The town of King City came into existence in 1886, when the railroad arrived north of San Lorenzo Creek in the Salinas Valley of Central California. Named after Charles H. King, owner of this portion of the San Lorenzo Land Grant, King City has grown into a hub for the magnificent agricultural fields that surround it and support its economy. US Highway 101 and the Salinas River are unique features of the town, and Mesa Del Rey Airport was instrumental...

In 1892, entrepreneur Joel Hurt invited Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. to Atlanta to design "an ideal suburb." Olmsted and his firm began designs and were in regular communication with Hurt. Members of the firm came to Atlanta during design and construction. Even with changing ownership, Olmsted's vision and plans were followed. The design became the last residential suburb designed by Olmsted, the only one in the Deep South. The centerpiece of the neighborhood...

In 1942, at the beginning of World War II, the US Army built its most unusual military post for its most unusual division in a high, remote, Rocky Mountain valley 100 miles west of Denver, Colorado. Located at 9,250 feet above sea level, Camp Hale was the training home of the famed 13,459-man 10th Mountain Division, which trained in mountain warfare techniques for two years--and almost missed the war. After they were finally deployed for combat in...

Round Top's African American pioneers came into Texas in 1825 when Stephen F. Austin brought in 300 Anglo-Americans, and the people they enslaved, for the purpose of colonizing the area. Soon afterward, more slaves were bought in from other slaveholding states. After the Civil War ended, the descendants of these original Round Top pioneers began building their own community. Many earned money by toiling away in the cotton fields for the very men who...

The beautiful Brentwood area of Contra Costa County is the oldest continuously populated community in California inland from the great coastal centers. Californios eschewed this challenging portion of the Central Valley, so pioneering physician John Marsh established a permanent settlement here in 1837 at his Rancho Los Meganos. Soon, the burgeoning viniculture, wheat, orchard, and cattle operations attracted many Gold Rush miners back to their original...

In 1776, two Mexican Franciscans trekked into what is now the state of Utah. While they said the rosary and offered litanies to the saints, they did not linger in what was to them unknown territory. It would take almost 100 years for the first parish church of St. Mary Magdalene to be built in 1871 and a Catholic community established. The small number of Catholics maintained and cultivated their religion in a territory dominated by the Latter-day...

Arthur Gaulker, a successful real estate scion, gathered investors to create Electric Amusement Park in 1906. Gaulker's park was located near the Belle Isle Bridge just a few miles from downtown Detroit. Morris Wolff opened his Wolff's Park in 1906 directly across the street from Electric Park. Both parks spent lavishly and went bankrupt within a few years; however, other parks replaced them. By 1927, city officials had grown tired of the noise and...

Several Georgia cities had already served as capital when in 1868 the controversial decision was made to move the seat of state government to the upstart city of Atlanta, a move that became permanent in 1877. When government offices outgrew temporary quarters, a grand new structure was commissioned. Designed to emulate the new US Capitol Building in Washington, DC, the Georgia State Capitol building plans carried an unheard-of price tag of $1 million,...

From a disregarded, forlorn island in the early 1900s to the world-famous resort and go-to place of today, Jews have played a prominent role in Miami Beach's achievements and fame. Initially consigned to a tiny enclave on the southern tip of Miami Beach, the community's Jewish population quickly expanded north, from South Beach to Golden Beach, and assumed a leadership position in nearly every phase of the city's life by the late 1900s. At every step...

The effective end of the American Civil War on April 9, 1865, had hardly sunk in when, only five days later, another disaster stunned the battered and bloodied nation. On the night of April 9, Pres. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. There would be time for vengeful thoughts later, but first the Great Emancipator was going to get a royal send-off. At the center of what would become a three-week national funeral was a spectacular train that would carry...