The Society Of California Pioneers

10/14/2026

“Doghole ports” were once a common sight along the coast between Central California and Southern Oregon. They were built as a result of the population boom kickstarted by the Gold Rush, which gave rise to a desperate need for lumber. A bustling lumber trade developed on the heavily wooded coast, with immense output: just one mill near Point Arena produced about 8 million board feet annually in the late 1800s. The insatiable need for building material and opportunity for profits overshadowed any consideration of irreparable changes to the ecosystem or the Native American way of life in the region.

The Redwood Coast was rugged, and doghole ports were one of the ways that the lumber trade adapted to the environment. There were few roads and no long-distance railroads that reached coastal groves. Moving lumber by sea was the best option, but it wasn’t easy; there were few places to build a proper port or even a small wharf along the rocky shore. Sawmills were constructed near coves where it was possible for a ship to anchor, and a network of chutes and cables transported lumber to small maneuverable schooners. These coves were called “doghole ports” because mariners joked that they were hardly large enough for a dog to turn around in. Shipyards sprang up along the same coast to outfit the lumber trade with vessels specifically designed for doghole ports. Small and nimble, these ships could be manned by crews of around 8 men. Nonetheless, hundreds of shipwrecks still occurred around doghole ports.

Small communities also developed around the doghole ports, some of which remain today and have archaeological remnants of their lumber trade past. Doghole ports operated into the 1930s, when they were replaced by more economical, inland methods of moving lumber. Although tiny, doghole ports had an outsized impact on the ecology, economy, and social life of the Redwood Coast and beyond.

Images: Doghole ports in Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, c.1886. C020866, C020853, C020856, C020852, C020862

10/07/2026

In the early 20th century, a utopian community thrived on the bluffs of Point Loma, the peninsula between the Pacific and San Diego Bay. “Lomaland” was the headquarters of the Theosophical Society, an organization founded in 1875 that blends science, religion, and philosophy and believes in the “essential oneness of all beings.” Katherine Tingley, the society’s leader, began building Lomaland in 1897 as an experimental community where adherents could practically live out Theosophy’s ideals. The campus was self-sustaining and included a bakery, stables, shops for carpentry, machinery, and textile production, a smithy, and a publishing house. The society planted orchards, vegetable gardens, and groves of eucalyptus and avocado. Children at the commune attended the Raja-Yoga School, which emphasized music, drama, and the arts. Tingley built the first open-air Greek theater in the U.S. in 1901, and Lomaland became a hub of education and culture for San Diego, where locals could attend concerts and plays. Lomaland’s eclectic architecture drew from antiquity and both eastern and western traditions, much like Theosophy itself.

Tingley presided over Lomaland with a combination of force and charisma (and a touch of theatrics). A former social worker interested in spiritualism and mysticism, Tingley believed in practical humanitarianism and worked on behalf of the impoverished, war relief, prison reform, and educational causes. Numerous Lomaland residents accused her of being extremely controlling, forcibly separating children from their parents and using starvation and hard labor as punishment.

Lomaland had more than 500 residents by 1920, but the community never recovered from Tingley’s death in 1929, nor the Great Depression. The Theosophical Society moved to Covina in 1942, and the Lomaland campus housed a series of higher learning institutions. Today it is Point Loma Nazarene University, where some of the historic buildings are preserved.

Image 1: Lomaland; the aquamarine- and amethyst-colored glass domes were lit at night. C048046
Image 2: Egyptian Gate. C048047
Image 3: Entrance to the Raja-Yoga grounds. C048044
Image 4: Raja-Yoga pupils. C048045

10/01/2026

Long before the Transamerica Pyramid or Salesforce Tower, Congregation Emanu-El’s Sutter Street temple was an iconic part of San Francisco’s skyline. Located near Union Square, architect William Patton’s Gothic revival masterpiece was dedicated in 1866. The bronze-plated twin onion domes (evoking Torah crowns) stood on 160-foot-high octagonal towers and served as beacons for ships entering the bay and people strolling the Berkeley hills. Three sets of large carved walnut doors, painted green, ushered people into a space adorned with stained glass windows and a ribbed ceiling painted blue, white, and buff with gold stars and silver-plated reflectors.

The 1906 earthquake and fire gutted the temple, leaving the frame and towers but no domes. Yet the building still serves as a landmark to orient historians examining post-fire photographs. Congregation Emanu-El restored and reopened the temple in 1907, although the bronze domes were replaced with much less exciting cones. The building’s days were numbered, however. Even prior to 1906, the congregation had planned to leave Union Square, which was shifting from a fashionable residential area into a commercial district. They had purchased a lot on Sutter and Van Ness in 1902; at that time, Van Ness was lined with mansions and large churches. But post-1906, after many of those buildings were dynamited to create a fire break, businesses that had been burned out of downtown moved to Van Ness, turning it into the commercial corridor it is today. So, Emanu-El looked further west, and in 1926 built their current synagogue on Arguello and Lake in the burgeoning Richmond District. The same ceremonial trowel used to dedicate the Sutter Street temple was used for the new temple.

The Sutter Street temple was demolished and replaced by the 450 Sutter medical office building. Designed by Timothy Pflueger, that structure (still standing today) lives up to the architectural reputation of its predecessor with a gilded Mayan-inspired façade and lobby.

Images 1 & 2: Sutter Street temple, c.1866. C030507 & C030532
Image 3: Ruins of Sutter Street temple, June 23, 1906. C030504
Image 4: Demolition of Sutter Street temple, Jan 1926. C030503

09/22/2026

Many counties and towns across California once had their own pioneer societies (unaffiliated with The Society of California Pioneers), and our collection includes several photo composites of the members of these groups. Notable is the Vallejo Society of California Pioneers, which included John Grider, who appears in the lower left corner. Grider was one of several Black participants at the Bear Flag Revolt in Sonoma in June 1846, when a group of United States immigrants proclaimed California’s independence from Mexico.

John Grider came to California in the early 1840s from Tennessee. At the time, he was enslaved by a man named George Wyatt. Grider was able to purchase his and his mother’s freedom after working in the gold mines of Calaveras County. Delilah L. Beasley interviewed Grider about his participation in the Bear Flag Revolt for her 1919 book “The Negro Trail-Blazers of California.” He recalled finding paint in a barn that was then used to paint the star and bear on the eponymous flag that was raised in Sonoma. (That flag was in the collection of The Society until it was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire.)

A longtime resident of Vallejo, Grider was known as a skilled horseman. He worked as a hostler, teamster, ranch hand, trainer, and was a self-taught veterinary surgeon. He also put on horse shows for Vallejo’s Independence Day celebrations. In 1914, Vallejo honored Grider as one of the last living members of the Bear Flag Party at their Admission Day parade.

Image 1: Vallejo Society of California Pioneers. C003264

Image 2: John Grider. Miriam Matthews Photograph Collection, UCLA Library Digital Collections

Image 3: Bear Flag of 1846. C017190

09/15/2026

Paso Robles has long been a destination for its natural mineral hot springs and mud baths, attracting everyone from the Indigenous Salinan, to the Franciscan priests from Mission San Miguel, to 20th-century tourists and celebrities. Perhaps the grandest of the many local resorts was the El Paso de Robles Hotel. Built around 1890, not long after the Southern Pacific Railroad reached the town, this splendid Victorian retreat occupied the blocks between 10th, 13th, Spring, and Vine Streets. Designed by Stanford White, one of the nation’s most notable Gilded Age architects, every room in the 125-room hotel had its own fireplace. The resort also included gardens, a 9-hole golf course, a library, and a clubhouse with billiards, bowling, and a movie theater. Staff could arrange hunting parties or elaborate picnics. The main attraction, of course, was the bathhouse. It was believed that hot springs had curative powers that could cure everything from rheumatism and eczema to syphilis and liver and kidney diseases. There were other hotels and hot springs in town, but El Paso de Robles was a destination for the wealthy and famous: pianist Ignacy Paderewski, Theodore Roosevelt, Clark Gable, and the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team, to name just a few. The hotel burned down in 1940 and was rebuilt in 1942 using some bricks from the original structure. The rechristened Paso Robles Inn continues to serve guests today.

Image 1: El Paso de Robles Hotel. C048811

Image 2: Sunroom, El Paso de Robles Hotel. C048815

Image 3: Men's section of the bathhouse, El Paso de Robles Hotel. C048818

Image 4: Sulphur fountain, El Paso de Robles Hotel. C048821

09/10/2026

El Campo was a popular Bay Area weekend retreat at the turn of the 20th century.

09/10/2026

September 9 is Admission Day, the anniversary of California becoming a state in 1850. September 9 is likewise observed as the anniversary of The Society of California Pioneers (also founded in 1850!). For many years, the Society had large anniversary celebrations on September 9. In the 1890s and 1900s, several of those gatherings took place at El Campo, across the bay from San Francisco.

Located on the shore of the Tiburon peninsula in Marin County, El Campo was developed as a 100-acre resort site by the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad in 1891. The railroad’s ferries were busy on weekdays transporting freight and passengers, but idle on the weekends. To spur ticket sales, the SF & NP created and marketed El Campo as a weekend destination (which happened to be accessible only by their ferries). The railroad built a wharf, pavilion, bowling alley, shooting gallery, restaurant, and carousel. There were extensive picnic grounds and space for a variety of recreational activities. The scheme worked—on summer weekends and holidays, thousands of passengers lined up to board the ferry and visit El Campo. It also became a popular site for company and organization events, like The Society’s annual anniversary celebration. El Campo had several operators over the years and went through name changes (such as Paradise Park and Monticello Grove). Today it’s called Paradise Cove.

Image 1: Society of California Pioneers Picnic at El Campo, September 9, 1898, by Turner. C013833

Images 2-5: El Campo/Monticello Grove/Paradise Cove, undated, by Turrill & Miller. C056143, C056249, C056257, C056258

09/03/2026

The Society of California Pioneers’ Alice Phelan Sullivan Library has a rare original copy of “The Illustrated Directory” for San Francisco from 1894-1895. Each page of this unique book features an illustration of the building street fronts on one downtown city block. The names of businesses and proprietors are listed below each building (although, only those business owners who contributed money to the book’s publication are included). Basically, it’s the 19th century version of Google Street View!

The book itself is technically a compilation, as the directory was published monthly in 11 issues. Customers could buy a single issue for 50 cents or subscribe to the entire run for 5 dollars. The directory was the creation of Eli Sheldon Glover, an artist who made many beautifully detailed pictorial maps of American cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Considering that he published under the auspices of The Illustrated Directory Company, and the subtitle of the publication is “A Monthly Magazine of American Cities,” it seems that Glover intended for his venture to expand to include cities across the country. Business must not have gone as well as he hoped; as far as we know, the only other city he covered was Oakland. There is rumor of an edition for San Jose; if anyone has seen it, we’d love to hear about it!

Images: Eli S. Glover, “The Illustrated Directory,” Vol. 1, no. 1 (Dec. 1894) - Vol. 1, no. 11 (Dec. 1895). 979.461 G566 1894

08/25/2026

The Los Angeles International Aviation Meet, held January 10-20, 1910, was a significant event in California history that is now relatively unknown. It was the first air show held in the United States, about 6 years after the Wright brothers made their famous flight at Kitty Hawk. The world’s first air show occurred in France in 1909, and when American Glenn Curtiss won the speed event, he also won the right for the U.S. to host the next air meet. The choice of Los Angeles would prove fortuitous; attending aviators lauded the exceptional atmospheric conditions of Southern California, laying the groundwork for what would become one of the region’s economic cornerstones.

The meet took place in today’s Dominguez Hills, safely distant from downtown Los Angeles but close enough for public transit. Aside from air balloons, dirigibles, and airplanes, spectators also saw many of the celebrities of early aviation, including French pilot Louis Paulhan, who brought 4 planes with him and put the “international” in the International Air Meet. The event attracted massive media attention; businesses and schools closed so that an estimated 225,000 people could attend. (The population of Los Angeles was about 320,000 at the time.) This success was in spite of the fact that less than half of the registered aircraft actually took to the skies! Still, most Americans had never seen flying machines in action before. The air show turned what many skeptically considered a fantasy into a legitimate new technology. One enthusiastic attendee was Seattle timber magnate William Boeing. Awards were given out, records were broken, there were no serious injuries, and an iconic California industry was born.

Image 1: Los Angeles International Aviation Meet composite photo, 1910. C027000
Image 2: Louis Paulhan on Farman Biplane, 1910. C026989
Image 3: Louis Paulhan in Bleriot Monoplane, 1910. C026990
Image 4: Los Angeles International Aviation Meet pin. C005840

08/25/2026

The Society of California Pioneers will be participating in Doors Open California on Saturday, September 5. Our storage tours are FULL but you are welcome to stop by and see the California history we have on display in our program room!

California Preservation Foundation