Bookshelf: A look at local history books

Recently, local historian Hal Durian’s weekly “Riverside Recollections” column spotlighted several local history books, including the very popular photo history books from Arcadia Publishing.

The Arcadia series includes several topics, including Images of America, Postcard History Series, Then & Now, Black America Series, Images of Sports, and Campus History Series.

Locally, several communities have been profiled in the Arcadia series, including: Riverside, Corona, Norco, Jurupa, Rubidoux, Moreno Valley, Hemet, San Jacinto, Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula, Palm Springs, San Bernardino, Redlands, Loma Linda, Montclair, Fontana, Rialto, Colton, Crestline, Lake Arrowhead, and Big Bear.

Several cities, such as Riverside, even have multiple books: Riverside 1870-1940, Riverside in Vintage Postcards, Riverside – Then & Now, Riverside’s Mission Inn, Riverside’s Camp Anza & Arlanza, and Arlington.

There are also a number of single-topic books: Norconian Resort, March Air Force Base, Kaiser Steel, Fontana, The Harris’ Company, Lake Mathews & Gavilan Hills, and Temecula Wine Country, and Route 66 in California.

Beyond the Arcadia books, which offer mostly a cursory review of local history in a quick, easy-to-digest visual format, there are several other local history books of Riverside to take note of.

In particular, local author Joan H. Hall has done great work documenting several aspects of Riverside. Her “Adobes, Bungalows and Mansions of Riverside, California” (with co-author Esther H. Klotz) and “Cottages, Colonials and Community Places of Riverside California” are two of the best such works, offering insight on many of Riverside’s homes, buildings and sites.

Hall has also wrote (and/or co-authored) several other important local histories, including “A Citrus Legacy,” “Through the Doors of the Mission Inn,” “Pursuing Eden,” and “History of Citrus in the Riverside Area.”

Along with Hall’s many books, two other books are worth noting for their more in-depth look at local history: Steve Lech’s, “Along the Old Roads — A History of the Portion of Southern California that Became Riverside County, 1772-1893,” which gives background information for communities of Riverside County; and the late Tom Patterson’s, “A Colony for California,” which is a loose collection of both factual and anecdotal accounts of Riverside’s first one hundred years (1870-1970).

Most of these books are found at Riverside area museums and many local shops, plus local Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores. Some can also be found on Amazon.com. And of course, the Arcadia books can also be found at Arcadia Publishing.

Related

• Riverside Press-Enterprise – Discover Riverside’s history in Arcadia book series (Nov. 29, 2007)

Amazon Affiliate links (small commission earned for this site)

• Adobes, Bungalows and Mansions of Riverside, California (Esther H. Klotz & Joan H. Hall)
• Cottages, Colonials and Community Places of Riverside California (Joan H. Hall)
• A Colony for California (Tom Patterson)

2025 PAGE UPDATE: Removed outdated links to newspaper articles and third-party websites.