As a resident of California for nearly a quarter of a century, I’ve come to realize that each geographic area has it’s own rich, unique history.
While California lacks the old world feel of the East Coast and Europe, it does have a fun history full of wild frontier, gold and adventure that has blossomed into a state economy hinged on agriculture, film and technology.
The first Spanish missionaries arrived in California in the 1700s, but the land didn’t become a U.S. territory until 1847, as part of the treaty ending the Mexican-American War. Not even a year later, the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill inspired a wave of settlers to head to the West Coast in search of fortune. In fact, California’s population leaped from 14,000 to 250,000 in only four years after the discovery of gold.
On Sept. 9, 1850, California became the 31st state in the country, and today it is the third largest state behind Alaska and Texas. With millions of acres of farmland, California leads the U.S. in agricultural production.
Today, California ranks as the 8th largest economy in the world, and has a population over 38 million.
I’m proud to be a longtime resident of this beautiful, diverse state, and even prouder to be helping others discover the California dream through real estate.
For you visual types, check out this amazing California time lapse video from Hal Bergman.
(Information gathered from www.historychannel.com.)
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