Charlie has published two Los Angeles history books:
by Charles J. Fisher
Highland Park: Images of America
Founded during the 1886 land boom in Southern California midway between the cities of Los Angeles and Pasadena, the original Highland Park Tract was part of the Rancho San Rafael. Highland Park was the first town to be annexed by Los Angeles, but it nonetheless retains a strong sense of its own identity and has taken a fiercely independent path. The community prides itself on its unique history, architecture, and diversity, and it has always been the home of artists and writers. One such resident was Charles Fletcher Lummis, who helped to preserve the history and culture of the land he dubbed “the Southwest.”
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by Charles J. Fisher
Garvanza: Images of America
Named for the garbanzo bean that Julio Verdugo raised on his Rancho San Rafael, the town of Garvanza was laid out by Ralph Rogers in 1886. The community soon became a haven for artists and others seeking a refuge from the growing urban life of Los Angeles. Early institutions included the Church of the Angels and the Judson Studios, founded by painter William Lees Judson to create art through stained glass. The town’s identity was eventually overtaken by neighboring Highland Park, but the community name was reestablished in the 1990s by today’s residents, who are as in love with its beauty as those 110 years earlier.
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