The Great Seal of the State of California

The Great Seal of the State of California

designed by

Major Robert Selden Garnett,

U.S. Army,

and adopted by the Constitutional

Convention of 1849 at Monterey.

Commissioned a Brigadier General

in the Confederate States Army

He was killed in West Virginia in 1861, the first general officer to ...

University of California Foothill Field Station

1888 – 1903

The Foothill Station became the first University of California qualifying outlying station funded jointly by federal, state and local county sources in March 1888. The station was developed under the patronage of Senator A. Caminetti of Jackson. Over ...

First Honeybees in California

Here, on the 1,939-acre Rancho Potrero de Santa Clara, Christopher A. Shelton in early March 1853 introduced the honeybee to California. In Aspinwall, Panama, Shelton purchased 12 beehives from a New Yorker and transported them by rail, “Bongo” pack mule, ...

Montgomery City California

In October of 1863, rich silver discoveries led to the formation of Montgomery Mining District and Montgomery City which, although short lived, supported a newspaper, The Pioneer. There were no continuous veins found and mining operations soon ceased. Cloudbursts have ...

Pioneer Monument / California Native Americans

[Panel 1:]

Pioneer Monument

Sculptor, Frank Happersberger

(1859-1932)

Dedicated to the City of San Francisco on November 29, 1894, the Pioneer Monument was a gift of philanthropist James Lick. Lick, who died in 1876, left $100,000 to the City ...

California's First Drilled Oil Wells

California's first drilled oil wells producing crude to be refined and sold commercially were located on the north fork of the Mattole River approximately three miles east of here. The old Union Mattole Oil Company made its first shipment of ...

Site of the First County Free Library Branch in California

In 1908 Elk Grove acquired through the efforts of Miss Harriet G. Eddy, then principal of Elk Grove Union High School, the first county free library branch in California. Subsequently, California's county free library branch system has become one of ...

California Hot Springs

The first people to use the hot springs were the Bokninuwad Yokuts also called "Hoeynche" who called it "Kahtililkau" hot water. In the late 1870's T.J. and N.B. Witt filed claim to Upper Deer Creek "Hoyen Idik" which included the ...

California Almond Growers Exchange

Almond Processing Facility

The California Almond Growers Exchange founded in 1910, was first successful grower-owned co-operative for marketing California almonds. It pioneered in many fields, including almond production, mechanization and marketing. The first structure on this property was built in 1915 ...

California Boatyards

A major steamboat building center on the Monongahela, 1852-79. No fewer than 131 boats were constructed here (74 in the 1850s alone), primarily for the western river trade. The boatyards ceased operations when the railroad (P V & C) acquired ...