To its first inhabitants, the Tongvan Kucamonga tribe, cucamonga meant "land of many waters," referring to the area's numerous streams flowing down from the southeastern end of the San Gabriel Mountains. By the 1800s, it was a Mexican land grant named Cucamonga Rancho. Murder, drought, and foreclosure led to the subdivision of the rancho's 13,000 acres. Immigrants from around the world arrived in Cucamonga's renowned "wine valley." Italian immigrant Secundo Guasti bought a huge swath of land in southern Cucamonga and planted the world's largest vineyard. Many of Guasti's workers lived north of the winery in an area they named Northtown. Still others planted farms, started businesses, and built schools and churches. The farms are gone, most of the wineries are closed, and parts of the old rancho are now known as Upland and Ontario, but the story of Cucamonga lives on through these and other photographs.

Located at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains near the southern end of the Cajon Pass, Rancho Cucamonga has served as a natural crossroads for those traveling to and from Southern California. In 1776, while freedom was being declared on the east coast of North America, Spanish explorers were meeting native Cucamonga Indians for the first time. From that point on, Spanish missionaries, pioneers, gold miners, immigrants, settlers, and businessmen traveled through Cucamonga on the Mojave Trail, the Old Spanish Trail, the Santa Fe Trail, El Camino Real, and more recently, former U.S. Route 66. While some continued on, others stayed and built farms, vineyards, and more. Italian immigrants, attracted by stories of Cucamonga's ideal soil and climate, planted vast vineyards of Italian grape stock and produced many world-famous wines. Although Cucamonga's heyday of grapes and winemaking spanned a century, little wine is produced today. Now Rancho Cucamonga attracts people as an excellent place to live. Money magazine placed it in the top 100 in its "Best Places to Live" rankings in 2006.

The Cucamonga Valley was once America's largest wine-producing region, crafting quality vintages decades before Napa and Sonoma. Secondo Guasti, an ambitious and enterprising Italian immigrant, established the region's first vineyard in 1901, and others soon followed. Wineries like the Vai Brothers, Padre, Galleano, Brookside and more made the valley the epicenter of a burgeoning industry. Not even Prohibition could halt production. While domestic breweries and distilleries shuttered, Cucamonga's brandy and sherry continued to be legally made for culinary and medicinal purposes. Yet by the late 1970s, harvests had dwindled and vineyards vanished. Urbanization, vine disease and property taxes effectively ended production. Today, local vintners and wine enthusiasts are reviving the region's proud heritage. Authors George M. Walker and John Peragine uncork a legacy too delectable to die.

The Cucamonga Valley was once America's largest wine-producing region, crafting quality vintages decades before Napa and Sonoma. Secondo Guasti, an ambitious and enterprising Italian immigrant, established the region's first vineyard in 1901, and others soon followed. Wineries like the Vai Brothers, Padre, Galleano, Brookside and more made the valley the epicenter of a burgeoning industry. Not even Prohibition could halt production. While domestic breweries and distilleries shuttered, Cucamonga's brandy and sherry continued to be legally made for culinary and medicinal purposes. Yet by the late 1970s, harvests had dwindled and vineyards vanished. Urbanization, vine disease and property taxes effectively ended production. Today, local vintners and wine enthusiasts are reviving the region's proud heritage. Authors George M. Walker and John Peragine uncork a legacy too delectable to die.

California may be the golden state but it is also a garden state. Innumerable gardens have been made since the Europeans first came, starting with the Franciscan missionaries.The gold rush was the defining period, leading to immense expenditures by newly rich miners. This book discusses many simple but beautiful gardens created by waves of immigrants. Gardens were necessary for food but also represented repose and leisure. The nature and style of domestic and private gardens shape the landscape of cities and towns just as much as large civic architectural achievements.