Byron Hot Springs is sometimes called the "Carlsbad of the West," after the famed European health spas. The resort hosted the famous, the wealthy, the infirm, and the curious alike during the early 20th century. The 160-acre property, in eastern Contra Costa County near the San Joaquin River, featured three grand hotels designed by renowned San Francisco architect James Reid. Amidst this stylish backdrop were prominent guests in 19th-century finery, early Hollywood royalty, Prohibition entertainments, mineral water "cures" for various ailments, and secret interrogations of World War II POWs...

The beautiful Brentwood area of Contra Costa County is the oldest continuously populated community in California inland from the great coastal centers. Californios eschewed this challenging portion of the Central Valley, so pioneering physician John Marsh
established a permanent settlement here in 1837 at his Rancho Los Meganos. Soon, the burgeoning viniculture, wheat, orchard, and cattle operations attracted many Gold Rush miners back to their original agricultural callings, now in the California Delta. The 1860s arrival of British agribusiness concern Balfour Guthrie Investment...