Home » Coverstory
California's Greatest and Best...An Enticing Adventure!
By Krista Carlson
It's been said that California could secede from the rest of the United States and be a strong nation, independent of the remaining states. The biggest reason for this is because the state economy is larger than many countries. As it turns out, our wealth as a state extends well beyond economics.
After searching for the words to describe what kind of state California is, it came clear to me that "California" is a self-defining land. Dynamic in geography, culture and ideology, it is a place where these elements prosper in every form imaginable, bestowing the state and its' people with monuments of all kind and origins.
In fact, California's monuments are numerous to the tune of more than 1,100 (and that's only what is state recognized). Some stand out far more than others. Some are easy to overlook. A handful of the state designated landmarks are no longer standing. A few have been relocated. Many have the power to instill a great sense of appreciation for California's history and emergence as a prominent place, not only in America, but globally. And finally, so many of the state's great places are just fantastically fun to see and know firsthand.
California is home to many number ones. Among these are the world's largest living organism, the world's tallest tree, the highest point in the contiguous United States, the first McDonalds, one of the world's largest bells, the tallest thermometer and the biggest dinosaurs, not to mention a slew of firsts in technology including the first TV station, radio station and long distance phone line in the world. And this is just scratching the surface.
Of the 1,000-plus sites designated official state landmarks, Northern California resident Donald Laird has traveled to 1,057 since 1995. Laird provides a valuable resource for the curious with his website www.CALandmarks.com, on which he has documented and photographed each of the sites he travels to.
"It started as a bet. Back in '94 my wife saw in a bookstore the older version of California Historical Landmarks and she bought a copy for myself and for her brother for Christmas. We were comparing notes on which we'd seen and said 'I bet I could visit more than you.'
It became a little competition. He gave up after 50 or 60 and I just kept going. I was having too much fun by then. I like to finish things," Laird explains cheerfully.
Here is a compilation of several extraordinary and notable monuments--The firsts, the greatest and the one-of-a-kind--that stand as a testament of California's lasting legacy as an extraordinary state.
The Biggest - A pair of Dinosaurs, One Castle, a Tree and a Bell.
Dinosaurs in Cabazon - Looming Large
The world's biggest dinosaurs have forever been a personal favorite of mine. These inhabitants of the desert have stood in Cabazon for more than a quarter century as a popular roadside attraction. Initially built to draw travelers to the Wheel Wagon Diner, Dinny, the Apatosaurus and his companion tyrannosaurus, Mr. Rex, are the creation of Knott's Berry Farm sculptor Claude Bell. Built from spare construction material from the local 10 Interstate, the dinosaurs weigh 150 and 100 tons respectively, and were built over a period of 22 years beginning in 1964.
The pair, which can be recognized from the movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure, or the memory of any trek from LA to Vegas, are today owned by the MKA Cabazon Partnership of Costa Mesa, who have employed the dinosaurs to raise awareness about Creationism.
Bell's vision entailed a landscape that would also include a Woolly Mammoth and a prehistoric garden, but he died before finishing the paint on the T-Rex. Today the both Dinosaurs are open for entry (each has its own internal room), and are complemented by Mr. Rex's Backyard Adventure-A exhibit containing stationary, robotic and water-squirting dinosaurs as well as a Dino Dig where children & adults can dig for fossils, Dinny and Rex are located in Cabazon off the Main Street exit of the I-10, 13 miles west of Palm Springs.
Hearst Castle - A Grand Estate
The praises of this palatial estate continue to be sung through the years, and is one of the most popular visitor destinations in the state. What does this California Castle offer its visitors? An entry into what appears like an luxuriant self-contained city, what with its 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, swimming pools and tennis courts. But, that's not all. The Hearst estate, formally named "The Enchanted Hill," was built upon a 250,000 acre ranch inherited by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst in 1919. The ranch, located halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, also boasts a movie theater, an airfield and the world's largest private zoo.
Want to design your dream home? Here's a great place to be to get some inspiration! In fact, Hearst's appetite for grandeur led him, with the assistance of San Francisco architect Julia Morgan, to erect a kingly estate composed of a blend of historical styles Hearst admired in his world travels-The front resembles a Spanish cathedral-and the castle is decked with an abundance of the world's art, antiques and ornamentations. Hearst Castle rests in the Santa Lucia mountains, a picturesque region in the San Luis Obispo area.
General Sherman - The Mega-Organism
Found in the Giant Forest of Sequoia, the General Sherman looms high into the sky, a massive beast of a tree. Even among its giant peers, General Sherman commands reverence. Although it is the world's largest Giant Sequoia, it is not the largest Sequoia (different genus), nor is it the tallest tree (that award goes to Hyperion, a 115-meter Redwood, also in California).
Yet its magnificence extends well beyond the forests. General Sherman, an estimated 2,500 years old, weighs in at 1,487 cubic meters, making it the world's largest living organism. Despite losing its largest branch in 2006--A branch larger on its own than many trees--The General remains the largest thing alive on Earth.
Korean Friendship Bell - A Token of Friendship from the Across the Sea
Gifted to America from South Korea to commemorate the United States bicentennial in 1976, the Korean Friendship Bell sits peacefully (waiting to be struck) in Angel's Gate Park in San Pedro. The bell was also meant to honor American veterans of the Korean War, and ultimately to symbolize the friendship between the U.S. and South Korea.
The bell is modeled very closely after the Divine Bell of Seongdeok the Great of Silla, a bell cast in the year 771. Both bells are among the largest in the world. Housed in a traditional open pavilion, with a peaked roof and 12 columns to represent each of the zodiac, the bell emanates an inviting aura around it. The bell itself made up of several tons of copper and tin, alloyed with a number of other precious metals--gold, nickel, lead, phosphorus--To add to the tone of the bell. On its' surface are four pairs of figures; each pair of the "Goddess of Liberty" and Korean apsarasa (spirit) holds a symbol-The Yin Yang, a branch of rose of Sharon, a laurel branch and a dove. The bell is struck four times annually, including both nations' independence days, with a large wood log. It is adjacent to the Cabrillo Aquarium and Fort MacArthur.
The First - Gold, Church, Burgers and War Prisoners
The Oak of the Golden Dream
Beneath this tree Francisco Lopez took a nap and dreamt of swimming in a pool of gold. When he awoke, he began to dig up wild onions for his lunch, and found gold among the roots of the tree. Lopez' discovery on March 9, 1842, is the first documented discovery of gold in California. This sparked a small scale gold rush, mostly unnoticed by American states, as California was not yet a state. One man who did pay attention was John Sutter, who went on to open Sutter's Mill, where the discovery of gold sparked the California Gold Rush.
The tree still stands today in Placerita Canyon State Park, off the Placerita Canyon exit of Highway 14, and is registered as California Historic Landmark #168.
Mission San Diego de Alcalá - California's First Church
Also known as the San Diego Mission Church, this was the first of 21 Alta California missions to be established in California. Founded in 1769 by Father Presidente Junipero Serra, who set out as part of Spain's effort to claim the entire Pacific Coast, the mission is California's first church, as well as the site of the region's first Christian burial and first public execution. The church that stands today is the fourth to be erected at this location.
Shaping much of the identity and architectural landscape of today's California, the Spanish missionaries came in waves seeking to convert the land's native inhabitants to Catholicism and colonize the area. Today California's missions tell the stories of the clash and convergence of Native Americans, Spaniards and westward-bound Americans. The mission stands near the I-8 and I-15 junction in San Diego.
The First McDonald's - A Cross-Cultural Legacy
It is evident that as this restaurant passed through the hands of a number of owners, none had understood until very recently the cultural impact this little drive-in would have on the world. Today McDonald's is recognized the world over, crossing cultural boundaries, but it all began in San Bernadino on the corner of 14th and E streets in 1937.
Brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald evolved the restaurant from their original Airdrome to McDonald's Barbeque, which fast became the area's #1 teen hangout, to the streamlined burgers-and-fries McDonald's all before meeting Ray Kroc in 1954. Kroc helped the brothers franchise their model, and seven years later bought out the brothers in a $2.7 million deal, which did not include the original location. Today it is a museum and part of the Route 66 Cruisin Hall of Fame.
Manzanar - May We Remember
During World War II, ten sites in California were established in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor as internment camps for Japanese Americans. The most notable of these is Manzanar, initially established as a ranching and mining town in 1910, in the Owens Valley, 230 miles northeast of Los Angeles. At its' peak Manzanar held 11,070 prisoners, of the 110,000 relocated during this period.
The history of Manzanar tells multiple stories. Prior to being designated as a relocation center for Japanese Americans during the war, the site was home to Native Americans as far back as 10,000 years ago, until taken by settlers during the Owens Valley Indian War of 1861-1863. Years later the settlers were also forced off the land as a result of Los Angeles' gradual purchase of the land and water rights to provide water to the growing metropolis.
The Worst - All but Forgotten
The St. Francis Dam was built between 1924 and 1926 under the direction of William Mulholland as part of a reservoir for the Los Angeles Aqueduct .
Considered the worst civil engineering failure of the twentieth century, the unexpected fall of the St. Francis Dam in 1928 released a wall of water that tore through the Santa Clarita Valley towards Santa Paula before spilling out to the ocean in Ventura, killing an estimated 600 people in its' rampage.
"It was what became the downfall of Mulholland," tells Laird, adding "There was a big cover up by the city of Los Angeles. You'd never know it was out there until something took you up there. That was one of my favorites because it really inspired me; I've done a lot of research on it."
The site of the former dam is now a mere pile of rubble and broken concrete, a faint whisper of history. To get to the dam, take the I-5 North to Valencia Boulevard and head east, then go north on McBean Parkway, turn right on Copper Hill Road and left on San Francisquito Canyon Road and drive six miles to the ruins.
The Highest Mountain
Rising 14,505 feet, Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States. Mount Whitney lies within the Sierra Nevada range, between Inyo and Tulare counties, and is the southern endpoint of the 211-mile John Muir Trail.
Burbank resident Gabe DiM-aggio reached the top this summer on his second attempt to scale the mountain. He and two friends completed the 22-mile hike in what DiMaggio would call a slow 18 hours.
"It was absolutely incredible," DiMaggio tells, "You get very emotional. They say it's altitude sickness but really you just get emotional." He plans to scale other mountains now, including Africa's Kilimanjaro. "It'd be cool to climb all the highest peaks in the world."
The Eccentric
The Winchester House
This extraordinary estate is the stuff of legends, undergoing 38 continuous years of round-the-clock construction from 1884 to 1922. It is infamous for its size and absence of formal blueprints, and most of all for its inexplicable features. Under the direction of Sarah Winchester, widow to gun magnate William Winchester, the house grew to contain 160 rooms, including 40 bedrooms, two basements and two ballrooms. Unlike Hearst Castle, this estate is more labyrinth and anomaly than majestic, with stairways and doors leading to nowhere, and the number 13 and spider webs worked in the architecture throughout the house.
Sarah Winchester's motivation is unclear, although it is believed she built the house continuously in an effort to appease the unhappy spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles. The house stands at 525 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose. Tours are given regularly, with special flashlight tours on Friday the 13th and for Halloween. The 2008 Halloween tours are on October 18, 25 and 31.
Twentieth Century Folk Art
Spotted across the California landscape is the collective testament to the individuality and wonder of the creative spirit, sites marked as State Historical Landmarks in the 939 series of twentieth century folk art monuments. Adorned with more than 2000 hubcaps, Emanuele "Litto" Damonte's Hubcap Ranch in Napa County is one of the most famous. Litto, the "Pope Valley Hubcap King," had the help of his neighbors in collecting the hubcaps over 30 years.
The 939 series includes Hulaville and Possum Trot both in San Bernadino, the Bottle Village in Ventura county, the Old Trappers Lodge (relocated to Pierce College), John Medica Gardens in Sonoma county, Capidro in San Mateo, Nitt Witt Ridge in San Luis Obispo and the Desert Tower and Charley's World of Lost art in Imperial County.
Center of the World-It's Official!
Yes, the official center of the world is in California, of course! Being that the earth is round, this begs the question of how is any place the center?
When Jacques-Andre Istel founded his own town Felicity in May of 1986, named after his wife, he took it upon himself to get the town legally registered as the center of the world. Move over New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong!
Istel founded the town after authoring a children's book "Coe the Good Dragon and the Center of the World." The center of the world is marked by a dot on a bronze plaque on the ground inside the city's pyramid. Visitors pay $2 to stand at the center of the world, whereupon they can make a wish as well as receive formal documentation of being at the center of the world. The town boasts a growing handful of additional oddities, including a sundial marked by a bronze replica of Michelangelo's Arm of God, a section of stairs from the Eiffel Tower, and more recently added and in progress is the Museum of History in Granite, a 416-panel log of all aspects of the history of man.
The town is located off of Interstate-8, off the Sidewinder exit. The town's official website is www.felicityusa.com.
Three great reference books on California's landmarks are: "California Historical Landmarks" (published by the state Department of Parks & Recreation), "Visionary State," (Erik Davis) and "Weird California," (Bishop, Oesterle and Marinacci), as well as Laird's website.
According to Laird, there are new landmarks added every year, which can be found by reviewing the minutes of the California State Historic Resources committee quarterly meetings. The minutes can be found online at http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/listed_resources/.
Although the nature of these monuments vary widely, one element resounds: Getting up close to one means getting close with the state itself and discovering a deep appreciation and understanding of California.
"So...be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Brayor Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea, you're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way!"
-Excerpted from Dr. Seuss' "Oh the Places You'll Go!"