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History, San Diego, Surprising and Strange, Weather April 8, 2021

The man who made it rain, rain, rain in 1916

Charles Hatfield made it rain 105 years ago in San Diego. The only problem was he couldn’t make it stop. A deep dive through the San Diego Historical Society archives courtesy of the OB Rag reveals the legend and facts surrounding this strange, and wet, episode of local history. And, as they said about Liberty Valance, when the legend becomes fact, print the legend. Since…

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California, History, Opinion, Riverside County, The World, Tourism December 6, 2020

Old West theme parks paint a false picture

In 1940, just a year before Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into a world war, Walter and Cordelia Knott began construction on a notable addition to their thriving berry patch and chicken restaurant in the Orange County, California, city of Buena Park. This new venture was an Old West town celebrating both westward expansion and the California Dream – the notion that this Gold…