The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Spring 1984, Volume 30, Number 2
Thomas L. Scharf, Managing Editor

Book Notes

Raymond Starr, Book Reviews Editor

The Capital that Couldn’t Stay Put: The Complete Book of California’s Capitols. By June Oxford. San Jose: Smith McKay Printing Co., 1983. Illustrations. Bibliography. Index. $9.95 Paper.

The recent highly praised restoration of the California state capitol building in Sacramento has brought a burst of interest in that building. San Diegans have been especially interested because of the leadershop role of San Diego’s state senator, James Mills, in the remodeling project. June Oxfords’s highly readable The Capital That Couldn’t Stay Put should satisfy some of that recent interest. It details the story of all of California’s state capitals, culminating in the present building and its restoration. About a third of the book is on the current building and its remodeling; the rest is on the other capitals and capitols-San Jose, Vallejo, Benicia, and Sacramento. The text is broader than just a history of the buildings, and is made even more interesting by the illustrations. Capital That Couldn’t Stay Put would be a fine companion for someone visiting the capitol in Sacramento.