This blog is written by Daniel Coats, a lifelong Southern California resident. It explores places to visit in and around Southern California, with photos, videos, maps and text. All writing and photography is credit Daniel Coats, unless noted.
The Hicks Center on the campus of Life Pacific University in San Dimas. Photo from Wikimedia Commons
With less than 400 undergrads, Life Pacific University, a small Pentecostal Christian Bible college in the Los Angeles County suburb of San Dimas, is only a small fraction of the size of even most religious schools in Southern California. Many people confuse it with the much larger Azusa Pacific University a few miles away.
But over the past century, the alumni of Life Pacific University (known throughout most of its history as LIFE Bible College, an acronym for Lighthouse of International Foursquare Evangelism) have had an outsized role in the spiritual development of millions of lives and countless congregations in the U.S. and beyond.
Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel movement that boasts 1,800 congregations worldwide and hundreds of thousands of weekly congregants and Bible teacher of The Word for Todayradio program; Jack Hayford, longtime senior pastor of The Church on the Way in Van Nuys; African American actor, pastor and academic Otis Young; and countless figures in the Assemblies of God and Vineyard movements earned their degrees at Life Pacific.
One of the First People to Drive Across the Country Founds a Denomination and Bible College
The Life Pacific story began in 1921, when Aimee Simple McPherson, a Pentecostal evangelist, arrived in Southern California after a transcontinental trip.
In the early days of the automobile, McPherson was one of the first Americans to travel across the country by car.
Also among the first to make use of the new medium of radio for Bible teaching and evangelization, McPherson founded the Foursquare Church, which emphasized the continued operation of spiritual gifts in addition to traditional Protestant Christian beliefs.
As early as 1923, the Foursquare movement began ministerial training at a location in Echo Park near Downtown Los Angeles.
By the 1940s, LIFE Bible College, as it had become known, was offering four-year degrees and began participating in intercollegiate varsity basketball and baseball.
The center of campus at Life Pacific University. Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Life Pacific Today
Like many Southland ministries, LIFE Bible College relocated from Downtown Los Angeles in the late 20th century, establishing its present campus in San Dimas, some 40 miles east of downtown, in 1989.
By the 2000s, the university had rebranded as Life Pacific and had become a university in 2019, with full accreditation from regional bodies such as the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
There is an East Coast satellite campus in Virginia.
While Life Pacific University isn’t a major visitor’s attraction, the campus can still be explored by taking in a basketball or volleyball game at Mehl Court or enjoying a meal at the on-campus cafe.
The campus is also home to Lifehouse Foursquare Church, the Sunday morning chapel services for residential students that are also open to the general community.
A visit to Life Pacific University can easily be combined with a visit to Claremont, Frank G. Bonnelli Regional Park or Cal Poly Pomona.
Perhaps it’s not as grand as in some years, but the natural floral display at the Antelope Valley Nature Preserve in April 2024 is still magnificent. Photo by Daniel Coats
As every California schoolchild knows, the official state flower of the Golden State is the California poppy. At the time of selection in 1903, fields of orange poppies were regularly found throughout the state. Today, though, the best place to see this uniquely California gem is in the western Antelope Valley.
For nine to 10 months of the year, the desert grasslands are monotonous golden fields of native groundcover.
Then, in March in years of significant rainfall, the hillsides explode in color with poppies and other flora, including lotuses, clover, fiddleneck, daisies and many others.
The palatte of lovely color lasts until around Mother’s Day, when the fields grow dry with the heat of the upcoming summer.
During this peak spring season, many international tourists and California natives alike make the trek to the western Antelope Valley to experience the flowers, take selfies and group photos, and enjoy some hiking along the eight miles of easy- to moderate-difficulty trails.
In 2024, despite an unusual second year of heavy rainfall, the natural display of poppies is perhaps surpisingly less magnificent than usual. Persistently cold spring weather is at least partially to blame.
But yellow and purple flowers at least partially make up for the missing orange bulbs.
When the desert blossoms, it’s always a special experience. Joshua trees and golden wildflowers side by side, a scene you’ll only see in the Antelope Valley or Mojave Desert. Photo by Daniel Coats
The first stop for visitors to go is the Jane S. Pinheiro Interpertive Center, where a short documentary on desert wildflowers and exhibits on the various varieties of California flora educate the day tripper. Postcards, magnets and bookmarks at affordable prices make it possible to celebrate your visit for years to come!
During the summer, autumn and winter, the trails are still open and the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve is still a great place to explore. But the visitor center is only open during the spring blooming season. And beware…winters can be chilly, even snowy, while summer heat can be brutal.
PBS California expert Huell Howser was a regular visitor to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve. Google him and the first photos you see are likely of him in this special place.
Spend a few hours on a sunny, mild afternoon at the poppy reserve and you’re likely to develop just as strong an affinity for this place that exemplifies the natural side of California.
The California poppy has been an inspiration to many artists, as is displayed at the visitor center. Photo by Daniel Coats
Flowers may last for only a few weeks, but they are incredibly intricate! Find out what flowers grace your backyard in the visual directory at the Antelope Valley Preserve visitor center! Photo by Daniel Coats
Ft. Tejon: Early California, the Big One and Amish Country
Many travelers see it off the I-5 Freeway, but be sure to allot at least an hour or two to experience historic and beautiful Fort Tejon. Photo by Daniel Coats
During California’s first full decade as a U.S. state in the 1850s, the adobe buildings in the tree-lined meadow of Ft. Tejon protected settlers from conflict with Native American tribes.
Situated at an altitude of more than 3,500 feet, the fort is part of the Tejon Pass, which many Southern Californians know as the Grapevine. Periodically, this pass is closed in winter due to snowfall or strong winds, disrupting the supply chain between Northern and Southern California that relies on the I-5 Freeway.
In calm times, Ft. Tejon is a great stop for those traveling the length of California – or the history buff seeking out a lesser-known spot to explore the California story.
Buildings such as the officers’ quarters, kitchen, bakery, jail, Civil War-era hospital and more are open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Especially in spring or autumn, the surrounding meadow looks more like Appalachia than Southern California, making it a great spot for photography!
Earth science buffs will remember Ft. Tejon as the epicenter of one of the largest earthquakes in United States history – the Jan. 9, 1857 earthquake that may have registered as high as Magnitude 8.2.
At the time, Southern California was still sparsely populated. But reports clearly point to a 220-mile surface scar along the San Andreas fault and powerful earth movement in Los Angeles to the south.
When Southern Californians speak of the feared “Big One,” they are usually referencing a repeat of this quake, which today would cause untold damage in the Los Angeles and Inland Empire areas and in desert communities, and would seriosuly disrupt supply lines.
Where the 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake was felt, based on historical records. A repeat today would be catastrophic!
Ft. Tejon today is part of Lebec, a town of about 1,000 people that includes a rare western U.S. Amish community.
The Amish here are Beachy Amish, following a less strict form of Anabaptism that allows for some modern conveniences, such as driving a car or having a home or business wired to electricity. And unlike the Old Order Amish common in Pennsylvania or Ohio, these Amish are less legalistic and worship in a way more akin to mainstream conservative Protestant Christianity. Still, the Beachy Amish of Lebec maintain a way of life that is quieter than the societal norm, making a living off of agriculture, animal husbandry or family-owned businesses.
The small country church in Lebec is a reminder of a kinder and gentler America. This small congregation has stayed true to the essential Christian message for more than a century. Photo by Daniel Coats
The visitor’s opportunity to observe this Amish community is limited. But you can enjoy the ambiance of an old country church, small-town post office, antique shop and other aspects of the more laid-back rural American life.
The western Antelope Valley and the Grapevine are at the northern border of Los Angeles County. It’s hard to believe that the miles of open spaces are actually part of L.A.! A reminder that the pristine, virgin scenery of California that the native peoples lived in and that the first Spaniard and American pioneers discovered still exists in many places. You just need to know where to look!
Beautiful spring colors visible on Good Friday 2024. Photo from Daniel Coats
Whether in late March or April, Easter falls within spring weather patterns, and in Southern California, that typically translates to either mild sunny days, cloudy and chilly but dry days, or some mixture of the two.
But over the generations, there have been some unique weather conditions that have greeted Southern Californians celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Christianity’s foremost annual holiday.
Looking specifically at my hometown of Riverside, where weather records have been kept since 1893, here are some of the most notable Easter conditions.
Rain
March 31, 2024, was the first Easter since April 16, 1995, when significant rain fell in Southern California.
Many lowland areas received between one and three inches of rain in a two-day storm, while up to two feet of snow fell in the mountains, creating a weatherscape that might seem more emblematic of Christmas than Easter.
It was also the second-coldest Easter daytime temperature on record, with a high of only 54°F.
For those old enough to remember, the sunrise services moved indoors were reminisicent of the situation in 1995, when snow snarled the mountain passes, high winds knocked out power in some areas and frozen precipitation was observed as low as 1,500 feet.
That Easter would mark the beginning of a very pivotal week in American history. On April 19, the Oklahoma City bombing would forever change America, marking an end to innocence and the arrival of terrorism on U.S. soil.
Other rainy Easters since World War II occurred in 1982, 1981, 1969, 1963, 1958, 1957, 1956 and 1950. But in many cases, those rainy days only had a few hundredths of an inch, often in the mornings amidst fog and low clouds that gave way to sunny (or partly sunny) afternoons.
At least in Riverside, the wettest (and coldest) Easter was March 27, 1910, when the high temperature was only 52°F and 0.94″ of rain fell.
Snow is visible on the San Bernardino Mountains on the Saturday before Easter in 2024. Photo by Daniel Coats
Cold
Cold and rain often go together in Southern California in spring – but not always.
On March 27, 1921, Easter morning was a chilly 33°F, with below freezing temperatures in many spots. But the afternoon was a sunny and warm day.
Of course, prior to the 1950s, cold nights were more the rule than not in Riverside, as the urban heat island had not yet developed since the land was mostly citrus groves, rather than cityscapes that trap in the heat of the day.
Heat
Since early/mid spring can also be a time for (usually gentle) Santa Ana winds that can quickly raise temperatures to summer-like highs, there have been some very hot Easters in the Southland as well.
The record for Riverside goes to Easter 1936, when the temperature was 98°F on April 12, 1936. It was also 95°F on Easter 1930 (April 20, 1930) and Easter 1962 (April 22, 1962). And on Easter 1961, it was 93°F, but the following day, it reached a downright hot 100°F.
A map showing where the 2010 Easter earthquake was felt.
The Easter Earthquake of 2010
On Easter 2010 (April 4, 2010), Southern Californians were rattled by a strong earthquake, which for many was the first quake they felt that originated outside of the Golden State.
The Magnitude 7.2 quake during the afternoon was centered in Baja California, and caused moderately extensive damage in Mexicali, and lighter damage in the Imperial Valley towns of Calexico and El Centro. It was felt widely in Southern California, Arizona, Nevada and other parts of the Southwest U.S.
Old timers might also remember the Good Friday earthquake of 1964 in Alaska. Though thousands of miles from Southern California, the quake (Magnitude 9.2) was one of the largest in recorded history, and was instrumentally detected around the world. Tsunamis were reported throughout the Pacific Rim, including in the Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego areas.
On March 8, Angel Studios’ latest movie, Cabrini, will be released. The screenplay is based on the true story of the first American to be named a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Francesca Xavier Cabrini. Timed for release on International Women’s Day, the movie highlights an often forgotten but pivotal character in women’s history, Italian American history and the American immigrant saga.
Born in Lombardy in 1850, Cabrini was orphaned at a young age, and was a frail young person. She planned to be a missionary in the Far East, but instead was urged by the pope to assist Italian immigrants that were coming to the Americas in large numbers in the late 19th century.
Arriving in New York City in 1889, Cabrini founded 67 missionary institutions to serve orphans, the sick and the impoverished, at a time when the government social safety net did not yet exist and when Italian immigrants were often looked on negatively in American society.
Cabrini died in 1917 in Chicago at age 67 and was cannonized as a saint by Pope Pius XII in 1946.
Cabrini’s Ties to Southern California
Before 1900, the United States was indeed a very large country, decades before air travel.
But Cabrini did visit the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles, founding the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart which then built the Villa Cabrini Academy, an all-girls Catholic school that operated from 1937 to 1970 (Kimber Tunis, daughter of Clint Eastwood, attended this school).
In 1916, Cabrini directed the construction of a small chapel in Burbank, atop Mount Raphael in the Verdugo Mountains. The chapel even served as a beacon for airplane pilots during the early years of aviation in the early 20th century.
The Cabrini Chapel in Burbank.
A Shrine to Cabrini in Burbank
Today, a shrine to Cabrini stands behind the St. Frances Xavier Church at 3801 Scott Road in Burbank, thanks to the tireless efforts of the Italian Catholic Federation in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
A special mass in Cabrini’s honor is held on the second Sunday in November each year, timed with Cabrini’s beatification date.
The shrine is also open between 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. every second Sunday of January, February, April, June, September, and November, or by special appointment.
The shrine includes a small library of works about Cabrini and her impact.
A visit to the Cabrini shrine in Burbank is a great way of exploring the Italian American experience and a great educational activity for those of any ethnicity, especially after watching the Cabrini movie.
In the 2020s, every metro area and even many small towns across the United States have one or more neighborhoods where homeowners join together each December to deck their neighborhood in a dazzling display of Christmas lights, tree-hung ornamentation and winter-themed displays.
Multitudes of locals and visitors alike frequent these seasonal destinations, enjoying the spirit of the season from the warmth of their automobiles or in the frosty air walking down the sidewalks.
But just a few generation, the concept of a residential district of Christmas decorations was unheard of.
The tradition began right here in Southern California, in the Los Angeles foothill suburb of Altadena to be exact, on a 0.7-mile boulevard of deodar cedar trees that lie at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Altadena’s founder, John Woodbury, and his brother Frederick, designed this area in the 1880s. Coming from Iowa and inspired by scenery witnessed on a trip to Europe, the developers planted some 150 conifers on Santa Rosa Avenue.
In 1920, when car culture was just getting started, the president of the Pasadena Chapter of Kiwanis convinced the City of Pasadena and homeowners to participate in a holiday lighting of the trees each December.
As motorists would drive through enjoying the beauty of a Southern California Christmas, they would marvel at the dazzling display of light visible from their car window.
Through the Great Depression, World War II, the postwar suburban boom, economic recessions, and both good times and hard times in between, the tradition has lived on through the generations.
By 1990, the annual display was added to the National Register of Historic Places, a testament to the impact this annual celebration has had on Southern California and the nation.
You might feel like you’re in the forest rather than in the L.A. suburbs at Christmas Tree Lane. And in a sense, you are…it’s just a few miles away from the mountain forests of the largely unspoiled San Gabriels. Photo from January 2024.
Your Visit to Christmas Tree Lane
Compared to today’s holiday spectaculars at theme parks and shopping malls, Christmas Tree Lane might not be as impressive for us as it was for our forebearers.
Still, visiting the neighborhood is a great way to get into the spirit of the season and learn about Christmas history at the same time.
And since the display goes on until Jan. 7, it can easily be added to a visit to the Tournament of Roses Parade or float preparation or post-event viewing.
If you go on a weekend, anticipate a lot of traffic, so you probably will have plenty of time to take in the full display from your car.
Or you might choose to walk the route. But if you do that, be careful, since there aren’t sidewalks.
Add in some music from KOST 103.5 to add to the holiday flavor and enjoy! This is a true California Christmas!
When international tourists visit Southern California, they usually flock to theme parks, landmarks and entertainment districts that most locals are over-familiar with. But occasionally, tourists are aware of a true gem that many natives no little about.
Such is the case with the City Hall of the city of Pasadena.
City Hall may not sound like your favorite destination. But in Pasadena, it’s a far cry from what you’ll see in any other city.
The 235-room, 200+ foot tall, 170,000-square-foot domed neoclassical and Italian-inspired edifice would be one of America’s grandest state capitols if it were the legislative halls of a state.
Instead, it’s the seat of government of a city of 135,000!
Photo from November 2023
The rose is the symbol of Pasadena, and it features prominently on the ceiling of the entryway to City Hall. Photo from November 2023
The Story Behind Pasadena’s Grand Civic Icon
Pasadena was incorporated in 1886, but for more than a generation, the growing Los Angeles County suburb was without a permanent home for city operations.
Things began to change in 1923, when the citizens of Pasadena approved a $3.5 million bond measure (a huge sum for the time) for the construction of an iconic civic center that would define the community as well as be the functional home for the mayor, city council, municipal departments and other functions.
The architectural firm Bakewell and Brown, which constructed San Francisco’s City Hall, was chosen to build Pasadena’s ornate masterpiece. And that’s why about the only rival for municipal civic architecture this building has in the U.S. is its counterpart in the City by the Bay.
The total cost was $1.3 million when the building was completed on Dec. 27, 1927, less than two years before the Great Depression would bring an abrupt end to the Roaring Twenties heyday.
Like many state and federal halls of government across the U.S., the Pasadena City Hall has a neoclassical revival style reminiscent of the grand buildings of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
But there is a particular and unique Renaissance Italian style here too, with the 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio serving as an inspiration. The basilicas of Florence and Venice are appropriate comparisons.
Up until the 2000s, this ornate and celebrated building did not have air conditioning (seriously!), a surprise for a relatively upscale suburb in a very hot climate.
Things have changed and a seismic retrofit has made the building much safer in case of an earthquake. But overall, Pasadena’s City Hall has changed little in the past century, retaining the grandeur that has made it a popular background for filmmakers since the Charlie Chaplin days.
Photo from November 2023
Photo from November 2023
Downtown Prague? Dublin? Vienna? Florence or Venice? No. This is Pasadena! Photo from November 2023
This shady oasis in the midst of the city is a centerpiece of American evangelicalism. Photo from November 2023
Visiting the Pasadena City Hall
Pasadena City Hall is a great spot for some photos on a picture-perfect Southern California day!
Plan to spend a good hour or so here, walking the grounds and finding the perfect spot.
Nearby churches, some with gothic or Celtic vibes, complement a scene that your friends will swear is from some European capital, not L.A. County!
An easy walk down Union Street to the east will take you to Fuller Theological Seminary, which dates to 1947 and is one of the foremost evangelical seminaries in the world. Chances are, Bible teachers you are familiar with studied or taught there!
Shopping and dining opportunities are legion on nearby Colorado Boulevard, making a visit to City Hall a perfect centerpiece of an afternoon (or longer).
The Moorish influence in the architecture of the fortress-style Mission San Gabriel is evident. Photo from July 2023.
In 2020, amidst a global pandemic and unprecedented unrest around the world, Southern California nearly lost one of its most valuable historic gems.
Mission San Gabriel, which dates back to 1771 and is the birthplace of modern Los Angeles County, suffered severe damage in an arson fire on July 11, 2020.
But it wasn’t the first time the centuries-old church has had brushes with catastrophe. Earthquakes in 1812 and 1987 caused extensive damage.
In summer 2023, for the first time in more than three years, Mission San Gabriel is again open to visitors as a museum as well as an active Roman Catholic congregation.
The classic Southern California mission façade at Mission San Gabriel. Photo from July 2023
Exploring the Birthplace of the Los Angeles Region
With a population of just under 40,000, the city of San Gabriel is small by L.A. standards. But the community built around the original Spanish mission is proud of its heritage and that it has witnessed every epoch of the Southern California story – from agriculture to cityhood to sprawling suburbia and present diversity.
In a climate of uncertain rainfall, irrigation has always been central to L.A.’s success, and it all started in San Gabriel.
The elaborate (for its time) early 19th century water delivery system can be seen in front of the mission, where the Chapman Millrace stands, which brought water from nearby springs to the upstart community, one of the first manifestations of the Industrial Revolution in California.
When the city of San Gabriel was incorporated in 1913, it had a population of only 1,500 people. The Mission District was the heart of the town, which today includes the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse, a century-old performing arts venue, and Spanish colonial revival civic buildings.
An historic site in its own right, the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse from the 1920s is memorable for its fountain and Spanish revival style. Photo from July 2023
A number of restaurants, including Luna’s Mexican eatery, make the downtown a perfect spot for lunch or dinner.
Free parking is available at the mission, near the playhouse when events are not being held, and on the street throughout the district.
The oldest home in L.A. County is in San Gabriel: the 1776 Rancho Las Tunas Adobe, one of three surviving adobe residences in the community.
More common are Victorian homes from the 19th century.
The Chapman Millrace, where California’s battle to bring water to its cities began. Photo from July 2023
Exploring Mission San Gabriel
Visitors to Mission San Gabriel are welcome to attend mass on the weekends or daily during the week.
Otherwise, you’re first stop will be the gift shop, where visitors can pay for admission for the tour ($15 for adults, $12 for seniors, and $10 for youths as of July 2023).
Consider purchasing your copy of an artist’s rendering of the mission as it appeared in the 1830s (available for $1). It truly provides a unique look at metropolitan Los Angeles as you have never seen it!
There are two cemeteries on the campus of Mission San Gabriel, the oldest being the Campo Santo Cemetery within the mission gates. It dates to 1778, making it the oldest cemetery in Los Angeles County, and is the resting place of Native Americans, Spanish priests and leaders, and others in L.A.’s early times.
The words of Job – from the oldest book in the Bible – gave comfort to generations at Mission San Gabriel. Photo from July 2023
Above the cemetery are the ruins of the original bell tower, which was damaged in the 1812 earthquake.
The church includes a pulpit believed to date to 1801, statuary from Spain from the 1790s, and a baptistry donated by King Carlos III of Spain.
Other exhibits honor the culture, arts and heritage of the Gabrieleno Indians and the ruins of early industrial sites, such as where candles and soaps were made for sale.
A replica of a traditional Spanish kitchen may interest those of Hispanic heritage who may recall family memories of earlier generations.
A living testament to California’s past is a 1775 grapevine that still produces grapes today. It is also a reminder of the timelessness of plants compared to the relatively short lifespan of humans.
Old and new mingle together in San Gabriel’s residential neighborhoods. Photo from July 2023
The home of San Gabriel’s famous vine. More than two centuries and still going strong! Photo from July 2023
San Gabriel is at the heart of one of the most vibrant Chinese-American and Taiwanese-American communities in the U.S., as evidenced in this photo of a traditional Chinese wedding on the grounds of Mission San Gabriel. Photo from July 2023
San Gabriel is a great destination in its own right. But for a longer or more action-packed day, it can easily be combined with a visit to Old Town Pasadena, The Huntington Library or Los Angeles County Arboretum.
A once-in-a-lifetime snowfall at the University of Redlands in February 2023.
If you were in Southern California over the past nine months, you’ve noticed the persistently chilly, cloudy and often rainy or snowy weather.
Even longtime residents often felt it was the coldest winter they had experienced.
And according to data from Riverside’s March Field, they weren’t wrong.
Official data from major cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego and the South Coast Metro reveal that 2022-2023 was in the top 10% of coldest winters, with data typically going back to the 19th century.
But that understates the coldness (by California standards) that occurred this past winter, because most weather reporting sites in the Southland metro are as much as 10°F warmer on an average winter night than a century ago due to the urban heat island effect.
Mile after mile of blacktop and concrete, with relatively few trees due to the typically dry climate of Southern California, made nights dramatically warmer between the 1950s and 1980s and continuing to present.
To get a true feel for how cold this past winter was in the natural environment, we need to look at weather records in places relatively unaffected by the urban heat island.
One such spot west of the mountains is Riverside’s March Field.
While warehouses are being built in that area in recent years, there remains significant agriculture and open lands, much more typical of the region in yesteryear.
There, 2,508 heating degree days have been recorded from July 1, 2022 to late June 2023.
A heating degree day is a measure of how cold it was on a given day or over a longer period by averaging the high and low temperature of each day and comparing it to 65°F.
So a typical Southern California winter day might be 68°F in the afternoon and 45°F at night. That would translate to eight heating degree days.
The most heating degree days reported in nearby Riverside (back before urbanization) was in 1949, when 2,521.50 was recorded. That was the year with the most widespread snowfall recorded west of the mountains. And that year had only 13.5 more heating degree days than this past winter (in other words, just one or two more cold days).
So if you felt this past winter was extraordinary, you were right!
Probably a lot more like the climate in the 1500s to early 1800s, when the Little Ice Age resulted in colder temperatures than usual in the past 2,000 years. Of course, we don’t have daily weather records from back then.
And It’s Been Cloudy Too
Cloud cover isn’t as quantifiable as temperature or rainfall.
But it makes a big difference in what the day-to-day weather feels like.
And over the past nine months, typically sunny Southern California has had a very different feel.
This data from San Diego is probably a bit cloudier than inland spots. But it gives a good look at what the situation has been like.
And San Diego really hasn’t been sunnier than major cities in the Great Lakes or Northeast this past year.
Where We Stand with Rainfall
2022-2023 wasn’t the wettest year on record in most places in Southern California. But it was among the top 10 in a lot of spots.
Recently, the water year has been redefined as October 1 to September 30.
But for those of us used to July 1 to June 30 as the water year, here’s where we stand at Downtown Los Angeles.
Wettest Seasons (Period: July 1 to June 30 of following year)
Riverside’s Heritage House decked out for Christmas in 2022.
In the 21st century, peace, prosperity and progress remain goals – often elusive – of many in the world. Ironically, a century and a half ago, these conditions largely existed globally.
During the Victorian era (1837-1901), global society, while far from perfect, developed rapidly in terms of social justice, economic wellbeing, medical advances, scientific achievement and world peace.
Despite their shortcomings, the Victorian generation truly left their world better than they found it.
Each May, many nations celebrate Victoria Day, the birthday of Britain’s most influential monarch and arguably the most impactful woman in human history. More geographic place names have been named after Queen Victoria than any other woman except for the Virgin Mary.
In Southern California, Victorian times spanned the region’s development from a largely unknown outpost of the Spanish Empire to a vital part of the United States.
Southern California may not have the world’s best examples of Victorian architecture, compared to Britain and other Commonwealth nations.
But there are still some great places for the history buff, antiquarian or architecturalist to visit to come face to face with Victoriana.
Here are five spots not to miss.
Carroll Avenue (Los Angeles)
The largest concentration of Victorian homes in the Los Angeles area is on Carroll Avenue in the older Angelino Heights neighborhood, northwest of downtown.
These homes are private residences and should be respected as such, but there are numerous examples of Victorian architecture that can be photographed from the exterior.
This 1891 Queen Anne Victorian home is one of the best examples of this architectural style in the United States. In late Victorian times, Riverside had the nation’s highest per capita income due to citrus industry wealth. And the city had a significant British expatriate population, memorialized in many of the street names.
Heritage House is open free of charge Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays except for July and August. The grounds are also a great place to relax while taking a walk or bicycle ride down Magnolia Avenue.
Each year, Heritage House hosts a number of special events, including a Dickensian-themed Christmas party each December and a springtime ice cream social.
South Orange County’s Victorian past is on display on four acres of land in Lake Forest, home to four restored buildings from 1863 to 1908: a Mexican adobe, an early schoolhouse, an early Episcopal church, and a turn-of-the-century farmhouse.
There is no admission fee and guided tours are available on Wednesdays and Saturdays, allowing visitors to access the buildings. At other times, only the grounds are open.
A Victorian home in Redlands. Photo from Pixabay
Kimberly Crest and Downtown Redlands
Perhaps no Southern California city has as much late 19th century architecture – in quantity and quality – as Redlands.
The foremost example is Kimberly Crest House & Gardens, which is locally famous as both a wedding and event venue and a historical point of interest.
On any day of the week, the house can be easily seen on the trails of Prospect Park, which itself is notable for dramatic vistas of the San Bernardino Valley below.
But a 45-minute tour is also available, with $15 adult admission. Tickets are available online.
An 1898 farmhouse displaying a mix of Queen Anne and Midwestern architectural styles still stands in the midst of heavily developed Huntington Beach.
Once home to one of Surf City’s founding families, the home is open to the public on the first and third weekends of each month.
This is a great historic stop to add to your next beach excursion!
For a complete listing of 86 Victorian era historic home museums in California, check out the list maintained by the Victorian Preservation Association of Santa Clara Valley.
These are great additions to a vacation or family or business trip to another city or an afternoon stop at that older home in your neighborhood you always see but have never explored.
After a surprisingly wet winter and epic snowfall, spring 2023 is already showing itself as incredibly gorgeous! This isn’t really a topic I can do justice to in words. So take a look at these photos. All images by Daniel Coats.
Explore Southern California 
