Benicia Historical Books

$19.95

Available at:

• Bookshop Benicia, 636 First Street, Benicia, CA
• Museum of History Benicia, 2024 Camel Road, Benicia, CA
• Amazon.com

In 1879, the Central Pacific Railroad constructed the ferry Solano to transport entire freight and passenger trains, as well as individual passenger cars, between Benicia and Port Costa. At that time, the Solano was the largest vessel of its kind in the world. In 1914, the Southern Pacific Railroad Company took over the Central Pacific, and the increasing population and travel demand prompted the addition of the ferry Contra Costa in the same year. The Contra Costa was slightly larger and wider than the Solano, earning the title of the largest ferry in the world. 

Throughout its 50 years of service, the Solano ferry carried over 100,000 passenger cars and 50,000 train cars. Both the Solano and Contra Costa ferries were retired on October 15, 1930, coinciding with the opening of the Benicia-Martinez railroad drawbridge.

$25.95

Available at:

• Bookshop Benicia, 636 First Street, Benicia, CA
• Museum of History, 2024 Camel Road, Benicia, CA
• Alibi Bookshop, 624 Marin Street, Vallejo, CA
• Sausalito Books by the Bay, 100 Bay Street, Sausalito, CA
• Amazon.com

In the 19th Century, Matthew Turner was known for building some of the fastest schooners and racing yachts in the world. He also developed the Bermuda Sail, which was well-suited to the weather conditions of the Pacific Ocean. This book recounts the adventurous life of Matthew Turner and the formidable challenges faced by the crews of his ships. The narratives feature encounters with cannibals, scientific explorations hindered by ice, and a direct strike from a meteor.

Matthew Turner obtained a master mariner certificate by the age of 18 and designed his own ship at the age of 22. This marked the beginning of Turner's career which spanned six decades, during which he built 265 sailing vessels, 184 built in Benicia, showcasing the story of a remarkable man.

$23.95

Available at:

• Bookshop Benicia, 636 First Street, Benicia, CA
• Museum of History, 2024 Camel Road, Benicia, CA
• Amazon.com

The Clock Tower was an Army's Storehouse, a three-story sandstone fortress built in 1859. What is now renowned as a treasured event hall was once an ominous fortress perched high upon Army Point overlooking an important water passage east of San Francisco. Replete with cannon ports, lookout towers, musket loophole windows and a crenelated roof designed for howitzers, it served as a warning to would be attackers. The Army Benicia Arsenal log from the era and current day accounts reveal an interesting journey into the history of what is known today as "The Clock Tower."

Still standing today as a two story building, the Clock Tower is a venue for community events, trade shows, art shows, weddings, crab feeds, and fundraisers.

$21.99

Available at:

• Bookshop Benicia, 636 First Street, Benicia, CA
• Ace Hardware, 830 Southampton Rd, Benicia, CA
• Museum of History, 2024 Camel Road, Benicia, CA
• Amazon.com

In February 1853, Benicia was chosen as the third capital of the new state of California. The Senate Chambers were on the first floor, and the Assembly met on the second floor. In addition, there were several committee rooms.  In 1854 the building also housed the State Treasury since no wooden structure was considered safe for this purpose.  Historians record that there were good wooden sidewalks from the Capitol building to the town so the building could be reached dry-shoed in all seasons.

Along with San Jose, Vallejo and Sacramento, Benicia had been vying for the honor of hosting the legislature, and competition was fierce. Benicia was not the first choice, nor did it have what many politicians considered critical amenities, but it had something the others didn't: a beautiful, Greek-style capitol building available for use. Political rivalries and land disputes would eventually cause Sacramento to be awarded the capital, but for nearly thirteen months, Benicia held that distinction.

Today, the building is a Benicia Capitol State Historical Park.

$23.99 

Available at:

• Bookshop Benicia, 636 First Street, Benicia, CA
• Ace Hardware, 830 Southampton Rd, Benicia, CA
• Museum of History Benicia, 2024 Camel Road, Benicia, CA
• Amazon.com

The Benicia Arsenal served the US Army in the West for 117 years. Located at a strategic location between the San Francisco Bay and the interior of California, the military reservation began as cavalry barracks. During the Civil War, the arsenal was the logistics headquarters of the California Volunteers, a force that replaced the Army units that went east to fight. In the later 19th century, the arsenal supported missions in Russia, Hawaii, and South America. The 20th century took the arsenal from the horse-and-buggy era to Nike missiles and provided support during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. During World War II, half the workforce was made up of women, and in the postwar period, as the Army integrated, so did the arsenal. The arsenal closed in 1964, and the land was converted into an industrial park that now houses over 300 companies.

$24.99

Available at:

• Bookshop Benicia, 636 First Street, Benicia, CA
• Ace Hardware, 830 Southampton Rd, Benicia, CA
• Museum of History Benicia, 2024 Camel Road, Benicia, CA
• Amazon.com

A special Bay light falls on beautiful Benicia, on the north shore of the Carquinez Strait. Two U.S. citizens, Robert Semple and Thomas Larkin, bought the land from Mexican Army General Mariano Vallejo for $100 and the promise to name it for Vallejo's wife in 1847. The next year a customer at Von Pfister's Benicia waterfront store let slip the secret of the gold discovery at Sutter's Mill. Benicia's deep water harbor attracted P acific Mail and Steamship Company, the first major California industry, the famous Matthew Turner shipyards, tanneries, and the Central Pacific Railroad, which made Benicia its transcontinental terminus. State legislators made the town their third state capital in 1853.

That oldest surviving capitol building still stands along with many historic buildings, including the stately structures of a U.S. military base that began with the Benicia Barracks in 1849 and continued to serve until 1964.

$19.95 

Available at:

• Bookshop Benicia, 636 First Street, Benicia, CA
• Museum of History Benicia, 2024 Camel Road, Benicia, CA
• Amazon.com

James J. Corbett and Joe Choynski were destined to spill each other's blood.

In the beginning, the boxing legends were simply two lads scratching and clawing to find their way in the world. They grew up a mile apart on San Francisco's mean streets during the 1880s. Soon, San Francisco wasn't big enough for the two-up-and-coming pugilists. Locals clamored for an illegal "fight to the finish" to determine who was the city's best boxer.   The Corbett-Choynski feud resulted in arguably the most savagely contested fight in the annals of boxing history -- an epic, twenty-seven round brawl under the blistering California sun on a barge anchored near the sleepy port town of Benicia. 

$24.99

Available at:

• Bookshop Benicia, 636 First Street, Benicia, CA
• Museum of History Benicia, 2024 Camel Road, Benicia, CA
• Amazon.com

The Powder Magazine at the Benicia Arsenal was built in 1857 using over 90 men of different nationalities, most of them Irish. Many of the interesting facts are summarized from the Army Benicia Arsenal log from the 1850s, not previously researched in detail. The Powder Magazine is unique because of its design and materials. Local sandstone was used to construct four-foot-thick walls. Beautiful, vaulted ceilings and carved capitals on the pillars reflect the stone mason's skill and creativity. Truly Benicia's little-known gem!

$6.99 

Available at:

• Museum of History Benicia, 2024 Camel Road, Benicia, CA
• Amazon.com

The Benicia Arsenal in Benicia, California is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. During America's Civil War, Benicia's arsenal supplied the California Volunteers and the regular troops of the San Francisco region. James Lessenger's brief history of the arsenal and the Commanding Officer's Quarters (COQ)documents not only the early days of this historic site, but also describes efforts to preserve and to restore the COQ. A "References" section is of help for those who wish to read more about the period, and to learn about the restoration of the COQ. An appendix lists the commanding officers who resided in the COQ. 

$11.00

Available at:

• Museum of History Benicia, 2024 Camel Road, Benicia, CA
• Amazon.com

Written in 1980, Richard Dillon's Benicia has the people, schools, industries, and drama of early California. The State Capitol and Camel Barn represent chapters in the grand story of California filled with characters like Robert Semple, Mariano Vallejo and Thomas Larkin and many others. Since the book is 45 years old, some of the history has been found to be inaccurate, but still encompasses the story of Benicia.

$19.99 

Available at:

• Museum of History Benicia, 2024 Camel Road, Benicia, CA
• Amazon.com

Benicia, a city on the Straits of Carquinez north of San Francisco, was an important place in early California history. It was a gold rush town, site of a major United States arsenal and briefly the capital of California. However, subsequent growth in the Bay Area largely by-passed Benicia, resulting in a town that by 1976 was largely intact but mostly hidden in plain sight beneath faded paint and later additions. When the Historic American Building Survey came to town in that year, the result was a remarkable recovery of the history of the place and a new appreciation of its architectural heritage, and a pioneering study of nineteenth century California architecture and urbanism. This book of 158 pages describes many of the historical buildings, including pictures, in the town of Benicia. 

$24.95

Available at:

• Amazon.com

Sweet Success tells a story, a vivid narrative of a California company town - Crockett - as it evolved in the 20th century. It weaves a rich tapestry of Italian immigrants, women, and industry, forging a vital community. Crockett succeeded more than most, leaving a legacy of stories and vintage cake recipes.

$39.95

Available at:

• Amazon.com

This book chronicles the evolution of the Navy's first west coast hospital, the Mare Island Naval Hospital, as it grew from a "palatial" but primitive facility in the 1860s to the Navy's premier amputee center for Marines and sailors returning from the brutal Pacific war. Located in the Navy's largest California shipyard, the hospital benefited from healthful California weather. Navy Yard engineering and mechanical skills helped create the Navy's first ambulance boats, and in World War II, the best limb prostheses available. Hospital commanders skillfully balanced their obligations as naval officers and as physicians to provide the best possible care for their charges.

$39.99

Available at:

• Amazon
• Abe Books

A very nice pictorial history of Martinez, California from 1850-1980s. A large format book containing 96 pages.  inside the front cover is another booklet on the John Muir National Historic Site. Book is out of print.