History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 60

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206

USA > California > Alameda County > History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions > Part 60

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

426

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

H. H. Colby, J. L. Roundey, W. W. Mill, Charles J. H. Luth, N. P. West, F. X. Olanie, E. H. Warren. The present officers are: E. H. Warren, P. C .; W. A. Follrath, C. C .; F. A. Brown, V. C .; A. Follrath, P .; Charles J. Luth, K. of R. S .; T. Jackson, M. of F .; H. H. Colby, M. of E .; F. A. Bemis, M. at A .; A. J. Glaze, I. G .; A. M. Irwin, O. G. The present membership is ninety-five, and is continually increasing.

BROOKLYN LODGE, NO. 3, A. O. U. W .- Was organized September 29, 1876, with the following charter members: M. W. Fish, Geo. Chase, V. S. Northey, George Lewis, Jr., B. Browning, Joseph L. Golden, E. J. Deemer, J. C. Roff, O. Whipple, H. G. Oliver, George J. Hood, Oswald Lubbuck, David Hughes, M. N. Tharsing, Philip Schley, F. Schimmelpfening, Jr., Edward Bangle, Thomas J. Hughes, Thomas W. Le Ballister, J. H. Talken, Adam Follrath, Arthur Chilton, Charles Schley. The first officers were: M. W. Fish, P. M. W .; O. Whipple, M. W .; Thomas J. Hughes, Fore- man; B. Browning, Overseer; George Chase, Recorder; H. G. Oliver, Financier; Edward Bangle, Receiver; Adam Follrath, Guide; M. N Tharsing, Inside Watchman; Arthur Chilton, Outside Watchman; O. Whipple, H. G. Oliver, and George Chase, Trustees. The following named gentlemen have filled the position of M. W .: M. W. Fish, O. Whipple, H. G. Oliver, Edward Bangle, W. H. Hamilton, J. E. Blethen, James Miller, L. J. Rector, H. C. Hinman, J. W. Watson, V. S. Northey, C. H. Townsend, and H. L. Farrier. The present officers are: C. H. Townsend, P. M. W .; H. L. Farrier, M. W .; John Abraham, Foreman; George Briant, Overseer; George Chase, Recorder; L. J. Rector, Financier; James K. Smallman, Receiver; E. W. Bradley, Guide; B. F. . Rector, Inside Watchman; O. C. Kirk, Outside Watchman; O. Whipple, E. Bangle, and George Chase, Trustees. The present membership is ninety-two; meetings are held in Odd Fellows Hall, East Oakland.

THE PIONEER POTTERY .- This may well be called the pioneer pottery, for it is not only the first enterprise of the kind ever begun in Alameda County, but it was put in operation by the man who established the first pottery in California. In 1856 Daniel Brannan came to what was then known as San Antonio, now East Oak- land, and being a potter by trade, and finding that suitable clay could be obtained conveniently he at once decided to begin operations, and from that small beginning has been developed the present extensive business, which is located at the corner of Twelfth Street and Seventeenth Avenue, East Oakland. Mr. Brannan owns about one hundred acres here, which gives him ample room for extending his business almost without limit. He began operations on a very small scale at first, having only one kiln, and that was of very limited capacity, but since then he had occasion, owing to the demand made upon him for his productions, to enlarge the scope of his operations until at last he had three kilns, the largest of which was twelve feet on the inside, by eight feet high, the three having a capacity equal to any works in the State. He is at this writing (January, 1883) tearing down his old kilns and construct- ing new and larger ones. He has experimented sufficiently with clay that has been procured in different parts of this State to satisfy himself that a superior article of Rockingham and yellow-ware can be produced from it, and doubtless that branch of the business, which is new in California, will shortly be entered into quite extensively by

427

BROOKLYN TOWNSHIP.

him. He is also experimenting with a new clay that has recently been discovered in this State, from which he is confident that a superior article of China-ware can be made. Should this prove a success it will mark an epoch in the history of pottery in Cali- fornia. In the past Mr. Brannan has confined his attention chiefly to the manufac- ture of sewer and drain tile, flower-pots, and terra cotta.

CALIFORNIA POTTERY AND TERRA COTTA WORKS .- This industry was begun by James Miller in 1875, in a small room only twelve by twelve feet, where he fol- lowed modeling and molding. From that small beginning the business has been increased. to its present mammoth proportions. There are now three kilns, the largest of which is twenty-eight feet long, fifteen feet wide, and fifteen feet high. The com- bined capacity of the three kilns is about eight thousand dollars worth of goods. The buildings consist of a work-shop, one hundred by fifty feet, two stories; a drying- house, fifty by fifty feet, two stories; a work-shop, twenty-five by one hundred feet, one story ; a grinding-room, thirty by sixty feet, one story; a jigger-shop, thirty by one hundred feet, two stories; and a flower-pot shop, thirty by one hundred feet. The premises include one and three-fourth acres of ground. There are three mills, with a capacity of fifty tons of clay per day. The following articles are manufac- tured at the works: Sewer-pipe, sewer-pipe fittings, ornaments and trimmings for buildings, chimney-tops, garden-vases, fountains, antique urns, flower-pots, etc. The works are under the personal supervision of Mr. Miller, who is not only a master workman at his trade but an artist of the highest order as well, many of his designs being almost incomparable. The material used at the works comes from Michigan' Bar. About fifty men are employed. The owners of the works are Messrs. Miller & Windsor.

EAST OAKLAND POTTERY .- This industry was practically put in operation in 1872 by Henry Bundock, who is the present proprietor. A small affair had been started by a man whose name is now forgotten about six months prior to the time mentioned above, but it was insignificant, and to Mr. Bundock belongs the credit of developing the business to its present proportions. The kiln used is eleven by seventeen feet in size. Drain-tile, sewer-pipe, stone-ware, flower-pots, and terra cotta are manufactured here with eminent success by Mr. Bundock. The white clay used at this establishment is shipped from Michigan Bar, while the red clay is secured in the vicinity of Brooklyn. The place of business and works are located at the corner of Twelfth Street and Nineteenth Avenue.

OAK GROVE TANNERY .- This industry is located at the corner of Central and Eighteenth Avenues, East Oakland, and was begun by P. S. Wilcox & Co., about twenty years ago. When it was first put on foot it had a capacity of about one hun- dred hides a week, which has been increased gradually by the present owner, until six hundred hides per month are turned out ready for the market. The proprietor of the business now is J. S. Derby, who purchased it in 1871. There are seventy-five vats in use at present. An engine is used for pumping purposes, and for grinding the bark, about six hundred cords of which is used each year. The bark supply comes

428

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

from Mendocino County. The manufactured product of this tannery consists wholly of harness, sole, and saddle-skirt leather, the bulk of which is shipped directly to the East and sold at wholesale.

BROOKLYN TANNERY .- This industry, which is located on Twelfth Street, East Oakland, was begun by G. F. Crist in 1871, and he has continued it ever since, though other gentlemen are now associated with him, and the firm name is Crist & Co. Operations were begun upon the same scale as that on which they are now conducted, no change in either buildings or capacity having since been made. There are fifty vats in use, and about two hundred and fifty hides per week are turned out ready for the market. The leather manufactured at this tannery is used for harness and boot- soles only, and a ready market is found for the entire product on this coast. There are two buildings, one of which is forty by one hundred and forty feet, and the other is forty by one hundred feet; there is also a bark-shed which is sixty by eighty feet in size. Eight hundred cords of bark are consumed annually at this tannery in the proc- ess of leather manufacture. About twenty men are employed.

THE EAST OAKLAND PLANING MILLS .- This industry, which is the only one of the kind in East Oakland, was started by Messrs. Power & Ough in the spring of 1876. Since then it has passed through several hands. The building was destroyed by fire in 1879, and rebuilt by the present owners in 1880. The machinery at present consists of two planers, three molding machines, one variety molder or shaper, one set of sash, door, and blind machinery, four rip and three crosscut saws, band and scroll saws, and one buzz planer. The power which drives this machinery is produced in two boilers, and applied through an engine twelve by twenty-four inches. The building occupied by the mills is forty by eighty feet in size, and two stories high, with additional room for boilers and engine, and is located on the corner of Twelfth Street and Fourteenth Avenue, East Oakland. A general milling and manufacturing business is conducted at the establishment. Mr. John Trotter is the present superin- tendent.

BROOKLYN MANUFACTURING COMPANY .- This enterprise is conducted by Messrs. Northey & Wagar, and is located on Twelfth Street, East Oakland, where they are engaged in the manufacture of carriages, wagons, and agricultural implements.

EAST OAKLAND BREWERY .- This business was begun by Mr. Mangel in Oakland some years ago, but he finally decided to move to East Oakland, and chose for the site of his future operations the lot on the corner of Twelfth Street and Eighth Avenue. In July, 1881, R. Ringgenberg purchased the property and conducted the business till January, 1 882, when S. Neukom became associated with him. The build- ing is thirty by one hundred feet and two stories high. The capacity of the brewery is given as two thousand barrels of beer per year.

BROOKLYN BREWERY .- This business is carried on by Messrs. Welscher & Braun, in a two-story brick building forty by seventy feet in size, located on the corner of Fourteenth Street and Eighteenth Avenue, East Oakland. This enterprise was first

429

BROOKLYN TOWNSHIP.

put on foot by. A. Miller in 1872, and the present proprietors came into possession in 1876. The capacity of the brewery is given at thirty-five hundred barrels of beer per year.

BADGER'S PARK .- About half a mile beyond Broadway Station, on the line of the local ferry road, is Clinton Station, the last stopping-place of the local trains from San Francisco before reaching Brooklyn Station. Bordering on the San Antonio Creek, with its grounds sloping down to the water's edge and with an almost perpet- ual green landscape in view, it presents one of the most inviting places of rest to the sojourner from the city that perhaps can be found on this side of the bay. A few yards, not more than thirty or forty feet, beyond the platform of the station, com- mences the grounds of Capt. Thomas W. Badger, the hero of the well-known and nation-regretted steamer Central America disaster, which occurred on this coast in the year 1857. After retiring from a life on the ocean deep, Captain Badger purchased ten acres of land at San Antonio, and settled down to enjoy the remainder of a thus far well-spent active life on the rolling wave, and applied himself to beautifying his home. This was some twenty-two years ago, and during all that long period of time the Captain has been continually at work in the improvement of his beautiful place until now we doubt if a spot can be found in all California that can approach it in point of location and rustic beauty. A sloping grade from the northern boundary to the edge of the creek was long since made, and over the entire space are to be found trees and plants of almost every variety native to the soil and of the various trop- ical species. Drives and paths wind through grassy lawns shaded by umbrageous oaks and trees of an endless variety, and through the center runs a brook of the clear- est water emptying into the bend of the estuary, which forms a portion of the south- ern boundary of the property. But the gallant Captain, who has weathered so many storms in the wild waste of waters, and risked his life a thousand times for others, became tired of enjoying his paradise alone and resolved to share its beauties and the pleasures they gave, with others. He therefore determined to open it as a park and pleasure resort.

On February 1, 1872, ground was broken for a public park-for a place where the thousands of mind and body-weary denizens of San Francisco and Alameda Counties-school children and pleasure-seekers generally-might go and enjoy at will the free and pure air of the country mixed with the breezes that come, zephyr-like, up the winding creek from the bay and ocean beyond, and at the same time indulge in games and sports common to all places of resort of a similar kind. A large force of mechanics and gardeners was set at work; and these labors have never ceased, indeed are being still continued, and the result of them speaks for itself.

In the southeast corner of the park is a mammoth pavilion, covering a space of ground two hundred and twenty-five feet in length and ninety-five feet wide. The building faces the prevailing winds and breaks their force so effectually that none is felt inside of the inclosure. It is extensive enough for any purpose and is high enough to take in the magnificent views that may be had from its gallery windows, some forty in number. The width of the pavilion is ninety-five feet, and, besides, the galleries have a clear space of one hundred and three by eighty feet, for skating and dancing

430

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

purposes. On the park side this structure is fringed by clusters of oaks and orna- mental trees of various kinds. The floor is double; on the north side seven large doors, eight feet wide, open on the grounds. In the south end of the main building are galleries, which with the side seats will accommodate two thousand five hundred persons. These seats do not seem to take up much of the great space of the interior. Opposite the galleries, which are built in the strongest manner, is the music-stand for the band, and facing it are the dressing-rooms, etc. Contiguous to the whole is a capacious bar-room. The grounds are fitted up with all manner of contrivances for purposes of amusement, and a capital race-track where fleet-footed runners are wont to test their powers, while every attraction of sylvan beauty is here to be found. Badger's Park was opened in April, 1872, and has since remained a most favorite place of resort.

MELROSE .- This station is situated about two miles from Brooklyn (East Oak- land), and in close proximity to it is Clark's Landing, while two miles farther south is Damon's Landing. Melrose, however, is noted for once having been possessed of a fine rope-walk, the property of the Pacific Cordage Company, whose buildings are now in disuse; and it is the site of the Castle Dome Smelting Works, and the Pacific Reduction Works. Here, too, was established the works of the Pacific Drain Pipe Manufactory, an enterprise that has moved to a more congenial locality.

CASTLE DOME SMELTING WORKS AND REFINERY .- These works, located at Melrose, were commenced in the year 1870 by Judge Shearer, on a parcel of land purchased from Colonel Simpson, but before the buildings were completed they had passed into the hands of Whittier, Fuller & Co., who finished them. Two years there- after they were disposed of to George Hopkins, who, in three years, sold out to the Anglo-California Bank. They then passed into the hands of Doctor Zieler, who con- ducted them for about two years, and, in 1879, they were acquired by the Castle Dome Smelting and Refining Company, with W. P. Miller, President, by whom the enter- prise is now carried on. Here all ores may be smelted and refined; those chiefly being used at present are, lead, silver, etc.

PACIFIC REDUCTION WORKS .- This enterprise, for the reduction of gold and silver ores, is located at Melrose, and is owned and operated by H. C. Clark. The works were built in 1876 by Mainham, Cushtrel & Bandmann, and conducted by them until 1881, when they were purchased by the present proprietor.

FITCHBURG .- This like Martin Chuzzlewit's Eden, is simply a town of the future, at present it has only a prospect. Near to it is what was known as the Pacific Race- track, while it is favorably situated as regards Damon's Landing.

COTTON AND JUTE MANUFACTURERS .- In the year 1865 Col. William H. Rector, with three of his sons, erected a cotton-mill on the estuary connecting Lake Merritt with the San Antonio Creek in Brooklyn Township, with a producing capacity of forty thousand yards of goods per month. They soon enlarged their works by adding a set of woolen machinery, but, after about two years' operations, the gentlemen con-

431

BROOKLYN TOWNSHIP.

ceived the idea of manufacturing grain-bags from jute, there being at the time a very large and permanent demand for such goods on the coast, as all the grain of the country, instead of being stored in granaries as in other parts of the world, was stacked in sacks at the thresher in the field where it was cut. In this enterprise the Messrs. Rector were entirely successful. After two years of untiring industry and perseverance a factory was set in motion with a producing capacity of fifteen million bags per annum, a sufficient advance that warranted the doubling its capacity, and which was duly effected three years afterward.

This establishment has been in operation some thirteen years, and in that period has produced about four hundred millions of bags, found employment for many men, and use for many hundreds of thousands of dollars. As a benefit to the country at large it shows that at the time of beginning operations bags were selling in the market at from fifteen to eighteen cents; that they were able to hold the market subject to their will and gradually reduce the price to nine and eleven cents. The manufacture of jute bags has now become one of the permanent institutions of the country, and not- withstanding the Messrs. Rector have retired from the business to more quiet pur- suits in life, they have left their foot-prints in the progress of the country and a name which will long be remembered by those who have been benefited by their enterprise and genius.

In this regard, we may mention that, as we go to press, the Evening Tribune of May 9, 1883, has the following: "The jute-mill at East Oakland, which has been closed during the past six months, is to be re-opened and placed in active operation within the next thirty days, under the management of Superintendent Robinson, late of the San Quentin jute-works. Mr. Robinson states that the mill and machinery, which originally cost two hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars, were bought by the company which he represents, for one hundred and five thousand dollars, and it is their intention to operate on a capital stock of one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, seventy-five thousand dollars of which has been subscribed in San Francisco, principally by prominent dealers in grain-bags, and capitalists. As the works are to be located in this city, an opportunity will be given Oakland capital to invest to the amount remaining unsubscribed; and Mr. Robinson yesterday interviewed Mayor Martin, E. C. Sessions, Dr. Merritt, and other prominent citizens interested in manu- facturing enterprises, in regard to the matter. The mill, Mr. Robinson says, will employ four hundred hands, all of which are to be white men, Chinese labor in every form to be discarded entirely. Two hundred of these employés, including a large number of skilled workmen, are on their way from the Eastern States, and the remaining two hundred are to be hired in this city. Mr. Robinson is himself thor- oughly experienced in this kind of manufacture, and gave the San Quentin works their first impetus. He is enthusiastic in his plans, and predicts eminent success for the enterprise."

432

HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

EDEN TOWNSHIP.

G EOGRAPHY .- Eden Township is bounded on the north by Brooklyn Township and Contra Costa County; on the east by Contra Costa County and Murray Township; on the south by Washington Township; and on the west by San Francisco Bay.

TOPOGRAPHY .- The western portion of the township, namely, the plain stretching from San Leandro Creek on the north to Alameda Creek on the south, is a beautiful tract of level country some four miles wide, whose area is covered with orchards and fields, the fore-shores being marsh-lands; while its back or eastern portion comprises the Contra Costa Range, with the lesser undulating foot-hills. Eden Township has an area of about sixty thousand acres.

VALLEYS .- The principal valley in the township is the Castro, which lies a little north of its center, and its opening to the plain being at Haywards. Besides this there are the Cull, Crow, Eden, and Polomares Cañons, all beautiful little glens sur- rounded by mountains offering rich pasturage to the stock-raiser.

STREAMS .- Eden Township is watered by the San Leandro and San Lorenzo Creeks, the former of which, rising in the San Antonio redwoods, Brooklyn Township, supplies the great reservoir of the Contra Costa Water Company-Lake Chabot-situ- ated about two miles from San Leandro, and flowing thence is distributed through that town, as well as the whole city of Oakland, about twelve miles distant, and finally flows into the San Leandro Bay. The San Lorenzo Creek has its source in the Contra Costa Range near the county line, and, after flowing through Cull Cañon, joins its waters with those of the small streams from Crow, Eden, and Polomares Cañons, and thence lazily finds its tortuous way through the plain, finally emptying itself into the bay at Roberts' Landing. These two streams being never entirely dry, even in the severest years, a constant supply of water is ever to be had. In addition there are the small estuaries known as Mulford's Canal, at Wick's Landing; the Estudillo Canal, a little farther south; the San Lorenzo Canal at Roberts' Landing; Barron's Landing; and Eden Landing, which is entered from the bay by the mouth of the Alameda Creek, and reached by a serpentine creek or slough to the landing proper.

CLIMATE .- The climate of Eden Township bears a strong resemblance to that of other portions of the county lying at the base of the Coast Range, with perhaps the exception that the keen winds that sweep through the Golden Gate are not so harshly felt here as at Oakland and the northern end of the county. That its climate is much sought after is amply exemplified in the fact that Haywards is yearly becoming more distinguished as a sanitarium, while the vastness of the fruit yield proves the geniality of its temperature.

Gray

yours July E. Kunyan

433

EDEN TOWNSHIP.

SOIL .- The soil of this section of the valley is not to be surpassed anywhere in the known world, while by the annual overflow of its creeks and sloughs, with the yearly deposition of sediment washed down from the mountains or brought in by the spring-tides from the bay, it is periodically being enriched, It is impossible to pick out one place more than another where Nature has been particularly beneficent, but if that place does exist, it is in the vicinity of San Lorenzo, and on the magnificent farm of the late William Meek, whose acre after acre of fruit-trees are a marvel to behold.

PRODUCTS .- The agricultural and horticultural resources of Eden Township, which first gave it its name, are almost fabulous, while its general industries may be briefly stated to be fruit-culture, farming, stock-raising, manufactures, salt-making, and coal-mining. Chief of all these, however, is fruit-raising, and the orchards of Messrs. Meek, Lewelling, Leonard Stone, Lysander Stone, Blackwood, Marlin, Jessup, Baker, etc., have reputations far beyond the borders of California. It is only by personal observation that the magnitude of this industry may be appreciated, while the immense area devoted to fruit trees gives one the idea of a vast forest rather than the simple orchards of private gentlemen.

Every portion of the township appears to be adapted to the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, and grain, while the higher ranges are eminently suitable for the rearing of stock, yet this branch has been by no means made a specialty in the township.

Although not so extensively manufactured in Eden as in Washington Township, still the manufacture of salt is in nowise of minor importance. The principal locality where it is made is Mount Eden, where there are the establishments of Richard Barron and John Johnson, while in the vicinity of San Lorenzo is the place of D. Pestdorf.

MEXICAN GRANTS .- Eden Township embraces within its boundaries the lands of five Mexican Grants, viz., the Sobrante, which has been for so many years in dis- pute, it being situated in the northeast of the township; the Estudillo, or San Leandro, granted October 16, 1842, and patented July 15, 1863; the Castro, or San Lorenzo, on the east, granted February 23, 1841, and patented February 14, 1865; the Soto, or San Lorenzito, on the west, granted October 10, 1842, and patented April 14, 1877; and the Vallejo, or Alameda, on the south, granted August 30, 1842, and patented January I, 1858.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Alameda County, California : including its geology, topography, soil, and productions, Part 60

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood Number of Pages: 1206

Author: Munro-Fraser, J. P
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Oakland, Calif. : M.W. Wood
Number of Pages: 1206