Semi-Tropical L.A.: How the Sunny Southland Sold Itself

When the transcontinental railroad reached Southern California in 1876, it connected Los Angeles with the population centers and markets of the eastern U.S., fueling a boom that transformed a remote cowtown into a city. It also fueled a powerful promotional machine that promised more about Southern California – and its “semi-tropical” climate – than reality could support. Los Angeles has been struggling under the weight of its own mythology ever since.