I'm not sure why I started to get excited about California State Historical Markers. Any real motorcyclist will tell you that our hobby is not about arriving somewhere, but in the getting somewhere. Coupled with the fact that I'm a die-hard history buff, historical markers seems like the perfect wedding between my love of motorcycles and history.

People are always curious about our hobby, and we often meet new and sometimes strange people on our journeys to new and sometimes strange places. SHL markers are one of the ways that I can keep track of some of my journeys.

Resources

• Donald Laird has visited many more sites than I have (he probably visited more sites than anybody has) and was the inspiration for my own website. He doesn't respond to email, but you can browse his collection of SHL markers at http://www.sonic.net/~laird/landmarks/.
• On Don's site you'll see a link to "California Historical Landmarks", edited by Linda McDonald and Carol Cullens. I don't have this book but would gladly accept a donation.   ;-)
• I use Discover Historic California by George and Jan Roberts. This book breaks California down into regions (each with a rough map) and lists historic and/or fun places to go in each region along with contact info, directions and a short synopsis. This includes all the SHL markers. I recommend this book to Californians who are history buffs and like off-beat or funky outings.

The Markers

Site trivia: I think this might be the first page I ever used PHP on.

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