In this volume from Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series, the focus is on my hometown of Hanford, California. With heavy use of photographs and artwork, Roberts gathered together material on Hanford's earliest years with information on the Yokut Indians, exploration of the Central Valley, and early settlement. There's a great deal on other nearby settlements such as Kingston, which has since died to nothing, and the infamous Mussel Slough Tragedy with its shoot-out between settlers and representatives of the Southern Pacific Railroad. This volume ends on 1900.

The pictures are fascinating, especially those of downtown Hanford where I can recognize many buildings. My own family isn't relevant to this book--my grandparents' families didn't come to the area until the 1920s--but I love seeing the area as it once was. Arcadia Publishing has done an invaluable service in creating these books on small town America. ( )