USA > California > Alameda County > Oakland > Illustrated album of Alameda County, California; its early history and progress-agriculture, viticulture and horticulture-educational, manufacturing and railroad advantages-Oakland and environs-interior townships-statistics, etc., etc > Part 3
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The Grand Jury meets twice a year and presents . indictments for any crime cognizable by the Superior Court. The Judges of the Police and Justices' Courts are also committing magistrates and may bind de- fendants to trial before the Superior Court without the intervention of the Grand Jury. In the latter instance informations are filed by the District Attorney and the prisoner tried in the Superior Court as on indictment by the Grand Jury.
Alameda County has in the State Legislature two State Senators and six Assemblymen, the former with terms of four and the latter two years.
CHAPTER II.
HORTICULTURE, VITICULTURE, AGRICUL- TURE, ETC.
A Great Fruit Growing Center-Unequaled for Viticulture, Producing the Finest Wines in the World-Unexcelled for Cereal Crops-Flowers in Profusion, Including Many of the Semi-tropics-Roses Blooming All the Year Round and the Heliotrope and Fuchsia Out-of-doors during the Win- ter-Inimense Vegetable Crops-Seri-culture.
HORTICULTURE IN ALAMEDA COUNTY.
Unexcelled for Fruits of all Kinds-Immense Advance in the Past Ten Years.
It is said that fruit culture in the early days of Cal- ifornia was incidental, and that it should ever become the chief industry of a great commonwealth was not then dreamed possible. The horticultural history of California dates back to 1701-7, when Alta Cali- fornia as well as Lower California was under Spanish rule. It commenced by the cultivation of a rich tract at St. Xavier, on the Mexican border. It is a matter of record that Father Ugarte had in the latter year bread of his own raising off this tract, while New Spain was suffering from drought. He is also said to have made more wine from the vineyards of the St. Xavier Mis- sion than necessary for its use, and to have exported small quantities to Mexico It was not until nearly half agentury later that the uxtion now known as the
State of California was occupied by the whites. The Jesuits were driven from the missions of Lower Cali- fornia in 1767, and the Franciscan monks placed in charge. Junipero Serra was made president of the missions and divided them between the Franciscans and Dominicans. In 1769 the Franciscans came northward. Serra and José de Galvez, Visitor General, representing the king of Spain, established the new missions of Alta California, and among the supplies caused to be sent from Spain by Galvez were flower, vegetable, and fruit seeds as well as cereals.
They established twenty-one missions, and to all, except three, were attached gardens and orchards, so that the olive, fig and grape were introduced carly. The trees were grown from the seed chiefly and were all or nearly all seedlings, and from these are still prop- agated the varieties known as the mission olive, the mission grape, and the black fig, called the mission fig. In the closing years of the last century and the opening of this, there were growing near Mission San Jose, now in Alameda County, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, and figs, and at some of the missions in the southern portion were, in addition to these, oranges, limes, grapes, olives, and pomegranates-in all about five thousand bearing trees. These have increased in the century to nearly thirty-one million trees, and of this number about one million six hundred thousand
PLATE. 5.
RESIDENCE AND ORCHARD OF FRANK S. HASTINGS NEAR SAN LEANDRO CAL.
I3
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
are in Alameda County. Of these about one million are in bearing. Among the first apples grown in the State were those of Mr. Lewelling, of San Lorenzo, Alameda County. There are in the county fifty thou- sand five hundred apple trees, three hundred and thirty- one thousand apricot, two hundred and twenty-seven thousand one hundred cherry, twenty-three hundred fig, thirty-seven hundred olive, one hundred and thirty- seven thousand five hundred peach, forty thousand seven hundred nectarine, two hundred and thirty-five thousand one hundred prune, one hundred and seventy thousand one hundred pear, one hundred and eighty- eight thousand five hundred plum, four hundred quince, one hundred lemon, twelve hundred orange, one hundred and twenty-three thousand seven hundred almond, thirty-six hundred English walnut. This has been the growth, practically, of the past twenty years, as the entire output of fresh fruit in California in 1871 was only one million eight hundred and thirty-two thousand three hundred and ten pounds, while in 1892 about four hundred million pounds, or upward of twenty-two thousand car loads, were shipped out of the State. The immense growth is shown in the past ten to twelve years by the fact that the total number of car loads shipped in 1880 was only five hundred and forty-six. Beside the immense quantity shipped by rail about eighteen million pounds were shipped by sea. Of this Alameda County contributed, it is esti- mated, three million two hundred and fifty thousand . pounds, and it ranks as one of the leading fruit coun- ties of the State. In the production of cherries it stands at the head. Of this fruit more are shipped to Eastern markets than from all other parts of the State.
Not only do the orchard fruits flourish well in this county, but the small fruits, such as currants, goose- berries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc., do equally well, and there are now nearly fourteen hun- dred acres in these fruits.
Little or no irrigation is needed in the entire county. There is only one canal of any extent-that of the Murray and Washington Ditch Company. It is about five miles long and is assessed at only $1, 100. There are about fifty artesian wells in the county, vary- ing in depth from two hundred to four hundred feet. These are sunk at a cost of about $1.50 per foot.
In his report to the California State Board of Hor- ticulture last October, Prof. C. H. Allen, special agent for the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and San Mateo, has this to say :-
"Alameda County has some of the oldest and most celebrated orchards in the State. The almost fabu- lous yields of apricots and cherries in this county, with
the amounts realized per acre for the fruit, gave the first vigorous impulse to fruit growing in California.
"The Hayward district, comprising the plane from San Leandro to Suñol Cañon, lying so closely contig- uous to San Francisco, was naturally the favorite region in which to grow fruit for the home market. The fact that abundant water was found, compara- tively near the surface, made irrigation easy for small fruits. These were and are grown in large quantities and find a ready market. Large areas of currants, gooseberries, and other small fruits are producing, and are, in many cases, grown between the trees in the bearing orchards. The most notable orchard is that of the Meek estate, consisting of nearly one thou- sand acres. One hundred and fifty acres of this are cherries, more than two hundred acres are apricots, two hundred and twenty are almonds, seventy are pears, and more than two hundred acres are prunes. In these orchards there are one hundred and forty acres of currants and ten acres of blackberries. The output from this orchard has far outgrown the home market, and large shipments are now being made to the Eastern markets. Through all this region the fruit goes either fresh or in cans, as the climate is not adapted to drying in the sun, and the cost of fuel is too great for profitable artificial drying. Many of the large canneries of the State depend upon the Alameda orchards for a considerable portion of their supply, and not a few of the inland packing houses transport from this locality fruit to dry.
"It was years after fruit growing had become a lead- ing industry in this locality before it was determined that the more easterly parts of the county were adapted to fruit. At Mission San Jose there were some orchards, the offspring of the old mission, and a large almond orchard had long been in profitable bearing there, but it was doubted whether in the drier part- the Livermore Valley-fruit could be grown without irrigation. Grapes were planted, and succeeded be- yond expectation, and gradually tree planting has made its way until at Niles, at Centerville, and beyond the Suñol Cañon, in Suñol, Pleasanton, and Liver- more, there are excellent orchards. Most of them are yet young, but they bid fair to compete favorably with the fruit belt in the Santa Clara Valley. Most of the orchards are in the lowlands. They have yet to learn that the foothill land is equally adapted to fruit culture, and that culture can take the place of irriga- tion. The fruit area here is surely destined, in the near future, to be greatly increased.
"At Niles is one of the largest, if not the largest, nursery in the State. The California Nursery Com- pany, with a capital of $100,000, has about five hun-
I4
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
dred acres in nursery stock, consisting of fruit trees, vines, and ornamental trees and shrubs. Their sales in 1891 were about seven hundred and fifty thousand fruit trees and two hundred thousand ornamental trees and shrubs.
"The orchards in this county seem to be well kept, fruit pests being absent or well in hand, and there is on every hand evidence of prosperity."
VITICULTURE OF THE COUNTY.
The Finest Wines of California and of America are Made in Alameda County-Three of the Paris Exposition Prizes out of Four Awarded to American Viticulturists Won by Alameda County.
The viticultural industry of Alameda County, al- though commenced nearly a century ago by the Mis- sion Fathers of Mission de San Jose, is only of recent date, or at least has only come into prominence within the past ten to fifteen years. The first wine growers making any quantity were in the vicinity of Mission San Jose, but during the past fifteen years large areas have been planted in the Livermore and other valleys, and from the few growers of that date are now about one hundred and sixty raising different varieties of wine grapes. Only thirty-one of these, however, make wine, the remainder selling their grapes to the wine makers. In 1892 there were about seven thousand acres in wine grapes in the county, and the output for the season aggregated about one million two hundred and fifty thousand gallons. The wines of Alameda County, especially the Sauternes and the Medocs, are equal to any in the world, and of four gold medals awarded to American wines at the Paris Exposition, 1889,three of them were carried away by products from Alameda County. The largest and most complete winery in the United States was built a few years ago at Irvington, near Mission San Jose, by Juan Gallegoes, and nearly five hundred thousand gallons were made there last season. This winery is capable of storing several million gallons. There are yet thousands of acres in the Livermore and other valleys in the county suitable for the cultivation of the vine.
Some of the vintages of the Livermore Valley, es- pecially in the Sauternes and Medocs, are unexcelled by any of the productions of the famous French vine growers. One of these is said to be the equal of a famous French brand, and is so near like it that the best judges were unable to detect any difference. Those of Mission San Jose and Warm Springs are also equal to the best imported wines.
AGRICULTURE IN ALAMEDA COUNTY.
From 1856 until about fifteen years ago the agricul- tural area of the county increased and the cereal prod-
ucts were considerable. The cultivation of much of the land in the Livermore Valley, in and around San Leandro, Hayward, Niles, Mission San Jose, Center- ville, Warm Springs, etc., has during this time been changed to horticulture and viticulture. In 1856 the entire area in agricultural products was about forty- five thousand acres, and annual yield about two mil- lion bushels. In 1870-75 it was much greater, and large warehouses were established at different stations along the railroad lines and at various landings where the products were shipped to market. In 1892 the area in agricultural products according to the assess ment rolls was two hundred and three thousand acres, or three hundred and fifteen square miles. Of this ninety-seven thousand acres were in hay, sixty- eight thousand in barley, thirty-six thousand in wheat, twelve thousand two hundred and fifty in oats, and one thousand six hundred and fifty in corn. The out- put for the year 1892 was two million bushels of bar- ley, one million bushels of wheat, and about five hun - dred thousand tons of hay. Corn is only grown for market gardening, and the sweet varieties for table use are those principally produced. Very little is used for stock food or for grinding purposes. The barley is the finest grown on the coast, Chevalier frequently running as high as fifty-six pounds to the bushel, the standard being fifty-one pounds. The cereal crops produce from thirty to fifty bushels per acre on the rich soils of the county. The market for barley is near, as it is principally sold in Oakland and San Francisco to the brewers, and much of the wheat is also used in home consumption, but the market is not limited to that of home, because a great deal of grain is shipped by vessel around Cape Horn to the United Kingdom and the Continent. The hay product, which is principally that of grain, though other kinds are grown, finds a ready market at a good price in the metropolis and at the county seat.
FLORICULTURE AND ARBORICULTURE.
One of the Garden Spots of the World-Flowers and Shrub- bery, Including Semi-tropical Plants in the Open Air all the Year Round.
Nowhere in the world, not even in China, called the Flowery Kingdom, do flowers of all kinds grow more profusely and with less care than in California; with proper care and cultivation their production is won- derful. Alameda County is especially favored by nature for the cultivation and production of all kinds of flora, and her florists send roses and other flowers as far east as Salt Lake City every month in the year. Roses bloom in the yards and on the lawns every month in the year, and so does the delicate. heliotrope
1
PLATE 6
RESIDENCE OF J. M. MERRELL, COR 2! BAY AND CITY OF SAN
in
ES MOORE
ART
HST.AND TELEGRAPH AVE. OAKLAND.
ANCISCO IN DISTANCE.
I5
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
-a plant that scarcely attains any size in the rigorous climate of the East, but which attains a vigorous, bushy growth in Oakland and interior towns out-of- doors to the height of four and five feet, and in espe- cially favored localities even more. The delicate fuchsia, the hothouse pot plant of the East, frequently attains the height of eight and ten feet, with blooms of large size-sometimes three or four times that usually seen East. It also remains out-of-doors all winter. Magnolias and calla lilies thrive outdoors during the entire year without shelter. The fragrant violet is to be found the year round in bloom, and its per- fume is as sweet in December, January, and Feb- ruary as at any other time of the year. Geraniums of all kinds bloom in the yards every month in the year, and the various varieties of Lady Wash- ingtons, with magnificent large flowers, are the won- der of the visitor. The pansy is found in bloom also the year round. Even the sweet pea and the nasturtium are to be found growing outside during the winter months. The crysanthemum commences to bloom in October and continues to do so out-of-doors in the yard the entire winter. During the past two or three years this magnificent plant from Japan has been so improved that its immense flowers of all colors and of combined colors are the glory of the flower garden. It is unnecessary to mention the many hardy perennials by name, because they all thrive in Ala- meda County.
The most popular of the indigenous flowers is the escholtzia, or California poppy, and during the months of April, May, and June the uncultivated fields and hills are covered with this beautiful flower, often re- maining in bloom until July and August.
Ornamental shrubs of all kinds and variety thrive out- of-doors during the entire year, only the most delicate of tropical plants requiring the hothouse. Palms and ferns from the semi-tropics and South Sea Islands adorn the grounds of many citizens of Alameda County, and are as common as the spruce and fir in colder locations at the East. The cedar is now used only as a hedge and is seldom grown as a lawn decoration, palms and ferns of various varieties being used instead.
VEGETABLES.
All Varieties Grown in the County-Green Peas from January to December.
The County of Alameda furnishes to the metropolis of the State of California much of the large quantity of vegetables consumed by its residents. Green peas
are gathered in the warm valley near Niles, Mission San José, and Warm Springs every month in the year, and in January it is a beautiful sight to see the green rows of this vegetable product on the hillsides. Dur- ing the months of April, May, and June an average of three car loads per day are shipped from this local- ity. Large quantities of tomatoes and potatoes are also produced, as well as onions, squash, cabbages, beets, etc., and several crops per year are grown and may be purchased at the vegetable stands the year round, it being unnecessary to bury them to keep them from being frozen. The finest rhubarb grown in the United States is produced in the vicinity of San Leandro. It is said that during the months of April, May, June, July, and August about $200 to $300 daily come into this town of two thousand five hundred inhabitants as the proceeds from the sale of vegetables and fruits grown in the vicinity. Large- sized cabbages may be purchased from the vegetable stalls of Oakland the year round-summer and winter -for five cents each. Large quantities of cucumber pickles are produced in Eden Township. Cauliflower and celery are also among the vegetable products, and find ready sale at reasonable prices during summer and winter. The old-fashioned pumpkin of the East is seldom seen, but the hard-rined squash in endless variety takes its place, and the pumpkin pies of our grandmothers are very well counterfeited.
HOPS.
In the Livermore Valley are grown the finest hops produced in the world. The area at the present time is not very extensive, but it is being enlarged, and may be done with profit to the growers. The Pleas- anton hops are admitted by experts in New York to be of the best quality grown, and are shipped to Europe.
SERI-CULTURE.
An experimental station for the culture of silk- worms has been in operation at Piedmont, Oakland Township, since 1885, under the direction of the La- dies' Silk Culture Society of California, and is still in operation. It is believed by the members of the so- ciety that there may be a profit in planting the mul- berry tree and cultivating the silkworm, if the farmers will take an interest and get their children interested in it. The experiments now carried on are for the purpose of ascertaining the best variety of mulberry and the best species of silkworm to grow.
.
16
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
CHAPTER III.
EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES.
Higher Education-The State University at Berkeley-Its High Rank-The State Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind-Private and Religious Colleges, Seminaries and Academies-Unrivaled Public Schools throughout the Entire County.
The educational advantages of Alameda County are not excelled anywhere in the Union, not even in New England, of which Boston is the boasted educational center. Having an unrivaled climate and desirability as a place of residence, Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, and suburbs or the interior towns are within reach of the University of California and other institutions of higher education by reason of excellent system of elec- tric street railroads now in operation and in process of construction, and which will be completed within a few months. The public school system is second to none, and the recent act of the Legislature creating union high schools throughout the counties permits students in the interior of the county to prepare at their homes for entrance to the State University without the ex- pense of attending a preparatory school, or of receiv- ing a good education, fitting them for the active duties of life without attending the higher institutions of learning.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.
A Great Educational Institution Situated in Alameda County.
Among the prominent institutions situated in Ala- meda County is the University of California, the prin- cipal departments of which are situated at Berkeley. The history of the State University runs back to the early days, and before California was admitted into the Union of States, but its effective work as an institution of learning did not begin until eighteen years later.
In 1849 the Constitutional Convention placed a pro- vision in the Constitution so that lands reserved or granted by the United States to the State for the use of a University should remain a permanent trust, the interest on moneys received for lands sold by the trustees to be applied to the support of the University. In 1852 Congress granted seventy-two sections of land to the State, and the proceeds of their sale went into the University fund. The same Act set aside ten sections for a public building fund. Under an act of 1862 California received fifty thousand acres of public land for the establishment of an Agricultural and Mechanical Arts College. In 1863 a scheme for the establishment of this college came to naught, and an Act passed in 1866 to accomplish the same end was repealed.
In the year 1853 Rev. Henry Durant and wife ar- rived in California and established a school for boys in a vacant saloon at the corner of Fourth street and Broadway. Dr. Durant at once began agitating the project of establishing a great college. His persist- ence bore fruit, and in the summer of 1853 was pur- chased the plat of land bounded by Twelfth, Four- teenth, Franklin, and Harrison streets, Oakland, and the College of California organized. A building fund was raised and several buildings erected in the neigh- borhood of Twelfth and Webster streets for the col- lege and preparatory school. The money for the most part was furnished by Rev. Isaac Brayton, and he appeared to have a controlling interest in the col- lege. About one hundred and sixty acres of land were secured at Berkeley, but the college in 1866, after thirteen years of struggle, was $49,000 in debt, and affairs in a bad way, with low funds and a lack of students.
The attempt to found and establish a State univer- sity had, up to this time, not been very successful, and at the suggestion of Governor F. F. Low, the State University, backed by funds, but with no buildings, and the California College in need of funds, with build- ings, experience, and professors, were consolidated ; at the suggestion of Governor Low, the trustees of the College of California, in August, 1867, offered to the State their site, etc. The State Board of Directors ac- cepted the gift, receiving property consisting of the four blocks in Oakland, the college and school buildings, a library of 10,000 volumes, valuable homestead lots in Berkeley, and one hundred and twelve acres of the so-called "mountain land," the whole estimated to be worth $160,000, but from which liabilities amounting to over $49,000 were to be subtracted, assumed, and paid. At the request of the Board of Directors of the State institution, the old College of California con- tinued in life until the spring of 1869, there being in 1867 no State law under which the university could be properly founded.
In March, 1868, a general AAct was passed, entitled "An Act to provide for the incorporation of such in- stitutions of learning, science, and art as may be estab- lished by the State." March 5, 1868, the late Hon. John W. Dwinelle introduced a bill for "an Act to create and organize the University of California," and this Act became a law on March 23, 1868, since cele- brated as Charter day. With this Act the Legisla- ture appropriated $306,661.80, creating the University fund and providing for a government by the Board of Regents.
The site of the buildings at Berkeley is a very hand- some one, being on rising ground, near the foothills,
PLATE 7.
3
1
VIEW LOOKING WEST. RES. OF H. G. BLASDEL, SITUATED ON EAST OAKLAND HIGHLAI 23 x 24 RUNNING NORTH AND SOUTH, PART OF OAKLAND, SAN FRANCISCO, CITY 2. GOAT ISLAND
5 . SHOWING STREETS FROM 24 TO 27 ST5. RUNNING EAST AND WEST. ALSO AVENUES D BAY, GOLDEN GATE AND PACIFIC OCEAN IN THE DISTANCE. 1 ANGEL ISLAND.
3.ALCATRAZ
17
ILLUSTRATED ALBUM OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
which rise up in their rear to the height of several hundred feet. There are about two hundred and forty-five acres in the University grounds.
The buildings of the University proper consist of the North and South Halls (the two oldest and larg- est buildings), the Bacon Art and Library Building, the College of Mining and Mechanical Arts, the Agri- cultural Building, the Chemical Building and Labora- tory, and the Electrical Building.
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