The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
TODAY’S QUESTION: In your opinion, what part of our history in the Bay Area gets totally overlooked?
The Water Cooler – What Part Of Our Local History Gets Totally Overlooked?
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Why the state capitol was moved from Benicia to Sacramento. It was because a rich guy wanted it up in Sacramento. I looked that up after I found out years ago that Benicia was the original capitol. Also Martinez incorporated twice because the first time it wasn’t done correctly. I’m sure other may want to fill in more of the details.
The way I heard it, before the Legislature met in Benicia, Sacramento businessmen rented all the hotel rooms in Benicia. When the Legislature gathered, but couldn’t get rooms, those businessmen told them that there were plenty of rooms in Sacramento.
Originally, Benicia was to be named Francisca, after General Vallejo’s wife. They decided on
her middle name, Benicia, to avoid confusion with San Francisco.
Almost all of it. For example, how many people even know the history of the San Francisco Bay? It was discovered by Sir Francis Drake in 1579. Before its discovery, ships would sail right past the opening at the Golden Gate because it was covered in fog, and they didn’t see
it. During the gold rush, ships and barges would leave the bay and sail up the Sacramento River, bringing supplies to the miners and prospectors. By the way, Sacramento is named for the holy sacrament. San Francisco’s original name was Yerba Buena (it means good herb.)
It was changed to San Francisco in 1847 in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi.
Did you know that about 1/3 of the bay is land fill? All of the Embarcadero, which includes
the Ferry Building, and Fisherman’s Wharf, is land fill. The bay used to go up to Montgomery
Street, and they blasted out a good chunk of Telegraph Hill so they could build Treasure
Island to use for the 1939-1940 World’s Fair. Golden Gate Park is man made, built entirely
on sand dunes. The entire Sunset District is built on sand dunes, the beach used to go up
to 19th Ave. Numerous cities on the peninsula such as Foster City, Sunnyvale, and
Redwood City are built on landfill, including SFO.
Many people believe it was the 1906 earthquake that destroyed the city, they are mistaken, it was the fire. The earthquake caused the gas lines to break, which in turn ignited the fires. The water mains also broke, and consequently the fire dept could not extinguish the fires.
My favorite historical event is that at one time Concord was known as Drunken Indian.
San Francisco was farms and Cemetaries in the old days.If you go to the bay,thousands of old headstones are the rocks lining the bay from when they moved all those bodies.
The many buildings, and skyscrapers that make up the city’s financial district, and the Embarcadero, were built over sunken ships. After the gold rush, many ships were abandoned, some were intentionally sunk by their owners, and others were left there to
rot. When the city began filling in the bay, they left the ships there and covered them.
The Old Ship Saloon on Pacific Ave was built over a sunken ship, they have a marker
on the sidewalk, indicating where the ship’s remains are.
It was originally thought that Drake entered the bay and and docked where Sausalito is.
That theory was later debunked as the ship was located where Drake’s Beach is today by
description of the surrounding terrain. Drake never entered the bay, as mariners of the day
avoided the California coast, as it was a dangerous rocky challenge not to be taken. It is the
most plausible explanation including the afore mentioned fog, and the fact that the Golden
Gate was only 1 mile across making it practically invisible to the wary sailors staying well
offshore..
The bay was discovered by the Portola overland expedition(1769) looking for a route to
confront the Russians who had been fur trapping in the region, well north of the Golden
Gate. They turned back to Monterey and set up further exploration by De Anza (1776)
who founded the Presidio and Mission Dolores that year. Lt Jose Joaquin Moraga stayed
behind as the 1st Commandant of the Presidio.
1776 was also the year that the first European ship sailed through the Golden Gate (Ayala).
The Sacramento Northern Railway.
It’s why the CVS in Walnut Creek is at such an odd angle to Olympic Blvd.
the BART tracks follow it in some places.
There used to be a train stop plus oil station in what is now the parking lot for CVS. The trains would stop in Walnut Creek to top off the oil, which also allowed people to get on and off. My grandmother was living in Martinez and teaching at Walnut Creek Grammar school which was on South Main at Botelho. She would take the train to Walnut Creek and walk to the school. One day she chatted with a guy who it turned out worked in Martinez and lived in Walnut Creek on the hill that overlooked the oil station and adjacent to the hill the school was on. They agreed to swap the deeds to their houses. She moved to Walnut Creek and had a two block walk to school and he moved to Martinez. Our Martinez house was on the west side and up the hill. I don’t know if he walked.
Not totally but is largely overlooked imho – our important role in support of USA’s involvement in WW2. Ship / submarine fabrication, numerous airfields shore batteries, port of SF and Oakland were major troop transportation hubs, etc.
The history of contra costa county fire and how it has grown over time.
The history of the old freight train that crossed over
Monument, serviced lumber yard at Bancroft/Hookston, crossed over Treat and through Walnut Creek.
Those railroad track crossings at Bancroft and the Hookston area were very rough hard for me to get my bicycle loaded down with the San Fransisco Examiner over them in the 70’s.I delivered all the way from Countrywood to Ruebens Plankhouse and Brueners furniture to Walnut Creek Manor and the Hookston neighborhood and down Mayhew.My route was enormous.Thank you Mr. Freymuth.Rest well.
Oops- San Francisco.
Mount Diablo Mercury Mine (Marsh Creek Road Abandoned Dump) Superfund Site Clayton, California Removal Action Administrative Record Index Released: 02/11/2009
This administrative record is available for viewing at the Superfund Records Center in San Francisco and the Clayton Community Library, 6125 Clayton Road, Clayton, CA 94517
I went in that mine around 25 years ago. There was a shaft in the flat area that was about 75′-100′ deep. It had a nice strong looking ladder so we went down, got to the bottom and there was a baby rattlesnake that we had to maneuver around. There was one tunnel heading in the direction of the mountain. The farther we went the condition got worse and worse. The timbering was falling part and rotten and it looked like water had been flowing through it at one time. We used to do a lot of mine exploring and this was one of the worst we’ve been in. We turned around after a hundred yards or so and never went back.
Two things people often forget about. One, the building of the Concord Naval Weapons Station during WW2. Many local farmers and ranchers were forced to sell their properties by our government. One of these was my great grandfather who owned 250 acres at the top of Willow Pass Road…Dietrich Pramberg. Luckily, he was able to relocate in San Ramon on 320 acres, but had to change from farming to mostly ranching cattle. Two, many folk have already forgotten the Port Chicago explosion of 1944, killing 320 sailors and injuring over 390. My family hadn’t been forced off the ranch yet. My grandmother was a registered nurse and authorities came out to the ranch to take her to the Concord Hospital, then just an old house, where many injured sailors were brought like other hospitals in the area. My grandmother remembered working over 12 hours, sewing up sailors. She remembered the floor was covered in blood like a war zone. They ran out of either and had to resort to sewing up the injured without any pain killers!
When the Bailey’s (Bailey Rd)were forced to moved they left Calif and never came back.
I read “Savage Scene” The life & times of James Kirker.
Kirker Pass was named after him (even tho his ranch was some distance from there).
James was a privateer, soldier and an Indian fighter for the Mexican Government sent to fight the Apaches who were raiding Mexican villages.
He spent his later years living here hiding out from Mexicans that regarded him as a traitor and wanted him dead.
I still can’t believe Hollywood never made a movie about that guy.
Interesting Summary of his time in Contra Costa:
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https://www.cocohistory.com/essays-kirker.html