. In general, the higher up the mountain, the smaller the building lots, and more modest the houses. However, those residences along roads such as Stradella Road and Linda Flora Drive provide panoramic views of the Los Angeles basin and Catalina Island. The most desirable houses are near the main entrances of the Bel Air Country Club, because they boast views of both the country club and much of Los Angeles. Lower Bel Air boasts many of the most expensive homes in the community, largely because of their proximity to Sunset Boulevard, a major thoroughfare.

  Multi-family housing is not permitted and ordinances regarding architectural styles, landscaping, and lot sizes exist to preserve Bel Air . Although no one is necessarily banned from entering on foot, most of Bel Air lacks residential sidewalks (unlike Beverly Hills) to discourage the public from walking around the community. Bel Air is also patrolled by local security companies.

  President Ronald Reagan lived in a house in Bel Air from his retirement as President in 1989 until his death in 2004, and former First Lady Nancy Reagan continues to live there and attends nearby Bel Air Presbyterian Church.

  Of several entrances, there are two main ones: the East Gate at Beverly Glen and Sunset Boulevards, and the West Gate at Bellagio Road and Sunset Boulevard, opposite an entrance to UCLA. Bel Air is generally subdivided into three distinct neighborhoods: East Gate Old Bel Air, West Gate Bel Air and Upper Bel Air.

  The UCLA Hannah Carter Japanese Garden is located in Bel Air . It was inspired by the gardens of Kyoto. Many structures in the garden - the main gate, garden house, bridges, and shrine - were built in Japan and reassembled here. Antique stone carvings, water basins and lanterns, as well as the five-tiered pagoda, and key symbolic rocks are also from Japan. Several hundred tons of local stones came from the quarries in Ventura County and the foot of Mt. Baldy, northeast of Los Angeles.

  Television shows and movies have been filmed in Bel Air, or are said to take place in the community. Exterior shots for the Beverly Hillbillies were shot in and around the 1938 French neoclassical-style mansion at 750 Bel Air Road, built by Lynn Atkinson (and later sold to hotelier Arnold Kirkeby after Atkinson's wife refused to move into a house she thought too ostentatious) After the exterior shooting was completed, the residents of that address forbade any more filming, as passers-by would wander onto the property and ask to see 'Granny'. Exterior scenes from movies such as Get Shorty have also been filmed in the area. Several television films of The Rockford Files were filmed in Bel Air. The television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was set in the neighborhood although the exterior shots used were filmed in nearby Brentwood. The Bel Air Film Festival, first held in 2008, is an annual international film festival held in Bel Air and the Los Angeles area.

  In 1961, a construction crew working in Sherman Oaks noticed the smoke and flames in a nearby pile of rubbish. Within minutes, Santa Ana winds gusting up to 60 mph (97 km/h) sent burning brush aloft and ultimately seared November 6, 1961, into Los Angeles' civic memory.

  Life magazine called it "A Tragedy Trimmed in Mink," and glittering stars of stage and screen scrambled to do battle with the blaze that swept through Bel Air and Brentwood that day. Flaming embers danced from roof to wood-shingled roof, spreading the fire across the Santa Monica Mountains to the south and into the affluent Westside enclaves.

  In Bel Air, some film stars stood their ground against the encroaching flames. Maureen O'Hara risked her life to remain at her home and hose down her wooden roof. Fred MacMurray battled the flames and contained damage to just a portion of his home. But comedian Joe E. Brown saw his home burn to the ground. Burt Lancaster and Zsa Zsa Gabor also lost their homes.

  Then former Vice President Richard M. Nixon and his chief researcher, Al Moscow, were working on a draft of Nixon's "Six Crises" when the flames threatened his rented house on North Bundy Drive. Nixon and Moscow took to the roof to water down the wood shingles, saving the home.

  More than 300 police officers helped evacuate 3,500 residents during the 12-hour fire, and more than 2,500 firefighters battled the blaze, pumping water from neighborhood swimming pools to douse flames in some areas. Pockets of the fire smoldered for several days. Even as firefighters battled what was to become the Bel Air disaster, a separate fire had erupted simultaneously in Santa Ynez Canyon to the west, further straining local firefighting resources. That blaze was contained the next day after consuming nearly 10,000 acres (40 km²) and nine structures and burning to within a mile of the inferno raging in Bel Air and Brentwood.

  At least 200 firefighters were injured, many by the tar from the roofs of the homes, but no one was killed and 78% of the homes were saved. Still, the fires were the fifth worst conflagration in the nation's history at the time, burning 16,090 acres (65.1 km²), destroying more than 484 homes and 190 other structures and causing an estimated $30 million in damage.

  The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services SPA 5 West Area Health Office serves Bel Air.

  It lies within the 5th city council district, represented by Paul Koretz. It is located in the 90077 (Bel Air Estates & Beverly Glen) ZIP code, which is part of the city of Los Angeles.

  Stone Canyon Reservoir lies in the northeastern part of Bel Air. Established in 1994, it serves around 400,000 people.

  Los Angeles Fire Department Station 71 is in the area.

  The Los Angeles Police Department operates the West Los Angeles Community Police Station at 1663 Butler Avenue, 90025, serving the neighborhood.

  The community is within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The area is within Board District 4. As of 2009 Steve Zimmer represents the district.

  Two elementary schools, Roscomare Road Elementary School in Bel Air and Warner Avenue Elementary School in Westwood serve Bel Air. Emerson Middle School in Westwood and University High School in West Los Angeles serve Bel Air .

  In addition, an LAUSD magnet school named Community Magnet School is near the area.

• Belmont, California:

  Belmont is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. It is in the San Francisco Bay Area, located half-way down the San Francisco Peninsula between San Mateo and San Carlos. It was originally part of the Rancho de las Pulgas, for which one of its main roads, the Alameda de las Pulgas, is named. The town was incorporated in 1926. The population was 25,835 at the 2010 census.

  Ralston Hall is a historic landmark built by Bank of California founder, William Chapman Ralston, on the campus of Notre Dame de Namur University. It was built around a villa formerly owned by Count Cipriani, an Italian aristocrat. The locally famous "Waterdog Lake" is also located in the foothills and highlands of Belmont.

  One of two surviving structures from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition is on Belmont Avenue (the other is the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco). The building was brought to Belmont by E.D. Swift shortly after the exposition closed in 1915. Swift owned a large amount of land in the area.

  Carlmont High School and Ralston Middle School are located in Belmont and are both Distinguished California Schools.

  Belmont has attracted national attention for a smoking ordinance passed in January 2009 which bans smoking in all businesses and multi-story apartments and condominiums; the ordinance has been described as one of the strictest in the nation.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.6 square miles (12 km²), of which, 4.6 square miles (12 km²) of it is land and 0.19% is water.

  In the state legislature Belmont is located in the 8th Senate District, represented by Democrat Leland Yee, and in the 19th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Jerry Hill. Federally, Belmont is located in California's 14th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +21 and is represented by Democrat Anna Eshoo.

  The city is served by the Peninsula Library System.

  In January 2009, Belmont adopted an ordinance that bans smoking in city parks, all businesses and all multi-story apartments and condominiums. The policy, which has been described as perhaps the strictest antismoking law in the nation, was the result of a group of retirees lobbying the city to stop secondhand smoke from drifting into their apartments from neighboring places. Public health advocates consider the ordinance to be a new front in a national battle against tobacco; officials from the American Lung Association of California said "Belmont broke through this invisible barrier in the sense that it addressed drifting smoke in housing as a public health issue."

• Ben Lomond, California:

  Ben Lomond is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, and also the name of the mountain to the west. The population was 6,234 at the 2010 census.

  The mountain was named by John Burns, a Scot who settled on the west side of the ridge in 1851. Burns named the mountain after one in Scotland. Ben Lomond means "beacon peak" in Gaelic. Burns became one of the first vintners in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and is usually also credited with naming the community of Bonny Doon. The San Lorenzo River watershed contains extensive forests of Coast redwood, and was an early center of the logging/lumber industry in Santa Cruz County. The community was originally known as Pacific Mills, after a sawmill operation located there. When, in 1887, the community applied for a U.S. Post Office, residents voted to adopt the name of the mountain.

  Ben Lomond is located on State Highway 9, about 12 miles from Santa Cruz, California and 34 miles from San Jose, California. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 8.4 square miles (22 km²). The San Lorenzo River runs through it, in what is known locally as the San Lorenzo Valley, which runs SE/NW to the east of Ben Lomond Mountain (really a long ridge whose highest point has an elevation of 810m/2660ft).

  Loch Lomond is a reservoir built on Newell Creek.

  The now-defunct Wagon Wheel Bar and Restaurant was where heavyweight boxer Jim Jeffreys trained in the 1940s.

  The National Weather Service has kept weather records for Ben Lomond since 1937. The Western Climate Center reports that Ben Lomond has an average annual rainfall of 49.00 inches and an average annual snowfall of 0.2 inch. January is the coldest month with a normal maximum of 61.5 °F (16.4 °C) and a normal minimum of 36.9 °F (2.7 °C). August is the warmest month with a normal maximum of 85.5 °F (29.7 °C) and a normal minimum of 50.4 °F (10.2 °C).

  The record high temperature was 112 °F (44 °C) on October 8, 1996, and July 22, 2006, and the record low temperature was 15 °F (−9 °C) on December 22, 1990. There are an average of 39.2 days annually with highs of 90°F (32°C) or higher and 34.8 days with lows of 32°F (0°C) or lower.

  The wettest year was 1958 with 65.46 inches of precipitation and the dryest year was 1961 with 28.99 inches. The most precipitation in one month was 35.77 inches in December 1955. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 11.47 inches on January 4, 1982. There are an average of 76 days with measurable precipitation. The heaviest 24-hour snowfall was 2.0 inches on January 21, 1962.

  In the state legislature Ben Lomond is located in the 11th Senate District, represented by Democrat Joe Simitian, and in the 27th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Bill Monning. Federally, Ben Lomond is located in California's 14th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +21 and is represented by Democrat Anna Eshoo.

• Benicia, California:

  Benicia is a waterside city in Solano County, California, United States. It was the first city in California to be founded by Anglo-Americans, and served as the state capital for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the San Francisco Bay Area along the north bank of the Carquinez Strait. Benicia is just east of Vallejo and across the strait from Martinez. Elizabeth Patterson has served as Mayor of Benicia since 2007.

  The town can be divided into four areas: the East Side (east of First Street), the West Side (west of First Street), Southampton (the newer suburban neighborhoods north of Interstate 780), and the industrial park. Most of the town's older homes are on the east and west sides. Southampton contains primarily single family housing developments and condominiums, most of which were built between 1970 and 2000. The East Side includes the Benicia Arsenal, a former United States Army armory, which was bought by the city and is now used for a variety of purposes, most notably as live-work spaces for artists. The Arsenal is home to several historic (ca. 1860) landmark buildings such as The Clock Tower, the Camel Barn, and the Jefferson Street Mansion. The industrial park lies to the northeast of the residential areas of the city, and includes the Valero oil refinery. The Benicia State Recreation Area is on the far west edge of the city.

  The main retail area in Benicia is First Street, which attracts out-of-town antique and boutique shoppers and those seeking small-town, historic charm. In 1987 Benicia was selected to participate in the California Main Street Program.

  Connections to Benicia include Interstate 680 from Martinez to the south and Cordelia Junction (Fairfield) to the north, and Interstate 780, Columbus Parkway, and other local roads from Vallejo to the west. Amtrak also runs past the city north towards Sacramento, but the nearest train station lies in Martinez across the Carquinez Strait. Railroad tracks carrying Amtrak and Union Pacific Railroad lines cross the strait alongside the Benicia-Martinez Bridge.

  The City of Benicia was founded on May 19, 1847 by Dr. Robert Semple, and Thomas O. Larkin and Comandante General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, on land sold to them by General Vallejo in December 1846. It was named for the General's wife, Francisca Benicia Carillo de Vallejo. The General intended that the city be named "Francisca" after his wife, but this name was dropped when the former city of "Yerba Buena" changed its name to "San Francisco". So Sra. Vallejo's second given name was used instead.

  Benicia was the third site selected to serve as the California state capital, and its newly constructed city hall was California's capitol from February 11, 1853 to February 25, 1854. Soon after the legislature was moved to the courthouse in Sacramento, which has remained the state capital ever since. The restored capitol building is part of the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park, and is the only building remaining of the state's early capital buildings, which were in San Jose and Vallejo. Benicia was also the county seat of Solano County until 1858, when that was moved to Fairfield.

  The original campus of Mills College was founded in Benicia in 1852 as the Young Ladies Seminary, and was the first women's college west of the Rockies. Before moving to Oakland in 1871, it was located on West I Street, just north of First Street.

  On June 5, 1889, the legendary prize fight between James J. Corbett and Joe Choynski was held on a barge off the coast of Benicia. The match lasted 28 rounds, and is now commemorated by a plaque near Southampton Bay.

  From 1860-1861, Benicia was indirectly involved in the Pony Express. When riders missed their connection with a steamer in Sacramento, they would continue on to Benicia and cross over to Martinez via the ferry. One of the earliest companies in California, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, established a major shipyard in Benicia in the 19th century. Benicia became an important wheat storage and shipping site. It was also the site of the United States Army's Benicia Arsenal.

  In 1879, the Central Pacific Railroad re-routed the Sacramento-Oakland portion of its transcontinental line, establishing a major railroad ferry across the Carquinez Strait from Benicia to Port Costa. The world's largest ferry, the Solano, later joined by the even larger Contra Costa, carried entire trains across the Carquinez Strait from Benicia to Port Costa, from whence they continued on to the Oakland Pier.

  In 1901, the world's first long-distance powerline crossing over Carquinez Strait was built. After California's wheat output dropped in the early 20th Century and especially after the Southern Pacific (which took over the operations of the Central Pacific) constructed a railroad bridge at Martinez in 1930 to replace the ferry crossing, Benicia declined until the economic boom of World War II, which doubled the population to about 7,000 residents.

  Two developments in the early 1960s would completely change Benicia: The closing of the Benicia Arsenal in 1960–64, and the completion of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge in 1962. The closing of the Arsenal removed Benicia's traditional economic base, but allowed city leaders to create an industrial park on Arsenal land which eventually provided more revenue for the city than the Army had. The completion of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge made it possible for the city to become a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland, and suburban development in the Benicia hills began in the late 1960s.

  On December 20, 1968 near the Benicia water pumping station on Lake Herman Road, the Zodiac Killer made his debut by killing Vallejo natives David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen as they rested, or "necked", in Faraday's car. Near the same area on July 4 of the following year, the killer struck again, killing Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin and injuring Michael Mageau at the Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, immediately next to Benicia.

  Northeast of the town's residential areas an oil refinery was built and completed in 1969 by Humble Oil (later Exxon Corporation). The refinery was later bought by Valero Energy Corporation, a San Antonio-based oil company, in 2000.

  Between 1970 and 1995, the population of Benicia grew steadily at a rate of about 1,000 people per year, and the city changed from a poor, blue-collar town of 7,000 to a white-collar bedroom suburb of 28,000.

  There is a Farmers' market on Thursday evenings during the summer months May through October. According to the Benicia Main Street commerce organization, this tradition began in 1992.

  First Fridays on First. On the first Friday of each month, May through October, participating shops and restaurants encourage a festival atmosphere with balloons and live music on First Street. During the summer months, outdoor movies are shown at 9 p.m. near the gazebo at City Park.

  Arts Benicia. Regular art exhibits and public art openings in the Arts Benicia Gallery at 991 Tyler Street in the armory. Also an annual art auction in the fall, a spring Open Studios event, and many art classes for adults and teens.

  Torchlight Parade & Dance. Traditionally held on the July 3, Benicia’s 4 July parade stretches all the way down First Street and typically includes music, dancing, floats, horses, clowns, and live entertainment. A street dance and live entertainment traditionally follow the parade on First Street.

  Arts in the Park. Annual summer art celebration in Benicia City Park.

  Picnic in the Park & Fireworks. On July 4, there is a large community picnic at Benicia’s City Park traditionally starting at noon. Shortly after dark (approximately 9pm), there is a fireworks display that originates at the foot of First Street.

  Benicia Peddler's Fair. This outdoor event began in 1963 with a few collectable and antique stores displaying their items on tables outside St. Paul's Church. Today, over 300 antique and collectable dealers as well as other vendors display their wares in booths that span approximately 11 blocks of First Street. Unverified sources cite attendance in 2006 at approximately 20,000. This event is sponsored by St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Benicia.

  Benicia is an active sailing community. In additional to individual sailing out of the Benicia Marina, there are several organized events and competitions. During the summer months, there is a yacht racing competition on Thursday evenings sponsored by the Benicia Yacht Club. The Yacht Club also sponsors a Youth Sailing Program that offers extensive training.

  The Holy Ghost Parade. Every fourth Sunday in July, the Portuguese community in Benicia celebrates the feast of the Holy Ghost, commemorating the Queen Saint Isabel of Portugal, with a parade to Saint Dominic's Church followed by mass, an auction and a dance. The Holy Ghost Parade celebrated 100 years in Benicia in 2007.

  Benicia is a Tree City USA Tree City USA and holds an annual Arbor Day Event. The Benicia Tree Foundation hosts regular events that involve community members in tree planting activities.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.7 square miles (41 km²), of which 12.9 square miles (33 km²) are land and 2.8 square miles (7.3 km²) are (17.75%) is water. Benicia is located on the north side of the Carquinez Strait.

  Benicia has no transit by train, but there is transit by a bus service named Benicia Breeze. Different routes notably go to Pleasant Hill (BART station), Suisun, Fairfield, Concord, Vallejo, the Martinez Amtrak station and Northwest Benicia City Ride. The Benicia-Martinez Bridge provides an automobile and rail link over Carquinez Strait, as well as bicycle and pedestrian lanes which opened in August 2009. Two blocks from the main downtown district, the Benicia Marina is a full-service marina, offering a fuel dock, pump-out station, launch ramp, general store, laundry, restrooms and showers.

  The Benicia Unified School District operates public schools.

• Benton Hot Springs, California:

  Benton Hot Springs is an unincorporated community in Mono County, California. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) west-southwest of Benton and 31 miles (50 km) north-northwest of Bishop, at an elevation of 5630 feet (1716 m).

  The Benton post office opened at the place in 1886. The name honors Senator Thomas Hart Benton, United States senator from Missouri. The town saw its heyday from 1862 to 1889 as a supply center for nearby mines. After the close of the 19th century, the town declined and the name Benton was transferred to Benton Station.

  Of the springs at the site, one was describred in a 1915 book as issuing water at 135 °F (57 °C).

  Other springs are located nearby: Paert's Hot Springs and Taylor Springs, a little more than 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of Benton Hot Springs.

• Berkeley, California:

  Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington. The eastern city limits coincide with the county line (bordering Contra Costa County), which generally follows the ridge line of the Berkeley Hills. Berkeley is located in northern Alameda County. The population was 112,580 at the 2010 census.

  Berkeley is the site of the University of California, Berkeley, the oldest of the University of California system, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It is also home to the Graduate Theological Union. The city is noted as one of the most politically liberal in the nation, with one study placing it as the third most liberal city in the United States.

  The site of today's City of Berkeley was the territory of the Chochen/Huichin band of the Ohlone people when the first Europeans arrived. Remnants of their existence in the area include pits in rock formations, which they used to grind acorns, and a shellmound, now mostly leveled and covered up, along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay at the mouth of Strawberry Creek. Other artifacts were discovered in the 1950s in the downtown area during remodeling of a commercial building, near the upper course of the creek.

  The first people of European descent (most of whom were born in America, and many of whom were of mixed ancestry) arrived with the De Anza Expedition in 1776. Today, this is noted by signage on Interstate 80, which runs along the San Francisco Bay shoreline of Berkeley. The De Anza Expedition led to establishment of the Spanish Presidio of San Francisco at the entrance to San Francisco Bay (the Golden Gate), which is due west of Berkeley. Luís Peralta was among the soldiers at the Presidio. For his services to the King of Spain, he was granted a vast stretch of land on the east shore of San Francisco Bay (the contra costa, "opposite shore") for a ranch, including that portion that now comprises the City of Berkeley.

  Luís Peralta named his holding, "Rancho San Antonio." The primary activity of the ranch was raising cattle for meat and hides, but hunting and farming were also pursued. Eventually, Peralta gave portions of the ranch to each of his four sons. What is now Berkeley lies mostly in the portion that went to Peralta's son, Domingo, with a little in the portion that went to another son, Vicente. No artifact survives of the ranches of Domingo or Vicente, although their names have been preserved in the naming of Berkeley streets (Vicente, Domingo, and Peralta). However, legal title to all land in the City of Berkeley remains based on the original Peralta land grant.

  The Peraltas' Rancho San Antonio continued after Alta California passed from Spanish to Mexican sovereignty after the Mexican War of Independence. However, the advent of U.S. sovereignty after the Mexican–American War, and especially, the Gold Rush, saw the Peralta's lands quickly encroached on by squatters and diminished by dubious legal proceedings. The lands of the brothers Domingo and Vicente were quickly reduced to reservations close to their respective ranch homes. The rest of the land was surveyed and parceled out to various American claimants (See Kellersberger's Map).

  Politically, the area that became Berkeley was initially part of a vast Contra Costa County. On March 25, 1853, Alameda County was created by division of Contra Costa County, as well as from a small portion of Santa Clara County.

  The area of Berkeley was at this period mostly a mix of open land, farms and ranches, with a small though busy wharf by the bay. It was not yet "Berkeley," but merely the northern part of the "Oakland Township" subdivision of Alameda County.

  In 1866, Oakland's private College of California looked for a new site. It settled on a location north of Oakland along the foot of the Contra Costa Range (later called the Berkeley Hills) astride Strawberry Creek, at an elevation about 500 feet (150 m) above the bay, commanding a fantastic view of the Bay Area and the Pacific Ocean through the Golden Gate.

  According to the Centennial Record of the University of California, "In 1866…at Founders' Rock, a group of College of California men watched two ships standing out to sea through the Golden Gate. One of them, Frederick Billings, thought of the lines of the Anglo-Irish Anglican Bishop George Berkeley, 'westward the course of empire takes its way,' and suggested that the town and college site be named for the eighteenth-century Anglo-Irish philosopher."

  The College of California's College Homestead Association planned to raise funds for the new campus by selling off parcels of land adjacent to it. To this end, they laid out a plat and street grid that became the basis of Berkeley's modern street plan. Their plans fell far short of their desires, and collaboration was then begun with the State of California, which culminated in 1868 with the creation of the public University of California.

  As construction began on the new site, more residences were constructed in the vicinity of the new campus. At the same time, a settlement of residences, saloons, and various industries grew around the wharf area called "Ocean View." A horsecar ran from Temescal in Oakland to the university campus along what is now Telegraph Avenue.

  By the 1870s, the Transcontinental Railroad reached its terminus in Oakland. In 1876, a branch line of the Central Pacific Railroad, the Berkeley Branch Railroad, was laid from a junction with the mainline called Shellmound (now a part of Emeryville) into what is now downtown Berkeley. That same year, the mainline of the transcontinental railroad into Oakland was re-routed, putting the right-of-way along the bay shore through Ocean View.

  There was a strong prohibition movement in Berkeley at this time. In 1876 the "mile limit law" was passed, which prevented sale or public consumption of alcohol within one mile (1.6 km) of the new University of California. Then, in 1899 Berkeley residents voted to make their city an alcohol-free zone. Scientists, scholars and religious leaders spoke vehemently of the dangers of alcohol.

  The first post office opened in 1872.

  In 1878, the people of Ocean View and the area around the University campus, together with local farmers, incorporated themselves as the Town of Berkeley. The first elected trustees of the town were the slate of Denis Kearney's Workingman's Party, who were particularly favored in the working class area of the former Ocean View, now called "West Berkeley." The area near the university became known as "East Berkeley."

  The modern age came quickly to Berkeley, no doubt due to the influence of the university. Electric lights were in use by 1888. The telephone had already come to town. Electric streetcars soon replaced the horsecar. A silent film of one of these early streetcars in Berkeley can be seen at the Library of Congress website: "A Trip To Berkeley, California"

  Berkeley's slow growth ended abruptly with the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. The town and other parts of the East Bay somehow managed to escape serious damage from the massive temblor, and thousands of refugees flowed across the Bay.

  In 1908, a statewide referendum that proposed moving the California state capital to Berkeley was defeated by a margin of about 33,000 votes. A legacy of this ballot measure that survives was the naming of streets in the vicinity of the proposed capitol grounds for the counties of California.

  In 1909, the citizens of Berkeley adopted a new charter, and the Town of Berkeley became the City of Berkeley. Rapid growth continued up to the Crash of 1929. The Great Depression hit Berkeley hard, but not as hard as many other places in the U.S., thanks in part to the University.

  On September 17, 1923, a major fire swept down the hills toward the University campus and the downtown section. Some 640 structures burned before a late afternoon sea breeze stopped its progress, allowing firefighters to put it out.

  The next big growth occurred with the advent of World War II, when large numbers of people moved to the Bay Area to work in the many war industries, such as the immense Kaiser Shipyards in nearby Richmond. One who moved out, but played a big role in the outcome of the War was U.C. Professor and Berkeley resident J. Robert Oppenheimer. During the war, an Army base, Camp Ashby, was temporarily sited in Berkeley.

  The postwar years saw moderate growth of the City, as events on the U.C. campus began to build up to the recognizable activism of the sixties. In the 1950s, McCarthyism induced the University to demand a loyalty oath from its professors, many of whom refused to sign the oath on the principle of freedom of thought. In 1960, a U.S. House committee (HUAC) came to San Francisco to investigate the influence of communists in the Bay Area. Their presence was met by protesters, including many from the University. Meanwhile, a number of U.C. students became active in support of the Civil Rights Movement. Finally, the University in 1964 provoked a massive student protest by banning distribution of political literature on campus. This protest became the Free Speech Movement. As the Vietnam War rapidly escalated in the ensuing years, so did student activism at the University, particularly that organized by the Vietnam Day Committee.

  Berkeley is strongly identified with the rapid social changes, civic unrest, and political upheaval that characterized the late 1960s. In that period, Berkeley—especially Telegraph Avenue—became a focal point for the hippie movement, which spilled over the Bay from San Francisco. Many hippies were apolitical drop-outs, rather than students, but in the heady atmosphere of Berkeley in 1967–1969 there was considerable overlap of the hippie movement and the radical left. An iconic event in the Berkeley Sixties scene was a conflict over a parcel of University property south of the contiguous campus site that came to be called "People's Park."

  The battle over disposition of People's Park resulted in a month-long occupation of Berkeley by the National Guard on orders of then-Governor Ronald Reagan. In the end, the park remained undeveloped, and remains so today. A spin-off, "People's Park Annex," was established at the same time by activist citizens of Berkeley on a strip of land above the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway construction along Hearst Avenue northwest of the U.C. campus. The land had also been intended for development, but was turned over to the City by BART and is now Ohlone Park.

  The 1970s saw a decline in the population of Berkeley, partly due to an exodus to the suburbs. Some moved because of the rising cost of living throughout the Bay Area, and others because of the decline and disappearance of many industries in West Berkeley.

  From the 1980s to the present, Berkeley has seen rising housing costs, especially since the mid-1990s. In 2005–2007, sales of homes began to slow, but average home prices, as of 2010, remain among the highest in the nation.

  While the 1960s were the heyday of liberal activism in Berkeley, it remains one of the most overwhelmingly Democratic cities in the United States. The era of large public protest in Berkeley waned considerably with the end of the Vietnam War in 1974.

  In 2006, the Berkeley Oak Grove Protest began protesting construction of a new sports center annex to Memorial Stadium at the expense of a grove of oak trees on the UC campus. The protest ended in September 2008 after a lengthy court process.

  In 2007–08, Berkeley received media attention due to demonstrations against a Marine Corps recruiting office in downtown Berkeley and a series of controversial motions by Berkeley's City Council regarding opposition to Marine recruiting. (See Berkeley Marine Corps Recruiting Center controversy.)

  In the Fall of 2011, the nationwide Occupy Wall Street movement made its appearance on the campus of the University of California.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.7 square miles (46 km²). 10.5 square miles (27 km²) of it is land and 7.2 square miles (19 km²) of it (40.83%) is water, most of it part of San Francisco Bay.

  Berkeley borders the cities of Albany, Oakland, and Emeryville and Contra Costa County including unincorporated Kensington as well as San Francisco Bay.

  Berkeley lies within telephone area code 510 (until September 2, 1991, Berkeley was part of the 415 telephone code that is now exclusive to San Francisco and Marin Counties), and the postal ZIP codes are 94701 through 94710, 94712, and 94720 for the University of California campus.

  Most of Berkeley lies on a rolling sedimentary plain that rises gently from sea level to the base of the Berkeley Hills. From there, the land rises dramatically. The highest peak along the ridge line above Berkeley is Grizzly Peak, elevation 1,754 feet (535 m). A number of small creeks run from the hills to the Bay through Berkeley: Cerrito, Codornices, Schoolhouse and Strawberry Creeks are the principal streams. Most of these are largely culverted once they reach the plain west of the hills.

  The Berkeley Hills are part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, and run in a northwest–southeast alignment. In Berkeley, the hills consist mainly of a soft, crumbly rock with outcroppings of harder material of old (and extinct) volcanic origin. These rhyolite formations can be seen in several city parks and in the yards of a number of private residences. Indian Rock Park in the northeastern part of Berkeley near the Arlington/Marin Circle features a large example.

  Berkeley is traversed by the Hayward Fault, a major branch of the San Andreas Fault to the west. No large earthquake has occurred on the Hayward Fault near Berkeley in historic times (except possibly in 1836), but seismologists warn about the geologic record of large temblors several times in the deeper past, and their current assessment is that a quake of 6.5 or greater is imminent, sometime within the next 30 years.

  The 1868 Hayward earthquake did occur on the southern segment of the Hayward Fault in the vicinity of today's city of Hayward (hence, how the fault got its name). This quake destroyed the county seat of Alameda County then located in San Leandro and it subsequently moved to Oakland. It was strongly felt in San Francisco, causing major damage, and experienced by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). It was regarded as the "Great San Francisco Quake" prior to 1906. The quake produced a furrow in the ground along the fault line in Berkeley, across the grounds of the new State Asylum for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind then under construction, which was noted by one early University of California professor. Though no significant damage was reported to most of the few Berkeley buildings of the time, the 1868 quake did destroy the vulnerable adobe home of Domingo Peralta in north Berkeley.

  Today, evidence of the Hayward Fault's "creeping" is visible at various locations in Berkeley. Cracked roadways, sharp jogs in streams, and springs mark the fault's path. However, since it cuts across the base of the hills, the creep is often concealed by or confused with slide activity. Some of the slide activity itself, however, results from movement on the Hayward Fault.

  A notorious segment of the Hayward Fault runs lengthwise down the middle of Memorial Stadium at the mouth of Strawberry Canyon on the University of California campus. Photos and measurements show the movement of the fault through the stadium.

  Berkeley has a cool summer Mediterranean climate, with dry summers and wet winters. The summers are cooler than a typical Mediterranean climate thanks to upwelling ocean currents along the California coast. These help produce cool and foggy nights and mornings. Berkeley's location directly opposite the Golden Gate ensures that typical eastward fog flow blankets the city more often than its neighbors.

  Winter is punctuated with rainstorms of varying ferocity and duration, but also produces stretches of bright sunny days and clear cold nights. It does not normally snow, though occasionally the hilltops get a dusting. Spring and fall are transitional and intermediate, with some rainfall and variable temperature. Summer typically brings night and morning low clouds or fog, followed by sunny, warm days. The warmest and driest months are typically June through September, with the highest temperatures occurring in September. Mid-summer (July–August) is often a bit cooler due to the sea breezes and fog common then.

  Average January temperatures are a maximum of 56.4 °F (13.6 °C) and a minimum of 43.6 °F (6.4 °C). Average September (the warmest month) temperatures are a maximum of 71.7 °F (22.1 °C) and a minimum of 55.9 °F (13.3 °C). In a year, there are an average of 2.9 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher, and an average of 0.8 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower. The highest recorded temperature was 107 °F (42 °C) on June 15, 2000, and the lowest recorded temperature was 24 °F (−4 °C) on December 22, 1990.

  January is normally the wettest month, averaging 5.13 inches (130 mm) of precipitation. Average annual precipitation is 25.40 inches (645 mm), falling on an average of 63.7 days each year. The most rainfall in one month was 14.49 inches (368 mm) in February 1998. The most rainfall in 24 hours was 6.98 inches (177 mm) on January 4, 1982. Light snow has fallen on rare occasions. Snow has generally fallen every several years on the higher peaks of the Berkeley Hills.

  In the late spring and early fall, strong offshore winds of sinking air typically develop, bringing heat and dryness to the area. In the spring, this is not usually a problem as vegetation is still moist from winter rains, but extreme dryness prevails by the fall, creating a danger of wildfires. In September 1923 a major fire swept through the neighborhoods north of the University campus, stopping just short of downtown. On October 20, 1991, gusty, hot winds fanned a conflagration along the Berkeley–Oakland border, killing 25 people and injuring 150, as well as destroying 2,449 single-family dwellings and 437 apartment and condominium units.

  Berkeley is served by Amtrak (Capitol Corridor), AC Transit, BART (Downtown Berkeley Station, North Berkeley, and Ashby) and bus shuttles operated by major employers including UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Eastshore Freeway (Interstate 80 and Interstate 580) runs along the bay shoreline. Each day there is an influx of thousands of cars into the city by commuting UC faculty, staff and students, making parking for more than a few hours an expensive proposition.

  Berkeley has one of the highest rates of bicycle and pedestrian commuting in the nation. Berkeley is the safest city of its size in California for pedestrians and cyclists, considering the number of injuries per pedestrian and cyclist, rather than per capita.

  Berkeley has modified its original grid roadway structure through use of diverters and barriers, moving most traffic out of neighborhoods and onto arterial streets (visitors often find this confusing, because the diverters are not shown on all maps). Berkeley maintains a separate grid of arterial streets for bicycles, called Bicycle Boulevards, with bike lanes and lower amounts of car traffic than the major streets they often parallel.

  Berkeley hosts car sharing networks run by City CarShare, U Car Share, and Zipcar. Rather than owning (and parking) their own cars, members share a group of cars parked nearby. Web- and telephone-based reservation systems keep track of hours and charges. Several "pods" (points of departure where cars are kept) exist throughout the city, in several downtown locations, at the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations, and at various other locations in Berkeley (and other cities in the region). Using alternative transportation is encouraged.

  Berkeley has had recurring problems with parking meter vandalism. In 1999, over 2,400 Berkeley meters were jammed, smashed, or sawed apart.The first commuter service to San Francisco was provided by the Central Pacific's Berkeley Branch Railroad, a standard gauge steam railroad, which terminated in downtown Berkeley, and connected in Emeryville (at a locale then known as "Shellmound") with trains to the Oakland ferry pier as well as with the Central Pacific main line starting in 1876. The Berkeley Branch line was extended from Shattuck and University to Vine Street ("Berryman's Station") in 1878. Starting in 1882, Berkeley trains ran directly to the Oakland Pier. In the 1880s, Southern Pacific assumed operations of the Berkeley Branch. In 1911, Southern Pacific electrified this line and the several others it constructed in Berkeley, creating its East Bay Electric Lines division. The huge and heavy cars specially built for these lines came to be called the "Red Trains" or the "Big Red Cars." The Shattuck line was extended and connected with two other Berkeley lines (the Ninth Street Line and the California Street line) at Solano and Colusa (the "Colusa Wye"). It was at this time that the Northbrae Tunnel and the Rose Street Undercrossing were constructed, both of which still exist (the Rose Street Undercrossing is not accessible to the public, being situated between what is now two backyards). The fourth Berkeley line was the Ellsworth St. line to the university campus. The last Red Trains ran in July, 1941. Starting in 2005 and continuing into 2006, Berkeley began to phase out mechanical meters in favor of more centralized electronic meters.

  The first electric rail service in Berkeley was provided by several small streetcar companies starting in 1891. Most of these were eventually bought up by the Key System of Francis "Borax" Smith who added lines and improved equipment. The Key System's streetcars were operated by its East Bay Street Railways division. Principal lines in Berkeley ran on Euclid, The Arlington, College, Telegraph, Shattuck, San Pablo, University, and Grove (today's Martin Luther King Jr. Way). The last streetcars ran in 1948, replaced by buses.

  The first electric commuter interurban-type trains to San Francisco from Berkeley were put in operation by the Key System in 1903, several years before the Southern Pacific electrified its steam commuter lines. Like the SP, Key trains ran to a pier serviced by the Key's own fleet of ferryboats, which also docked at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. After the Bay Bridge was built, the Key trains ran to the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco, sharing tracks on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge with the SP's red trains and the Sacramento Northern Railroad. It was at this time that the Key trains acquired their letter designations, which were later preserved by Key's public successor, AC Transit. Today's F bus is the successor of the F train. Likewise, the E, G and the H. Before the Bridge, these lines were simply the Shattuck Avenue Line, the Claremont Line, the Westbrae Line, and the Sacramento Street Line, respectively.

  After the Southern Pacific abandoned transbay service in 1941, the Key System acquired the rights to use its tracks and catenary on Shattuck north of Dwight Way and through the Northbrae Tunnel to The Alameda for the F-train. The SP tracks along Monterey Avenue as far as Colusa had been acquired by the Key System in 1933 for the H-train, but were abandoned in 1941. The Key System trains stopped running in April 1958. In 1963, the Northbrae Tunnel was opened to auto traffic.

  Berkeley is the location of a number of nationally prominent businesses, many of which have been pioneers in their areas of operation.

  Shattuck Avenue passes through several neighborhoods, including the downtown business district in Berkeley. It is named for Francis K. Shattuck, one of Berkeley's earliest influential citizens.

  University Avenue runs from Berkeley's bayshore and marina to the University of California campus.

  Ashby Avenue (Highway 13), which also runs from Berkeley's bayshore to the hills, connects with the Warren Freeway and Highway 24 leading to the Caldecott Tunnel, named for a former Berkeley mayor.

  San Pablo Avenue (Highway 123) runs north–south through West Berkeley, connecting Oakland and Emeryville to the south and Albany to the north.

  Telegraph Avenue, which runs north-south from the University Campus to Oakland, historically the site of much of the hippie culture of Berkeley.

  Martin Luther King Jr. Way, which until 1984 was called Grove St, runs north-south a few blocks west of Shattuck Avenue, connecting Oakland and the freeways to the south with the neighborhoods and other communities to the north.

  Solano Avenue, a major street for shopping and restaurants, runs east-west near the north end of Berkeley, continuing into Albany.

  The Eastshore Freeway (I-80 & I-580) runs along Berkeley's bayshore with exits at Ashby Avenue, University Avenue and Gilman Street.

  Berkeley has a number of distinct neighborhoods.

  Surrounding the University of California campus are the most densely populated parts of the city. West of the campus is Downtown Berkeley, the city's traditional commercial core; home of the civic center, the city's only public high school, the busiest BART station in Berkeley, as well as a major transfer point for AC Transit buses. South of the campus is the Southside neighborhood, mainly a student ghetto, where much of the university's student housing is located. The busiest stretch of Telegraph Avenue is in this neighborhood. North of the campus is the quieter Northside neighborhood, the location of the Graduate Theological Union.

  Further from the university campus, the influence of the University quickly becomes less visible. Most of Berkeley's neighborhoods are primarily made up of detached houses, often with separate in-law units in the rear, although larger apartment buildings are also common in many neighborhoods. Commercial activities are concentrated along the major avenues and at important intersections.

  In the southeastern corner of the city is the Claremont District, home to the Claremont Hotel; and the Elmwood District, with a small shopping area on College Avenue. West of Elmwood is South Berkeley, known for its weekend flea market at the Ashby Station.

  West of (and including) San Pablo Avenue, a major commercial corridor, is West Berkeley, the historic commercial center of the city, and the former unincorporated town of Ocean View. West Berkeley contains the remnants of Berkeley's industrial area, much of which has been replaced by retail and office uses, as well as residential live/work loft space, with the decline of manufacturing in the United States. The areas of South and West Berkeley are in the midst of redevelopment. Some residents have opposed redevelopment in this area. Along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay at the foot of University Avenue is the Berkeley Marina. Nearby is Berkeley's Aquatic Park, featuring an artificial linear lagoon of San Francisco Bay.

  North of Downtown is the North Berkeley neighborhood, which has been nicknamed the "Gourmet Ghetto" because of the concentration of well-known restaurants and other food-related businesses. Further north are Northbrae, a master-planned subdivision from the early 20th century, and Thousand Oaks. Above these last three neighborhoods, in the northeastern part of Berkeley, are the Berkeley Hills. The neighborhoods of the Berkeley Hills such as Cragmont and La Loma Park are notable for their dramatic views, winding streets, and numerous public stairways and paths.

  The city has many parks puts a focus on greenery and the environment. The city has planted trees for years and led the effort nationwide to re-tree urban areas. The city's hills are covered by Tilden Regional Park much of which is in Richmond. The city is also heavily involved in creek restoration and wetlands restoration. The Berkeley Marina and East Shore State Park flank its shoreline at San Francisco Bay and organizations like the Urban Creeks Council and Friends of the Five Creeks the former of which is headquartered in Berkeley support the riparian areas in the town and coastlines as well. César Chávez Park, near the Berkeley Marina, was built at the former site of the city dump.

  165 buildings in Berkeley are designated as local landmarks or local structures of merit. Of these, 49 are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, including: Berkeley High School (the city's only public high school) and the Berkeley Community Theatre, which is on its campus; Berkeley Women’s City Club, now Berkeley City Club – Julia Morgan (1929–30); First Church of Christ, Scientist – Bernard Maybeck (1910); Studio Building – architect not recorded, built for Frederick H. Dakin (1905); and William R. Thorsen House, now Sigma Phi Society Chapter House – Charles Sumner Greene & Henry Mather Greene (1908–10).

  Historic Districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places: George C. Edwards Stadium – Located at intersection of Bancroft Way and Fulton Street on University of California, Berkeley campus (80 acres (32 ha), 3 buildings, 4 structures, 3 objects; added 1993); and Site of the Clark Kerr Campus, UC Berkeley – until 1980, this location housed the State Asylum for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind, also known as The California Schools for the Deaf and Blind – Bounded by Dwight Way, the City line, Derby Street, and Warring Street (500 acres (2.0 km²), 20 buildings; added 1982). The school was closed in 1980 and the Clark Kerr Campus was opened in 1986.

  Berkeley is home to the Chilean-American community's La Peña Cultural Center, the largest cultural center for this community in the United States.

  The first public school in Berkeley was the Ocean View School, now the site of the Berkeley Adult School located at Virginia Street and San Pablo Avenue. The public schools today are administered by the Berkeley Unified School District. In the 1960s, Berkeley was one of the earliest US cities to voluntarily desegregate, utilizing a system of buses, still in use. The city has only one public high school, Berkeley High School (BHS) was established in 1880 and has over 3,000 students .The Berkeley High campus was designated a historic district by the National Register of Historic Places on January 7, 2008. Saint Mary's College High School, a Catholic school, has its street address in Berkeley, although most of the grounds and buildings are actually in neighboring Albany. Berkeley has 11 elementary schools and three middle schools. There is also the Bay Area Technology School, the only school in the whole Bay Area to offer a technology- and science-based curriculum, with major connections to leading universities. In addition, Berkeley City College is a community college in the Peralta Community College District.

• Bethel Island, California:

  Bethel Island is a census-designated place (CDP) on Bethel Island in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 2,137 at the 2010 census.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.1 square miles (13 km²), all of it land. It is located on an island of the same name 9 miles (14 km) east of Antioch.

  The first post office opened in 1898, and named for its first postmaster Franklin C. Bethell. The post office closed in 1902. The Bethel Island post office opened in 1947.

• Betteravia, California:

  Betteravia, named for the French word for sugar beet roots, was a community in northern Santa Barbara County, California on Betteravia Road, six miles west of Santa Maria. It is notable as a rare ghost town on the Central Coast of California.

  Betteravia was a company town founded on the former Rancho Punta de Laguna around the turn of the 20th century and existed for nearly ninety years. At one time this community supported a population of 350 residents, many of whom were employed by the Union Sugar Company, now a part of Sara Lee Corporation. The community consisted of 65 cottages, a hotel, a church, a schoolhouse, a post office, an amusement hall, a general store, a gasoline station, and a fire department.

  The Pacific Coast Railway built an electrified line from Santa Maria to Betteravia in 1906.

  In 1950, the Union Sugar Company decided it no longer wanted to remain in the renting business and gave notice to all residents to evacuate. The homes were sold for an average of $50 each. Most of the homes were bought by their renters and moved, and some were bought by other individuals.

  On March 8, 1988, the sugar refinery plant, then owned by Imperial Holly (now known as Imperial Sugar), suffered a dust explosion and fire which resulted in the injury of eight employees, seven critically. Following the closure of Imperial Holly's Betteravia sugar plant here in 1993, Betteravia became a ghost town with many vacant and demolished buildings.

• Beverly Hills, California:

  Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together entirely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. To be specific, Beverly Hills is bordered on the northwest by the Los Angeles neighborhood of Bel-Air and the Santa Monica Mountains, on the east by West Hollywood, the Carthay neighborhood of Los Angeles, and the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, and on the south by the Beverlywood. The area's "Platinum Triangle" of affluent neighborhoods is formed by the city of Beverly Hills and the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Bel Air and Holmby Hills.

  Gaspar de Portolà's land expedition arrived in the area on August 3, 1769. The group consisted of Portolà (the first governor of the province of California), some Franciscan priests and a cavalcade of leather-jacket soldiers and horses. On September 27, 1821, New Spain became Mexico and the province of California quietly changed flags.

  That same decade, retired Spanish soldier Vicente Ferrer Valdez and his wife, Maria Rita Villa de Valdez, settled on the 4,500 acres (18 km²) Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. Rita did not care for the name, however, and chose to call it San Antonio. The Valdez adobe home was built near what is the present-day intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Alpine Drive. Valdez died in 1828, leaving Rita and eleven children.

  California was ceded by Mexico to the United States in 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, marking the end of the Mexican-American War. It was admitted as a U.S. state on September 9, 1850.

  In 1852 Maria Rita Valdez De Villa asked to purchase a league of land for $4,000. She called the land Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. It was later purchased by Major Henry Hancock (of Hancock Park fame), a New Hampshire attorney. He had come to the state during the 1849 gold rush. He used the land as a farm until 1868, when Dr. Edward Preuss, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, bought the land.

  A brief oil boom raised interest in the area in 1865 when the Pioneer Oil Company bought the rights to drill wells.

  On October 22, 1906, the community of Beverly Hills was declared open by the Percy H. Clark Co., managers of the tract of land. It was described as a "beautiful suburban residence between this city Los Angeles and Santa Monica." The community was designed to allow the buyers to build a custom house on the land they purchased in the new development. The Rodeo Land and Water Company (Burton Green) decided to name it Beverly Hills after Beverly Farms in Beverly, Massachusetts. Prior to this, the land was known as the Hammel and Denker ranch, which was one of Southern California's most fertile lands for growing lima beans. As an area bounded today by Wilshire Boulevard to the south, the foothills just above Sunset Boulevard to the north, Whittier Drive on the west, and Doheny Drive to the east, Hammel and Denker ranch was part of the land grant known as El Rodeo de Las Aguas (the Ranch of the Gathering Waters) and was purchased in 1906 by a syndicate of railroad magnate Henry E. Huntington, oil tycoon Charles A. Canfield, W G. Kerckhoff, W. S. Porter, Burton M. Green, and real estate developer Max Whittier. It lies in the old Morocco Junction of the Los Angeles Pacific road, where the Hollywood and Colgrove branches connect. The investment company marketed Beverly Hills as "between the city and the sea."

  In September, 1911, work began on the Beverly Hills Hotel. The Los Angeles Times would call it a "monster hostelry" since it cost $300,000. At the time, lots were selling for around $2,000 each.

  In 1919, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford bought land on Summit Drive and built Pickfair. In 1921, they announced that they would build the home that they had been "dreaming" about in Beverly Hills.

  Will Rogers, a wisecracking political humorist, wrote of the land boom in 1923, "Lots are sold so quickly and often out here that they put through escrow made out to the 12th owner... They couldn't possibly make out a separate deed for each purchaser; besides, he wouldn't have time to read it in the 10 minutes' time he owned the land."

  The movie colony was well entrenched by 1928 when Harold Lloyd ('Greenacres'), John Barrymore, Robert Montgomery, and Miriam Hopkins built residences there.

  The population in 1920 was 674; in 1924, it was 5,000; by 1930, it was 17,429.

  The issuance of building permits in 1918 totaled $35,200; in 1919, $304,900; in 1921, $787,729; 1922, $1,838,994.

  In early 1920, the Beverly Hills Speedway, a 1.25 miles (2.0 km) wood oval track with turns banked 35 degrees was opened. Joe Boyer ran his race car 110 miles per hour (177.0 km/h) during the exhibition run. The races drew huge crowds and radio broadcasts were on a par with today's Indianapolis 500. There were also aviation shows, another national craze. The speedway was closed in 1924 and the site was later subdivided for housing and businesses.

  In 1923, annexation to the city of Los Angeles was proposed, but faced opposition. Residents Mary Pickford, Will Rogers and others mobilized local voters against the plan. Those for annexation argued that Los Angeles would provide an adequate supply of better quality water for growth. Workers left bottles of sulfur-smelling water on the doorsteps of every home in Beverly Hills with a label that read: "Warning. Drink sparingly of this water as it has laxative qualities." Despite the campaign tactics, annexation was defeated 507 to 337. The following year, the city voted $400,000 in bonds to purchase the water system from the Beverly Hills Utilities Company and drill additional wells.

  This fight for an independent city was arguably the first union of show business and politics in the United States. When Will Rogers became involved in the local city government the community received international advertising. In 1925, Rogers was given the title "Honorary Mayor of Beverly Hills," becoming the first and (to date) only person so honored as such. The same year, the citizens of the city voted a $100,000 bond issue to purchase with Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Venice 385 acres (1.6 km²) for the building of UCLA. There were 96 miles (154.5 km) of paved streets in the city limits by 1927. In 1928, the Beverly-Wilshire Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard between El Camino and Rodeo Drives, part of the old Beverly Hills Speedway, was completed. That same year, Greystone Mansion was completed by Edward L. Doheny, Jr., the only son and heir of wealthy oil man Edward L. Doheny. And, in 1930, horses were banned in the City of Beverly Hills.

  In the early 1930s, Santa Monica Park was renamed Beverly Gardens and was extended to span the entire two-mile (3-kilometer) length of Santa Monica Boulevard through the city. At its Santa Monica and Wilshire corner, the Electric Fountain, a constant symphony of form and color at night, was installed, with a small sculpture at the top of a Tongva kneeling in prayer, homage to the heritage of Beverly Hills as a wellspring of fertility and abundance.

  In April 1931, the new Italian Renaissance-style City Hall was opened.

  By 1933, the effects of the Depression were being felt in Beverly Hills. The city and school board cut salaries to save funds. In February, some 161 parcels of land were advertised for sale for delinquent lighting assessments. The Chamber of Commerce established an employment bureau, and the mayor requested a branch welfare office from the County of Los Angeles. By 1937, the city had weathered the storm of the Depression and was riding the crest of a wave of retail sales that reached more than $20,000,000, and bank deposits topped the $25,000,000 figure. Property values of that year showed a 30% increase over the previous year.

  By the 1950s, small vacant lots remained and developers cropped whole mountains to ease the housing shortage. The stables and trails of the unusually large Doheny family estate; Greystone Mansion was bought by Paul Trousdale. The Trousdale Estates area was eventually annexed and an expensive housing development began to take shape in the hills above the city. Today Trousdale Estates is an enclave for Hollywood celebrities and media moguls.

  Beverly Hills marketed itself as one of the most glamorous places in the world to shop. The Golden Triangle, with Rodeo Drive at its center, was marketed as the apex of chic shopping and fashion.

  Via Rodeo was completed in 1990. The Spanish cobblestone street leads to 2 Rodeo Drive, a "mini-mall" with upscale shops and restaurants. In 1992, the Beverly Hills Civic Center was opened. Designed by architect Charles Moore, it links the new public library, fire department, and police department with the historic City Hall.

  Rodeo Drive, Beverly Drive, and Canon Drive all recently underwent construction to widen the sidewalks and beautify the streets. New construction that added more parking for visitors to the famed shopping area has also just been completed.

  Beverly Hills is nearly entirely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, sharing only a portion of its eastern border, primarily along Doheny Drive, with West Hollywood. The precise limits of Beverly Hills are complex, and therefore hard to describe; however, the city limits can be roughly described as the area surrounded by the Los Angeles Country Club and Century Park Drive to the Southwest, Whitworth Drive to the South, at various points Doheny Drive/Robertson Blvd/San Vicente Blvd to the East, and the Hollywood Hills to the North.

  Major east-west thoroughfares in Beverly Hills include Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, and Sunset Boulevard. Shopping is prevalent along Beverly Drive and the world-famous Rodeo Drive. Coldwater Canyon Drive is the main road out of Beverly Hills to the north into the San Fernando Valley. Beverly Drive and Roberston Blvd are the primary roads exiting the city to the south. Beverly Hills is one of the few cities in the Los Angeles area that is not directly served by a freeway.

  In spite of the city's name, most residents live in the "flats" of Beverly Hills which is a relatively flat land that includes all of Beverly Hills itself. The houses situated in the hills north of Sunset Boulevard have a much higher value then the average house price for the rest of the city. Some of the most exclusive and most expensive homes in Beverly Hills are all situated high up in the hills. Santa Monica Boulevard divides the "flats" into two areas, locally known as "North or South of the tracks," referring to the train tracks that were once used by the old Pacific Electric streetcar line that traversed Beverly Hills along Santa Monica Blvd. Houses south of Wilshire have more urban square and rectangular lots, in general smaller than those to the north. There are also more apartment buildings south of Wilshire Blvd than anywhere else in Beverly Hills, and the average house value south of Wilshire is the lowest in Beverly Hills.

  Nearly all businesses and government offices in Beverly Hills are located south of Santa Monica Boulevard, two notable exceptions being the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Just outside the city limits to the west lies the Los Angeles Country Club. Other locations commonly associated with Beverly Hills include the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the Beverly Center, just outside city limits to the east.

  Of the 21,426 registered voters in Beverly Hills, approximately 50.3% are Democrats and 25.9% are Republicans. The remaining 23.8% are Independents or are registered with one of the many smaller political parties, like the Green Party or the Libertarian Party.

  The heavy Democratic advantage makes Beverly Hills one of the more liberal cities in Southern California. In 2004, John Kerry won 62% of the vote compared to 37% for George W. Bush. In the 2006 state governor election, Arnold Schwarzenegger got nearly 45% of the vote but won a second term by a state-wide majority, while Democratic opponent Phil Angelides had just over 54%.

  Beverly Hills is a general law city governed by a five-member City Council including the mayor and vice mayor. City Council hires a city manager to carry out policies and serve as executive officer. Every odd-numbered year either two or three members are elected by the people to serve a four-year term. Each March the City Council meets and chooses one of its members as mayor and one as vice-mayor.

  Barry Brucker is mayor and William W. Brien, MD is vice mayor. Jeff Kolin is city manager. The other three city council members are John Mirisch, Lili Bosse and Julian A. Gold, MD. In city council meetings, a few celebrities have shown up to speak on local political issues.

  The Beverly Hills Police Department and the Beverly Hills Fire Department serve as emergency response for the city. BHFD has the privilege of being distinguished as "Class 1" in fire protection by an insurance industry rating service.

  The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services SPA 5 West Area Health Office serves Beverly Hills. The department operates the Simms/Mann Health and Wellness Center in Santa Monica, serving Beverly Hills.

  In the state legislature, Beverly Hills is located in the 23rd Senate District, represented by Democrat Fran Pavley, and in the 42nd Assembly District, represented by Democrat Mike Feuer. Beverly Hills is located in California's 30th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +20 and is represented by Democrat Henry Waxman.

  The United States Postal Service operates the Beverly Hills Post Office at 325 North Maple Drive, the Crescent Post Office at 323 North Crescent Drive, the Beverly Post Office at 312 South Beverly Drive, and the Eastgate Post Office at 8383 Wilshire Boulevard. The Beverly Hills Post Office received listing in the National Register of Historic Places on January 11, 1985.

  Beverly Hills is home to one Fortune 500 company, Live Nation Entertainment; other companies based in Beverly Hills include Platinum Equity, John Paul Mitchell Systems and Spark Networks.

  The Los Angeles-area offices of Aeroflot and El Al are in Beverly Hills.

  At one point, Hilton Hotels Corporation had its corporate headquarters in Beverly Hills. The original headquarters of GeoCities (at first Beverly Hills Internet) was at 9401 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

  Underneath the city is the large and still-productive Beverly Hills Oil Field, serviced by four urban drilling islands, which drill diagonally into the earth underneath the city. The most notorious of these drilling islands occasioned a 2003 lawsuit representing former attendees of Beverly Hills High School, approximately 280 of which having suffered from cancers allegedly tied to the drilling operations.

  Beverly Hills has three consulates (Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador.)

  Beverly Hills is served by Beverly Hills Unified School District, which includes four K-8 schools (Hawthorne, El Rodeo, Beverly Vista, and Horace Mann), Moreno High School, and the Beverly Hills High School.

  Beverly Hills also has several private schools.

  Good Shepherd School, a PreK-8 school in Beverly Hills, is a part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

  Other Beverly Hills private schools include Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy, Emanuel Academy of Beverly Hills, and Page Private School.

  Beverly Hills has a warm and moderate Mediterranean climate, with an average high of 85 degrees in August, and an average high of 64 degrees in January. Beverly Hills also receives on average 18 inches (460 mm) of rain per year. Summers are marked by warm to hot temperatures with very little wind, while winters are moderate to cool with occasional rain alternating with periods of Santa Ana winds. During Santa Ana events, gusts up to 40 mph (64 km/h) are common. Snow has been witnessed only in 1882,1922,1932 and 1949.

  Beverly Hills is served by the following newspapers: Beverly Hills Courier and Beverly Hills Weekly. Beverly Hills is served by the following magazine: Beverly Hills Times. The Beverly Hills Post used to be one of the main newspapers, but it went out of business. The city is also served by all Los Angeles TV, radio, and newspaper media

  Beverly Hills also has its own local television channel, KBEV. Run by the students of Beverly Hills High School, it airs on Channel 6 (on Time Warner Cable) to the residents of Beverly Hills.

  In 2009, a small group of Beverly Hills residents created an online diary blog of their lives growing up and living in Beverly Hills called The Daily Truffle that has grown into a popular website for residents.

  The name Beverly Hills has often been employed as a nickname for a fashionable, affluent area. For example, View Park, an unincorporated area in southwestern Los Angeles County, has been dubbed the "Black Beverly Hills". Similarly, the city of Scottsdale has been given the nickname "Beverly Hills of Arizona" for its stately homes, high-end shops, the extensive Fashion square mall, Fashion week, resorts and high household income. Calabasas, California located in the San Fernando Valley is considered the Beverly Hills of the valley. Beverly Hills, Michigan is known for its large affluent office buildings and nice homes all located in the affluent areas of Metro Detroit. Respectively, Buckhead, the uptown district of Atlanta, has been dubbed "The Beverly Hills of the South" due to the large number (as well as the highest concentration) of upscale shops, elaborate homes, and high average income.

  Beverly Hills has been featured in a number of television shows and movies set in Beverly Hills, including The Jack Benny Program (1950 to 1954) (and on his radio program from 1932–1955), The Beverly Hillbillies (1962 to 1971), the Beverly Hills Cop movies, Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990 to 2000), and 90210 (2008 – ).

  90210 is one of five ZIP codes for Beverly Hills, and perhaps its most famous, gaining popularity with the 1990s television series Beverly Hills, 90210 and its 2008 spin-off 90210. Other series to feature it in its title are Dr. 90210, a reality show featuring Beverly Hills plastic surgeons. and High Maintenance 90210, also a reality show. Rapper Wale released a song called 90210 referring to a girl who wants to be famous.

  Beverly Hills Post Office is an area of Los Angeles that the Beverly Hills Post Office serves and carries the "Beverly Hills, CA 90210" mailing address. The other four, less-celebrated ZIP codes for Beverly Hills are: 90209, 90211, 90212 and 90213.

  The animated series Totally Spies is set in Beverly Hills.

  Another animated series "Beverly Hills Teens" is about young teens who live in Beverly Hills in the 80's.

  The opening scene of The Andy Griffith Show showing Sheriff Taylor and Opie carrying fishing poles was shot at the Franklin Canyon Reservoir at the north end of town just west of Coldwater Canyon.

  In Walt Disney's movie, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, The main character, Chloe, lives in Beverly Hills, 90210.

  In the 2009 Simpsons episode, Waverly Hills 9-0-2-1-D'oh, there exists a spoof version of Beverly Hills, nicknamed "Waverly Hills".

  Ted's of Beverly Hills is a fictional steak restaurant on the Phil Hendrie radio show.

  The first track on Weezer's Make Believe album is entitled "Beverly Hills" and is one of their most popular songs.

  The 1965 Beverly Hills Public Library building facade was featured regularly on the Brady Bunch as Mr. Brady's office building.

  The 1995 Film, Clueless (film) is set in Beverly Hills as is its 1996 TV Spin-off Clueless (TV series).

  Season one of the The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills aired on Bravo in 2010 with part 1 and 2 of the Reunion show airing in January 2011.

• Beverly Park, California:

  Beverly Park, divided into North Beverly Park and South Beverly Park, is a private gated community located in the hills above Los Angeles, California; this wealthy neighborhood is known for its concentration of exceptionally large houses, up to 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²), and for its famous residents. The communities carry a Beverly Hills post office address (90210 ZIP Code), but are located within the city of Los Angeles. The neighborhood is located between Mulholland Drive and Sunset Boulevard and Coldwater Canyon Drive and Beverly Glen Boulevard, east of the Beverly Glen neighborhood.

  North Beverly Park, with a main entrance at 13100 Mulholland Drive, is the larger 64-home section and has the largest homes; South Beverly Park consists of 16-homes.

  Established in 1990, the 250 acre (100 ha) community was built by Los Angeles-developers Brian Adler and a partner using land that was originally intended to be a golf course named after Dean Martin. Alder used the concept of having guards and gates to distinguish the neighborhood from the other top Westside neighborhoods, Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills and Bel-Air. It originally contained 64 two-acre (0.8 ha) lots, a 4 acre (1.6 ha) landscaped park and over 100 acres (40 ha) of open space; a number of adjacent lots have been purchased and combined for larger estates. The vacant lots originally sold for US$3.5 million to $6 million each, but the prices have since increased.

  The neighborhood residents abide by a 70-page homeowners' covenant that includes a minimum building size: "No dwelling shall be constructed or maintained on any residential lot which has a floor area less than 5,000 square feet (464 m²)." The price of a complete house is $15 million for the smaller houses and can exceed $50 million for the largest houses. As of August 14, 2008, there are four houses for sale publicly in Beverly Park listed at $21.5, $29, $45 and $50 Million. They are grand estates located on 2, 6, 2 and 2.1 acres (8,100, 24,000, 8,100 and 8,500 m²) respectively. There may be other properties for sale in the community that are privately listed, also known as pocket listings in the real estate community.

  In May 2008, residents of South Beverly Park sued the North Beverly Park Homeowners Association over access to the north's two gates at Mulholland Drive after access was restricted in 2007: residents of South Beverly Park could use the gate, but their contractors, nannies and gardeners were forced to use the south's gates, which, due to the remoteness of the neighborhood, could require a detour of up to seven miles (11 km). The dispute arose in March 2006, when the north's Homeowners Association sent the south's homeowners a letter demanding that they "pay their fair share of costs we [the north association] are incurring for maintenance of the roads, gates and security" for an amount specified at $121,000 a year. The south's residents rejected the demand, and a series of legal correspondence followed that resulted in the north's raising the amount it sought to $128,000. In May 2007, the north informed the south neighbors that their relatives, "staff, vendors and guests" would no longer be allowed to enter the north's gates at Summitridge and Mulholland Drives. On January 13, 2009, Judge Norman P. Tarle ruled in favor of the South Beverly Park Homeowners Association, giving them the right to regain full use of the northern gates and their friends, guests, vendors and staff would no longer have utilize the seven-mile detour.

• Big Pine, California:

  Big Pine is a census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States. Big Pine is located 15 miles (24 km) south-southeast of Bishop, at an elevation of 3990 feet (1216 m). The population was 1,756 at the 2010 census, up from 1,350 at the 2000 census. The Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine Reservation operates their tribal headquarters from here.

  Big Pine is located in the Owens Valley of California between the Sierra Nevada and the White Mountains, just west of the Owens River upstream of its diversion into the Los Angeles Aqueduct. It lies on U.S. Route 395, the main north-south artery through the Owens Valley, connecting the Inland Empire to Reno, Nevada. US 395 also connects Big Pine to Los Angeles via State Route 14 through Palmdale.

  To the East, CA route 168 crosses the White Mountains over Westgard Pass to the basin and range province of Nevada, while Death Valley Road lads to Death Valley. The plaque beneath the young giant sequoia (pictured) at the road junction says it was planted in 1913 to commemorate the opening of Westgaard Pass to auto traffic. North from Westgaard Pass lies the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, home to the oldest trees in the world.

  To the West, Glacier Lodge Road leads high up Big Pine Creek into the Sierra, to lakes, hiking trails, fishing, and rock climbing underneath the Palisades Range and the Palisade Glacier.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.0 square miles (7.8 km²), over 99% of it land.

  The Big Pine post office first opened in 1870, closed for a time during 1877, changed its name to Bigpine in 1895, and reverted to Big Pine in 1962.

  Big Pine has a significant geologic feature (an earthquake scarp) related to the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake.

  Matt Williams, a professional baseball player, lived there for part of his life and also here lived and died the movie star Elisha Cook, Jr..

  In the state legislature Big Pine is located in the 18th Senate District, represented by Republican Roy Ashburn, and in the 18th Assembly District, represented by Republican Bill Maze. Federally, Big Pine is located in California's 25th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +7 and is represented by Republican Buck McKeon.

  Alice Piper, a 15-year-old Native American living in Big Pine in 1924, wanted to attend Big Pine school, but was denied on her ethnicity. Piper, the daughter of Pike and Annie Piper, sued the school district claiming the state law establishing separate schools for “Indian children” and other children of Asian parentage was unconstitutional.

  The State Supreme Court ruled that, indeed the law was in violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and Piper was invited as a pupil. Because of this, the Big Pine School District is memorialized as a major player in the constitutional battle over the rights of Native Americans to attend public schools segregated for “whites only.”

  The Piper case has gone on to became a landmark case and viewed as the legal authority guaranteeing Native American children the right to attend public schools, and has been used as precedence in other cases such as Brown v. Board of Education.

  Norman Clyde (April 8, 1885–December 23, 1972) was a famous mountaineer, nature photographer, and self trained naturalist. He is well-known for achieving over 100 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada and Montana. He also set a speed climbing record on Mount Shasta in 1923. In the 1950s and 1960s, he lived by himself at the old Baker ranch-house on Baker Creek near Big Pine. He also served as a caretaker of Glacier Lodge on Big Pine Creek and a fishing cabin owned by Lon Chaney Sr. in the Palisades above Big Pine.

  Clyde was born in Philadelphia, the son of a Presbyterian minister. He attended Geneva College graduating in the Classics in June 1909. After teaching at several rural schools, including Fargo, North Dakota and Mount Pleasant, Utah, he enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley in 1911. After two years of graduate work he returned to teaching, mostly in northern California. On June 15, 1915, Norman Clyde married Winifred May Bolster in Pasadena, California. Winnie was a nurse at a tuberculosis hospital, and contracted the disease herself. After 4 years of suffering she died at age 28 in 1919. His wife's death appears to have profoundly affected him as he moved to the Eastern Sierra to spend much of his latter life alone.

  Clyde spent many summers traveling about in the Sierra Nevada, bagging first ascents. He served as climbing leader at Sierra Club base camps where he became known as "the pack that walks like a man" because of the huge backpacks he carried. In addition to as many as five cameras, he carried a hammer and cobbler's anvil in order to make field repairs to client's boots.

  Wired telephone numbers working out of the Verizon California (formerly GTE California and prior to that Contel) Big Pine central office follow the format (760) 938-xxxx. As of 2002, numbers are in the 938-2000 to 938-3999 range except for coin telephones, which follow the pattern 938-99xx. As of June, 2005, numbers in the 938-5XXX block are assigned by Level 3 Communications. As of February 2006, numbers in the 938-7XXX block are assigned by Broadwing Communications.

• Biola, California:

  Biola is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 1,623 at the 2010 census, up from 1,037 at the 2000 census. Biola is located 6 miles (9.7 km) north-northeast of Kerman, at an elevation of 253 feet (77 m).

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²), all of it land.

  Biola was founded by William Kerchoff in 1912. The name was an initialism of the "Bible Institute of Los Angeles". A post office operated in Biola from 1912 to 1918, and from 1920 to the present.

• Bishop, California:

  Bishop is a city in Inyo County, California, United States. Though Bishop is the only city and the largest populated place in Inyo County, the county seat is Independence. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of 4147 feet (1264 m). The population was 3,879 at the 2010 census, up from 3,575 at the 2000 census. The town was named after Bishop Creek, flowing out of the Sierra Nevada: the creek was named after Samuel Addison Bishop, a settler in the Owens Valley.

  Bishop lies west of the Owens River at the northern end of the Owens River Valley.

  It is on U.S. Route 395, the main north-south artery through the Owens Valley, connecting the Inland Empire to Reno, Nevada. US 395 also connects Bishop to Los Angeles via State Route 14 through Palmdale. Bishop is also the western terminus of U.S. Route 6. The Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony control land just west of the town. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) controls much of the upstream and surrounding area.

  Bishop is immediately to the east of the Sierra Nevada, and west of the White Mountains. Numerous peaks are within a short distance of Bishop, including Mount Humphreys (13,986'), to the west, White Mountain Peak (14,242') in the northeast, and pyramidal Mount Tom (13,658') northwest of town. Basin Mountain (13,187') is viewed to the west from Bishop as it rises above the Buttermilks.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.9 square miles (4.9 km²), over 97% of it land.

  Bishop is known as the "Mule Capital of the World" and a week long festival called Bishop Mule Days has been held since 1969 on the week of Memorial Day, celebrating the contributions of pack mules to the area. The festival attracts many tourists, primarily from the Southern California area.

  Bishop is well known in the rock climbing community. Near the city are numerous climbing spots that attract visitors from around the world. There are over 2,000 bouldering problems in Bishop. The two main types of rock are volcanic tuff and granite.

  Bishop, as well as the rest of the Owens Valley, has an arid climate with an average of 5.02 inches of precipitation falling per year. The wettest year was 1969 with 17.09 inches of precipitation and the driest 1989 with 1.81 inches. Measurable precipitation occurs on an average of 29 days annually. The most precipitation in one month was 8.93 inches in January 1969, which included 4.00 inches on January 4, the most rainfall recorded in 24 hours in Bishop. Snowfall averages 8.4 inches per year. The snowiest year was 1969 with 57.1 inches. The most snow in one month was 23.2 inches in January 1969.

  There an average of 96.7 days annually with highs of 90°F (32°C) or higher and an average of 142.1 days annually with lows of 32°F (0°C) or lower. The record high temperature of 110°F was on July 10, 2002; the record low, -8°F was on December 27, 1988. Despite summer daytime temperatures usually exceeding 90°F, very low humidity results in nighttime temperatures in the fifties.

  In the state legislature Bishop is located in the 18th Senate District, represented by Republican Jean Fuller, and in the 34th Assembly District, represented by Republican Connie Conway. Federally, Bishop is located in California's 25th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +7 and is represented by Republican Buck McKeon.

  Bishop maintains its own police force (the only one in Inyo County), but also has a substation of the Inyo County Sheriff's Department on the outskirts of the City. The California Highway Patrol also has an office in town. Ambulance services are provided by Symons Ambulance.

  The Bishop Creek post office operated from 1870 to 1889 and from 1935 to 1938. The first Bishop post office opened in 1889.

  In order to provide water needs for the growing City of Los Angeles, water was diverted from the Owens River into the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913. The Owens River Valley cultures and environments changed substantially. From the 1910s to 1930s the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power purchased much of the valley for water rights and control. The economy of Bishop suffered when farmers sold their land. Jack Foley, a Bishop resident and sound effects specialist, mitigated the economic loss by persuading several Los Angeles studio bosses that the town of Bishop would be ideal as a location to shoot westerns.

• Boca, California:

  Boca is a former settlement in Nevada County, California. It is situated at an elevation of 5,528 ft (1,685 m) above sea level. Boca is located on the Southern Pacific Railroad, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) northeast of Truckee.

  The place was named by the railroad Boca (Spanish for "mouth") because it was near the mouth of the Little Truckee River.

  It had a post office during the period of 1872 through 1945.

  In 1880, the population was 200.

  On January 20, 1937, the temperature at Boca fell to -45°F (-43°C), the coldest temperature ever recorded in California.

• Bodega Bay, California:

  Bodega Bay is a town and census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 1,077 at the 2010 census. The town is on the eastern side of Bodega Harbor, an inlet of Bodega Bay on the Pacific coast.

  Bodega Bay is the site of the first Russian structures built in California. These were built in 1809 by Commerce Counseller Ivan Alexandrovich Kuskov, of the Russian-American Company in the lead up to the establishment of Fort Ross. For the Russians, the settlement in Bodega Bay was called Port Rumyantsev, named after the Russian Foreign Minister Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantsev, and it served as a port to support Fort Ross and the larger Russian community known as Colony Ross.

  The Alfred Hitchcock-directed film, The Birds, was filmed in Bodega Bay. The town markets itself with the film in many ways, including its Birds-themed Visitors' Center. The location was also featured in the cult horror movie Puppet Master.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 12.5 square miles (32 km²), 8.3 square miles (21 km²) of it is land, and 4.2 square miles (11 km²) of it (33.37%) is water. The town lies on the edge of Bodega Harbor. Bodega Bay itself extends south along the coast to Tomales Bay. North of town lies a long coastal exposure of alternating rock outcrops and sandy beaches which is known as Sonoma Coast State Beach.

  The U.S. National Weather Service provides a helpful visual aid graphing weather and climate information from the nearby Monterey sensors to display visually by month the annual typical temperatures, the past year's temperatures, and record temperatures.

  In the state legislature, Bodega Bay is located in the 2nd Senate District, represented by Democrat Noreen Evans, and in the 1st Assembly District, represented by Democrat Wesley Chesbro. Federally, Bodega Bay is located in California's 6th congressional district.

  Bodega Bay has served as a location for several major films: The Birds (1963) Except for a short sequence at the beginning filmed in San Francisco, involving purchase of a pair of love birds and a brief on-screen appearance by Hitchcock led by two white Sealyham terriers (his own pets), the film was filmed entirely around the two towns of Bodega (a small inland village) and Bodega Bay (a larger village on the bay). Special sites used for shooting included Potter School, the Bay, the two towns which were made to appear as one, and the home and barn across the bay from the town of Bodega Bay; The Pack (1977) Filmed around Bodega Bay; The Fog (1980); The Goonies (1985) Some scenes filmed along the Sonoma Coast, Bodega Bay (and Astoria OR, and Cannon Beach OR); Puppet Master (1989) Setting is Bodega Bay for the first two, fourth and fifth films; and Sleepwalkers (1992) Opening scene filmed in Bodega Bay.

  A branch of the University of California operates a marine lab at Bodega Bay, the Bodega Marine Laboratory.

  A nuclear power plant had been planned for Bodega Bay in the 1960s but was abandoned after both local and statewide protests and the discovery of an earthquake fault across the proposed site. Excavation for the site began at Bodega Head, and when the project was abandoned the area has been referred to by locals as "The Hole in the Head."

  Bodega Bay was the hometown of Nicholas Green, the little American boy shot dead during a robbery by highwaymen in Italy where his family was on vacation. Nicholas and his family became famous when almost every harvestable organ or body part was donated to those in need following his death.

• Bodie, California:

  Bodie is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States, about 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe. It is located 12 miles (19 km) east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8379 feet (2554 m). As Bodie Historic District, the U.S. Department of the Interior recognizes it as a National Historic Landmark. The ghost town has been administered by California State Parks since becoming a state historic park in 1962, and receives about 200,000 visitors yearly.

  Bodie began as a mining camp of little note following the discovery of gold in 1859 by a group of prospectors, including W.S. Bodey (first name uncertain). Bodey perished in a blizzard the following November while making a supply trip to Monoville (near present day Mono City, California), never getting to see the rise of the town that was named after him. According to area pioneer, Judge J.G. McClinton, the district's name was changed from "Bodey," "Body," and a few other phonetic variations, to "Bodie," after a painter in the nearby boomtown of Aurora, lettered a sign "Bodie Stables" Gold discovered at Bodie coincided with the discovery of silver at nearby Aurora, (thought to be in California, later found to be Nevada), and the distant Comstock Lode beneath Virginia City, Nevada. But while these two towns boomed, interest in Bodie remained lackluster. By 1868 only two companies had built stamp mills at Bodie, and both had failed.

  In 1876, the Standard Company discovered a profitable deposit of gold-bearing ore, which transformed Bodie from an isolated mining camp comprising a few prospectors and company employees to a Wild West boomtown. Rich discoveries in the adjacent Bodie Mine during 1878 attracted even more hopeful people. By 1879, Bodie had a population of approximately 5000–7000 people and around 2,000 buildings. One idea maintains that in 1880, Bodie was California's second or third largest city, but the U.S. Census of that year disproves the popular tale. Over the years, Bodie's mines produced gold valued at nearly US$34 million.

  Bodie boomed from late 1877 through mid- to late 1880. The first newspaper, The Standard Pioneer Journal of Mono County, published its first edition on October 10, 1877. It started out as a weekly, but soon became a thrice-weekly paper. It was also during this time that a telegraph line was built which connected Bodie with Bridgeport and Genoa, Nevada. California and Nevada newspapers predicted Bodie would become the next Comstock Lode. Men from both states were lured to Bodie by the prospect of another bonanza.

  Gold bullion from the town's nine stamp mills was shipped to Carson City, Nevada, by way of Aurora, Wellington and Gardnerville. Most shipments were accompanied by armed guards. After the bullion reached Carson City, it was delivered to the mint there, or sent by rail to the mint in San Francisco.

  As a bustling gold mining center, Bodie had the amenities of larger towns, including two banks, four volunteer fire companies, a brass band, a railroad, miners' and mechanics' unions, several daily newspapers, and a jail. At its peak, 65 saloons lined Main Street, which was a mile long. Murders, shootouts, barroom brawls, and stagecoach holdups were regular occurrences.

  As with other remote mining towns, Bodie had a popular, though clandestinely important, red light district on the north end of town. From this is told the unsubstantiated story of Rosa May, a prostitute who, in the style of Florence Nightingale, came to the aid of the town menfolk when a serious epidemic struck the town at the height of its boom. She is credited with giving life-saving care to many, but was buried outside the cemetery fence.

  Bodie had a Chinatown, the main street of which ran at a right angle to Bodie's Main Street, with several hundred Chinese residents at one point, and included a Taoist temple. Opium dens were plentiful in this area.

  Bodie also had a cemetery on the outskirts of town and a nearby mortuary, which is the only building in the town built of red brick three courses thick, most likely for insulation to keep the air temperature steady during the cold winters and hot summers. The cemetery was Miners Union Cemetery, and includes a cenotaph to President James A. Garfield.

  On Main Street stands the Miners Union Hall, which was the meeting place for labor unions and an entertainment center that hosted dances, concerts, plays, and school recitals. It now serves as a museum.

  The first signs of decline appeared in 1880 and became obvious towards the end of the year. Promising mining booms in Butte, Montana; Tombstone, Arizona; and Utah lured men away from Bodie. The get-rich quick, single miners who originally came to the town in the 1870s moved on to these other booms, which eventually turned Bodie into a family-oriented community. Two examples of this settling were the construction of the Methodist Church (which currently stands) and the Roman Catholic Church (burned about 1930) that were both constructed in 1882. Despite the population decline, the mines were flourishing, and in 1881 Bodie's ore production was recorded at a high of $3.1 million. Also in 1881, a narrow gauge railroad was built called the Bodie Railway & Lumber Company, bringing lumber, cordwood, and mine timbers to the mining district from Mono Mills south of Mono Lake.

  During the early 1890s, Bodie enjoyed a short revival seen in technological advancements in the mines that continued to support the town. In 1890, the recently invented cyanide process promised to recover gold and silver from discarded mill tailings and from low-grade ore bodies that had been passed over. In 1893, the Standard Company built its own hydroelectric plant, located approximately 12.5 miles (20.1 km) away on Green Creek, above Bridgeport, California. The plant developed a maximum of 130 horsepower (97 kW) and 6,600 volts alternating current (AC) to power the company's 20-stamp mill. This pioneering installation is marked as one of the country's first transmissions of electricity over a long distance.

  In 1910, the population was recorded at 698 people, which were predominantly families that decided to stay in Bodie instead of moving on to other prosperous strikes.

  The first signs of an official decline occurred in 1912 with the printing of the last Bodie newspaper, The Bodie Miner. In a 1913 book titled California tourist guide and handbook: authentic description of routes of travel and points of interest in California, the authors, Wells and Aubrey Drury described Bodie as a "mining town, which is the center of a large mineral region" and provided reference to two hotels and a railroad operating there. In 1913, the Standard Consolidated Mine closed. Mining profits in 1914 were at a low of $6,821. James S. Cain was buying up everything from the town lots to the mining claims, and reopened the Standard mill to former employees, which resulted in an over $100,000 profit in 1915. However, this financial growth was not in time to stop the town's decline. In 1917, the Bodie Railway was abandoned and its iron tracks were scrapped. The last mine closed in 1942, due to War Production Board order L-208, shutting down all nonessential gold mines in the United States. Mining never resumed.

  The first label of Bodie as a "ghost town" was in 1915. In a time when auto travel was on a rise, many were adventuring into Bodie via automobiles. The San Francisco Chronicle published an article in 1919 to dispute the "ghost town" label. By 1920, Bodie's population was recorded by the US Federal Census at a total of 120 people. Despite the decline, Bodie had permanent residents through most of the 20th century, even after a fire ravaged much of the downtown business district in 1932. A post office operated at Bodie from 1877 to 1942.

  In the 1940s, the threat of vandalism faced the ghost town. The Cain family, who owned much of the land the town is situated upon, hired caretakers to protect and to maintain the town's structures. Martin Gianettoni, one of the last three people in Bodie in 1943, was also a caretaker.

  Bodie is now an authentic Wild West ghost town. The town was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and in 1962 it became Bodie State Historic Park. A total of 170 buildings remained. Bodie has been named California's official state gold rush ghost town.

  Today, Bodie is preserved in a state of arrested decay. Only a small part of the town survives. Visitors can walk the deserted streets of a town that once was a bustling area of activity. Interiors remain as they were left and stocked with goods. Bodie is open all year, but the long road that leads to the town is usually closed in the winter due to heavy snowfall, so the majority of visitors to the park come during the summer months.

  The California State Parks' ranger station is located in one of the original homes on Green Street.

  In 2009 and again in 2010, Bodie was scheduled to be closed, but the California state legislature was able to work out a budget compromise that enabled the state's Parks Closure Commission to allow it to remain open, at least during the 2009–2010 fiscal year. The park is still operating as of December 2011.

  Summers in Bodie are hot, and in winter, temperatures often plummet well below 0 °F (−18 °C), and winds can sweep across the valley at close to 100 miles per hour (160 km/h). Nights remain cold even through the summer, often dropping well below freezing. The harsh weather is due to a particular combination of high altitude (8,400 feet (2,600 m)) and a very exposed plateau, with little in the way of a natural surrounding wall to protect the long, flat piece of land from the elements. Plenty of firewood was needed to keep residents warm through the long winters. Bodie is not located in a forest, so lumber had to be imported from Bridgeport, California; Benton, California; Carson City, Nevada and Mono Mills, California. The winter of 1878–1879 was particularly harsh and claimed the lives of many residents.

  National Weather Service records show that average January temperatures in Bodie are a maximum of 39.0°F and a minimum of 5.6°F. Average July temperatures are a maximum of 76.8°F and a minimum of 35.1°F. Only three months — June, July and August — have mean monthly temperatures above 50°F. There are an average of 0.1 days with highs of 90°F (32°C) or higher and an average of 303 days with lows of 32°F (0°C) or lower. The record high temperature of 91°F was on July 21, 1988. The record low temperature of −36°F was recorded on February 13, 1903.

  Average annual precipitation is 12.80 inches, with September, the driest month, averaging 0.5 inches while January, the wettest month, receives 2.0 inches on average. As a result, Bodie has the rare Dsc designation in the Köppen climate classification scheme. There are an average of 55 days with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1965 with 26.04 inches and the driest year was 2000 with 4.57 inches. The most precipitation in one month was 7.39 inches in January 1901. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 4.57 inches on February 12, 1895. Average annual snowfall is 97.4 inches. The snowiest year was 1965 with 269.0 inches. The most snow in one month was 97.1 inches in January 1969.

• Bonadelle Ranchos-Madera Ranchos, California:

  Bonadelle Ranchos-Madera Ranchos is a census-designated place (CDP) in Madera County, California, United States. It is part of the Madera–Chowchilla Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,569 at the 2010 census, up from 7,300 at the 2000 census.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 11.6 square miles (30 km²), all of it land.

  In the state legislature Bonadelle Ranchos-Madera Ranchos is located in the 14th Senate District, represented by Republican Tom Berryhill, and in the 29th Assembly District, represented by Republican Linda Halderman. Federally, Bonadelle Ranchos-Madera Ranchos is located in California's 19th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +10 and is represented by Republican Jeff Denham.

• Bootjack, California:

  Bootjack is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Mariposa County, California, United States. Bootjack is located 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east-southeast of Mariposa, at an elevation of 2238 feet (682 m). The population was 960 at the 2010 census, down from 1,588 at the 2000 census.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 7.1 square miles (18 km²), of which, 7.0 square miles (18 km²) of it is land and 0.89% is water.

  At the 2000 census, according to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP had a total area of 18.0 square miles (47 km²), of which, 18.0 square miles (47 km²) of it was land and 0.06% was water.

  Three versions are current of how the town was named. The first, a fork in the road made a bootjack shape (basically, a "Y"). The second, is that a landmark tree at the place had a bootjack shape. And third, that after a horse thief's hanging at the place a bootjack was used to remove his boots.

  In the state legislature Bootjack is located in the 14th Senate District, represented by Republican Tom Berryhill, and in the 25th Assembly District, represented by Republican Kristin Olsen. Federally, Bootjack is located in California's 19th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +10 and is represented by Republican Jeff Denham.

• Boronda, California:

  Boronda is a census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County, California, United States. The population was 1,710 at the 2010 census, up from 1,325 at the 2000 census.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.55 square miles (1.4 km²), all of it land.

  Boronda currently has one active school, Boronda Meadows Elementary. Boronda Meadows Elementary is part of the Salinas City Elementary School District and was opened in 2005. During the 2005-2006 school year, Boronda Meadows enrolled 571 students in grades K-6. Enrollment is expected to grow as development of the Boronda Meadows housing project is completed.

  Boronda School, 1114 Fontes Lane, was closed at the end of the 2005 school year. Many of the students and staff were transferred to Boronda Meadows. The old Boronda school now houses the Monterey County Office of Education's Community Day School.

• Boulder Creek, California:

  Boulder Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 4,923 at the 2010 census.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 7.5 square miles (19 km²), all of it land.

  In the state legislature Boulder Creek is located in the 11th Senate District, represented by Democrat Joe Simitian, and in the 27th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Bill Monning. Boulder Creek is located in California's 14th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +21 and is represented by Democrat Anna Eshoo.

• Boyle Heights, California:

  Boyle Heights is a neighborhood east of Downtown Los Angeles on the East Side of Los Angeles. For much of the twentieth century, Boyle Heights was a gateway for new immigrants. This resulted in diverse demographics, including Jewish American, Japanese American and Mexican American populations, as well as Russian American and Yugoslav populations. Today, the neighborhood is populated mostly by working class Latinos.

  The Boyle Heights area was known in the Spanish and Mexican era as "Paredon Blanco" or "White Bluffs." While within the four-league limits established for Los Angeles under Spanish dominion in 1781, this area east of the river was sparsely populated. Among those who resided in the Paredon Blanco area were the Lopez and Rubio families, each of which had adobe houses and vineyards and continued to live there for many decades.

  One of the more notable early documented events in Paredon Blanco occurred during the American invasion of Mexican California in Fall 1846. After a group of Americans loyal to the invaders gathered for mutual defense at the Rancho Santa Ana del Chino home of Isaac Williams at today's Boys' Republic institution in modern Chino Hills, native Californios defending their land secured the surrender of the Americans. The prisoners were then marched to Paredon Blanco and kept there under strict watch for several months, though it is not known whether they were held at a residence of the Lopez or Rubio families. The intercession of ranchers William Workman, of La Puente, and Ignacio Palomares, of San Jose [modern Pomona], led to the peaceful release of the men who were nearly executed by the enraged Californio defenders.

  In 1858, Irish-born Andrew A. Boyle (1818–1871) came to Los Angeles from San Francisco (having also previously lived in New Orleans and Texas after his 1832 migration to America.) Boyle, a widower who had a daughter named Maria (1847–1933) purchased land in Paredon Blanco from the Lopez family. He built the first brick house east of the river and cultivated the Lopez vineyards, manufacturing and selling wine under the Paredon Blanco name. He also operated a shoe store in Los Angeles and was a member of the city council.

  After Andrew Boyle's death in early 1871, his property passed to his daughter and her husband, William Henry Workman (1839–1918), a saddler and rising politician in town. As the first growth boom was underway in the Los Angeles area, Workman decided to subdivide part of Paredon Blanco. In Spring 1875, he partnered with banker and real estate speculator Isaias W. Hellman and John Lazzarovich, who was married to a member of the Lopez family, and announced the creation of the new neighborhood of Boyle Heights. Before long, however, the boom ended, largely because of the failure of the bank co-owned by Workman's uncle, William Workman (1799–1876), owner of the Rancho La Puente in the eastern San Gabriel Valley. It was not until the next development boom, which took place during Workman's tenure as mayor in the 1887-88 period, that Boyle Heights grew rapidly and became a desirable residential area for middle and upper middle class Angelenos. Some large Victorian-era homes still survive in Boyle Heights as testament to the late nineteenth-century status the neighborhood possessed.

  By the 1920s, however, well-heeled Los Angeles residents migrated west from downtown and the proximity of Boyle Heights to the railroad switch and freight yards and the industrial area of the city next to the Los Angeles River led to a significant change in the demographics of the community. Another developing factor was the nefarious spread of "restrictive covenants," in which residential property deeds limited ownership to whites in almost all areas of Los Angeles, excepting places such as south Los Angeles and Boyle Heights. Consequently, disenfranchised persons from ethnic and racial groups of all types moved to Boyle Heights, making it one of the most diverse areas in the United States.

  Boyle Heights remained one of the most heterogeneous neighborhoods in the city for decades and it was a center of Jewish, Mexican and Japanese immigrant life in the early 20th century, and also hosted large Yugoslav and Russian populations. Canter's Deli, one of Los Angeles' culinary landmarks and a beloved fixture in the city's Jewish community, was originally located in Boyle Heights before it followed its customer base to the Fairfax District in the 1940s. For a time both Cantor's Delis were open and operating simultaneously. However, during and after World War II, most of its non-Latino population left for Mid-Wilshire, the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, and the West Side. Boyle Heights' Japanese population was interned in relocation camps such as Manzanar during World War II and did not return after the war. This evolution is evidenced, among many other ways, by the name of the district's main thoroughfare: once Brooklyn Avenue, it was rechristened Cesar E. Chavez Avenue in 1994.

  Opened in 1923, the Breed Street Shul, located at 247 North Breed Street, was one of the oldest synagogues on West Coast of the United States. Boyle Heights was a predominantly Jewish community for many years, but slowly the demographic changed to a large Latino community, and the synagogue steadily lost congregation members.

  Breed Street Shul was finally abandoned in 1996, with the building becoming ramshackle. Shortly afterward, an effort was made to renovate the synagogue, and to preserve the site for posterity. In 1999, the nonprofit Breed Street Shul Project, Inc., a subsidiary of the Jewish Historical Society of Southern California (JHS), officially undertook the restoration project. The project has been completed, and Breed Street Shul is now considered a national historic landmark.

  Unlike the middle- and lower-middle-class neighborhoods on the bluffs, "The Flats" was one of the most impoverished areas of the city, and by the 1930s was considered one of the last remaining slums in the United States. Those living in the "Heights" did not consider the flats part of Boyle Heights. The City of Los Angeles had separate neighborhood signs to mark the areas in the flats.

  Reformer Jacob Riis had visited The Flats in the early 1910s and declared them worse than anything in New York; a survey conducted by the city in the 1937 deemed 20% of the city's dwellings "unfit for human habitation," including most of The Flats. During World War II, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) razed The Flats and built housing projects in their place, resulting in Aliso Village and Pico Gardens. Like most of HACLA's 1940s projects, Aliso Village and Pico Gardens were hailed at the time of their construction as some of the finest examples of the principles espoused by the garden city movement, and were racially integrated to boot.

  Soon after the end the war, Aliso Village and Pico Gardens lost most of their non-Latino populations, and were increasingly populated by Mexican immigrants. With the river on one side and a massive rail yard on another, the construction of the East Los Angeles Interchange further isolated them from the rest of the city, and the closure of the Pacific Electric Railway dramatically reduced the mobility of many of the projects' residents. By the 1970s, overcrowding had eliminated much of Aliso Village's once-vaunted green spaces, physical deteriortion had become rampant, and gangs were an increasing problem. In the 1980s the residents of Aliso Village and Pico Gardens began to organize with the support of Dolores Mission Church and its community Organization UNO and began to address these problems. By the late eighties the residents of the two housing projects had developed a network of community groups that pushed for better services and began negotiating truces between the different gangs, thus reducing the level of violence. In 1996, HACLA wrote off both projects, against the residents desires; Pico Gardens was razed and rebuilt eliminating half of the units in the development. Aliso Village was demolished and replaced with the New Urbanist, Pueblo del Sol "workforce housing" project. In the process two-thirds of the residents of the two housing projects were displaced.

  Boyle Heights lies on the east bank of the Los Angeles River. It comprises the bluffs for which the district is named and the muddy flats ("The Flats") below them. The district's boundaries are roughly Mission Road on the north, the Los Angeles city limits on the east and south, and the river on the west. Downtown Los Angeles lies to the west, Lincoln Heights lies to the north, City Terrace and East Los Angeles are to the east, Commerce is to the southeast, and Vernon is to the south. Major thoroughfares include Whittier Boulevard; Cesar E. Chavez Avenue (known as Brooklyn Avenue prior to 1994); and State, Soto, Lorena, 1st, and 4th Streets.

  Boyle Heights was once called Paredon Blanco (White Bluffs) when California was part of Mexico. Boyle Heights has long been a destination for newcomers to Los Angeles. Andrew A. Boyle, for whom the area is named, was an Irish immigrant who established his home in the area in 1858. His son-in-law, William H. Workman, served as mayor and city councilman and helped build the water lines, bridges, and public transportation that connected Boyle Heights across the river to the city center and made it a viable place to live. By the end of the 19th century, many well-to-do residents and civic leaders resided in Boyle Heights.

  As Los Angeles expanded into an industrializing city, the population of Boyle Heights both grew and diversified. Many people moved east of the Los Angeles River due to downtown development, rising real estate values, and racially discriminatory housing restrictions in other parts of the city.

  Throughout the past century, people moved to Boyle Heights in search of new opportunities. Some came after being driven out of their countries of origin by wars, persecution, and adverse economic circumstances. All of these people, old and new residents alike, impacted the neighborhood they shared as they created homes and communities supporting their diverse talents, interests, and needs.Mexican families started to move in around the 1930s.

  The massive East Los Angeles Interchange is located in Boyle Heights on the eastern bank of the Los Angeles River, allowing access to the Golden State (I-5), Hollywood (U.S. Route 101), Pomona (SR 60), San Bernardino (I-10), Santa Ana (I-5), and Santa Monica (I-10) freeways.

  In 2004, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) began work on the "Edward R. Roybal Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension" of its Gold Line through Boyle Heights. MTA had planned to run the line at grade level along 1st Street, but community opposition concerned for the potential loss of affordable housing led it to instead route the line through the district as a subway before it emerges as a standard grade-level light rail line in East Los Angeles. (Ironically, this route was planned as part of the Red Line subway before 1998, when county voters passed a proposition banning use of existing sales tax revenues for subway construction.) The Eastside Extension opened on November 15, 2009 with a total of four stations in Boyle Heights.

  Los Angeles Fire Department Station 2 (Boyle Heights) and Station 25 (South Boyle Heights) are in Boyle Heights.

  The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Central Health Center in Downtown Los Angeles, serving Boyle Heights.

  The United States Postal Service Boyle Heights Post Office is located at 2016 East 1st Street.

  Los Angeles Unified School District operates Boyle Heights' public schools.

• Brentwood, California:

  Brentwood is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population is 51,481 as of 2010.

  Brentwood began as a farming community in the late 19th century, and still is known throughout the Bay Area for its agricultural products, primarily its cherries, corn and peaches. Many of the old farms and orchards have been replaced by suburban developments since 1990. Brentwood is increasingly residential, with the rate of population growth in the triple digits during the 1990s and 69% from 2000 through 2005.

  Brentwood was originally laid out on land donated from property owned by John Marsh, an East Contra Costa County pioneer who acquired Rancho Los Meganos, the land grant that Brentwood is built upon, in 1837 from Jose Noriega. Brentwood was named after Marsh's ancestral home, the town of Brentwood in the County of Essex, England.

  Brentwood's first post office was established in 1878. The city incorporated in 1948.

  Balfour, Guthrie & Co., a British investment company, purchased the John Marsh ranch in 1910. The company invested heavily in other California agricultural properties as well. In 1910, it built the Brentwood Hotel at Oak Street and Brentwood Boulevard, across from the railroad station. This replaced an earlier hotel on the same site that had burned down in 1903. The hotel was razed in 1967, and replaced by a service station.

  The Brentwood water tower perhaps symbolizes the city's transition from a rural farm community to a modern bedroom community. This landmark on Walnut Street, across the street from the Brentwood Park and Ride lot, is the tallest structure in the city. It is no longer used for its original purpose, but now serves as a cell phone tower. City water is stored in large tanks atop hills outside the city.

  During the 1990s, a great deal of retail stores were built along the Brentwood/Antioch border on Lone Tree Way at the SR 4 Bypass, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from downtown Brentwood. This includes major tenants such as Kohl's, Trader Joe's, Home Depot, Lowes. Slatten Ranch Shopping Center, actually on the Antioch side of Lone Tree Way, includes Target, Sport Chalet and Barnes & Noble. J. C. Penney opened its Slatten Ranch store in March 2008.

  The Streets of Brentwood, an outdoor lifestyle retail center, opened in Brentwood in the Fall of 2008. The Streets of Brentwood's upscale shops include Banana Republic, Coldwater Creek, DSW Shoes, Jos. A. Bank, REI, Swarovski, Victoria’s Secret, and White House/Black Market. The only all-digital Rave Motion Pictures in the San Francisco Bay Area is located in the Streets of Brentwood. Dining establishments found in Streets of Brentwood include Bangkok 101, Mel's Diner, Grazie! Grill, Salad Makers, and Red Robin.

  The city broke ground for a new civic center in November, 2009. The Mission-style architectural inspiration for City Hall, the main building, was the 1910 Brentwood Hotel. Related facilities include a parking garage and a community center. City departments began moving into the new facility in October 2011, and the former city hall was demolished during November 2011.

  As shown by the view from Mount Diablo, Brentwood is located on the alluvial plain of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. In this picture, Brentwood is in the center right and the city of Antioch is in the center left. North Peak, appears in the foreground between the two cities and largely hides the city of Oakley.

  Brentwood has a total area of 14.81 sq mi (38.4 km²), of which 14.79 sq mi (38.3 km²) is land and 0.02 sq mi (0.05 km²) or 0.13% is water. The landscape on the west is marked by rolling hills, native grasses, oak trees, fruit orchards, and vineyards, with a number of public golf courses.

  Brentwood's public education system has about 7 elementary, 3 middle, and 3 high schools. The city is served by the Brentwood Union School District, Knightsen School District and the Liberty Union High School District. The Brentwood Union School District runs on a modified traditional school calendar. The Brentwood Union School District has many California Distinguished Schools. Heritage High School includes a full range of Advanced Placement courses and the highest API score in the area, stellar performing arts programs, and championship athletic teams.

  Los Medanos College operates a satellite facility at Sand Creek Road and Brentwood Blvd. (Highway 4).

  Brentwood was one of 118 cities designated by KaBOOM! as a Playful City USA for 2010 - with only 10 in California and only Brentwood, Redwood City and San Francisco in Northern California. Each community selected demonstrated creative commitments to the cause of play and fitness. Brentwood was selected for a variety of reasons, including that fact that it offers the community its Wellness Policy, a community-wide aspirational goal which promotes physical activity and education as the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. Brentwood has 58 parks within nearly 12 square miles (31 km²), and miles of jogging trails, to support healthy lifestyles.

  The Brentwood branch of the Contra Costa County Library is located on Second Street in Brentwood, across from the Civic Center (currently under construction).

  Agriculture remains important to the local economy, but has declined in relative importance as the city has become more suburban. Local wineries including Bloomfield, Tamayo, and Hannah Nicole have gained in sales and prestige after winning numerous medals in recent years at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and the California State Fair. There is no heavy industry and only a small light industrial area in the northeastern part of the city. Brentwood underwent a strong economic boom from 2000 through 2008. Population expanded from 23,302 in 2000 to about 48,000 in 2006, a higher growth rate than other communities in the Bay Area. The boom stalled in 2009, paralleling the economic crisis that affected all of California, but successful new home subdivisions, including a gated community (Carmel Estates), appeared again in 2010. Within an active adult community (Trilogy at the Vineyards), Club Los Meganos opened in 2010 with 34,000 square feet (3,200 m²) of athletic club, pool and cabanas, gourmet studio, spa, tennis courts, and events center.

  Public transportation is very limited, so the principal roads leading into the city are very congested with commuter traffic. No freeways served Brentwood directly, until February 2008, when the John Marsh Heritage Highway (also known as the California State Route 4 Bypass or Bypass Road) was built to connect the city's main roads directly with State Route 4 in Antioch. As of mid-2010, the freeway portion of Bypass Road ends at the Lone Tree Way Exit. The bypass continues as a two-lane highway to its intersection with Marsh Creek Road and the end of Vasco Road, an unnumbered highway that is the principal route to Livermore, Interstate 580, and the Silicon Valley. In 2011, Vasco Road is undergoing further construction/improvement to reduce the driving time between Brentwood and Livermore. Highway 4 is currently undergoing multi-million dollar improvements that are scheduled to add lanes through Antioch and Pittsburg by 2015 in order to reduce the driving time between Brentwood and Concord/Walnut Creek.

  Local bus service is provided by Tri Delta Transit company. This company also operates express bus service to the Pittsburg/Bay Point and the Pleasanton/Dublin BART rail stations Monday through Friday, several a day, and only in the predominant commute direction. It takes about one hour to reach Pittsburg/Bay Point BART from the Brentwood Park & Ride lot on Walnut Street.

  There is no passenger rail service to Brentwood. The nearest Altamont Commuter Express train station is in Livermore. The nearest Amtrak station is in Antioch, CA.

  There is a freight-only rail line that passes through Brentwood, which is owned by Union Pacific Railroad. However, the line has been inactive since the early 1990s. Union Pacific Railroad does have plans to reactivate this line sometime in the future.

  The Brentwood "Cornfest" occurs one weekend in July each year, culminating in a concert. Past performers include Eddie Money, Eric Burdon and The Fixx.

  Numerous local farms operate produce stands or offer "U-Pick" opportunities.

  A farmer's market is held on First Street in downtown Brentwood on Saturday mornings from May through October.

  Hannah Nicole Vineyards including tasting room.

  Brentwood's CoCo County Wine Company in historic downtown Brentwood.

• Brisbane, California:

  Brisbane is a small city located in the northern part of San Mateo County, California on the lower slopes of San Bruno Mountain. It is on the northeastern edge of South San Francisco, next to the San Francisco Bay and near the San Francisco International Airport.

  The population was 4,282 as of the 2010 census.

  Brisbane is called "The City of Stars" because of a holiday tradition established over 65 years ago. At the start of the Christmas/Hanukkah season, many residents and business owners place large, illuminated stars, some as big as 10 feet (3.0 m) or more in diameter, on the "downhill" sides of homes and offices throughout Brisbane. Brisbane is built on the eastern slope of San Bruno Mountain, allowing visitors to easily see the stars. Many of the stars are kept up all year.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.1 square miles (52 km²), of which, 3.1 square miles (8.0 km²) of it is land and 17.0 square miles (44 km²) of it (84.58%) is water, the latter the Brisbane Lagoon. A remnant of San Francisco Bay, the Lagoon was formed by the construction of the U. S. Highway 101 causeway, and became diminished as most of its north and central portions were filled with landfill. Brisbane sits at the southeast corner of the Guadalupe Valley.

  The first inhabitants were the Costanoan Indians. They built dome-shaped dwellings of boughs and tules. By 1776, Spanish explorers had arrived and the Franciscan missionaries soon followed leaving numerous large land grants in their wake. With Mexican rule, the lands controlled by the Mission were released to private enterprise.

  Brisbane was originally part of Rancho Canada de Guadalupe la Visitacion y Rodeo Viejo, a large tract of land that included the Cañada de Guadalupe (now Guadalupe Valley), and also the Bayshore district of Daly City, the Visitacion Valley district of San Francisco, and San Bruno Mountain. Visitacion City, as it was initially known, was platted in 1908 adjacent to a new rail line that had been completed in 1907 to the east of the town site. The Southern Pacific Railroad built the new line to create a faster and more direct route into San Francisco. The railroad also planned to build extensive terminal facilities just north of the town site. The Visitacion Valley rail yard and locomotive works were expected to employ over 1,000 workers, but construction was halted soon after it began due to the Panic of 1907. The town site remained largely undeveloped for many years. The railroad resumed construction of the yard and shops during World War I, and the facilities were completed by 1918.

  The city is served by the Peninsula Library System.

  In the 1920s Arthur Annis, who many describe as the "Daddy" of Brisbane, arrived. He proposed the name change from Visitacion City to Brisbane. Annis regarded the name Visitacion City as a handicap "being so close to a San Francisco city district with a similar name", a situation he felt would confuse people and would prevent "Brisbane" from establishing its own unique identity. Accounts of how the city acquired its name vary. According to his daughter, the city was named for Brisbane, Australia, perhaps due to the areas resemblance to that port city at the time. Another story holds that it was named for newspaper columnist Arthur Brisbane.

  In the 1930s, the city was home to several slaughterhouses. Animals kept at the nearby Cow Palace were butchered in Brisbane. The meat was loaded onto railway cars in Brisbane for transport.

  In the state legislature Brisbane is located in the 8th Senate District, represented by Democrat Leland Yee, and in the 19th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Jerry Hill. Federally, Brisbane is located in California's 12th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +22 and is currently represented by Jackie Speier.

  The mayor is Cyril G. "Cy" Bologoff, and Steven W. Waldo serves as the Mayor Pro Tem.

  Brisbane is located near BART, Caltrain, and Muni Metro lines but does not have its own dedicated stations. Brisbane Shuttle provides free services to residents and people that work in Brisbane to the Bayshore Caltrain Station/Sunnydale Muni Metro station and Balboa Park BART and Muni station. Samtrans also provides service to the San Francisco Transbay Terminal from Brisbane Park and Ride Lot and there is also a Senior Shuttle to San Bruno BART station/Tanforan Mall.

  Brisbane's economy is dominated by office parks at Sierra Point and an industrial park around the Valley Drive corridor. There are commercial areas at Brisbane Village, Visitation Avenue, and Bayshore Avenue. The population of Brisbane doubles during the work day as such facilities fill up with commuters. Some of the larger office tenants in Brisbane are IGN, Hitachi, Dolby, WalMart.com, Tercica, Sing Tao, and Intermune. Monster Cable Products and bebe stores (traditionally spelled in lowercase) are headquartered in Brisbane on Valley Drive. The Sierra Point office park area is home to a number of well-known class A office buildings like the Dakin Building.

  Universal Paragon's proposed 659-acre (2.67 km²) Brisbane Baylands project, if approved by Brisbane voters, proposes to more than double the existing employment base of the City by providing new office, research & development, retail, hotel and other land uses that are accessible by a proposed multi-modal transit station (Caltrain, Muni T-Third light rail and proposed Bus Rapid Transit).

  In 1989, north of Sierra Point Humphrey the whale was beached on a mudflat after an anomalous journey into the San Francisco Bay. His rescue was filmed for national TV and witnessed by hundreds of onlookers from the upper floors of the Dakin Building. The rescue was carried out by staff of The Marine Mammal Center and United States Coast Guard.

• Brockway, California:

  Brockway is an unincorporated community in Placer County, California. Brockway is located on the north shore of Lake Tahoe on State Line Point, adjacent to the Nevada state border. It lies at an elevation of 6266 feet (1910 m).

  The Brockway post office operated from 1901 to 1966. The name honors Nathaniel Brockway, uncle of the first postmaster.

  Brockway was one of the first places settled at Lake Tahoe by American immigrants to California after the first Trans-Continental Railroad, which passed 12 miles north of the lake, through Truckee. The first road built to transport tourists from the Truckee railstop to Lake Tahoe was over Brockway summit (Highway 267), and ended at the Brockway pier, where steamers could take visitors to other locations. Soon afterwards, a spur railroad was built to Tahoe City from Truckee, and it became the first real resort community at the lake. (The old railroad grade is now a bicycle path along the Truckee River.)

  Brockway has the only hot springs at Lake Tahoe, right at the shore. Old "grain grinding holes" are visible in massive talus boulders along the shore. A "commodious" hotel was constructed around 1869, shortly after the completion of the road over Brockway Summit.

  Brockway was once located in two different states as surveyors establishing the California-Nevada border (which makes its turn to the north in the middle of the lake) mistakenly placed the line a half mile west of its proper location, placing Brockway in Nevada. It was eventually corrected.

  The Brockway community grew and numerous homes were built in the 1920s and 30's. In the 1930s and 40's, Brockway attracted Hollywood celebrities.

• Brooks, California:

  Brooks is an unincorporated community in Yolo County, California located in the Capay Valley in the northwest of the county. Brooks' ZIP Code is 95606 and its area code 530. Brooks is home to a large casino Cache Creek Casino Resort. It lies at an elevation of 341 feet (104 m). A post office was opened in Brooks in 1884.

  Cache Creek Casino Resort is a casino/resort located in Brooks, California, in Northern California's Capay Valley. Opened as a bingo hall in July of 1985, it was renovated in 2002 and completed in 2004 as a destination resort. The connected hotel contains 200 rooms, including 27 suites. Cache Creek offers 2,300 slot machines, more than 120 table games, a 14 table poker room, day spa, nine restaurants, and an 18-hole championship golf course.

  On June 25, 1985, the Rumsey Band of the Wintun Indians (now known as the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation) opened a modest bingo hall on their Rancheria in Brooks. The popularity of Cache Creek Indian Bingo & Casino soared immediately and on October 7, 1993 the hall was expanded to include card games. A second expansion began in 1996 and was opened in phases in 1998 and 1999. The bingo hall now had a 1,200 seat capacity and three new restaurants were opened, including China Camp and a 150-seat buffet. After California Governor Gray Davis signed the State Gaming Compact in 1999, the casino added slot machines and more table games.

  In 2002, the tribe announced plans to build a $200 million property, renamed Cache Creek Casino Resort, on land adjacent to the existing facility. Completed and opened in 2004, the resort now features nine restaurants, the 600-seat Club 88, the 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m²) multi-purpose Event Center and 74,720 square feet (6,942 m²) of casino floor space. Beginning in November 2006, Cache Creek Resort remodeled again, removing the Bingo Hall/Event Center and expanding the poker room and slot machine area. This remodel also included a sports bar and grill called the Sportspage.

  In 2010 the Tribe announced their Event Center Project (ECP) which is designed to offer additional amenities at the Resort, provide additional administrative support space, as well as more parking. The proposed project would allow the Tribe to bring newer and larger entertainment acts, musical performances and other events to the Resort that currently cannot be accommodated there. This would provide patrons and area residents with an alternative to traveling outside the County for entertainment and other events.

  On June 15, 2002, Armando Magtalas Balajadia went to Cache Creek with his mother, Rosario Magtalas Balajadia because they were invited by his aunt, Flora Balajadia Macaraig. They went first in Suisun City, California to attend the birthday party of his cousin, Jose Rizal "Jay" Balajadia Peña and then at Cache Creek. It is 45 minutes drive from Suisun City. This is Armando's first time to visit at Cache Creek. Many folks especially their fellow Filipinos said that Cache Creek is a lucky casino because many people there have already won in that casino and most of the slot machines there are generous. They spend overnight in Cache Creek in playing slot machines.

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• Buellton, California:

  Buellton is a small city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. The city of Buellton is one of the communities that make up the Santa Ynez Valley. The population was 4,828 at the 2010 census.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²), 99.96% of it land and 0.04% of it water.

  Buellton is on the Santa Ynez River in the Santa Ynez Valley, and in 2004 was one of the fastest-growing towns in central Santa Barbara County. It is a common stop for travelers on U.S. Highway 101, being the first town north of Santa Barbara after the scenic and undeveloped stretch of about 25 miles (40 km) through the Gaviota coast.

  Buellton is named for R.T. Buell who owned the Rancho San Carlos de Jonata Mexican land grant. It is the home of Pea Soup Andersen's, a major roadside stop and landmark on Route 101 since 1924.

  Buellton uses the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department for its police services.

• Burbank, California:

  Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, 12 miles (19 km) north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340.

  Billed as the "Media Capital of the World" and located only a few miles northeast of Hollywood, many media and entertainment companies are headquartered or have significant production facilities in Burbank, including Warner Bros. Entertainment, Warner Music Group, NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Company, ABC, Cartoon Network Studios, and Nickelodeon. The city is also home to Bob Hope Airport.

  Burbank is located in two distinct areas, with its downtown, civic center and key neighborhoods nestled on the slopes and foothills that rise to the Verdugo Mountains, and other areas located in flatlands at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley.

  At one time it was referred to as "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" on Laugh-In and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The city was named after David Burbank, a New Hampshire-born dentist and entrepreneur.

  The city of Burbank occupies land that was originally part of two Spanish and Mexican-era colonial land grants, the 36,400-acre (147 km²) Rancho San Rafael, granted to Jose Maria Verdugo by the Spanish Bourbon government in 1784, and the 4,063-acre (16.44 km²) Rancho Providencia created in 1821. Historically, this area was the scene of a military skirmish which resulted in the unseating of the Spanish Governor of California, and his replacement by the Mexican leader Pio Pico. Remnants of the military battle reportedly were found many years later in the vicinity of Warner Brothers Studio when residents dug up cannon balls.

  Dr. David Burbank purchased over 4,600 acres (19 km²) of the former Verdugo holding and another 4,600 acres (19 km²) of the Rancho Providencia in 1867 and built a ranch house and began to raise sheep and grow wheat on the ranch. By 1876, the San Fernando Valley became the largest wheat-raising area in Los Angeles County. But the droughts of the 1860s and 1870s underlined the need for steady water supplies.

  A professionally trained dentist, Dr. Burbank began his career in Waterville, Maine. He joined the great migration westward in the early 1850s and, by 1853 was living in San Francisco. At the time the American Civil War broke out he was again well established in his profession as a dentist in Pueblo de Los Angeles. In 1867, he purchased Rancho La Providencia from David W. Alexander and Francis Mellus, and he purchased the western portion of the Rancho San Rafael (4,603 acres) from Jonathan R. Scott. Dr. Burbank's property reached nearly 9,200 acres (37 km²) at a cost of $9,000. Dr. Burbank wouldn't acquire full titles to both properties until after a court decision known as the "Great Partition" was made in 1871 dissolving the Rancho San Rafael. He eventually became known as one of the largest and most successful sheep raisers in southern California, resulting in him stopping his practice of dentistry and investing heavily in real estate in Los Angeles.

  Dr. Burbank also later owned the Burbank Theatre, which opened on November 27, 1893 at a cost of $150,000. Though the theater was intended to be an opera house, instead it staged plays and became known nationally. The theatre featured famous actors of the time including Fay Bainter and Marjorie Rambeau, until it had deteriorated into a burlesque house.

  When the area that became Burbank was settled in the 1870s and 1880s, the streets were aligned along what is now Olive Avenue, the road to the Cahuenga Pass and downtown Los Angeles. These were largely the roads the Indians traveled and the early settlers took their produce down to Los Angeles to sell and to buy supplies along these routes.

  At the time, the primary long-distance transportation methods available to San Fernando Valley residents were stagecoach and train. Stagecoaching between Los Angeles and San Francisco through the Valley began in 1858. The Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in the Valley in 1876, completing the route connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles.

  A shrewd businessman, foreseeing the value of rail transport, Burbank sold Southern Pacific Railroad a right-of-way through the property for one dollar. The first train passed through Burbank on April 5, 1874. A boom created by a rate war between the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific brought people streaming into California shortly thereafter, and a group of speculators purchased much of Dr. Burbank's land holdings in 1886 for $250,000. One account suggests Dr. Burbank may have sold his property because of a severe drought that year, which caused a shortage of water and grass for his livestock. Approximately 1,000 of his sheep died due to the drought conditions.

  The group of speculators who bought the acreage formed the Providencia Land, Water, and Development Company and began developing the land, calling the new town "Burbank" after its founder, and began offering farm lots on May 1, 1887. The establishment of a water system in 1887 allowed farmers to irrigate their orchards and provided a stronger base for agricultural development. The original plot of the new townsite of Burbank extended from what is now Burbank Boulevard on the north, to Grandview Avenue in Glendale, California on the south, and from the top of the Verdugo Hills on the east to what is now known as Clyborn Avenue on the west.

  At the same time, the arrival of the railroad provided immediate access for the farmers to bring crops to market. Packing houses and warehouses were built along the railroad corridors. The railroads also provided access to the county for tourists and immigrants alike. A Southern Pacific Railroad depot in Burbank was completed in 1887.

  The boom lifting real estate values in the Los Angeles, California area proved to be a speculative frenzy that collapsed abruptly in 1889. Much of the newly created wealthy went broke. Many of the lots in Burbank ended up getting sold for taxes. Vast numbers of people would leave the region before it all ended.

  By 1904, Burbank received international attention for having world heavyweight boxing champion James J. Jeffries become a major landowner in the town. Jeffries bought 107 acres (0.43 km²) to build a ranch on Victory Boulevard. He eventually raised cattle and sold them in Mexico and South America, becoming one of the first citizens to engage in foreign trade. He eventually built a large ranch home and barn near where Victory and Buena Vista Street now intersect. The barn was later removed and reassembled at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California.

  Burbank's first telephone exchange, or telephone switch, was established in August 1900, becoming the first in the San Fernando Valley. Within 5 years, there were several telephone exchanges in the Valley and became known as the San Fernando Valley Home Telephone Company, based in Glendale. Home Telephone competed with Tropico, and in 1918 both were taken over by Pacific Telephone Company. At this time, there were an estimated 300 hand-cranked telephones in Burbank.

  The town's first bank was formed in 1908 when Burbank State Bank opened its doors near the corner of Olive Avenue and San Fernando Road. On the first day, the bank collected $30,000 worth of deposits. In 1911, the bank was dissolved.

  In 1911, wealthy farmer Joseph Fawkes grew apricots and owned a house on West Olive Avenue. But he also had a fascination for machinery, and soon began developing what became known as the "Fawkes Folly" aerial trolley. He and his wife Ellen C. Fawkes secured two patents for the nation's first monorail. The two formed the Aerial Trolley Car Company and set about building a prototype they believed would revolutionize transportation.

  Joseph Fawkes called the trolley his Aerial Swallow, a cigar-shaped, suspended monorail driven by a propeller that he promised would carry passengers from Burbank to downtown Los Angeles in 10 minutes. The first open car accommodated about 20 passengers and was suspended from an overhead track and supported by wooden beams. In 1911, the monorail car made its first and only run through his Burbank ranch, with a line between Lake and Flower Streets. The monorail was considered a failure after gliding just a foot or so and falling to pieces. Nobody was injured but Joseph Fawkes pride was badly hurt as Aerial Swallow became known as "Fawkes' Folly." City officials viewed his test run as a failure and focused on getting a Pacific Electric Streetcar line into Burbank.

  Laid out and surveyed with a modern business district surrounded by residential lots, wide boulevards were carved out as the "Los Angeles Express" printed: "Burbank, the town, being built in the midst of the new farming community, has been laid out in such a manner as to make it by and by an unusually pretty town. The streets and avenues are wide and, all have been handsomely graded. All improvements being made would do credit to a city ... Everything done at Burbank has been done right."

  The citizens of Burbank had to put up a $48,000 subsidy to get the reluctant Pacific Electric Streetcar officials to agree to extend the line from Glendale to Burbank. The first Red Car rolled into Burbank on Sept. 6, 1911, with a tremendous celebration. That was about two months after the town became a city. The "Burbank Review" newspaper ran a special edition that day advising all local residents that: "On Wednesday, the first electric car running on a regular passenger-carrying schedule left the Pacific Electric station at Sixth and Main streets, Los Angeles, for Burbank at 6:30 a.m. and the first car from Burbank to Los Angeles left at 6:20 a.m. the same day. Upon arrival of this car on its maiden trip, many citizens gave evidence of their great joy by ringing bells and discharging firearms. A big crowd of both men and women boarded the first car and rode to Glendale and there changed to a second car coming from Los Angeles and rode home again. Every face was an expression of happiness and satisfaction."

  The Burbank Line was completed through to Cypress Avenue in Burbank, and by mid-1925 this line was extended about a mile further along Glenoaks Boulevard to Eton Drive. A small wooden station was erected in Burbank in 1911 at Orange Grove Avenue with a small storage yard in its rear. This depot was destroyed by fire in 1942 and in 1947 a small passenger shelter was constructed.

  On May 26, 1942, the California State Railroad Commission proposed an extension of the Burbank Line to the Lockheed plant. The proposal called for a double track line from Arden Junction along Glenoaks to San Fernando Road and Empire Way, just northeast of Lockheed's main facility. But this extension never materialized and the commission moved on to other projects in the San Fernando Valley. The Red Car line in Burbank was abandoned and the tracks removed in 1956.

  At the time of cityhood, Burbank had a voluntary fire department. Fire protection depended upon the bucket brigade and finding a hydrant. It wasn't until 1913 that the city created its own fire department. By 1916, the city was installing an additional 40 new fire hydrants but still relying on volunteers for fire fighting. In 1927, the city switched from a volunteer fire department to a professional one. The city marshal's office was changed to the Burbank Police Department in 1923. The first police chief was George Cole, who later became a U.S. Treasury prohibition officer.

  In 1928, Burbank was one of the first 13 cities to join the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, one of the largest suppliers of water in the world. By 1937, the first power from Hoover Dam was distributed over Burbank's own electricity lines. The city purchases about 55% of its water from the MWD.

  The town grew steadily, weathering the drought and depression that hit Los Angeles in the 1890s and in 20 years, the community had a bank, newspaper, high school and a thriving business district with a hardware store, livery stable, dry goods store, general store, and bicycle repair shop. The city's first newspaper, Burbank Review, established in 1906.

  The populace petitioned the State Legislature to incorporate as a city on July 8, 1911, with businessman Thomas Story as the mayor. Voters approved incorporation by a vote of 81 to 51. At the time, the Board of Trustees governed the community which numbered 500 residents. The first city seal adopted by Burbank featured a cantaloupe, which was a crop that helped save the town's life when the land boom collapsed.

  In 1931, the original city seal was replaced and in 1978 the modern seal was adopted. The new seal shows City Hall beneath a banner but no cantaloupe. An airplane symbolizes the city's aircraft industry, the strip of film and stage light represent motion picture production. The bottom portion depicts the sun rising over the Verdugo Mountains.

  In 1915, major sections of the Valley capitulated, helping Los Angeles to more than double its size that year. But Burbank was among a handful of towns with their own water wells and remained independent. By 1916 Burbank had 1,500 residents. In 1927, five miles (8 km) of paved streets had increased to 125 miles (201 km). By 1930, as First National Studios, Andrew Jergens Company, The Lockheed Company, McNeill and Libby Canning Company, the Moreland Company, and Northrop Aircraft Corporation opened facilities there, the population jumped to 16,662.

  The Wall Street Crash of 1929 set off a period of hardship for Burbank where business and residential growth paused. The effects of the Depression also caused tight credit conditions and halted home building throughout the area, including the city's Magnolia Park development. Around this time, major employers began to cut payrolls and some plants closed their doors forever.

  Around this time, Burbank City Council responded by slashing 10% from the wages of city workers. Money was put into an Employee Relief Department to help unemployed. Local civic and religious groups sprang into action and contributed with food as homeless camps began to form along the city's Southern Pacific railroad tracks. Hundreds began to participate in self-help cooperatives, trading skills such as barbers, tailors, plumbers, or carpenters for food and other services.

  Following a Valley land bust during the Depression, real estate began to bounce back in the mid-1930s. In Burbank, a 100-home construction project began in 1934. By 1936, property values in the city exceeded pre-Depression levels. By 1950, the population had reached 78,577. It was no longer the "tiny little village" of Jane Russell's song "Hollywood Cinderella"; it had become a major Los Angeles suburb.

  In 1922, the Burbank Chamber of Commerce was organized. The Federal government officially recognized Burbank's status in 1923 when the United States Postal Service reclassified the city from the rural village mail delivery to city postal delivery service. By this time, Burbank's population had grown significantly, from less than 500 people in 1908 to over 3,000 citizens. The city's business district grew on the west side of San Fernando Road and stretched from Verdugo to Cypress avenues, and on the east side to Palm Avenue.

  In the late 1970s, Burbank became part of the Verdugo Fire District under a joint communications agreement with nearby cities, including Glendale and Pasadena. Under contract, Burbank provides a Hazardous Materials team, Glendale provides an Air and Lighting unit as well as the dispatch center, and Pasadena provides a Heavy – Urban Search and Rescue team. The three city fire departments are all dispatched from the Verdugo Communications Center, located in Glendale. Each of the three cities shares the cost of operating and maintaining this dispatch facility.

  As of June 2008, the city employee population in Burbank stood at 1,683. Of the total, 1,253 were full-time, 217 part-time, and 213 temporary employees. The Burbank City Employees Association represents workers in the city. The organization dates back to 1939, and its primary role was to secure civil service status for city workers. The BCEA, representing more than 750 city employees, is one of six bargaining unions in Burbank city government. Others include: the Burbank Fire Fighters Association, the Burbank Police Officers’ Association, the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers Local 18, the Burbank Fire Fighters-Chief Officer’s Unit, and the Burbank Management Association.

  In 1887, the Burbank Furniture Manufacturing Company was the town's first factory. After the land boom downturn in 1888, the building was abandoned and transients slept in the empty factory. In 1917, the arrival of the Moreland Motor Truck Company changed the town and resulted in a manufacturing and industrial workforce begin to take root in the city. Within a few years Moreland trucks were seen bearing the label, "Made in Burbank." Watt Moreland, its owner, had relocated his plant to Burbank from Los Angeles. He selected 25 acres (100,000 m²) at San Fernando Road and Alameda Avenue. Moreland invested $1 million in the factory and machinery, and employed 500 people.

  Within the next several decades, factories, both large and small, would dot the area landscape. What had mainly been an agricultural and ranching area would get replaced with a variety of manufacturing industries. Moreland operated from 1917 to 1937. Aerospace supplier Menasco Manufacturing Company would later purchase the property. Menasco's Burbank landing gear factory closed in 1994 due to slow commercial and military orders, affecting 310 people. Within months of Moreland's arrival, Community Manufacturing Company, a $3 million tractor company, arrived in Burbank.

  In 1920, the Andrew Jergens Company factory opened at Verdugo Avenue near the railroad tracks in Burbank. Andrew Jergens, Jr. — aided by his father, Cincinnati businessman Andrew Jergens, Sr. and business partners Frank Adams and Morris Spazier — had purchased the site and built a single-story building. They began with a single product, coconut oil soap, but would later make face creams, lotions, liquid soaps and deodorants. In 1931, despite the Depression, the Jergens company expanded, building new offices and shipping department facilities. In 1939, the Burbank corporation merged with the Cincinnati company of Andrew Jergens, Sr., becoming known as the Andrew Jergens Company of Ohio. The Burbank plant closed in 1992, affecting nearly 90 employees.

  The establishment of the aircraft industry and a major airport in Burbank during the 1930s set the stage for major growth and development, which was to continue at an accelerated pace into World War II and well into the postwar era. Brothers Allan Loughead and Malcolm Loughead, founders of the Lockheed Aircraft Company, opened a Burbank manufacturing plant in 1928, and a year later famed aviation designer Jack Northrop built his historic Flying Wing airplane in his own plant nearby.

  Dedicated on Memorial Day Weekend (May 30– June 1), 1930, the United Airport was the largest commercial airport in the Los Angeles area until it was eclipsed in 1946 by the Los Angeles Municipal Airport (now Los Angeles International Airport) in Westchester when that facility (the former Mines Field) commenced commercial operations. Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post and Howard Hughes were among the notable aviation pioneers to pilot aircraft in and out of the original Union Air Terminal. By 1935, Union Air Terminal in Burbank ranked as the third-largest air terminal in the nation, with 46 airliners flying out of it daily. The airport served 9,895 passengers in 1931 and 98,485 passengers in 1936.

  In 1931, Lockheed was then part of Detroit Aircraft Corp., which went into bankruptcy with its Lockheed unit. A year later, a group of investors acquired assets of the Lockheed company. The new owners staked their limited funds to develop an all-metal, twin engine transport, the Model 10 Electra. It first flew in 1934 and quickly gained world wide fame.

  A brochure celebrating Burbank's 50th anniversary as a city touted Lockheed payroll having "nearly 1,200" by the end of 1936. The aircraft company's hiring contributed to what was a favorable employment environment at the time.

  Moreland's truck plant was later used by the Lockheed's Vega Aircraft Corporation, which made what was widely known as "the explorer's aircraft." Amelia Earhart flew one across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1936, Lockheed officially took over Vega Aircraft in Burbank.

  During World War II, the entire area of Lockheed's Vega factory was camouflaged to fool an enemy reconnaissance effort. The factory was hidden beneath a complete suburb replete with rubber automobiles and peaceful rural neighborhood scenes painted on canvas. Hundreds of fake trees and shrubs were positioned to give the entire area a three dimensional appearance. The fake trees and shrubs were created from chicken wire that had been treated with an adhesive and then covered with chicken feathers to provide a leafy texture. Air ducts disguised as fire hydrants made it possible for the Lockheed-Vega employees to continue working underneath the huge camouflage umbrella designed to conceal their factory.

  Burbank's airport has undergone several name changes since opening in 1930. It had five runways that radiated in varying directions, each 300 feet (91 m) wide and 2,600 feet (790 m) long. It remained United Airport until 1934, when it was renamed Union Air Terminal (1934–1940). Boeing built planes on the field. Lockheed Aircraft had its own nearby airfield. Lockheed bought the airport in 1940 and renamed it Lockheed Air Terminal, which it was known as until 1967, when it became Hollywood-Burbank Airport. In 1978 it was renamed Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport (1978–2003) after Lockheed sold it to the three California cities for $51 million. In December 2003, the facility was renamed Bob Hope Airport in honor of the comedian who lived in nearby Toluca Lake. In 2005, the city of Burbank and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which owns and operates the airport, reached a development agreement. The agreement forbids further airport expansion until 2009. Unlike most other regional airports in California, Burbank's airport sits on land that was specifically zoned for airport use.

  The growth of companies such as Lockheed, and the burgeoning entertainment industry drew more people to the area, and Burbank's population doubled between 1930 and 1940 to 34,337. Burbank saw its greatest growth during World War II due to Lockheed's presence, employing some 80,800 men and women producing aircraft such as the Hudson, P-38 Lightning, PV-1 Ventura and America's first jet fighter, the P-80 Shooting Star. Lockheed later created the U2, SR-71 Blackbird and the F-117 Nighthawk at its Burbank-based "Skunk Works".

  Dozens of hamburger stands, restaurants and shops appeared around Lockheed to accommodate the employees. Some of the restaurants operated 24 hours a day. At one time, Lockheed paid utility rates representing 25% of the city's total utilities revenue, making Lockheed the city's cash cow. When Lockheed left, the economic loss was huge. At its height during World War II, the Lockheed facility employed up to 98,000 people. Burbank's growth did not slow as war production ceased, and over 7,000 new residents created a postwar real estate boom. Real estate values soared as housing tracts appeared in the Magnolia Park area of Burbank between 1945 and 1950.

  Following the World War II, homeless veterans lived in tent camps in Burbank, in Big Tujunga Canyon and at a decommissioned National Guard base in Griffith Park. The government also set up trailer camps at Hollywood Way and Winona Avenue in Burbank and in nearby Sun Valley. But new homes were built, the economy improved, and the military presence in Burbank continued to expand. Lockheed employees numbered 66,500 and expanded from aircraft to include spacecraft, missiles, electronics and shipbuilding.

  Lockheed's presence in Burbank attracted dozens of firms making aircraft parts. One of them was Weber Aircraft Corporation, an aircraft interior manufacturer situated adjacent to Lockheed at the edge of the airport. In 1988, Weber closed its Burbank manufacturing plant, which then employed 1,000 people. Weber produced seats, galleys, lavatories and other equipment for commercial and military aircraft. Weber had been in Burbank for 37 years.

  By the mid-1970s, Hollywood-Burbank Airport handled 1.5 million passengers annually. Airlines serving Bob Hope Airport include Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, and United Air Lines. As of August 2009, Southwest represents two-thirds of the airport's operations. In 2005, JetBlue Airways began the first non-stop coast-to-coast service out of the airport. Avjet Corporation, a private jet service, operates out of several hangars on the south side of the airport. Atlantic Aviation, (formerly Mercury Air Center) also provides jet services for several prominent companies. In 1987, Burbank's airport became the first to require flight carriers to fly quieter "Stage 3" jets.

  The motion picture business arrived in Burbank in the 1920s. In 1926, First National Pictures bought a 78-acre (320,000 m²) site on Olive Avenue near Dark Canyon. The property included a 40-acre (160,000 m²) hog ranch and the original David Burbank house, both owned by rancher Stephen A. Martin. In 1928-29, First National was taken over by a company founded by the four Warner brothers.

  Columbia Pictures purchased property in Burbank as a ranch facility, used primarily for outdoor shooting. Walt Disney's company, which had outgrown its Hollywood quarters, bought 51 acres (210,000 m²) in Burbank. Disney's million-dollar studio, designed by Kem Weber, was completed in 1939 on Buena Vista Street. Disney originally wanted to build "Mickey Mouse Park," as he first called it, next to the Burbank studio. But his aides finally convinced him that the space was too small, and there was opposition from the Burbank City Council. One council member told Disney: "We don't want the carny atmosphere in Burbank." Disney later built his successful Disneyland in Anaheim.

  Disney and Warner contributed to the war effort by producing both training and morale films for the armed services and cartoons promoting the sale of war bonds. Disney artists designed more than 1,000 unit mascot designs for the armed forces. Walt Disney had authorized that these insignias were to be designed at no charge. By war's end, the cost to Disney was over $30,000.

  Burbank saw its first real civil strife as the culmination of a six month labor dispute between the set decorator's union and the studios resulted in the Battle of Burbank on October 5, 1945.

  By the 1960s and '70s, more of the Hollywood entertainment industry was relocating to Burbank. The National Broadcasting Company moved its network television headquarters to its new location at Olive and Alameda avenues. The Burbank studio was purchased in 1951, and NBC arrived in 1952 from its former location at Sunset and Vine in Hollywood. Although NBC promoted its Hollywood image for most of its West Coast telecasts (such as Ed McMahon's introduction to the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson: "from Hollywood"), comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin began mentioning "beautiful downtown Burbank" on Laugh-in in the 1960s.

  By 1962, NBC's multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art complex was completed. Rumors surfaced of NBC leaving Burbank after its parent company General Electric Company acquired Universal Studios and renamed the merged division NBC Universal. Since the deal, NBC has been relocating key operations to the 391-acre (1.6 km²) Universal property located in Universal City, Los Angeles, California, USA.

  In the early 1990s, Burbank tried unsuccessfully to lure Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Columbia and TriStar studios owner based in Culver City, and 20th Century Fox, which had threatened to move from its West Los Angeles lot unless the city granted permission to upgrade its facility. Fox stayed after getting Los Angeles City approval on its $200 million expansion plan. In 1999 the city did manage to gain Cartoon Network Studios which took up residence in an old commercial bakery building located on North 3rd St. when it separated its production operations from Warner Bros. Animation in Sherman Oaks, CA.

  On September 10, 2007, NBC Universal management informed employees that the company planned to end its 56-year relationship with Burbank and sell much of the 34-acre (140,000 m²) Burbank complex. NBC Universal will relocate its television and cable operations to the Universal City complex. Originally, management touted a major development located adjacent to the Universal City Red Line subway station. The company planned to take West Coast network and local news operations and other facilities such as the Access Hollywood set to the new broadcast facility across the street from Universal Studios by 2011. Those controversial plans were altered in fall 2009 when Ron Meyer, President and Chief Operating Officer of Universal Studios, announced the so-called NBC Universal Evolution Plan as part of the studios's $3 billion makeover. The new plan includes new studio space as well as a residential component.

  Arnold Schwarzenegger first announced his candidacy for governor of California on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at NBC Studios in Burbank. U.S. President Barack Obama made a visit to the set of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 19, 2009, becoming the first sitting U.S. President to do so on the NBC show. Comic Conan O'Brien took over hosting duties of NBC's iconic Tonight Show from Jay Leno on June 1, 2009, becoming the fifth host to lead the storied franchise and the first to host the show from Universal City. But Conan's hosting role lasted only 7 months, due to his refusal to move "The Tonight Show" timeslot from its long-time 11:35 p.m. slot to 12:05 a.m. Leno, who launched a failed primetime 10pm show in fall 2009, was asked to resume his "Tonight Show" role after Conan left NBC. Leno's new "Tonight Show" launched March 1, 2010. The show returned to the NBC Burbank lot and will remain there until at least 2018 despite NBC's long-term plans to relocate its news operations to the Universal lot. O'Brien is now based in Burbank as well, taping his new TBS talk show, Conan, from the historic Stage 15 on the Warner lot. Stage 15, constructed in the late 1920s, is where classics such as Calamity Jane (1953), Blazing Saddles (1974), Ghostbusters (1984) and A Star Is Born were filmed. In the late 1990s, the Burbank stage also was utilized for The Rosie O'Donnell Show.

  Burbank has a rich cinematic history. Hundreds of major feature films have filmed in Burbank over the years, but perhaps none more famous than Casablanca (1942), starring Humphrey Bogart. The movie began production a few months after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Due to World War II, location shooting was restricted and filming near airports was banned. As a result, Casablanca shot most of its major scenes on Stage 1 at the Warner Bros. Burbank Studios, including the film's famous airport scene. It featured a foggy Moroccan runway created on the stage where Bogart's character doesn't fly away with Ingrid Bergman. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) was also filmed at the Warner Bros. Burbank Studios.

  The Gary Cooper classic High Noon (1952) shot on a western street at the Warner Brothers "Ranch", then known as the Columbia Ranch. The ranch facility is situated less than a mile north of Warner's main lot in Burbank. The 1957 classic 3:10 to Yuma also filmed on the old Columbia Ranch, and much of the outdoor filming for the Three Stooges took place at Columbia Ranch, including most of the chase scenes. In 1993, Warner Bros. bulldozed the historic Burbank-based sets used to film High Noon and Lee Marvin's 1965 Oscar-winning Western comedy Cat Ballou, as well as several other features and television shows.

  Other classic live-action films shot in Burbank include Disney's Mary Poppins (1964), filmed on Sound Stage 2 at the Walt Disney Studios. Julie Andrews returned 37 years later to make Disney's The Princess Diaries (2001). As a tribute to the actress, Disney renamed the sound stage "The Julie Andrews Stage" in 2001. In 2002, a fire broke out on the Disney's Burbank lot, damaging a sound stage where a set was under construction for Disney's feature film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). No one was injured in the blaze.

  During the filming of the movie Apollo 13 (1995) and also Coach Carter (2005), the producers shot scenes at Burbank's Safari Inn Motel. True Romance (1993) also filmed on location at the motel. Back to the Future (1985) shot extensively on the Universal Studios backlot but also filmed band audition scenes at the Burbank Community Center.

  The city's mall, Burbank Town Center, is a popular backdrop for shooting movies, television shows and commercials. Over the years, it was the site for scenes in Bad News Bears (2005) to location shooting for Cold Case, Gilmore Girls, ER and even Desperate Housewives. The ABC show Desperate Housewives also is known to frequently use the Magnolia Park area for show scenes, along with the city's retail district along Riverside and adjacent to Toluca Lake, California.

  During 2010, Burbank experienced a surge in on-location commercial and TV production. The city's film permit official reported 32 permits were issued in December 2010 alone, up from 24 permits in the year-earlier period. Among the 2010 commercials filmed in the city were spots for Baskin-Robbins, Taco Bell and U.S. Bank.

  Burbank is home to many employees of the motion picture and television studios located in the area.

  Entertainment has generally replaced the defense industry as the primary employer, who are attracted by the relative safety and security offered by its own police and fire departments, highly rated schools and hospital. Other reasons cited are its small-town feel while located only 10 minutes away by car to the hip clubs and restaurants of Hollywood.

  The Bob's Big Boy Restaurant in Burbank (est. 1949) is the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy in America, and in 1993 was designated a California Point of Historical Interest. Located at 4211 Riverside Drive, it was designed by Wayne McAllister. The eatery features a soaring pylon sign, an open kitchen and big picture windows, all of which are elements of Googie architecture. In 1992, the restaurant's new owner sought to raze the structure and replace it with an office building or shopping center, but the landmark designation made it legally more difficult to make significant changes.

  Residents enjoy the music of the Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, the Starlight Bowl, fine restaurants, the city's Downtown Burbank Mall, a burgeoning "Burbank Village" shopping district, and many theatres, parks, and libraries. Visitors to Burbank are attracted to the Warner Bros. Studio VIP tour and close proximity to all other entertainments and attractions that Los Angeles offers.

  Burbank became the first American city in 1991 to pass an ordinance requiring new buildings to ensure adequate first responder communications. Since then municipalities nationwide have copied Burbank's action. Burbank's ordinance allows for spot field-testing by police or fire department personnel. The ordinance required an in-building coverage system, adding expense but increasing safety for building occupants.

  Burbank is considered a trailblazer of sorts in the anti-smoking area. In late 2010, Burbank passed an ordinance prohibiting smoking in multi-family residences sharing ventilation systems. The rule goes into effect in mid-2011. The new anti-smoking ordinance, which also prohibits smoking on private balconies and patios in multi-family residences, is considered the first of its kind in California. Since 2007, Burbank has prohibited smoking at all city-owned properties, downtown Burbank, the Chandler Bikeway, and sidewalk and pedestrian areas.

  The murder of Burbank police officer Matthew Pavelka in 2003 by a local gang known as the Vineland Boys sparked an intensive investigation in conjunction with several other cities and resulted in the arrest of a number of gang members and other citizens in and around Burbank. Among those arrested was Burbank councilwoman Stacey Murphy, implicated in trading guns in exchange for drugs. Pavelka was the first Burbank police officer to be fatally shot in the line of duty in the department's history, according to the California Police Association officials.

  The city's namesake street, Burbank Boulevard, started getting a makeover in 2007. The city spent upwards of $10 million to put in palm trees and colorful flowers, a median, new lights, benches and bike racks.

  Today, an estimated 100,000 people work in Burbank every day. The physical imprints of the city's aviation industry remain. In late 2001, the Burbank Empire Center opened with aviation as the theme. The center, built at a cost of $250 million by Zelman Development Company, sits on Empire Avenue, former site of Lockheed's "Skunk Works", and other Lockheed properties. By 2003, many of the center's retailers and restaurants were among the top national performers in their franchise, if not the top. The Burbank Empire Center now comprises over 11% of Burbank's sales tax revenue, not including nearby Costco, a part of the Empire Center development.

  The Bob Hope Airport services 4.9 million travelers per year with seven carriers, with over 70 flights daily. The airport, located in the northwestern corner of the city, is the source of most street traffic in the city. Noise from the airport has been a source of concern for nearby decades. A bill introduced in early 2011 by three California congressmen would put into law an overnight curfew on flights from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration previously had rejected the airports' applications for a curfew.

  In December 2008, a slowdown in passenger traffic led the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to curtail spending plans, including deferring multimillion-dollar construction projects. The weak economy continued to affect the airport in 2010, with figures showing a 6% decline in passengers for the fiscal year ending June 30. The slowdown is one reason the airport authority scrapped plans to spend $4 million to erect barriers at the west end of the runway. In 2000, a Southwest Airlines flight overshot the runway and went through the fence with 142 persons aboard and came to a stop on Hollywood Way near a gas station.

  The construction of major freeways through and around the city of Burbank starting in the 1950s both divided the city from itself and linked it to the rapidly growing Los Angeles region. Burbank is easily accessible by and can easily access the Southern California freeways via the Golden State Freeway (I-5), which bisects the city from northwest to southeast, and the Ventura Freeway which connects Burbank to the U.S. Route 101 on the south and the nearby Foothill Freeway to the east. The Ventura Freeway was completed in 1960.

  Burbank contains about 227.5 miles (366.1 km) of streets, nearly 50 miles (80 km) of paved alleys, 365.3 miles (587.9 km) of sidewalks, 181 signalized intersections and 10 intersections with flashing signals, according to city figures. Many of the current signals date back to the late 1960s when voters passed a major capital improvement program for street beautification and street lighting. The funding also helped upgrade dated park and library facilities.

  The Metro operates public transport throughout Los Angeles County, including Burbank. Commuters can use Metrolink and Amtrak for service south into Downtown, west to Ventura and north to Palmdale and beyond. For getting around Burbank, there is the Burbank Bus. In 2006, Burbank opened its first hydrogen fueling station for automobiles.

  In 1907, Burbank's first major hospital opened under the name "Burbank Community Hospital". The 16-bed facility served the community during a deadly smallpox epidemic in 1913 and helped it brace for possible air raids at the start of World War II. The two-story hospital was located at Olive Avenue and Fifth Street. By 1925, the hospital was expanded to 50 beds and in the mid-1980s operated with 103 beds and a staff of over 175 physicians. For years, it also was the only hospital in Burbank where women could receive abortions, tubal ligations and other procedures not offered at what is now Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. A physicians group acquired the hospital for $2 million in 1990 and renamed it Thompson Memorial Medical Center, in honor of the hospital's founder, Dr. Elmer H. Thompson. He was a general practitioner who made house calls by bicycle and horseback. In 2001, Burbank Community Hospital was razed to make way for a senior housing complex. Proceeds from that sale went to the Burbank Health Care Foundation, which assists community organizations that cater to health-related needs.

  In 1943, the Sisters of Providence Health System, a Catholic non-profit group, founded Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. Construction of the hospital proved difficult due to World War II restrictions on construction materials, and in particular the lack of structural steel. But the challenges were met and the one-story hospital was erected to deal with wartime restrictions. During the baby boom of the 1950s, the hospital expanded from the original 100 beds to 212. By 2008, the hospital featured 455 beds, over 2,300 employees and more than 650 physicians.

  In the mid-1990s, Seattle-based Sisters of Providence Health System, which owns St. Joseph in Burbank, renamed the hospital Providence St. Joseph Medical Center. The medical center has several centers on campus with specialized disciplines. Cancer, cardiology, mammogram, hospice and children's services are some of the speciality centers. The newest addition to the medical center's offerings is the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Cancer Center, scheduled to open Feb. 8, 2010. The cancer center features four stories of the latest in high-tech equipment to treat cancer patients and provide wellness services. The center, estimated to cost in excess of $36 million, was built with money from the family of Roy E. Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney. Roy E. Disney died in December 2009 of stomach cancer.

  Magnolia Park, established on Burbank's western edge in the early 1920s, had 3,500 houses within six years after its creation. When the city refused to pay for a street connecting the subdivision with the Cahuenga Pass, real estate developer Earl L. White did it himself and called it Hollywood Way. White was owner of KELW, the San Fernando Valley's first commercial radio station, which went on the air February 13, 1927.

  The city's Magnolia Park area, bordered by West Verdugo Avenue to the south and Chandler Boulevard to the north, is known for its small-town feel, shady streets and Eisenhower-era storefronts. Most of the homes in the area date to the 1940s, when they were built for veterans of World War II. Central to the community is Magnolia Boulevard, known for its antique shops, boutiques, thrift shops, corner markets, and occasional chain stores.

  The neighborhood is in constant struggle with developers looking to expand and update Magnolia Boulevard. Independent merchants and slow-growth groups have fought off new construction and big-box stores. The neighborhood remains quiet despite being beneath the airport flight path and bordered by arterial streets.

  One of the centerpieces of the area's attempted comeback is Porto's Bakery at the old Thrifty site located at 3606 and 3614 West Magnolia Boulevard. As part of the project, Burbank loaned Porto's funds for building upgrades. Under the agreement a portion of the loan will be forgiven over a 10-year period. East of Porto's is Antique Row, a hub for shopping in the city.

  Other enhancements include converting the disused railroad right-of-way along Chandler Boulevard into a landscaped bikeway and pedestrian path. This project was part of a larger bike route linking Burbank's downtown Metrolink station with the Red Line subway in North Hollywood. The bike friendly neighborhood and vintage shops has made this a part of the San Fernando Valley that is frequented by Hipsters.

  Perhaps the most famous collection of neighborhoods in Burbank is the Rancho Equestrian District, flanked roughly by Griffith Park to the south, Victory Boulevard to the east, Olive Avenue to the west and Alameda Avenue to the north. Part of the Rancho community extends into neighboring Glendale.

  The neighborhood zoning allows residents to keep horses on their property. Single-family homes far outnumber multifamily units in the Rancho. Many of the homes have stables and stalls. There are about 785 single-family homes, 180 condos and townhomes and 250 horses.

  The Rancho has traditionally been represented by the Burbank Rancho Homeowners, which was formed in 1963 by Floran Frank and other equestrian enthusiasts and is the oldest neighborhood group in the city. The community recently stopped the development of a Whole Foods store in the Rancho area.

  Rancho real estate sells at a premium due to its equestrian zoning, numerous parks, connection to riding trails in Griffith Park and its adjacency to Warner Brothers and Disney Studios. Riverside Drive, its main thoroughfare, is lined with Sycamore and Oak trees, some more than 70 years old. It is quite common to see people on horseback riding along Riverside Drive's designated horse lanes. Of historical note, the Rancho was the home to T.V. star "Mr. Ed", the talking horse of the early 1960s show of the same name. Other notable former Rancho residents included Ava Gardner, Ronald Reagan and Tab Hunter as well as Bette Davis in the adjoining Glendale Rancho area.

  The rancho is especially known for its parks and open space. This includes centrally located Mountain View Park, Johnny Carson Park, Los Angeles' Griffith Park and Equestrian Center, Bette Davis Park (in the adjoining Glendale Rancho) and the neighborhood's beloved Polliwog, extending along Disney's animation building and used by local residents to exercise their horses.

  In the 1960s, General Motors Corporation opened training facilities in the Rancho area, but in 1999 decided to contract out dealer-technician training to Raytheon Company and axed a dozen employees. The facility is now primarily a meeting and training venue for automotive-related events. In 2006, GM confiscated EV1 electric-powered cars from drivers who had leased them and moved them to the GM facility in Burbank. When environmentalists determined the location of the cars, they began a month-long vigil at the facility. To challenge the company's line that that were unwanted, they found buyers for all of them, offering a total of $1.9 million. The vehicles were loaded on trucks and removed, and several activists who tried to intervene were arrested.

  The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, United States, serve as the international headquarters for media conglomerate The Walt Disney Company. Disney staff began the move from the old Disney studio at Hyperion Avenue in Silver Lake on December 24, 1939. Designed primarily by Kem Weber under the supervision of Walt Disney and his brother Roy, the Burbank Disney Studio buildings are the only studios to survive from the Golden Age of filming. The Walt Disney Company is the last remaining Big Ten company to remain independent from a mother company. The Studios are also the only major film/animation studio not to run backlot tours.

  Filmmaking began on the Providencia Ranch area, marked on the map in yellow. Nestor studios began using the ranch location, in 1911. The Providencia Ranch became part of the Universal Film Manufacturing operations on the Pacific/West coast, in 1912. During years 1912 to 1914 - Universal's ranch studio, was also referred to as the Oak Crest Ranch . Carl Laemmle, called the ranch "Universal City" as recorded in issues of The Moving Picture World Volume: 16 (Apr. - Jun. 1913). Universal City existed on the Providencia Land and Water property from 1912 to 1914. In 1914, the Oak Crest studio ranch and Hollywood studio operation would move to new Universal City located on the Lankershism Land and Water property. Universal Ranch tract of land became smaller after the 1914 move to the Taylor Ranch. The leased land surrounding the universal ranch would soon become the Lasky Ranch. The Providencia property was used as a filming location for by other motion picture companies, most notably for battle scenes in the silent classic about the American Civil War, The Birth of a Nation (1915).

  The official Public opening occurred March 15, 1915 on the Lankershim Property. The new Universal City (three tracts of land ) was much larger than the old Universal (Oak/Providencia) Ranch).

  The revitalized downtown Burbank provides an urban mix of shopping, dining, and entertainment. The San Fernando Strip is an exclusive mall designed to be a modern urban village, with apartments above the mall. An upscale shopping district is located in the state-of-the-art Empire Center neighborhood. The Burbank Town Center is a retail complex adjacent to the downtown core that was built in two phases between 1991 and 1992.

  In 1979, the Burbank Redevelopment Agency entered into an agreement with San Diego-based Ernest Hahn Company to build a regional mall known as Media City Center. It would later get renamed Burbank Town Center and undergo a $130 million facelift starting in 2004, including a new exterior streetscape facade. The agency, helped out with its powers of eminent domain, spent $52 million to buy up the 41-acre (170,000 m²) land in the area bounded by the Golden State Freeway, Burbank Boulevard, Third Street and Magnolia Boulevard.

  Original plans were for Media City Center included four anchor tenants, including a J.W. Robinson's. But May Co. Department Stores later bought the parent company of Robinson's and dropped out of the deal. The other stores then dropped out as well and Hahn and the agency dropped the project in March 1987. Within months, Burbank entered into negotiations with the Walt Disney Company for a shopping mall and office complex to be called the "Disney MGM Backlot." Disney had estimated that it could spend $150 million to $300 million on a complex of shops, restaurants, theaters, clubs and hotel, and had offered to move its animation department and Disney Channel cable network operation to the property as well. These plans ended in failure in February 1988 when Disney executives determined that the costs were too high.

  In January 1989, Burbank began Media City Center project negotiations with two developers, the Alexander Haagen Co. of Manhattan Beach and Price Kornwasser Associates of San Diego. Eight months later, Haagen won the contract and commenced construction, leading to the $250 million mall's opening in August 1991. Under terms of the agreement with Haagen, the city funded a $18 million parking garage and made between $8 and $12 million in improvements to the surrounding area. Plans by Sheraton Corporation to build a 300-room hotel at the mall were shelved because of the weak economy.

  The new mall helped take the strain off Burbank's troubled economy, which had been hard hit by the departure of several large industrial employers, including Lockheed Corp. The center was partially financed with $50 million in city redevelopment funds. Construction had been in doubt for many years by economic woes and political turmoil since it was first proposed in the late 1970s. In 2003, Irvine-based Crown Realty & Development purchased the 1,200,000-square-foot (110,000 m²) Burbank Town Center from Pan Pacific Retail Properties for $111 million. Crown then hired General Growth Properties Inc., a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, for property management and leasing duties. At the time, the Burbank mall ranked as the No. 6 retail center in Los Angeles County in terms of leasable square footage, with estimated combined tenant volumes in excess of $240 million. One local standout was the Burbank Town Center's IKEA, with an estimated 30,000 shoppers weekly and rated No. 1 in Southern California with annual sales of $90 million.

  In 1994, Lockheed selected Chicago-based Homart Development Company as the developer of a retail center on a former P-38 "Skunk Works" plant near the Burbank Airport that was subject to a major toxic clean-up project. A year later, Lockheed merged with Martin Marietta to become Lockheed Martin Corp.. Lockheed was ordered to clean up the toxics as part of a federal Superfund site. The northern Burbank area also became identified as the San Fernando Valley's hottest toxic spot in 1989 by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, with Lockheed identified among major contributors. Lockheed always maintained the site was never a health risk to the community.

  The Lockheed toxic clean-up site, just east of the Golden State Freeway, later became home to the Empire Center. Four developers competed to be selected to build the $300 million outdoor mall on the site. In 1999, Lockheed picked Los Angeles-based Zelman Cos. from among other contenders to create the retail-office complex on a 103-acre (0.42 km²) site. Zelman purchased the land in 2000 for around $70 million. As part of the sales agreement, Lockheed carried out extensive soil vapor removal on the site. Lockheed had manufactured planes on the site from 1928 to 1991. Together with $42 million for demolition and $12 million for site investigation, Lockheed would eventually spend $115 million on the project.

  Warner Brothers proposed building a sports arena there for the Kings and the Clippers on the former B-1 bomber plant site. Price Club wanted it for a new store. Disney considered moving some operations there too. The city used the site in its failed attempt to lure DreamWorks to Burbank. Phoenix-based Vestar Development Company planned a major retail development and spent more than a year in negotiations to buy the property from Lockheed before pulling out late in 1998.

  Less than eight months after breaking ground, the Empire Center's first stores opened in October 2001. Local officials estimated the complex would generate about $3.2 million a year in sales tax revenue for the city, and as many as 3,500 local jobs. Within a year of completion, the Empire Center was helping the city to post healthy growth in sales tax revenues despite a down economy. Alone, the Empire mall generated close to $800,000 in sales tax revenues in the second quarter of 2002. The outdoor mall's buildings hark back to Lockheed's glory days by resembling manufacturing plants. Each of the outdoor signs features a replica of a Lockheed aircraft, while the mall design brings to mind an airport, complete with a miniature control tower.

  In 2009, work was finished on a $130-million office project adjacent to the Empire Center. The completion of the seven-story tower marked the final phase of the mixed-use Empire development near Bob Hope Airport.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, Burbank has a total area of 17.4 square miles (45 km²). 17.4 square miles (45 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km²) of it (0.12%) is water. It is bordered by Glendale to the east, Toluca Lake on the west, and Griffith Park to the South. Hollywood is easily accessible from Burbank.

  Elevations in the city range from 500 feet (150 m) in the lower valley areas to about 800 feet (240 m) near the Verdugo Mountains. Most of Burbank features a water table more than 100 feet (30 m) deep, more than the measures found in the 1940s when the water table was within 50 feet (15 m) of the ground surface in some areas of Burbank.

  Burbank is located within a seismically active area. At least 8 major faults are mapped within 13.5 miles (21.7 km) of Burbank's civic center. The San Fernando Fault, located 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of Burbank's downtown, is the fault that caused the 6.6 magnitude 1971 San Fernando Earthquake.

  The Verdugo Fault, which can reach a maximum estimated 6.5 magnitude earthquake on the Richter Scale, is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the city of Burbank's civic center. This fault extends throughout the city, and is located in the alluvium just south of the Verdugo Mountains. The fault is mapped on surface in northeastern Glendale, and at various locations in Burbank. Other nearby faults include the Northridge Hills Fault (10 miles (16 km) northwest of Burbank), the Newport-Inglewood Fault (12.5 miles (20.1 km)), Whittier Fault (21 miles (34 km)), and lastly the San Andreas Fault (28 miles (45 km)) with its 8.25 magnitude potential on the Richter Scale.

  Burbank suffered $66.1 million in damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, according to the city's finance department. There was $58 million in damage to privately owned facilities in commercial, industrial, manufacturing and entertainment businesses. Another $8.1 million in losses included damaged public buildings, roadways and a power station in Sylmar that is partly owned by Burbank.

  Burbank has a Mediterranean climate. The highest recorded temperature in Burbank was 113 °F (45 °C) in 1971. The lowest recorded temperature was 22 °F (−6 °C) in 1978. The driest rainfall season on record was the 2006–2007 season with 2.83 inches (72 mm), beating the previous record of 5.12 inches (130 mm) set in 2001–2002. The months that receive the most precipitation are February and March, respectively.

  Burbank's overall crime rate fell 1% during 2010, and the city made it through the year without any homicides, according to figures released by the police. That contrasts with two homicides in 2008 and one in 2009. The number of violent crimes recorded by the FBI in its preliminary Uniform Crime Reports was 91 during the first half of 2010, down from 112 in the like period a year earlier. The violent crime rate was approximately 2.45 per 1,000 people in 2009, well below the national average of 4.29 per 1,000 people as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice in the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Furthermore Burbank was named again in 2010 as One of the Nation's 100 Best Communities for Young People by America's Promise Alliance.

  Criminal offenses are charged and locally prosecuted in the Burbank Courthouse. The Los Angeles District Attorney handles all of the felony violations which occur within Burbank city limits. The Burbank City Attorney, through its Prosecution Division, handles the remaining violations, which include all misdemeanors, and municipal code violations such as the Burbank Anti-Smoking Ordinance, as well as traffic offenses. The Burbank Superior Court is a high-volume courthouse; the City Prosecutor files approximately 5,500 cases yearly, and the Burbank Police Department directly files approximately 12,000 to 15,000 traffic citations per year. Burbank Court, Division Two, handles all of the misdemeanor arraignments for Burbank offenses. A typical arraignment calendar is between 100 and 120 cases each day, including 15 to 25 defendants who are brought to court in custody. Many cases are initiated by arrests at the Burbank (Bob Hope) Airport. Common arrests include possession of drugs such as marijuana, weapons, prohibited items, as well as false identification charges.

  One of the most infamous crimes in the city took place in March 1953, when elderly widow Mabel Monahan was killed in her Burbank home. When Monahan, 64, opened the door to her house on West Parkside Avenue, she found herself confronted by a stranger, Barbara Graham (also sometimes referred to as Barbara Wood). Graham, along with some other accomplices, had heard rumors of a Las Vegas gambling fortune hidden in Monahan's house. She was discovered by a gardener, who went to her front door and looked in to find a ransacked home and a grisly trail of blood. The gardener immediately called the Burbank Police, who discovered Monahan's badly beaten body, half in and half out of a closet.

  On June 3, 1955, Graham and two of her partners in crime were executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin for their part in the brutal murder of Mabel Monahan. Graham had insisted she was innocent. Actress Susan Hayward won a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Graham in the 1958 classic movie I Want To Live. Prior to filming, director Robert Wise had attended an actual execution at San Quentin Prison in order to help him authentically capture his film's climactic event. In 1983, ABC Television remade the movie, casting actress Lindsay Wagner (known for her role as the Bionic Woman) as Barbara Graham.

  In February 1981, serial killer Lawrence Bittaker, a Burbank machinist, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1979 kidnapping and slaying of five teen-aged girls in a case that was the first felony trial in California to allow TV cameras into the courtroom over the objections of the defendant. As of April 2011, he was still on Death Row.

  Previous to the murder of Burbank police officer Matthew Pavelka in 2003, the city experienced earlier cases of tragedy involving local law enforcement. Marshal Luther Colson and Deputy City Marshal Robert L. Normand were shot to death while patrolling the city. Their deaths in 1914 and 1920 marked the first time that Burbank police officers were killed in the line of duty. Colson was shot the evening of November 16, 1914, when he was walking on railroad tracks near what is now Victory Place and Lake Street. Six years later, Normand was killed when he responded to a call for help to check on three men in a vehicle with its lights out. The men began shooting as Normand and another officer approached the car. The other officer survived despite three bullet wounds, but Normand died at the scene. Additionally, two other Burbank officers have died on duty. They were motorcycle officers Joseph R. Wilson and Richard E. Kunkle, who were killed in separate accidents in 1961.

  In 1916, the original Burbank City Hall was constructed after bonds were issued to finance the project and pay for fire apparatus. Burbank's current City Hall was constructed from 1941 to 1942 in a neo-federalist Moderne style popular in the late Depression era. The structure was built at a total cost of $409,000, with funding from the Federal Works Agency and Works Project Administration programs. City Hall was designed by architects William Allen and W. George Lutzi and completed in 1943.

  Originally, the City Hall building housed all city services, including the police and fire departments, an emergency medical ward, a courthouse and a jail. One of the most distinctive features of the cream-colored concrete building is its 77-foot (23 m) tower, which serves as the main lobby. The lobby interior features more than 20 types of marble, which can be found in the city seal on the floor, the trim, walls and in the treads and risers of a the grand stairway. Artist Hugo Ballin created a "Four Freedoms" mural in Burbank's City Council chambers during World War II, although it was covered up for decades until art aficionados convinced the city to have the mural fully revealed. Ballin's work illustrates the "Four Freedoms" outlined in President Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 speech at the signing of the Atlantic Charter.

  In 1996, the City Hall was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, becoming the second building in Burbank to be listed on the register. The first was Burbank's main post office just blocks away from City Hall on Olive Avenue. In 1998, Burbank's state-of-the-art Police/Fire facility opened.

  In the state legislature Burbank is located in the 21st Senate District, represented by Carol Liu, and in the 43rd Assembly District, represented by Mike Gatto. Federally, Burbank is located in California's 27th and 29th congressional districts, which have Cook PVIs of D +13 and D +12 respectively and are represented by Democrats Brad Sherman and Adam Schiff respectively.

  Burbank is a Charter City that operates under the City Council-City Manager form of government. In 1927, voters approved the Council-Manager form of government. The five-member City Council is elected for four-year overlapping terms, with the Mayor appointed annually from among the Council. The City Clerk and the City Treasurer are also elected officials.

  Burbank is a full-service, independent city, with offices of the City Manager and City Attorney, and departments of Community Development, Financial Services, Fire, Information Technology, Library Services, Management Services, Police, Parks-Recreation & Community Services, Public Works, and Burbank Water and Power (BWP). The first power was distributed within the city limits of Burbank in 1913, supplied then by Southern California Edison Company. Today, the city-owned BWP serves 45,000 households and 6,000 businesses in Burbank with water and electricity. Additionally, the $382-million annual revenue utility offers fiber optic services. Burbank's city garbage pickup service began in 1920; outhouses were banned in 1922.

  At the height of California's 2001 energy crisis, BWP unveiled a mini-power plant at its landfill. It marked the world's first commercial landfill power plant using Capstone microturbine technology. Ten microturbines run on naturally occurring landfill gas, producing 300 kilowatts of renewable energy for Burbank. That's enough energy to serve the daily needs of about 250 homes. The landfill is located in the Verdugo Mountains in the northeastern portion of the city.

  Most of Burbank's current power comes from the Magnolia Power Project, a 328-megawatt power plant located on Magnolia Boulevard near the Interstate 5 freeway. The municipal power plant, jointly owned by six Southern California cities (Burbank, Glendale, Anaheim. Pasadena, Colton and Cerritos), began generating electricity in 2005. It replaced a 1941 facility that had served the customers of Burbank for almost 60 years.

  The Burbank City Council lost a court case in 2000 involving the right to begin meetings with a sectarian prayer. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled that prayers referencing specific religions violated the principle of separation of church and state in the First Amendment. While invocations were still allowed, Burbank officials were required to advise all clerics that sectarian prayer as part of Council meetings was not permitted under the Constitution.

  Like other California cities, Burbank took a financial hit after Californians passed Proposition 13 in 1977. The city dealt with the ramifications of maintaining service levels expected by the community but with lower tax revenues. As a result, Burbank officials opted to cut some services and implement user fees for specialized services.

  The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services operates the Glendale Health Center in Glendale, serving Burbank.

  The second-largest office space market in the San Fernando Valley is located in Burbank. Much of the space is utilized by the entertainment industry, which has among the highest office lease rates in the region.

  More people work in Burbank each day than live in the city. The combined payroll for all of Burbank's private sector businesses totaled $6.7 billion in 2005, according to the San Fernando Valley Economic Research Center at California State University-Northridge. In 2005, Burbank employed 125,871 people in the private sector, while the neighboring city of Glendale, California employed 74,149 people, according to CSUN's economic researchers. Burbank's media, entertainment, telecommunications and internet industries dominated the list in employment numbers and payroll, generating a combined $4.2 billion in payroll and accounting for 64,948 positions.

  As the figures above show, much of Burbank's economy is based on the entertainment industry. While Hollywood may be a symbol of the entertainment industry, much of the actual production occurs in Burbank. Many companies have headquarters or facilities in Burbank, including Warner Bros. Entertainment, Warner Music Group, NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Company, ABC, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Cookie Jar Entertainment, New Wave Entertainment, and Insomniac Games.

  Many ancillary companies from Arri cameras, to Cinelease, Entertainment Partners, JL Fisher, and Matthews Studio Equipment also maintain a presence in Burbank. Xytech Systems Corporation, a business software and services provider to the entertainment industry, is headquartered in Burbank.

  Local IATSE union offices for the Stagehands Local 33, Grips Local 80, Make-up and Hairstylist Local 706 and Set Painters Local 729 also make their home in Burbank with Teamsters Local 399, IBEW Local 40 and many other IATSE locals nearby.

  Burbank has not been immune to the U.S. economic and housing impacts from the severe recession. City officials prepared for severe cutbacks going into 2009. Burbank's new City Manager, Mike Flad, estimated the city's 2009-10 fiscal budget will suffer a 5% shortfall. For the city's 2010-11 fiscal year, the city projected a deficit of $5.8 million and projected the deficit will remain a problem at least until 2014-15 when it's projected to be $6.9 million. The current budget problems do not appear to compare to the revenue hit the city took in the early 1990s when Burbank was hemorrhaging aerospace jobs after Lockheed left.

  California's state budget woes are expected to put more pressure on cities such as Burbank. State lawmakers have proposed eliminating the individual redevelopment agencies, a move that would force cities such as Burbank to eliminate much needed infrastructure projects. Local redevelopment agencies also may be forced to reimburse the state. For example, Burbank Redevelopment Agency could be forced to pay the state nearly $20 million.

  As of June 2009, unemployment in the Burbank area stood at around 9.2%, just below the national rate of 9.5% and well below Los Angeles County, according to the state's Employment Development Department. By January 2011, the unemployment rate in Burbank reached 10.7%, up from 10.3% in December 2010, according to EDD. One bright spot in the otherwise bleak job market was Kaiser Permanente's decision to relocate some administrative offices near the Burbank airport.

  Burbank is within the Burbank Unified School District. The district was formed on June 3, 1879, following a petition filed by residents S.W. White and nine other citizens. First named the Providencia School District, Burbank's district started with one school house built for $400 on a site donated by Dr. Burbank, the area's single largest landholder. The first schoolhouse, a single redwood-sided building serving nine families, is on what is now Burbank Boulevard near Mariposa Street. In 1887, a new school house was constructed at San Fernando Road and Magnolia Boulevard, which was in Burbank's center of commerce.

  In 1908, local citizens passed a bond measure to raise money to build a high school. At the time, Burbank-area high school students were attending schools in Glendale. When it opened on September 14, 1908, the original Burbank High School had 42 students and just two instructors.

  Burbank is home to several California Distinguished Schools including the confusingly named Luther Burbank Middle School (see history above). Both its public and private K-12 schools routinely score above state and national average test scores. The largest university in Burbank is Woodbury University. Woodbury has a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, including business, architecture, and a variety of design programs. A number of smaller colleges are also located in Burbank, including several make up and beauty trade schools serving the entertainment industry.

  During the early 1920s, Burbank was in the running to become the location for the southern branch of the University of California campus. Specifically, planners were looking at locating the university in the Ben Mar Hills area near the intersection of Amherst Drive and San Fernando Blvd. The seaside community of Rancho Palos Verdes was another location considered for the new campus. But both sites were eventually passed up when the Janss Investment Company donated property now known as Westwood to build the University of California, Los Angeles.

  PUC Schools has its administrative offices in Burbank.

  The Concordia Schools Concordia Burbank, a K-6 private school, is in the city.

  The city of Burbank includes and supports a variety of nonprofit organizations that enhance the quality of life in Burbank. Extremely strong links between local residents, business owners, and government have created a network of organizations that provide support in the areas of education, employment, homeless services, after-school activities, health services, and social services.

• Burlingame, California:

  Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. The city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame. It is renowned for its many surviving examples of Victorian architecture, its affluence, and its high quality of residential life. Burlingame was settled by wealthy San Franciscans looking for a better climate for their second homes. Beginning in the 1960s a population increase and its proximity to the San Francisco International Airport generated airline support services growth. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Burlingame had a population of 28,806.

  Burlingame is on the Mexican land grant Rancho San Mateo given by Governor Pio Pico to his secretary, Cayetano Arena in 1845. Cayetano soon sold the land to San Francisco based merchant William Davis Merry Howard. Howard retired to live on the rancho for the remaining eight years of his life. Howard planted many eucalyptus trees on his property.

  Howard's early death in 1856 led to the sale of most of the land to William C. Ralston, a prominent banker. In 1866, Anson Burlingame, the US Minister to China visited Ralston, and by the time he left he was the owner of 1,043 acres (4 km²) of land. His name “Burlingame” was put onto the parcel map for reference. That visit to the San Francisco Peninsula, was Burlingame’s last. On a visit to Russia in 1870, Burlingame died. With his death the land reverted to Ralston.

  Ralston had plans for the area which he called “Ralstonville”, but he died in 1875 without many of his plans being realized. The land then passed to Ralston's business partner Senator William Sharon. Sharon died in 1885, and Sharon's son-in-law, Francis G. Newlands, became executor of Sharon’s estate. Newlands had grand plans of his own. His vision was to build estates that surrounded a country club, similar to the development he helped create in Chevy Chase, Maryland. The Burlingame Country Club was organized in 1893.

  After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many people looking to escape the hardships of a city in ruins flocked south. Hundreds of lots in Burlingame were sold in 1906 and 1907. Just two years after the quake, the town of Burlingame was incorporated June 6, 1908. By 1910, the neighboring town of Easton, on the former Rancho Buri Buri, was annexed and became part of Burlingame as well.

  Burlingame is known as the "City of Trees" due to the number of trees within the city (18,000 public trees). In 1908, the Burlingame board of trustees passed an ordinance "prohibiting cutting, injuring, or destroying trees". Most residential properties have trees owned and protected by the city on their public right of way. In addition the city has many parks and Eucalyptus groves that add to the overall tree numbers. The Eucalyptus groves occur to the west of the city on Interstate 280 and grow along many city streets, such as the heritage Jules Francard Grove along the Caltrain tracks north of Burlingame Ave, following El Camino Real, and along other smaller local streets. Washington Park, with Burlingame Avenue at its southern edge, Burlingame High School at its northern edge, and the Caltrain line at its western edge is the oldest park in Burlingame. It was originally part of the millionaire cigar retailer Moses A. Gunst Estate, and some of the existing large trees within the park were part of this estate.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles (16 km²). 4.4 square miles (11 km²) of it is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²) of it (27.25%) is water.

  In the state legislature Burlingame is located in the 8th Senate District, represented by Democrat Leland Yee, and in the 19th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Jerry Hill. Federally, Burlingame is located in California's 12th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +22 and is currently represented by Democrat Jackie Speier who currently lives in near-by Hillsborough.

  In the 1920s Burlingame became a location for automobile retailers. In 1958 Burlingame annexed the area including Burlingame Plaza and Mills Peninsula Hospital. Due to the proximity to San Francisco International Airport and a population increase beginning in the 1960s, various airline support service businesses opened in Burlingame. As of 2002 most of the businesses in the Rollins Road industrial area serve the airline industry due to the proximity to San Francisco International Airport; the Rollins Road area also has car service businesses.

  Mills Peninsula Health Services, the largest employer in Burlingame, employs around 2,500 people. LSG/Sky Chefs, Inc., the eighth-largest employer in terms of Burlingame operations, has around 281 people employed there. Guittard Chocolate Company is headquartered in Burlingame; as the city's 10th largest employer it has around 210 employees. Virgin America's headquarters are located in Suite 450 at Bay Park Plaza II in Burlingame; as the 13th largest employer Virgin America has around 200 employees at its headquarters.

  The online discount brokerage Zecco.com operates one of two California offices in Burlingame. The United States division of Natsume, a video game company, is headquartered in Burlingame. China Airlines operates the San Francisco Branch Office (Chinese: 舊金山分公司 Jiùjīnshān Fēngōngsī'') in Burlingame. The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), the company made famous by the baseball steroid scandal, was headquartered in Burlingame. In previous eras All Nippon Airways located its San Francisco Office in Burlingame.

  There are nineteen preschools in Burlingame. They are A Child's Way, Palcare, Stepping Stone, Peninsula Temple Sholom, Papillion Preschool, Burlingame Montessori, St. Paul's Co-Op Nursery School, Learning Links, Morning Glory Montessori, Sunshine Family Child Care, United Methodist Co-Op Nursery School: Toddler Room, Kiddie Lab, First Presbyterian School, and Tout About Toys.

  San Mateo Union High School District operates local high schools. Burlingame High School is the city's sole public high school. Burlingame Intermediate School is Burlingame's sole public middle school. There are five public elementary schools serving Burlingame. They are Franklin Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, McKinley Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary, and Washington Elementary. According to the 2009 Base Academic Performance Index (API) Scores from the California Department of Education, the Burlingame School District ranks among the best in the state, with 4 out of their 5 public elementary schools (Roosevelt Elementary, Washington Elementary, Franklin Elementary, and Lincoln Elementary) scoring well between 880-925, and with ratings of 9 or 10. There are several private schools located in Burlingame including Our Lady of Angels, St.Catherine of Siena.

  Mercy High School is the only private catholic all- girls high school in Burlingame. It was founded in 1931 by the Sisters of Mercy. The School itself is located in the prestigious Kohl Mansion which is a Historic Landmark. Also Our Lady of Angels School is located in Burlingame.

  Burlingame Library is located in Burlingame. It was established by city ordinance October 11, 1909. Following the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 the City approved a bond issue to reconstruct the library. The architecture has won awards and was featured in Library Journal as well as earning a cover story in American Libraries. There is a secondary location on Easton Drive, which is substantially smaller than the main branch. Both are operated by the Peninsula Library System, the library authority for the county.

  Burlingame was the location of the Center for Libertarian Studies.

  Burlingame is home to the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia.

  The ship General Frank M. Coxe is preserved as The Sherman, a floating restaurant, just south of San Francisco International Airport.

  Burlingame Avenue and Broadway Avenue, two streets running parallel to each other about one mile apart, are two of the city's main retail districts.

  Burlingame Avenue has developed into a popular hang out for Burlingame High School students on minimum days and also on the weekends, where they enjoy eating lunch at some of the popular restaurants, including La Corneta, Crepevine, and Urban Bistro, which just recently opened off Burlingame Avenue. Therapy is the most popular clothing store among BHS students, and you can always count on finding teens sipping a Starbucks drink as they walk down the Ave or munching on a petite treat from the delicious new bakery Teacake.

  Scenes from the film Dangerous Minds were filmed on the campus of Burlingame High School in the spring of 1994.

  Scenes from the music video "Crusin' Down The Avenue" were filmed in Burlingame.

  Burlingame is home to the historic Kohl Mansion, where the movie Flubber was filmed.

  In James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series, medical examiner Claire Washburn lives in Burlingame.

  Burlingame enacted one of the first comprehensive Noise Elements of the General Plan in the nation.

• Buttonwillow, California:

  Buttonwillow is a census-designated place (CDP) in the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California, United States. Buttonwilliow is located 26 miles (42 km) west of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 269 feet (82 m). The population was 1,508 at the 2010 census, up from 1,266 at the 2000 census. The center of population of California is located in Buttonwillow.

  The town was originally called Buena Vista when it was laid out in 1895, but the name quickly became Buttonwillow.

  Buttonwillow was named for the buttonbush (Rubiaceae cephalanthus occidentalis), which resembles the willow. A lone button bush served as a landmark on an old trans-valley trail, and was used by ancient Yokut Indian as a meeting place, later becoming the site of settlers' stock rodeos. This tree is listed as California Historical Landmark No. 492. This landmark is now known as the Buttonwillow Tree.

  The first United States Post Office was established at Buttonwillow in 1895.

  Buttonwillow is a major stop for motorists travelling on Interstate 5. It includes a number of gas stations including (Exxon, Shell, Chevron, and Arco), a McDonald's, a Carl's Jr., a drive through Starbuck's, Willow Ranch BBQ restaurant, an Indian restaurant, Subway, a Mexican-Salvadoran restaurant, TravelCenters of America, and Castro Tire & Truckwash. These are all located at the exit of State Route 58. There is a large electrical substation next to the town that is a part of a major North-South transmission corridor. It marks the northern end of Path 26 across the Transverse Ranges and the southern end of the Path 15 power lines. Buttonwillow is also the motel hub for member of the Sports Car Club of America's Cal Club region when they hold events at Cal Club-owned Buttonwillow Raceway Park - a Super 8, a Motel 6 and the Homeland Inn are the motels of note there.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, Buttonwillow has a total area of 6.9 square miles (18 km²), all of it land. Buttonwillow is also locally known as the cotton country, due to the abundant planting of cotton in the vicinity.

  Beginning about four miles (6 km) south of town along Elk Hills Road, between Buttonwillow and Taft, is the enormous Elk Hills Oil Field, formerly the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1, which figured prominently in the Teapot Dome scandal that tarnished the administration of President Warren G. Harding. Occidental Petroleum bought the reserve from the U.S. Department of Energy in 1998, and is the current primary operator of the oil field.

  Buttonwillow, California is the host to one of California’s three toxic wastes dumps: the Lokern Facility. The facility, owned and operated by a company known as Laidlaw, lies eight miles west of the city. It was created in the 1970s, without the notification of any of the county’s residents. Furthermore, Highway 58 is a busy road which runs through the heart of the city. This road is important because it was used as the main route for trucks from the facility to transport toxic loads. At times, as many as 200 trucks would travel through the city per day.

  According to a study performed by Lisa Schweitzer, “transport spills [from toxic waste transporters, such as trucks] generally cluster near origins more than destinations." In the study, Schweitzer observed the amount of toxic waste that is spilled during transportation and the area where spills are generally located. If intermodal facilities and transfer points are considered origins, Laidlaw would qualify. Furthermore, the hundreds of trucks that transport toxic loads travel in and out of the city every day. Given the results of Schweitzer’s study, the residents of nearby cities (Buttonwillow, especially) are at the highest risk of experiencing side effects from the spills. Generally, spills occur as a result of human error, in which the load was packaged incorrectly or the driver experienced a vehicle accident or some other force which allowed for the leaking of toxins.

  It was nearly ten years before the residents of Buttonwillow became aware of the facility. Even then, residents felt as if they could do nothing to stop it. In 1988, Laidlaw proposed to build a toxic waste incinerator. The incinerator would burn up to 108,000 tons—216 million pounds—of toxic waste each year. Then in 1992, the birth and death of a child with a physical defect—anencephaly—stirred suspicion from several residents. The tragedy created a bond between these residents, and they began to look to Laidlaw and the toxins that it released as the root of the issue.

  Also in 1992, Laidlaw proposed an expansion of its facility in Kern County. It wanted to double the dump’s capacity, making it the largest in the United States. Furthermore, it wanted to change the types of chemicals it took from strictly petroleum waste to more than 450 different types of substances, many of which were highly toxic. According to Juanita Fernandez, a resident of Buttonwillow, the meeting which discussed the proposed acts was located in the town’s local school. More importantly, those in attendance appeared to be businessmen and women who were mostly of a Caucasian background. The name of the committee in charge of the meeting was the Local Assessment Committee (LAC), which was formed in accordance with a law passed by California in the 1980s known as the Tanner Act. The law attempted to give county residents a say in the environmental occurrences and developments in their area. The LAC consisted of seven members, all of which met to discuss events and proposals such as those of Laidlaw. Despite the apparent effort, the rules and regulations of the LAC were not fairly implemented. Even though LAC meetings were held in Buttonwillow, there were no residents from Buttonwillow on the committee. Furthermore, no members were of a Latino descent, although nearly all of Buttonwillow's residents belonged to this demographic group. While many Buttonwillow residents attempted to participate in meetings, there was no one in attendance who was willing to translate for Spanish speakers. Because the majority of Buttonwillow residents predominantly spoke Spanish, their presence at the meetings had little influence. Finally, in June 1992, a Spanish translator was provided at the meetings. One month later, the Local Assessment Committee was suspended indefinitely.

  It was September 1994 before the committee was reinstated. During the two-year span, a draft and final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was designed for Laidlaw. The EIR, required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), “examines the potential environmental impacts of many projects such as toxic waste dumps”. In addition, speculation surrounded the decisions that were made in appointing new committee members. Many people believed the decisions were made based upon race rather than qualification. In fact, a white applicant was chosen over a Latino, even though this applicant had failed to submit their application. Because of the tension, the LAC decided to appoint a Latino member, Eduardo Montoya.

  After the application process, the LAC was told that it had ten weeks to convene and discuss the upcoming December hearing about the proposed expansion of Laidlaw. In this short amount of time, the LAC battled not with Laidlaw, but rather with the county. It appeared to many as if the county would not let the committee run their own meetings. The committee wanted control—the ability to set their own agenda and hire outside consultants. However, the county did not want to grant this authority to the LAC. Ten weeks later, in December, Laidlaw proceeded with the hearing and the Board of Supervisors disbanded the LAC. Montoya said that “the Board knew beforehand they would approve the dump” and that “they were just going through the motions”.

  A major divider in the struggle of Buttonwillow against Laidlaw was the issue of race. While the LAC could have spent time gathering community support and increasing awareness about the toxins, the committee members were instead battling racial discrimination and a debate with the county about Spanish translation. A local community group, known as Padres Hacia una Vida Mejor, worked for these particular rights. Furthermore, the translation issue seemed to create a division among the county's residents. For example, in their efforts to institute Spanish translation of the EIR and public hearings, the Latino residents isolated themselves from the black and white people in the community. Many English-speaking residents did not support the translation and felt that speaking English was key if Latinos “wanted to live in [their] country”. Because of these divisions, a racial streak emerged in the community, further dividing the community and decreasing the strength of their resistance.

  The struggles of the Buttonwillow community still persist, and even as the residents make progress, they also face additional setbacks. Many of the myths that are often disproved by similar environmental justice cases apply to Buttonwillow. One of the primary myths initially believed by communities facing environmental injustice is that the government is “on our side.” According to Luke W. Cole, this myth is shared more widely among white Americans than among minorities, probably because minorities have historically faced several levels of governmental injustice.

• Byron, California:

  Byron is a census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 1,277 at the 2010 census.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.5 square miles (17 km²), all of it land. It is located 5.5 miles (9 km) southeast of Brentwood.

  Byron's first post office opened in 1878. Byron is named after an employee of the railroad.

  Byron, California is also home to the somewhat well-known and historical Byron Hot Springs, a now-abandoned resort that was a retreat that attracted many movie stars and famous athletes in the early 1900s. The first hotel was built in 1889 and was a three-story wood building, with a few cottages scattered nearby, as well as a laundry, gas plant and ice plant, all of which were destroyed by fire on July 25, 1901. A second hotel, also three stories, but made of stucco was constructed 1901-1902, but it burned on July 18, 1912. The third and final hotel, a four-story brick structure was built in 1913 and still stands.

  In 1938 the resort closed, after a series of lawsuits that were probably brought about by the Great Depression, but was leased by the government in 1941 and became a military interrogation camp housing both German and Japanese prisoners of war, known as Camp Tracy, until 1945, when orders were sent to dismantle it. Additional information about its usage during WWII can be found in the book, The History of Camp Tracy: Japanese WWII POWs and the Future of Strategic Interrogation.

  In 1947 the Byron Hot Springs property was put up for sale and purchased by the Greek Orthodox Church for a sum of $105,000. It served as the Monastery St. Paul for several years. It then changed hands several times both as a resort, country club and private residence. It is currently privately owned by a developer who hopes to begin restoring the resort in early 2009, but the property is now in a state of disrepair. Plans for the restoration of Byron Hot Springs are outlined at byronhotsprings.com. In 2005, a Victorian-era carriage house on the property was burned to the ground. The hotel itself sustained some fire damage, but still stands.

  Byron Hot Springs is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-southeast of Byron. A post office operated at Byron Hot Springs from 1889 to 1930.

  In 1993 Contra Costa County broke ground on a new airport two miles (3 km) south of Byron. On October 8, 1994, Byron Airport was dedicated. The new airport has 1,307 acres (5.29 km²) of land. 814 acres (3.29 km²) are reserved for Habitat Management Land for the San Joaquin Kit Fox, a federally listed endangered species, as well as many other endangered and special status species. The airport is also the home airport of the Patriots Jet Team.

  There is limited bus service to Byron by Tri-Delta Transit's route 386, that connects the community and Discovery Bay with the Brentwood Park and Ride Lot where passengers may transfer to buses connecting to other cities in the region in addition to Pittsburg/Bay Point (BART station) and Brentwood Dimes-A-Ride transit.

• Calabasas, California:

  Calabasas is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California. It is located in the hills in the southwestern San Fernando Valley and the Santa Monica Mountains between Woodland Hills, Agoura Hills, West Hills, and Malibu, California. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 23,058, up from 20,033 at the 2000 census, according to the U.S. Census Bureau website, factfinder.census.gov. The city was formally incorporated in 1991. Prior to that the area was an unincorporated portion of Los Angeles County.

  The Leonis Adobe, an adobe structure in Old Town Calabasas, dates from 1844 and is one of the oldest buildings in the greater Los Angeles area.

  It is generally accepted that Calabasas as the city name is derived from the Spanish calabaza meaning "pumpkin," "squash," or "gourd." Some historians hold the theory that Calabasas is a translation of the Chumash word calahoosa.

  In honor of its namesake, the City of Calabasas and the Calabasas Chamber of Commerce hold an annual Pumpkin Festival in October, including carnival games, exhibits, demonstrations, and live entertainment. The festival has evolved from a small town fair to an annual event. Though the current Pumpkin Festival is held at Juan Bautista de Anza Park in Calabasas, the original festival was meant to have taken place where, according to legend, a traveling wagon carrying pumpkins overturned and started the area's first pumpkin patch.

  The City's official logo, depicting the red-tailed hawk flying over the Santa Monica Mountains, symbolizes a commitment to preserving the community's natural beauty and semi-rural quality of life. The City logo is featured on the Calabasas City flag which is flown in front of City Hall and hangs in the City Council Chambers.

  Vista Pointe is located along the transverse ranges that run parallel to, and in between, the Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101) and Parkway Calabasas Road.

  From Parkway Calabasas: Westridge, Calabasas Hills, Calabasas Park Estates, Calabasas Country Estates, and The Oaks.

  From Park Granada or Mulholland Drive: Mulholland Heights, Mulwood, Las Villas, Bellagio, The Ridge, Creekside, Clairidge, Calabasas Highlands, Mountain Park, Cold Creek, and Park Moderne.

  From Las Virgenes: Monte Nido, Deer Springs, Stone Creek, El Encanto, Archstone, Mont Calabasas, Malibu Canyon Park, The Colony at Calabasas, and Calabasas View.

  From Lost Hills Road: Saratoga Hills, Saratoga Ranch, Deer Springs, Steeplechase, and Mira Monte.

  In July 2008, the City completed construction of a Gold LEED certified Civic Center and Library complex. Located at 100 Civic Center Way, the two building complex is the first municipal-owned and constructed 'green' civic center structure in the state of California. It is estimated that the complex cost approximately $45,000,000 to complete. This figure includes the outright purchase of the land on which the complex sits.

  The Civic Center complex contains: The Calabasas Library, meeting rooms and an amphitheater, and the Calabasas Channel (CTV).

  Calabasas funds its own public transportation in the form of a shuttle and trolley service. It augments the service provided by the LACMTA: line 161 and funds its own library as opposed to using the County library system), runs the Calabasas Tennis & Swim Center, and has a protected and maintained historical district called "Old Town Calabasas".

  Brandon’s Village is a universally accessible playground at Gates Canyon Park in Calabasas that serves over 5,000 special needs children from Calabasas and the surrounding communities. Designed by Shane’s Inspiration, a non-profit organization that designs and builds universally accessible playgrounds, Brandon’s Village is about 1-acre (4,000 m²) in size and all playground equipment is over 70% independently playable for children with disabilities and will also provide meaningful and stimulating play opportunities for able-bodied children.

  Safeguarding the environment and the protection of open space has been a longstanding priority for the residents of Calabasas. Calabasas played a vital role in the 10-year battle to save Ahmanson Ranch, a 2,983 acres (12.07 km²) property in the Simi Hills in Ventura County nestled at the western edge of the San Fernando Valley, from development. The land was sold by Seattle-based Washington Mutual to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in late 2003 for $150 million. Ahmanson Ranch is now known as the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve and is protected from further development.

  Calabasas voters overwhelmingly passed Measure D in 2005. The ordinance protects and preserves the existing areas of Open Space in Calabasas by requiring two-thirds voter approval before any land in the City designated as Open Space may be redesignated for another use.

  In 2007, the Calabasas City Council adopted Ordinance 2007-233 banning retail food establishments, nonprofit food providers and City facilities from using food packaging materials made of expanded polystyrene, known popularly by the trademark name Styrofoam. The ordinance requires food service establishments in Calabasas to start using environmentally acceptable packaging by March 31, 2008, and report on-going compliance with this ordinance on the first business day of each calendar year.

  During the dot-com bubble, a number of technology companies appeared on a stretch of Agoura Rd. parallel to the 101 Freeway, leading that area of Calabasas to develop a reputation as the "101 Technology Corridor". These businesses included medical technology company Atlas Development Corporation and several computer-networking companies Xylan (later Alcatel), Netcom Systems (later Spirent Communications), Ixia Communications, j2 Global Communications, and Tekelec, as well as video-game publisher THQ, and software companies Digital Insight and NetSol Technologies. Although some of these companies have since relocated, been acquired, or ceased their operations, the area continues to be home to a significant technology presence.

  In February 2006, Calabasas enacted the Comprehensive Second-Hand Smoke Control Ordinance that prohibits smoking in all public places in the City of Calabasas where other persons can be exposed to second-hand smoke. These places include indoor and outdoor businesses, hotels, parks, apartment common areas, restaurants and bars where people can be reasonably expected to congregate or meet. Under the law, smoking outside in public areas within the city is restricted to select "Designated Smoking Areas." The law went into effect on March 16, 2006, garnering much local and national media attention. The full text of the ordinance may be found at Calabasas' official website.

  The Comprehensive Second-Hand Smoke Control Ordinance has been expanded in the beginning of 2008 requiring 80% of rental apartment buildings to be permanently designated as non-smoking units by January 1, 2012.

  There is a large Hindu Temple complex on Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas visited by many Hindus from the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area and the wider State of California. The Hindu Temple Society of Southern California (HTSSC) was incorporated in the State of California as a non-profit religious organization on August 18, 1977.

  The Claretians (The Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Rome, or The Claretian Order) of the Roman Catholic Church had come to Southern California by way of Mexico in the early 1900s, working in Los Angeles inner city missions. From 1952 to 1977 they operated the 'Theological Seminary of Claretville' and the 'Immaculate Heart Claretian Novitiate,' on the former King Gillette Ranch, which they renamed Claretville. The 'Thomas Aquinas College' was also here from 1971 to 1975. The property is at the intersection of Mulholland Highway and Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas. The land and historic structures by architect Wallace Neff are now part of Malibu Creek State Park.

  The city is located at the southwestern part of the San Fernando Valley and comprises a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains. It is 22 miles (35 km) away from Downtown Los Angeles. It is bordered by the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles to the northeast, Topanga to the southeast, Malibu to the south, Agoura Hills to the west, and Hidden Hills to the north. The historic El Camino Real runs east-west through Calabasas as U.S. Route 101.

  Calabasas is often considered similar to its neighboring two communities to the east, Woodland Hills and Topanga, because of similar demographics, size, geography, and low-density general plans.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.0 square miles (34 km²). 12.9 square miles (33 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km²) of it (0.38%) is water.

  Part of the city, near Calabasas High School, has all of its streets named patriotically. There is Declaration Ave., America Way, Liberty Bell St., Paul Revere Dr., Founder's Dr., Bon Homme Rd., etc.

  One of the oldest neighborhoods in Calabasas is Park Moderne, or the Bird Streets. A former artist colony, remnants remain of the club house, pool and cabins scattered across streets with bird names, such as Meadow Lark, Blackbird, Bluebird and Hummingbird.

  In the state legislature Calabasas is located in the 23rd Senate District, represented by Democrat Fran Pavley, and in the 41st Assembly District, represented by Democrat Julia Brownley. Federally, Calabasas is located in California's 30th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +20 and is represented by Democrat Henry Waxman.

  The United States Postal Service Calabasas Post Office is located in Suite 10 at 4774 Park Granada and the Malibu Shell Post Office at 4807 Las Virgenes Road.

  The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Malibu/Lost Hills Station in Calabasas.

  Calabasas residents are zoned to schools in the Las Virgenes Unified School District, one of the highest ranked districts in the state. The district also serves the nearby cities of Agoura Hills, Bell Canyon, and Hidden Hills.

  From 1997 to 2001 and from 2005 to 2009, Calabasas High School had hired a new principal at the beginning of every school year.

  In January 2004, Alice C. Stelle Middle School was opened on the corner of Mulholland Highway and Paul Revere Road to serve the eastern half of the city. The western half is served by Arthur E. Wright Middle School on Las Virgenes Road, which prior to 2004, was the city's only middle school.

  Calabasas is also home to the private Viewpoint School and Calmont School. It is also home to the elementary schools Chaparral, Round Meadow, Lupin Hill, and Bay Laurel.

  DTS, The Cheesecake Factory, Ixia, and Ryland Homes are based in Calabasas.

• Calaveritas, California:

  Calaveritas ("little skulls" in Spanish) is an unincorporated community in Calaveras County, California. It sits on the banks of the Calaveritas Creek at an elevation of 1,109 feet (338 m) above sea level. The community is in ZIP code 95249 and area code 209.

  Founded by Mexicans in 1849, the mining camp was relatively successful and by 1853, Calaveritas was well established, with one livery stable, two butcher shops, several general stores, restaurants, saloons, gambling halls, and fandango houses. Notorious bandit Joaquin Murietta was supposedly a frequent visitor to the latter two.

  The town reached its peak in 1857, with an estimated population of around 800, the majority being Mexican or Chinese, but on August 3, 1858, a fire destroyed most of the buildings. By this time, the gold production had greatly declined and most of its inhabitants moved to other locales.

  The town today is registered as California Historical Landmark #255.

  Early on, the town was called Upper Calaveritas to distinguish it from another settlement Lower Calaveritas about 3.5 miles to the west. Lower Calaveritas has since become abandoned.

  In the state legislature Calaveritas is located in the 1st Senate District, represented by Republican Dave Cox, and in the 25th Assembly District, represented by Republican Kristin Olsen. Federally, Calaveritas is located in California's 3rd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +7 and is represented by Republican Dan Lungren.

• Calistoga, California:

  Calistoga is a city in Napa County, California, United States. The population was 5,155 at the 2010 census.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.6 square miles (6.7 km²), 99.30% of it land and 0.70% of it water.

  According to National Weather Service records, Calistoga has cool, wet winters with temperatures dropping to freezing on an average of 34.1 days. Summers are usually very dry, with daytime temperature regularly reaching 90 °F (32 °C) or higher on an average of 72.8 days, but nights are cool, dropping into the lower fifties. Average January temperatures range from 59.8 °F (15.4 °C) to 36.8 °F (2.7 °C). Average July temperatures range from 92.3 °F (33.5 °C) to 53.1 °F (11.7 °C). The record high temperature of 111 °F (44 °C) occurred on July 23, 2006. The record low temperature of 12 °F (−11 °C) was recorded on December 22, 1990.

  Average annual rainfall is 37.79 inches (960 mm) with measurable precipitation falling on an average of 66 days each year. The wettest year was 1983 with 75.38 inches (1,915 mm) and the dryest year was 1976 with 12.43 inches (316 mm). The most rainfall in one month was 32.06 inches (814 mm) in February 1986. The most rainfall in 24 hours was 8.10 inches (206 mm) on February 17, 1986. Snow often falls in the nearby mountains during the winter months, but is rare in Calistoga. On January 3, 1974, 3.0 inches of snow fell in the city.

  The Upper Napa Valley was once the home of a significant population of Indigenous People, called the Wappo during the Spanish colonial era of the late 18th century. With abundant oak trees providing acorns as a food staple and the natural hot springs as a healing ground Calistoga was the site of several villages. Following Mexican Independence, mission properties were secularized and disposed of by the Mexican government with much of the Napa Valley being partitioned into large ranchos in the 1830s and 1840s. The first Anglo settlers began arriving in the 1840s, with several taking up lands in the Calistoga area.

  Samuel Brannan was the leader of a settlement expedition on the ship Brooklyn landing in Yerba Buena (San Francisco) in 1846. He published San Francisco's first English language newspaper, the California Star. Following the discovery of gold in Coloma, Brannan pursued many business ventures, which made him California’s first millionaire and became a leader in San Francisco's Committee of Vigilance. Fascinated by Calistoga’s natural hot springs, Brannan purchased more than 2,000 acres (8 km²) with the intent to develop a spa reminiscent of Saratoga Springs in New York. He is said to have intended to state "I'll make this place the Saratoga of California," but to have in fact uttered "the Calistoga of Sarifornia." His Hot Springs Resort surrounding Mt Lincoln with the Spa/Hotel located at what is now Indian Springs Resort, opened to California's rich and famous in 1862. In 1868 Brannan's Napa Valley Railroad Company's track was completed to Calistoga. This provided an easier travel option for ferry passengers making the journey from San Francisco. With the addition of railroad service, Calistoga became not only a destination, but also the transportation hub for the upper valley and a gateway to Lake and Sonoma Counties. A 6 meter diorama of this early Calistoga can be seen in the Sharpsteen Museum.

  Calistoga's economy was based on mining (silver and mercury) agriculture (grapes, prunes and walnuts) and tourism (the hot springs). One of the early visitors was Robert Louis Stevenson. He had yet to write his great novels, met Fanny Vandegrift in France, followed her to San Francisco and, after she had obtained a divorce, married her in May 1880. Three days later they were on their way to honeymoon at the Calistoga Hot Springs Hotel. Desiring to stay in the area, they moved from the hotel to an abandoned cabin at the nearby Silverado Mine on Mount Saint Helena. While working on other stories Stevenson kept a journal which became the Silverado Squatters describing many local features, residents and characters.

  Calistoga made national headlines in 1881 when Anson Tichenor claimed that he had invented a way to extract gold from the waters of the hot springs. Tichenor's invention was soon proved to be a fraud.

  In 1920, Giuseppe Musante, a soda fountain and candy store owner in Calistoga, was drilling for a cold water well at the Railway Exchange when he tapped into a hot water source. In 1924 he set up a bottling line and began selling Calistoga Sparkling Mineral Water. The company became a major player in the bottled water business after Elwood Sprenger bought the small bottling plant in 1970 known today as Calistoga Water Company.

  Today, Calistoga retains its charm of yesteryear with a walkable downtown much as it was when spa visitors arrived by train.

  At the very top of the Napa Valley, centrally located between Napa and Sonoma counties, Calistoga remains the historic hot springs resort destination of wine, water, and wellness.

  Named a Distinctive Destination by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2001, Calistoga enables a visitor to see wine country as it was before freeways and fast food - only two-lane roads lead there and fast food franchises are banned by law.

  Scenes from the Disney movie Bedtime Stories starring Adam Sandler were filmed in Calistoga in June, 2008.

  In the state legislature Calistoga is located in the 2nd Senate District, represented by Democrat Noreen Evans, and in the 7th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Michael Allen. Calistoga is located in California's 1st congressional district, currently represented in the United States House of Representatives by Democrat Mike Thompson.

  Calistoga is at the north end of the Napa Valley Calistoga AVA, part of California's Wine Country. Thus there are numerous wineries within a short drive. Calistoga itself, however, is noted for its hot springs spas, a local specialty being immersion in hot volcanic ash known as a mud bath. Nearby attractions include a geothermal geyser known as the "Old Faithful of California" or "Little Old Faithful".

  Dr John Wilkinson (1914-2004) was a creator of the current spa industry in California. A California native, he first came to Calistoga in 1946 and leased the Pacheateau Resort now known as Indian Springs. In 1952, he and his wife Edy founded Dr. Wilkinson's Hot Springs. A chiropractor and physical therapist, "Doc" spent his early years in Mexico under the study of Dr. Edmound Szekely, founder of Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico to be later affiliated with The Golden Door. "Doc" served as the mayor of Calistoga, with his wife Edy and they were named "Entrepreneurs of the Year" by CALTIA in 1998. His innovation in alternative health care as a chiropractor and visionary was catalytic in the promotion of the "spa" industry and phenomenon in the U.S. of the "spa" movement. Dr. Wilkinson was instrumental in the combination of alternative therapies and was grandfathered as the first chiropractor deemed Registered Physical Therapist in a landmark California decision with respect to licensing of R.P.T. As an originator of "alternative therapy", i.e. massage, hot tubs, unique health care and preventative medicine, he consulted with luminaries such as Dr. Ornish, Dr. William Tiller, Jack La Lanne and others. His patients included many California and U.S. notables. His followers include luminaries such as Mr. and Mrs Joseph Koret, Moria Archbold, Natalia Makarova, Mrs Charles Crocker, Mrs. Caspar Weinberger, Mrs. George Romney, Dick Vermeil, Rudolf Nureyev and a host of others. "Doc" Wilkinson is considered a founder of the "spa" industry as it has become today.

• Camarillo, California:

  Camarillo is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. The population was 65,201 at the 2010 census, up from 57,084 at the 2000 census. The Ventura Freeway (U.S. Route 101) is the city's primary thoroughfare.

  Camarillo is named for Adolfo and Juan Camarillo, two of the few Californios (pre-1848 California natives of Hispanic ancestry) to preserve the city's heritage after the arrival of Anglo settlers. As with most cities in Ventura County, it is noted for its resistance to new development. Some of the most desirable land in the city limits, located on the north and south sides of the Ventura Freeway, is "permanently" zoned for agricultural use. The construction in these zones shows the progress made towards erosion of this permanence. It is home to the Ventura County, California, Sheriff's Department Academy, as well as the department's other assets; such as the VCSD Air Unit, SWAT Unit, Bomb Squad, and Reserve Officer Academy.

  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.5 square miles (51 km²). 0.015 square miles (0.039 km²) of the area (0.08%) is water.

  Camarillo is located in the eastern Oxnard Plain, with the Santa Susana Mountains to the north, the Camarillo Hills to the northwest, the Conejo Valley to the east, and the western reaches of the Santa Monica Mountains to the south.

  Public Library: Effective January 1, 2011, the City of Camarillo Public Library opened as municipal public library.

  On October 13, 2010, the Camarillo City Council voted 5-0 to withdraw from the Ventura County Library System, and enter into a public-private contract with Library Systems & Services (LSSI) of Germantown, Maryland, a private company that administers several libraries throughout the United States, to provide locally hired staffing and to manage the day-to-day operations of the City of Camarillo Public Library. Under the partnership agreement, the library will remain in the public trust, managed by the City of Camarillo and operated by LSSI.

  Nearby Academic Libraries: California State University Channel Islands, California Lutheran University, St. Thomas Aquinas, Moorpark College, Oxnard College, and Ventura College.

  Camarillo and the surrounding area has a temperate, Mediterranean-type climate. Its location in a coastal valley brings mild ocean breezes and temperatures in the 70's throughout most of the year. An average rainfall of 13 inches (330 mm) occurs primarily from November to February. The city has over 300 days of sunshine a year and an average humidity of 62%.

  Snow has only fallen about 3 times in the last thirty years and is seldom more than a dusting. Snow is often visible during the winter months above the 4,000-foot (1,200 m) level in the mountains to the north. The proximity of the ocean sometimes causes morning fog in the spring and early summer.

  Camarillo is primarily a bedroom community made up of large housing tracts, with elementary schools and small strip malls serving the nearby neighborhoods. The primary public high schools serving Camarillo are Adolfo Camarillo High School in Mission Oaks and Rio Mesa High School, just over the Oxnard/Camarillo line. A new high school near the intersection of Lewis Road and Las Posas Road is planned. The private Cornerstone Christian School is also located in Camarillo. The Boys and Girls Club of Camarillo located at 1500 Temple has been serving the community and providing a positive place for kids since 1967. The Club serves close to 400 kids per day and is primarily funded by donations from the Community. The Club charges $60 per year for membership. The Club is a vital resource for the families of Camarillo. William Locker was appointed CEO/President in October 2009. The YMCA recently opened a new facility on Village at the Park Drive, and a new library was constructed and opened on March 31, 2007.

  The incidence of all types of crime committed in the city is far below the national average.

  Many sports leagues, including adult leagues, such as baseball, basketball, football, and the largest AYSO soccer league west of the Mississippi are located in Camarillo. An outdoor in-line hockey rink was recently put into Freedom Park, near the Camarillo Airport.

  At the city's incorporation in 1964, a council-manager form of government was created. The five member city council is elected at large for four year terms. As of January 2011, the mayor of Camarillo is Mike Morgan.

  The council is responsible for establishing policy, enacting laws and making legal and financial decisions for the city. A city manager, hired by the council and answerable to it, is responsible for the day to day operation of the city. He is charged with overall management of the five city departments and 97 full time employees. Services such as water, sewer, trash collection, street maintenance and traffic engineering are provided by a combination of contractors and city employees.

  Police services are provided by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department under contract to the city, headquartered in a police station owned by the city. The Sheriff's department helicopter fleet is hangared at Camarillo Airport. Ventura County Fire Department provides fire protection, with four stations within the city limits.

  The major source of city funding is sales tax revenue. The mix of retail and commercial businesses in the city provides a stable tax base. The recent addition of a Factory Outlet Center and a new shopping center has added significantly to the sales tax revenues.

  The Chumash Indians were the first known settlers in what is now known as Ventura County. Fishermen built their villages along the Pacific Coast near the mouths of the Calleguas Creek and Santa Clara River. Artifacts from their settlements are on display in the Ventura County Historical Museum and their paintings are still visible on canyon walls and in caves in the area.

  The Portuguese navigator Juan Cabrillo, while exploring the Pacific coast for the king of Spain, came upon the Chumash in an area near Point Mugu. He explored the surrounding region and claimed it in the name of Spain in 1542. Cabrillo was followed in 1602 by Sebastian Viscaino on a mapping expedition for the King of Spain. The Chumash continued to inhabit the coast until 1768 when Russians, having established a settlement 800 miles (1,300 km) to the north, launched expeditions challenging the Spanish land claims. In the 18th century, the Spanish began settling California and built the first of what would become a chain of 21 missions in San Diego. Father Junípero Serra establish the ninth mission in Ventura in 1782 bringing more settlers to the area and exposing the Indians who had settled around the mission to many European diseases to which they had no immunity. Their numbers diminished until the Chumash, once the largest Indian nation in California, had largely vanished by 1839.

  By the early 1820s, Mexico had gained independence from Spain, and shortly afterward California allied itself with Mexico. The Me