California History Quick Facts

Interesting facts about California history, from the California Travel and Tourism Commission.

• Coloma is home of the gold discovery that touched off the Great Gold Rush of 1849.


• The first Masonic Lodge in California, built in 1854, is located in Shasta State Historic Park.


• Stearns Wharf, located in Santa Barbara and built in 1872 by John P. Stearns, is the oldest operating wharf on the West Coast.


• The Modoc War, fought from January 16, 1873 to June 1, 1873, was only major Indian War fought on California Soil at the present site of Lava Beds National Monument.


• The only general officer to be killed in the Modoc War was Major General Edward Richard Sprig Canby (Lava Beds National Monument) in April of 1873. & Ballard's Little Red Schoolhouse, located in Solvang is the oldest schoolhouse still in use (Built in 1883).


• The Samoa Cookhouse in Humboldt County is the last operating cookhouse in the West, serving since 1893.


• Siskiyou County, on the old stage road from Yreka to Fort Jones, was the site of the last horsedrawn stagecoach robbery in California on July 5, 1908.


• Julia Morgan, California's first female architect, designed the historical YWCA landmark in Pasadena. The YWCA was built in 1921.


• The United Nations was founded in San Francisco, California on June 25,1945.


• Replicated from a 1908 shop, the Escondido Historical Society owns and operates the only blacksmith shop in California, offering classes and instruction since 1990.

See also
History of California
More About California
California Travel Guide