Towers of gold
Subtitle: how one Jewish immigrant named Isaias Hellman created California
By: Frances Dinkelspielances.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 376
ISBN-13: 9780312355265
Subjects: Hellman, Isaias W. -- 1842-1920; Jews -- California -- Los Angeles -- Biography; Jews, German -- California -- Los Angeles -- Biography; Jewish bankers -- California -- Los Angeles -- Biography; Capitalists and financiers -- California -- Los Angeles -- Biography; Banks and banking -- California -- History -- 19th century; Banks and banking -- California -- History -- 20th century
Genres: Biography.
Description: Isaias Hellman, a Jewish immigrant, arrived in California in 1859 with little money in his pocket and his brother Herman by his side. By the time he died, he had effectively transformed Los Angeles into the modern metropolis we see today. In Frances Dinkelspeil's groundbreaking history, the early days of California are seen through the life of a man who started out as a simple store owner only to become California's premier money man of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Growing up as a young immigrant, Hellman quickly learned the use to which capital could be put, founding Los Angeles's Farmers and Merchants Bank, that city's first successful bank, and transforming Wells Fargo into one of the West's biggest financial institutions. He invested money with Henry Huntington to build trolley lines, lent Edward Doheny the funds that led him to discover California's huge oil reserves, and assisted Harrison Gray Otis in acquiring full ownership of the Los Angeles Times. Hellman led the building of Los Angeles's first synagogue, the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, helped start the University of Southern California, and served as Regent of the University of California. His influence, however, was not limited to Los Angeles. He controlled the California wine industry for almost 20 years, and after San Francisco's devastating 1906 earthquake and fire, calmed the financial markets there in order to help that great city rise from the ashes. With all of these accomplishments, Isaias Hellman almost single-handedly brought California into modernity. - Jacket flap.

Traces the life of the savvy capitalist and banking guru whose life reflected the development of modern California, tracing his role in the construction of such organizations as the LA Times, USC, and the Wilshire Boulevard Temple.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Panic; title: New names, new lives; title: Coming to Los Angeles; title: A safe and a dream; title: Marriage; title: The farmers and Merchants Bank; title: The railroad; title: Prosperity; title: Transformation; title: The Nevada Bank; title: A death threat; title: Trolleys and water; title: Betrayal; title: Wells Fargo; title: Earthquake and fire; title: Graft and cash; title: Change; title: War and anti-semitism; title: The light fades; title: Epilogue; title: Notes.