California Trivia & Tidbits - Page 16

Looking for California trivia? Try our list California little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

Montgomery Woods State Reserve in northern California provides several trails offering a close-up view of some of the massive virgin redwoods. A walk along the trail following Montgomery Creek leads to five redwood groves that have never been logged. The reserve covers 1,142 acres.

first appeared: 5/26/2002

In 1934, during the Great Depression, Jack and Ida Mitchell picked an unlikely, remote spot in the Mojave Desert to make their home. Over the years, the couple developed what is now known as Mitchell Caverns into a small resort by offering cave tours, guestrooms, and Miss Ida’s home-cooked meals. After Jack Mitchell’s death in 1954, the caverns became part of the state park system, with the Mitchell home serving as the visitor center.

first appeared: 5/19/2002

The Republic of California lasted just a short time during the spring and summer of 1846, but the William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park, near Red Bluff (pop. 13,147), preserves its memory. Local settlers not wanting to be part of Mexican rule captured the town of Sonoma, then the northernmost outpost of the Mexican government in California. The revolutionaries pronounced themselves free from Mexico, raised their flag—a star, grizzly bear, and the words “California Republic”—and named Ide their president. When the United States declared war on Mexico, the settlers lowered the “Bear Flag” and raised the American flag, bringing the Republic of California to an end.

first appeared: 5/12/2002

The Roosevelt elk, among the state’s largest wildlife, can be found roaming in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park along the northern California coast. A display at the park visitor center details the life cycle of the elk, which are larger and slightly darker than the Rocky Mountain elk found east of the Cascade Mountains.

first appeared: 5/5/2002

The oldest building in Santa Barbara (and the second-oldest in the state) is El Cuartel in El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park. El Cuartel was the guardhouse for the last of four Spanish military outposts built in what is now California. The Santa Barbara post, built in April 1782, was military and governmental headquarters for the area between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo until 1846.

first appeared: 4/28/2002

Kruse Rhododendron State Reserve in northern California is the scene of stunning patches of pink blooms each May—the result of normal plant succession after a severe fire long ago. The regenerating forest is gradually overwhelming the rhododendrons as part of a cycle that takes about 1,000 years to complete.

first appeared: 4/21/2002

The city of Madera, in the geographic center of the state, takes its name from the Spanish word for timber. The area got its name when the California Lumber Company built a log flume to transport wood to the rail yard there in 1876. The city was officially incorporated in 1907.

first appeared: 4/14/2002

I Left My Heart in Yerba Buena? Not today, but that was the name for San Francisco prior to the mid-1840s, when it was still under Spanish rule. The change to San Francisco was made official by the city’s first chief magistrate, Washington Bartlett, a relative of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, in 1846.

first appeared: 4/7/2002

In 1855, Congress tried using camels to carry military supplies across the Southwest to California. The camels did the job, but their handlers complained about the animals’ disagreeable dispositions. Eventually, the government auctioned its camels off as government surplus.

first appeared: 3/31/2002

Lake Tahoe, which straddles the California-Nevada state line, is so large and deep that, if drained, its waters would cover an area the size of California 14 inches deep, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The lake, 22 miles long and 12 miles wide, averages a depth of close to 1,000 feet. Remarkably, it holds enough water to supply everyone in the United States with 25 gallons a day for 10 years.

first appeared: 3/24/2002

Empire Mine State Historic Park in Grass Valley (pop. 10,922) contains a scale model of the mine’s 367 miles of underground tunnels and shafts. Before the mine closed in 1956, 5.6 million ounces of gold had been produced over 106 years.

first appeared: 3/17/2002

The SkyTrail aerial gondola at Trees of Mystery in Klamath (pop. 651) gives visitors a sky-high view of ancient and regal coastal redwoods. The six-passenger gondola soars to the top of the forest and takes visitors to a multilevel observation deck.

first appeared: 3/10/2002

California produces more than 350 different food and agricultural crops a year. The state leads all other areas worldwide in the production of almonds, artichokes, dates, pistachios, raisins, and walnuts.

first appeared: 3/3/2002

Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego takes its name from Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who sailed into San Diego Bay on Sept. 28, 1542. A statue on an overlook commemorates the event.

first appeared: 2/24/2002

The Golden Gate Bridge, completed in 1937, was once considered impossible to build due to high winds and strong ocean currents. Enough concrete was used in its footings to pave a 5-foot-wide sidewalk from New York to San Francisco, and its two supporting cables contain some 80,000 miles of steel wire.

first appeared: 2/24/2002

Candlestick Point State Recreation Area at San Francisco takes its name from the days when old wooden ships were burned off the point. The vessel’s last visible part before collapsing into the water resembled a candlestick.

first appeared: 2/17/2002

Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area in Southern California is the largest dune system in the state. The dunes were created by windblown beach sands from ancient Lake Cahuilla, a huge freshwater lake fed by the Colorado River until the river changed course more than 900 years ago. The now-dry lake covered more than 2,000 square miles and was 300 feet deep, extending 100 miles from Indio to the Mexican border. Today, the dunes attract thousands of off-road vehicle enthusiasts.

first appeared: 2/10/2002

The Temple of the Forest Beneath the Clouds in Weaverville (pop. 3,554) is the oldest Chinese temple in the state in continuous use. Art objects, mining tools, and weapons are on display at the temple, built in 1874. The temple has been a part of the California State Park System since 1956.

first appeared: 2/3/2002

The first golf course in Southern California—Catalina Island Golf Course—was built in 1892. Another notable course, Furnace Creek Golf Course in Death Valley, was the first grass course developed in the California desert. At 214 feet below sea level, it is also the lowest grass course in the world.

first appeared: 1/27/2002

Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California is home to Giant Rock, thought to be the world’s largest solitary boulder. The rock is seven stories high and is estimated to weigh more than 23,000 tons.

first appeared: 1/20/2002

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