“…In 1905, Sicilian immigrant Baldassare Forestiere sank his life savings into what he hoped to turn into a fruit orchard, but the trees wouldn’t take root in the hardpan. Devastated, he began working as a laborer in the searing heat of the Central Valley. Then, inspiration struck — he’d go underground to find relief. He’d helped dig subway tunnels in Boston, and he recalled the wine cellars and the catacombs in his homeland — all places cooler than at the surface.”

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