Ken McKowen - Best of Californias Missions, Mansions, and Museums: A Behind-the-Scenes Guide to the Golden States Historic and Cultural Treasures

Praise for

Best of CALIFORNIAS Missions, Mansions, and Museums

This guide is essential for anyone who wants to experience Californias missions, mansions, and museums. It is full of little vignettes that inspire, educate, and enlighten the reader. Dahlynn and Ken McKowen have done a masterful job.

Donald Murphy, former director, California State Parks

This comprehensive travel guide to Californias rich diversity of historic and cultural treasures is a must for anyone interested exploring the Golden State in-depth. It will prompt locals and tourists alike to not only read about these scenic and historic attractions, but to visit them as well.

Christopher Craig, editor , Encyclopedia of San Francisco, a project of the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society

Wilderness Presss new publication, Best of Californias Missions, Mansions, and Museums , is a wonderful addition to their list of well-known publications. This is the best guide I have seen on a behind-the-scenes look at the Golden States historic and cultural treasures. This book will make you want to get off your butt, jump into your car, disregard gas prices, and take a long sabbatical to check out all the wonders that California has to offer. A wonderful addition to a travelers collection.

Jay Aldrich, Tourism & Public Relations, Autry National Center

Californians have always looked within themselves, beyond themselves, and to each other for inspiration. This book will help you find the true heart of Californiayesterday, today, and tomorrow. Even California natives will find someplace new to discover and explore in this book. In its pages you come to realize that art, architecture, and inspiration are all around us.

Joe DAlessandro, president and CEO, San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau

Best of Californias Missions, Mansions, and Museums:

A Behind-the-Scenes Guide to the Golden States Historic and Cultural Treasures

1st EDITION 2006

3rd printing 2015

Copyright 2006 by Ken & Dahlynn McKowen

Front cover photos copyright 2006 by Ken McKowen (left and middle) and Ed Cooper (right)

Back cover photos copyright 2006 by Ken McKowen

Interior photos, except where noted on page vii, by Ken McKowen

Maps: Bart Wright (Lohnes + Wright)

Book and cover design: Larry B. Van Dyke

Book editor: Eva Dienel

Library of Congress Card Number: 2006022076y

ISBN-13: 978-0-89997-398-2

Manufactured in The United States of America

Visit our website for a complete listing of our books and for ordering information.

Distributed by Publishers Group West.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations used in reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McKowen, Ken.

Best of Californias missions, mansions, and museums : a behind-the-scenes guide to the Golden States historic and cultural treasures / Ken and Dahlynn McKowen.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-89997-398-1

1. Historic buildingsCaliforniaGuidebooks. 2. Historic sitesCaliforniaGuidebooks. 3. Spanish mission buildingsCaliforniaGuidebooks. 4. MansionsCaliforniaGuidebooks. 5. MuseumsCaliforniaGuidebooks. 6. CaliforniaGuidebooks. 7. CaliforniaHistory, Local. I. McKowen, Dahlynn. II. Title.

F862.M38 2006

917.940454dc22

2006022076

We dedicate this book to our children, Dahlynns son, Shawn, and daughter, Lahre, and Kens son, Jason, all of whom are native-born Californians. We also dedicate this book to those die-hard travelers who love the open road as much as we do.
Enjoy!

W hen we embarked on our journey to write Best of Californias Missions, Mansions, and Museums , we were aware that it would be a collaborative effort. And we were right. During our total of nearly four months on the road driving some 10,000 miles, we met many dozens of wonderful, dedicated people and visited more missions, mansions, and museums than most people will in their lifetimes.

Our collaboration began with the talented staff at Wilderness Press. Wed like to thank managing editor Roslyn Bullas, who quickly understood what we wanted to accomplish with our book, and Eva Dienel, for her skillful editing and concise attention to detail, always asking for just a little more background or explanation when we over-assumed that our readers would certainly know about some piece of Californias history. Of course, we cant forget the sales and marketing savvy of Heather Harrison and Laura Keresty, who are helping to make our book successful, as well as the creative talents of Larry Van Dyke, this books designer, and the rest of the staff at WP.

Best of Californias Missions, Mansions, and Museums wouldnt exist if it werent for the hundreds of historical destinations in California. And the hundreds of missions, mansions, and museums would not exist if it werent for the thousands of dedicated professionals, docents, volunteers, and the local communities who keep the collections protected and the doors open. Staff from so many of the historic homes, missions, and museums that we included were especially helpful providing tours, fact checks, photos, and other assistance as we developed the manuscript. Museum closures, traffic worse than we had planned for in Southern California, late-season Sierra snowstorms, or, quite often, a new mansion or museum that we discovered during our travels frequently changed our planned travel schedule. The result was that many people became our collaborators on very short notice, with some going well beyond the call of duty, including Clancy DAngelo, for his help in securing photo releases for the many missions operating under the Diocese of Monterey; Joanne Steele, for her die-hard assistance with Siskiyou County officials; and last, the Franciscan Friars of the Old Mission San Luis Rey, for their help and permission in using the photos of their mission.

We would especially like to thank Roy Stearns and John Arnold at California State Parks for helping us gain access to the many state historic parks, and Lynette Hernandez for greatly simplifying the photography requirements within most of the state park units.

Considering we were on the road for a total of nearly four months visiting more than 200 destinations, we cannot forget to thank our good neighbor Bill Falkenstein for watching our home and feeding our two dogs. It was wonderful to come home to a well-watered, green yard and two happy and well-fed dogs! (Bill spoils them.)