During the busiest years of the California Gold Rush the town of Coloma boasted more than 70 structures — but these days only a handful of buildings remain standing along Highway 49/Main Street in the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park.
Chicago 1957 — I originally shared these images back in December 2017 and January 2018. Every time I look through these pictures, my desire to visit Chicago and see the museum (and all the other sights) for myself gets stronger! This dollhouse, belonging to silent film star Colleen Moore, was built in 1928 and has been on display at the museum […]
James Marshall really was one unlucky guy. All he wanted to do was work hard at his trade as a carpenter and millwright; but after he accidentally uncovered a small piece of gold in the American River his life was turned upside down. He no longer had the chance to work, and he never managed to profit from the historic […]
When I first visited the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park as a young schoolkid, I was especially fascinated by the two small buildings known as the Chinese Stores. I think it was partly because these two small buildings are authentic structures from the 1850s, not replicas. I liked to imagine the Chinese miners going in and out of the […]
Since this episode of California’s Gold was filmed in 1992, the Bodie State Historic Park has only grown in popularity. There are now about 100 structures still standing, and the high desert location makes it a favorite for winter and nighttime photography. As this episode makes clear, Bodie is famous not just in California but all over the world! Join […]
As a toddler, I may have been through Eureka on a family camping trip, but I have no memories of the place. Of course I already knew Eureka is a historic town — with buildings dating back as far as the 1850s — but when I think of Humboldt County I normally think of giant redwood trees and beautiful rocky […]
The Crocker in downtown Sacramento is the oldest art museum west of the Mississippi River, founded in 1885. Although it now has a large modern building, the original mansion is still very much a part of the museum — and probably still my favorite part.
San Francisco’s Salesforce Transit Center officially opened in the late summer of 2018 — but only six weeks later it was shut down again, due to the discovery of cracks in the structural steel girders. Although I’d already seen the exterior on previous visits to the city, I finally got a chance to explore the inside this past August. I […]