California�s first settlement began on a trail called El Camino Real, or �The Royal Road,� that was traveled by missionary pathfinders, soldiers, and conquistadors on a dramatic journey into a mysterious land. Monterey was discovered in 1603, leading to the quest. Explorers Don Gaspar de Portol� and Juan Bautista de Anza, along with ambitious Franciscan missionaries, founded 21 monumental Spanish missions and several asistencias and chapels for native neophytes, travelers, and visitors to ...

Legendary explorer Lt. Col. Juan Bautista de Anza completed a 1,000-mile journey from Sonora, Mexico, crossing the Mojave Desert with the first settlers, to San Francisco�s pristine harbor. Fr. Francisco Pal�u celebrated the dedication of Mission San Francisco de As�s on June 29, 1776. First established to protect Spain�s interests in Alta California from foreign ships, California�s landmark buildings are featured here with newly discovered photography depicting a romantic era of colorful ...

After establishing the settlement of San Francisco, visionary mission president Fr. Junipero Serra journeyed south to found Mission San Juan Capistrano, Alta California�s seventh, on November 1, 1776. By order of King Carlos III of Spain, El Pueblo de la Reina de los �ngeles (the Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels) was founded on September 4, 1781, following the recommendation of the first California governor, Felipe de Neve. At nearby Mission San Gabriel Arc�ngel, de Neve gathered a...

After the discovery of Alta California, the Spanish Crown charged the first Franciscan friars to enter into the New World through Lower Baja, with a succession of conquistadors, explorers, and soldiers, on a trail called El Camino Real or �The Royal Road.� The settlement began in 1769 at Mission San Diego de Alcal�, a new port and military presidio with buildings of mud, brushwood, and tule grass. Fr. Jun�pero Serra, the legendary mission presidente and founding father of nine missions, tr...

The Ventura County coast has been illuminated for more than a century by three distinctive lighthouses, united in their mission of warning mariners of coastal hazards and guiding ships to safe passage. Port Hueneme�s original 1874 Victorian Stick Style lighthouse stood sentry until it was replaced in 1940 by the still-standing art moderne structure, which guards the only deepwater port on the California coast between San Francisco and San Pedro. The Anacapa Island Light, a cylindrical bric...

The Roaring Twenties was a period of lavish living in St. Louis. In 1917, when Ellsworth Statler decided to build a hotel in St. Louis, he ignited a hotel-building boom that was only quenched by the Great Depression of 1929. Architectural masterpieces arose, and local citizens and out-of-towners marveled at their grandeur. These hotels were hubs of activity and gathering places for high society. They survived the Great Depression and two world wars, but urban demise forced elegant hotels t...

Lured by the promise of land and opportunity, miners, cowhands, laborers, settlers and fortune-seekers poured into Colorado during the mid-to-late 19th Century and into the 20th. To accommodate the population boom, industrious Coloradoans built scores of hotels some elaborate, some modest, all a touchstone to this critical era in Centennial State history. Join Alexandra Walker Clark on this tour through Colorado's historic hotels. Discover how the Oxford and Brown Palace Hotels have manage...

Architecturally imposing, historically rich, and socially important, Chicago's magnificent grand hotels have fascinated generations of Chicagoans and have pleased generations of guests. The Palmer House Hilton, The Drake, and The Hilton Chicago have come to represent a collective formal living room for Chicago, where the city's most important visitors are accommodated, entertained, and made aware of the grandeur and sophistication of their host's hometown. They were built to inspire awe'an...

In the spring of 1916, Ruby and Minnie Syrett packed up their children and belongings and traveled to their new homestead at the gateway of what would one day become Bryce Canyon National Park. In the early 20th century, Southern Utah was still pioneer country. Hardy descendants of Mormon converts worked to tame the land and create productive farms. Little time was left to marvel at the scenery that surrounded their small communities. By 1919, the Syretts found themselves providing food an...

In the mid-1800s, a quaint fishing village, called Nauvoo at the time, was the largest fishery on the New Jersey seacoast. By the end of the 19th century, this fishing village had grown into the flourishing seaside resort of Sea Bright. Luxurious hotels like the Normandie-by-the-Sea, Sea Bright Inn, and the Octagon House were built, transforming the town into a haven for the wealthy, who built elegant cottages along its coast. The famous Pannaci Hotel and Restaurant became known as the �De...

Beginning in the 1860s, the first vestiges of the resorts of Lake County appeared around the sparkling pools of the region�s many hot springs and upon the shores of Clear Lake. Lured by the supposed medicinal qualities of the water, people flocked to rustic campgrounds and cabins to �take the cure� for their ailments, drink, and bathe, staying for long periods each summer. Within a few years, ambitiousentrepreneurs bottled the springs� mineral waters and built more luxurious accommodations...

The low rumbles of the fog signal and flashing beam of light from the powerful lens have guided mariners away from the perilous waters surrounding Point Arena Lighthouse since 1870. After the great earthquake in 1906 and the rebuilding of the tower in 1908, Point Arena�s navigational aids continued to warn ships away from the peninsula off Northern California�s Pacific coastline. The original tower was replaced with a concrete cylindrical tower that rises 115 feet from the headland. This b...