ROSS CALIFORNIA — THE PEOPLE, THE PLACES, THE HISTORY

This first, comprehensive history of the Town of Ross and the surrounding valley was the research and writing project of a small group of Moya-RHS board members/historians for over four years. This 210 page book is beautifully hard-bound and full of historical stories, rediscovered facts, and in-depth profiles of the people who pioneered the Ross Valley as early as the 1850's. Over 120 rare, early Ross Valley photos and historic maps illustrate the book. 

The mission began with the desire to preserve for future generations the already fading history of our town, before the facts became untraceable. Information in the book was researched at many California institutions, historical libraries and societies. The six authors/researchers—Bob Battersby, Preston Maginis, Susan Nielsen, Gary Scales, Richard Torney, and Ed Wynne—scoured public records and historic documents and spoke with numerous locals to track down the stories, freely contributing their time, materials and skills. In an outreach letter to the community, they were able to raise enough money to pay for a limited first edition printing of 1,500 copies. 

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In honor of the 2008 Centennial of the Town of Ross, the Moya Library-Ross Historical Society released the book to the public on May 2, 2008 at the Marin Art and Garden Center's Livermore Room, with a presentation by the authors. The authors gave special recognition to Carla Ehat, a longtime Moya Library member as well as founding member of the Ross Historical Society, who had started work on the book so many years ago.

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We are delighted to have finally accomplished our goal to preserve the Town's history for future generations. We are proud to say that the book has turned out to be informative, entertaining and quite beautiful.   See a few sample pages here.