History Happened Here — Right Where You’re Standing!

Exploring California’s Historic Landmarks: Central California Edition is your guide to the stories, places, and people that shape the state’s heartland. This volume features 372 state-registered landmarks across 20 counties, ranging from Spanish missions and frontier settlements to historic exploration and engineering marvels that continue to influence California and the world today.

Designed for travelers, history buffs, educators, and explorers, this book offers detailed write-ups, official plaque texts, and GPS coordinates to help you find and understand each landmark—be it in deep in Yosemite Valley, at the edge of a lantern-lit railroad depot, or along a sun-dusted vineyard backroad.

Organized by county, this guide enables you to explore Central California’s past, including native heritage, transportation, military history, architecture, and more. Whether you’re planning a road trip, chasing down a specific site, or curious about what happened just beyond the next curve in the road, it’s all in here.

With a deep love for California’s landscapes and layered past, author Shawn E. Bell invites you to rediscover Central California — one landmark at a time.