The lyrics were written by Francis Beatty Silverwood (1863–1924), a Los Angeles clothier,[1][2] and the words were subsequently put to music by Abraham Franklin Frankenstein (1873–1934),[3] then conductor of the Orpheum Theatre Orchestra,[4] with an inaugural performance by Mary Garden.

Frankenstein was a cousin of the San Francisco Chronicle's long-time music and art critic Alfred V.

[5] The song was published by Hatch & Loveland, Music Printers, Los Angeles, California,[6] and copyrighted by F.B.

The renowned soprano wrote on stationery from the Hotel Alexandria in Los Angeles: Dear Mr. Silverwood: I am proud to be the first to sing your most beautiful song in public — and I hope for it a wonderful success here in California and everywhere!

Sincerely, Mary Garden[citation needed] "I Love You, California" was played aboard the steamship Ancon, which on August 14, 1914, became the first merchant ship to pass through the Panama Canal.

The song also serves as the theme music for the state’s public television human interest series “California’s Golden Parks”, presented by Huell Howser.

Chorus When the snow crowned Golden Sierras Keep their watch o'er the valleys bloom, It is there I would be in our land by the sea, Every breeze bearing rich perfume.

The judges were Benjamin Franklin Field (1868–1960), chairman of the federation and chairman of the committee of judges, Grace Atherton Dennen (1874–1927), editor and publisher of The Lyric West,[11] and Blanche Robinson (Mrs. Martin Hennion Robinson) (née Williams; 1883–1969), composer.

[12] The judges selected Mary Lennox of San Francisco on January 17, 1922, as the winner was "California, Sweet Homeland of Mine": You're the land at the foot of the rainbow, Where the great pot of treasure was spilled That is fashioned anew by the sunshine and dew, Into marvels of bright hopes fulfilled; You're land where each fair trail leads homeward, 'Neath the palm of the sheltering pine California, sweet homeland of mine.