USA > California > Contra Costa County > The history of Contra Costa County, California > Part 38
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The water supply is provided by four wells, each one hundred feet deep, located in the foothills one and a half miles from the town. The water is pumped from these wells to two large tanks upon the hill back of the town. The bases of the tanks are from seventy to ninety feet higher than the town, and the water is distributed by gravity at good pressure.
In disposing of the town property, the C. A. Smith Lumber Company put into the deeds a clause forever preventing the sale of liquor ; so Bay Point until recently had no saloons. Owing to the activities of "boot- leggers" and "blind pigs" the liquor question became a serious one to the citizens. After a conference, the company consented to put a saloon upon its land not included in the liquor restrictions and turn the whole business over to a club of the citizens of Bay Point as a municipal saloon as soon as it had paid for itself. This was done May 10, 1916. This arrangement makes Bay Point unique in the family of cities, and has brought her much note from political economists and sociologists the country over. The municipal liquor business is being watched with interest by many people. In the conveyance of the saloon to the club of citizens provision has been made that all profits from the business
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shall be used for the benefit of all the people of Bay Point; and fur- ther, that the sale of wines and liquors shall be conducted in such man- ner that the cause of temperance will be legitimately promoted. As a result, the traffic in liquor has been lessened, drunkenness done away with absolutely, and new sidewalks, streets, and improvements are planned and under way which will make the town a model village at no cost to the taxpayer.
Bay Point is admirable as a manufacturing site, and will undoubt- edly in the future be a strong rival of other San Francisco Bay cities in the manufacture of Pacific Coast products.
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CHAPTER XXXI
CROCKETT
THIS TOWN on the Straits of Carquinez, about six miles below Mar- tinez, named in honor of ex-Judge J. B. Crockett, late of the California Supreme Bench, is pleasantly located, with a fine outlook over the San Pablo Bay to the Coast Range, from Mount Tamalpais to the mountains of Mendocino in one direction, and to the Sierra Nevada in another. The location of Heald's extensive machine-shops and foundry at that point created the necessity for the considerable growth of the town.
Crockett is located on a part of what was known as the Edwards ranch. As originally planned, the town-site consisted of eighteen blocks, divided into lots fifty by one hundred feet, the streets running east and west.
The following item, taken from the Sacramento Record-Union of November 24, 1881, is the earliest mention of the town: "A town to be called Crocker [Crockett] has been laid out on the south shore of Car- quinez Straits, seven miles below Martinez at Vallona Station. It is named in honor of Supreme Judge Crocker [Crockett]."
Thomas Edwards, the original owner of the town-site of Crockett, was born in North Wales, April 5, 1812. When fourteen years of age Edwards left his native country and began a seafaring life, which he followed for ten years. After quitting the sea, he obtained employment in the capacity of mate on the steamers engaged in the immense trade of the Mississippi. It was at this time that he formed the acquaintance of W. C. Ralston, then steamboat clerk, and also of J. B. Crockett, who had just commenced the practice of law. The friendship thus be- gan lasted throughout life. On February 19, 1843, he married Mary Pugh, a native of North Wales, born July 20, 1819. In May, 1849, he started for California. Spending the winter in Louisa County, Iowa, he went westward to Council Bluffs the following spring, where a com- pany of about forty men and ten wagons was formed. Mrs. Edwards and a friend from St. Louis were the only ladies in the party. The final
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march was commenced early in May, 1850, via Fort Hall and Lassen's Cutoff. After traveling a few hundred miles together, Edwards and his family stopped for a day on the Platte River to rest the teams, thus al- lowing the remainder of the party to hurry on. The rest of the way across the plains was made alone. Journeying two thousand miles, Cali- fornia was reached in September, 1850, the first stopping-place being on Mormon Slough, near Stockton, where they remained three weeks. After conducting affairs in Knight's Ferry and other localities, they moved to Carquinez Straits and engaged in farming and stock-raising. The farm comprised 1800 acres. In 1881 an arrangement was entered into with Heald by which a foundry was established on the place and the town of Crockett laid out.
Joseph Bryant Crockett was born in Kentucky, 1809, of an old Scot- tish-American family. He was admitted to the practice of the law in Kentucky at the age of twenty-two, and soon after founded the St. Louis Intelligencer, a Whig paper, which he conducted with great abil- ity for some time. Arriving in California in 1852, he again took up his law practice, his partners being Page, Whiting, Joseph Napthaly, and Congressman Piper. In 1868 he was appointed Supreme Justice by Gov- ernor Haight, and in 1869 was elected to succeed himself for the long term (ten years), which he filled out. Judge Crockett called and pre- sided over the first public meeting held for the purpose of establishing the public library of San Francisco.
CROCKETT A GREAT SUGAR CENTER (From the Fifth Booster Edition of the Byron Times)
Crockett is one of the most substantial, busy, and energetic indus- trial cities of Contra Costa County, made famous because of the splen- did achievements and enterprise of the California & Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company, whose annual production of manufactured sugar products is valued at about $30,350,000 ; its pay-roll is $625,000 a year, and nearly 700 employees are made happy.
The big plant and improvements at Crockett represent an investment of some $7,000,000, making this one of the most modern and complete sugar refineries in the world.
Crockett has many attractions and conveniences ; has a fine water- front, with a commodious harbor capable of receiving the largest of
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ocean-going steamships; has fine hotels, general merchandise stores, business establishments, and schools and churches, and provides every- thing necessary for the happiness of its inhabitants.
Public parks and playgrounds for children, with rest-rooms and many conveniences that aid health and create happiness, are special features provided by the founders of Crockett.
Every year a great May Day celebration is held in Crockett under the personal direction of the general manager of the California & Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company, which is participated in by officials of that big organization and by the hundreds of employees of the company, the citizens of Crockett, and thousands of invited guests from all parts of the county and State.
The big event in 1916 was unusually noticeable because it was com- bined with dedication exercises in honor of the new Y. M. C. A. Build- ing, the new Carquinez 'Women's Clubhouse, and other grand improve- ments given to the city by the California & Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company for the pleasure and comfort of the citizens of Crockett.
A special feature was the May-pole dance, participated in by several hundred beautiful little children, daughters of the employees of the sugar refinery and business men and women of Crockett.
The 1916 celebration was made a royal holiday event. Invited guests from the cities and towns around were there through special invitation. There was a great floral and decorated float parade. Automobiles gaily bedecked added to the grandeur of the occasion, while bands of music played, and every one was made welcome and happy as the guests of the people of Crockett.
In the evening a grand carnival was held, followed by a masked ball, which was attended by many notable and prominent people of San Francisco, Crockett, and the country around.
It was a happy, joyous event, creating, as it did, a feeling of friend- ship and reciprocity among employers and employed, making them for the time being one big family of people interested in the present, future, and advancing interests of Crockett, as a home place for intelligent and contented workmen who appreciate the very best of treatment, such as is accorded by the California & Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company and its officers and heads of departments.
It is such interests as these May Day occasions and celebrations which
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have done much to cement the strong friendship existing between cap- ital and labor at Crockett, and which go far toward making this an ideal industrial city.
In this connection, it is a pleasure and very timely to mention George M. Rolph, general manager of the California & Hawaiian Sugar Re- fining Company, who as the head of this big industry at Crockett has always taken much interest in the people and the development of the city.
He has taken that personal part in activities which proves his sincer- ity, and he enjoys the personal regard, respect, and esteem of every man, woman, and child in Crockett, not only among those employed by his big refinery, but among the people of every class.
George M. Rolph is really and truly a man who does things. His men rely upon him in time of need and are ever ready to work for and with him in time of emergencies. It is men of this character and heart who are recognized as leaders in action and who are usually found at the top directing great industrial enterprises.
Crockett also has a Citizens' Improvement Association, organized for exploitation, publicity, and the general advancement of the city. Meri- torious enterprises are fostered, aided, and encouraged, entertainment features are provided for the town, and the idea is to create more in- terest in Crockett and its attractions. Like every other city in Contra Costa County, Crockett enjoyed unparalleled building activities in 1915- 16, which still continue unabated. Nearly all of the new edifices are residences, modern in every respect. The residence section is rapidly extending on the hills overlooking the business section.
CALIFORNIA AND HAWAIIAN SUGAR REFINING CO.
The town of Crockett-Queen City of the Carquinez Straits-is to be congratulated on having within its boundaries one of the largest indus- tries of the Pacific Coast-the California & Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company.
This refinery is in operation 300 days of the year, and is the only sugar refinery in the world where the men work in shifts of eight hours each. The output of refined sugar is about 950 tons per day, or 280,000 tons per annum.
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This sugar is shipped in packages of various styles and weights, not only to all the Pacific Coast States-some of it going as far north as Alaska and as far away as the Philippines-but its distribution extends as far east as Illinois.
The raw sugar from which this refined product is obtained comes principally from the Hawaiian Islands in the great freighters that ply between San Francisco and the Hawaiian ports. At times it has been even necessary to bring it from points as far away as Peru and Java. Almost any day from December until the following October, steamers of immense carrying capacity may be seen discharging at the wharves of this company.
Mechanical contrivances of all sorts, such as slat and belt conveyors of every description, aid in unloading one of these 8000 to 13,000-ton steamers, discharging 2500 tons daily.
The raw sugar is then placed in one of the vast warehouses located on the company's land, which, by the way, has a deep water-frontage of 2400 feet. It is drawn on by the refinery later as needed in the process of manufacture.
A visit to this refinery would prove most interesting. Here one may see the large vacuum pans which boil fifty tons of sugar every two hours, the great boilers which require hundreds of barrels of oil per day to keep the machinery in motion, machines for weighing and sack- ing the granulated sugar, machines for putting sugar in cartons which automatically pack and seal thirty-two five-pound cartons every minute.
In turning out from 17,000 to 18,000 bags of sugar per day, each bag containing the finished product, 25,000 yards of cotton cloth are made up daily as inner-liners, which are fine, white bags, placed inside the coarser jute bags to keep the sugar immaculately clean.
While the refinery and extensive warehouses are a great part of this industry, the company has also given a substantial evidence of its in- terest in the town of Crockett and the welfare of its employees in the splendid hotel it owns, equipped with all modern conveniences, lobby, card rooms, and a pleasant dining-room, where the best food is served ; the Y. M. C. A. Building, erected at a cost of about $50,000, with its splendid swimming pool, gymnasium, library, billiard room and numer- ous sleeping rooms ; and that the feminine portion of Crockett and vi-
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cinity may not feel neglected, the management has built a beautiful building which is used as a women's club, where spare hours may be comfortably enjoyed.
In fact, no better example can be found in the West of an effort on the part of a corporation to maintain right relations between employer and employee than exists in the town of Crockett.
Marsh
CHAPTER XXXII OAKLEY AND SAND LANDS
BY R. C. MARSH
IN THE fall of 1897 I bought a small acreage in the northwest quarter of section 25, township 2 north, range 2 east, in eastern Contra Costa County, and moved on it the following February. At that time there had been five surveys made by the Santa Fe Company, but no definite deci- sion was reached as to its location. It was evident the railroad wanted to avoid the orchards as much as possible and at the same time enter Antioch by the water-front. Our nearest station was at Neroley, a flag station on the Southern Pacific Railroad, about three miles south from where Oakley now stands. Something of an effort had also been made prior to this time to get a post-office established there. It was a little premature, however, and the effort was abandoned.
A few days after I had moved in a surveying party came along near my cabin, carefully setting a line of stakes. They told me that was to be the Santa Fe line, and that my house would have to be moved. A short time after the agents came along, trying to buy the necessary rights-of- way. The company had figured upon having but one station between Antioch and the San Joaquin River, and there was quite a difference of opinion among its officers as to where it would be best to locate this sta- tion. G. W. Knight's place, three and a half miles east from this point, was finally chosen as being the nearest to the Southern Pacific line, and would very likely draw most trade from that point. That station the company proposed to name Meganos. It had not, however, made a good guess on the loyalty of our leading sand-lappers, viz., James O'Hara, Andrew Walker, and B. F. Porter. These leaders said, "No, gentlemen ; we will not sell you a right of way across the northwest quarter of sec- tion 25, but we will give you the land desired if you will sign an agree- ment to put down at least a half-mile of side-track, put up a small room for shelter while waiting for trains, and build us a station whenever the business will justify." That agreement was signed in due time, and the sand-lappers had scored their first home run.
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Before grading was well under way an agitation was started for a post-office, without waiting for the advent of the trains, and I was se- lected as the one to represent our people before Uncle Sam. This was done successfully, and in due time I received the first letter that was ever addressed to Oakley, Cal. It was mailed by our Postmaster-General at Washington, D. C., September 9, 1898, certifying to my appointment as postmaster at Oakley, California. My commission was dated Sep- tember 7, 1898. The usual amount of supplies was sent to the postmaster at Antioch for me. My instructions were to open the office whenever I was ready, run it to suit myself for two months, then report. The office was opened November 1, 1898, the instructions were followed, and the rest is detail work and public history. Our first eight months of mail service was conducted from here to Antioch and return six times a week, by cart, and was largely successful, through the loyalty of A. N. Norcross and Daniel Methven, with an occasional quarter from other loyal hearts to help buy horse-feed, and yours truly running a relief trip semi-occasionally to help out. At the end of eight months Uncle Sam took charge of the carrying service and sent us our mail from Brentwood via Oakley to Bethel, another new post-office back in the big bend of the San Joaquin River. The change relieved me from some of the responsibilities, as well as indicating permanency of establishment.
The Santa Fe Company had undertaken to build across the tule lands to get into Stockton, and consequently had a great deal of trouble from its tracks sinking. The road ran southeast from here until it reached the section-line, two miles south of Oakley, and from there into Stockton on the section-line. After what we thought were many long delays the company named July 1, 1900, as the time to put on its first passenger train. I was ready for it, receiving and dispatching mail by the first train-and the sand-lappers had scored their second home run.
Oakley had been located on section 25, township 2 north, range 2 east. This section was railroad-grant land, and was put on the market in 1897 by James O'Hara at fifty dollars an acre, all being sold inside of two years. Much of it has been resold two and three times over, and al- ways at an advance. This so-called orchard land is quite sandy, and in early days was a haven of rest for coyote and jack-rabbit, and those people that had courage to locate on it were sneeringly referred to as "sand-lappers." When fruit-trees were introduced the jacks became a
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bane to the fruit-grower. This section was known far and wide as the happy hunting-ground of the river men, where the tired hunter, after his evening feed of broiled jack-rabbit, would be serenaded to sleep and dreams of shining gold nuggets by the silver-toned coyotes. There are but few hiding-places left for Mr. Jack Rabbit. The almond is boss of the road now in these parts.
James O'Hara was the most extensive real-estate dealer in this part of the country, and was generally reckoned as the pioneer and father of the Oakley fruit and almond industry. This is decidedly correct. He is also sometimes referred to as the "Father of Oakley." Strictly speaking, that was not correct. But by forcing the deal he made with the Santa Fe Company, he helped to make possible the Oakley of the future. It might have come later anyway, but not so soon. Being postmaster here then, I was naturally looking for a line on coming developments, and first bought a flat-iron corner of Porter & Walker that the Santa Fe had cut from off the southwest corner of section 24. I offered J. A. Jesse the best lot of the piece absolutely free of cost if he would build on it and put in a stock of groceries. He complied, and we traded. While that was being done I moved the post-office building onto another part of the lot-and Oakley town was in embryo. Shortly after this I got a line on the Haven nineteen-acre lot across the road in section 25. Associating N. A. Norcross with myself, we purchased that property, platted and recorded it-and Oakley was on the map. We next made substantial concessions to J. M. Augusto to get a blacksmith-shop start- ed. To show that Augusto is satisfied, I quote his own words-that he has made a thousand dollars for every dollar that he invested in the lot. Then two lots were sold to Brentwood parties for $125. They were re- sold inside of two weeks for $250. The boom was on.
In the early spring of 1905 our loony sand-lappers began to swell up to an alarming extent, thirsting for more notoriety. A public meeting was held, and Oakley was pledged to a Fourth of July celebration, with a jack-rabbit barbecue dinner. What a guffaw went up over the whole country. "What gall ! What monumental cheek !" came from all points. Our boldness gave other towns the shivers, and not one of them dared enter the field against us. We got a flag-pole from Washington, an ora- tor from Stockton, a quartet from Antioch, and our neighborhood rhymsters being at their best, there was no lack of entertainment. As
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fifteen hundred gift fans were far short of the demand, two thousand guests was the estimate of the number present. Thirty gallons of ice- cream was licked up before one o'clock. One stand took in eighty-five dollars for soda-water alone-and Oakley scored another home run. Great guns ! it was a hot day-110 in the shade !
While this town and the surrounding sand country have had no phe- nomenal growth or land boom, there has been at all times a steady, healthy increase in population as well as in improvements and over five hundred per cent increase in land values, with a certainty of further advance in the near future.
The Rickert lot of fifteen acres on the east was added to the town- site in 1909 by the late James O'Hara, and has been largely settled upon already. Another addition of larger suburban lots was added by R. C. Marsh. We have one rural free delivery route eighteen and a half miles in length, serving a hundred and twenty families, and we are to get an- other in the near future. With two halls subject to our whims for social and club entertainments, with four churches to lead the people in the way they should go, with a three-room schoolhouse (now badly over- crowded) to teach the young idea how to shoot, and a gradual increase in population, it is only a question of time for us to reach corporation and judicial district size. I have said the next station east of us was named Meganos by the Santa Fe Company. It being located on Knight's farm, the people there wanted it called Knightsen, and beat the Santa Fe to it by asking Uncle Sam for a post-office, to be named Knightsen, with George W. Knight as postmaster. They won out, and Knightsen had scored a home run. Lyon Brothers, or what is now known as the Miller-Cummings Company, have an asparagus packing plant here, in which they pack and ship asparagus for the Eastern market, sending out from two to four cars a day during the shipping season, which lasts about seventy-five days.
We have a farmer's club of fifty members that keeps in touch with our State University, which sends us lectures on any subject whenever desired, free for the asking, and which is appreciated by all. There is also a live-wire Ladies' Oakley Improvement Club of about thirty mem- bers that helps us look after our dimes and quarters when it thinks there are any improvements needed. Its members are top-notchers, too, and grease the track for an occasional progressive whist party.
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Why are there so many churches in Oakley? That question has been asked many times. The one word "jealousy" would give almost a com- plete answer. At the time I located here there was a small Methodist church in the country two and a half miles southwest of Oakley. A few of our people went to church there quite regularly for a time, several denominations being represented. Finally a get-together meeting was called, with the idea of moving the church to Oakley and all joining in one service. Five meetings, I believe, were held, two of them in my house, and the more we got together the farther we got apart, and final- ly the effort was abandoned. The Congregational Mission was first on the ground here, with preaching and Sunday-school under an oak tree, services being conducted by Rev. Paul Bandy. They soon had a church organization in sight, two lots donated, and the lumber on the ground for a Congregational church. That woke up the Methodist people, and soon after they moved their church into Oakley. Finally, in 1908, they removed the old church and built a larger edifice, presumably antici- pating future needs. Soon after this the Catholics, who, by the way, had been preparing for several years to build a commodious church here, started to erect a building on their lot in the O'Hara addition. The Bap- tists shortly after followed suit, with a very creditable structure, the fourth church building for our village. Further efforts have been made for a more united religious service, but some ism or other is always in the way.
INTRODUCTION OF THE LOGANBERRY
The wonderful loganberry of commerce was introduced into the Oak- ley district in 1900 by the Rev. C. S. Scott, a well-known resident here. Scott brought the plants from southern California, and set out a meas- ured acre of sediment land with rooted vines. They were irrigated from a well and carefully cultivated, so that a handsome growth was secured, and a wonderful crop of berries was produced the following year. This crop was peddled at good prices, the income from the berries alone be- ing six hundred dollars. But the principal idea was to create a demand for cuttings. The canes were lopped down, weighted, mulched, and irri- gated, with the result that the following January he sold two hundred rooted cuttings at twenty-five cents each, realizing an income of eleven hundred dollars from one acre the next year after planting.
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