The Yankee whalers had a devastating impact on the Pacific's marine mammals, cleaning out one whale, seal and otter nose after another. According to Walter Sheldon Tower's “A History of the American Whale Fishery” (1907), the impact multiplied after the discovery of the major whaling areas on the northwest coast in 1838.

When the highly lucrative Arctic whaling began in 1848, whalers began settling on this side of the continent, primarily from California. With the advent of railroads after the Civil War, San Francisco effectively became the whaling capital of the country, as whale oil from the far north could be landed there and then quickly shipped east by rail.

Aside from that, the presence of northern whaling ships led to the Pacific Coast's only nautical involvement in the Civil War, when the CSS Shenandoah sailed into high Arctic waters and captured many whalers. Unbeknownst to Lee's surrender on April 9, 1865, the Shenandoah fired the final shots of the war in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska between June 22 and 28, 1865.

Smaller operations continued into the 20th century, including the American Pacific Whaling Co., which wintered in Meydenbauer Bay on Lake Washington, now part of Bellevue.

Locally, Bioproducts Inc. of Oregon moved out of Warrenton and killed about 13 whales between 1960 and 1965 – including two humpbacks. The meat was sold to feed chickens and fur farm minks. For reasons no longer readily apparent, NASA used lubricating oil as part of the Mercury space program, but most of it was sold to the Mt. Hood Soap Co.

One participant's son recalled that minced whale meat tasted just like hamburger.

The post A quick historical past of Pacific whaling | Coastal Life appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

main image

Back in 1978, Mary Jean Anderson never dreamed the newly formed family business would be ranked in the Top 1% of plumbing, heating and cooling companies in the United States.

March 21st is the 45th Anniversary for Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air.

As a woman in a male dominated industry, Mary Jean has achieved national recognition for her success.  She has served on national Boards of Directors like Nexstar, a member-owned organization dedicated to empowering HVAC, Electrical and Plumbing business owners.  A true industry leader, she is a popular speaker and contributor to the dialogue on the future of the home services industry.

Mary Jean is a champion for lucrative career opportunities in the trades, including women and military.  She has mentored countless women pursuing a career in the trades either as an employee or a business owner.  Anderson was also influential in starting Troops for Trades, a national initiative to assist retiring military seeking a second career.

As an advocate for professionalism in the home services trade industry she often finds herself explaining the technological expertise and certifications required to successfully maintain, diagnose, repair and install the equipment in our homes.

“Every day I am wowed by the incredible team we have here at Anderson.  Sure, we give them the tools and training to do the job, but the bottom line is that they are the ones who deliver on our promise to wow our clients and that makes all the difference,” said Mary Jean Anderson, President/CEO of Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air.

On A Mission To Wow Clients 

The Anderson Mission Statement is posted throughout the offices as a reminder of their unflinching dedication to 100% Client Satisfaction.  It details the company vision as well as the blueprint for delivering on the promise that “Nobody wows clients like we do!”TM

Team Anderson is committed to the highest levels of service including: leaving the workspace cleaner than when they arrived; clean trucks and uniforms; safety for themselves, the clients and the community at large; and anything else it takes to wow clients!

“It takes real teamwork to deliver the wow experience to our clients.  From the Client Care Representative answering the phone to booking the appointment, to the Dispatchers and Technicians in the field, everyone has a responsibility to the rest of the Team,” Anderson explained.

Opportunities as a Plumber or HVAC Technician

“We are extremely fortunate to have so many long-term employees that continue to grow their careerswith Anderson. Right now, the biggest challenge in our industry is the ongoing nationwide shortage of skilled tradespeople,” said Anderson.

That’s why she started the Anderson Career Builder Institute in 2017.  ACBI is a specialized earn-while-you-learn trade school dedicated to training residential Plumbers and HVAC Technicians for rewarding careers in the home services industry.

Successful applicants work two days a week in the classroom and labs and three days a week in the field with a senior trained technician/mentor.

“People don’t realize the earning potential in the trades if you have the right attitude, are detail oriented, and committed to lifelong learning.  We teach the skills to our students at ACBI and, once they join the company, they see that our whole team at Anderson is constantly supported with training, training, and more training!”, added Anderson.

ACBI also works with all branches of the military to help those who are interested as they prepare to transition to civilian life.

Congratulations to Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air on their 45th Anniversary!

The post Celebrating Girls’s Historical past Month With Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

At Llangoed Hall I slept like a Queen — and ended up smelling and shod like one too.

The definite luxury British country house hotel in the Wye River valley amongst the Black Mountains in the mid-Wales countryside near Brecon has hosted the Clintons and the Clooneys and Prince Charles. There is a thank you letter from him hanging in the Grand Hall, alongside one from former British Prime Minister John Major.

Entrance to Llangoed Hall

The eminent are never far away. They are around every corner. I spent a lot of time in the shower with a famous Cornishman. When I was out of it I was surrounded, in the oak panelled library and along the pillared gallery of the classic Jacobean-style manor, by “true modern dandies and bold women who knew how to go their own way”.

Although they were oblivious to it.

Every step around Llangoed Hall (Holy Meeting Place) is a step into history.

Step inside the shower or your bath and you meet William Penhaligon, the Cornish court barber of Queen Victoria, who in 1902 invented ‘Blenheim Bouquet’ for the Duke of Marlborough and was rewarded with becoming ‘The manufacturer of toilet requisites’ by Royal Appointment.
The royal family has issued over 850 royal warrants. There is a royal chimney sweep and even a royally endorsed maker of “corsetry, lingerie and intimates”.

Lounge area that depicts Laura Ashley’s famed fabric

When you go for a walk by the river at Llangoed, you choose your by ‘Her Majesty’s Appointment’ footwear from a selection of ‘Hunter Monarch’ boots. The bedding in the hotel is the same as used on the Crown Estates. The pillowcases are filled with the feathers from ducks resident at Sandringham, the baths and toilet cisterns are by ‘Chadder and Co’, the china tea-sets by ‘Caverswall’, the bathrobes by ‘Mitre’, the retro radios by ‘Robinson’s’, the carpets by ‘Brintons’ and the stationery only by the very best –‘Smythsons’.

The hotel is an art gallery. It boasts – discreetly — a collection of nineteen ‘Whistler’ lithographs (1888-1902), as well as works by Andrew Melville, Wiliam Sickert, John Duncan Ferguson, Albert Lynch and Tenby’s Augustus John.

The hotel is a popular weddings and honeymoon venue. Honeymooners return frequently. The couples are transported in a Rolls Royce given to the Queen Mother on the birth of Elizabeth, Princess of York (the Queen). The whisky decanter is appropriately empty. Also available for functions is a Bentley once owned by the Duke of York.

Says G.M. Calum Milne, a relative of A.A., the creator of ‘Winnie the Pooh’, “What’s good enough for the Queen should be good enough for anyone!”

The new owners have invested in re-furbishing what its former owner Sir Bernard Ashley wanted to be ‘A country home from home’. Janet in the dining room tells a story about how Sir Bernard (who died in 2009) asked his butler to bring his shotgun. He promptly shot the TV when Arthur Scargill appeared. Calum says, “We won’t see his like again.”

An engineer and pilot (model trains are on window ledges and ‘Airfix’ Spitfires hang from ceilings), the former Fusilier and Gurkha army officer married Laura Mountney (nee Ashley) in 1949, having met her in a London youth club. Ashley was born in Dowlas, Merthyr Tydfil, the daughter of a civil servant.

While a Royal Navy Wren she started doodling designs for headscarves, napkins, table mats and tea towels. The couple set up a printing press and the ultimate cottage industry – Laura Ashley fabrics – was born in 1953.

Llangoed Hall is a veritable art gallery too

2015 is the 90th anniversary of Laura Ashley’s birth and the 30th of her death.The Ashley family moved to Wales in 1961. Originally located in the social club in Carno, Montgomeryshire (where they are both buried), the factory moved to the village’s railway station.

In 1966, Laura produced her first dress. In 1974, she opened shops in Paris and San Francisco. At the time of her death the company had 220 shops in 12 countries. Her first shop at 35 Maengwyn Road in Machynlleth in west Wales is still open for business.

The suites in the 23-room, 17-acre Powys hotel are named after the Ashley family homes, in Machynlleth, Rhydoldog, Paultons, their house in Brussels, Treveraux, the family chateau in Picardy and Lyford in the Bahamas.

In a simple frame along the corridor from the ‘Paultons’ master deluxe suite at Llangoed is the first item Laura Ashley designed – a striped apron (1950). Room 7 is a tribute to her flock.

Over the fireplace in the hotel’s drawing room is a motto of former owners, the Christy clan, ‘Sic Viresco’ – ‘To Flourish’.

The Hall was probably the seat of the first Welsh parliament, going back to 560AD. It was an episcopal grange. It was owned by a prominent hatter and once, in the days of the ‘Regency Hellfire Club’, lost in a game of cards.

In 1912 it was redesigned by Clough Williams-Ellis before he created the quirky Italianate village of Portmeiron in north Wales. Work on Llangoed’s “majestic chimneyed outlines” was completed in 1919. Sir Bernard Ashley bought it in 1987 and turned it into a hotel in 1990.

Llangoed is ideally and idyllically placed to visit the Brecon Beacons National Park and Elan Valley where Barnes Wallis tested his bouncing bombs before the 1943 ‘Dambusters’ raid. As well as Llandrindod Wells (August sees the town’s Victorian Festival and exhibitions of “things old time”), Hay on Wye (its Literary Festival is held in May), Brecon (August jazz festival) and the Royal Welsh Show grounds at Builth Wells where you can watch the pony sales and bid at auctions for your very own speckled faced breeding ewe. Wales’s only distillery, ‘Penderyn’ isn’t far away either.

But Llangoed is the place to stay.

Under chandeliers you enjoy petit fours with infusions, beetroot macaroon canapes, artisanal cheeses with quince paste, homemade scones, ‘Bra Brith’ (Welsh speckled or mottled currant bread), elderflower champagne, Llangoed hen truffled eggs and Miss Milligan’s signature and very bespoke egg and water cress finger sandwiches.

All that chintz, all that high life and sophistication, the four poster beds and classy valences, the crystalware, the complimentary sherry in a decanter in your room, the Frambuie in your porridge, the Camden Town group and Slade School on the walls, the gouache and gum arabic, the thin wash, the aquatints on wove paper, the renowned bohemians, Scottish colourists, the masters of ‘blottesque’ and the Glasgow Boys.
And all the royal warrants.

And the Laura Ashley connection.

Llangoed Hall, the AA’s Best Hotel of the Year in United Kingdom and Ireland 2014, is enough to drive a sane person Paisley.
And monarchist.
To boot.

The post Llangoed Corridor: Moving into luxurious and British historical past appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Today is Thursday, Nov. 23, the 327th day of 2023. There are 38 days left in the year. Today is Thanksgiving.

On Nov. 23, 1971, the People’s Republic of China was seated in the United Nations Security Council.

In 1889, the first jukebox made its debut in San Francisco, at the Palais Royale Saloon.

In 1903, Enrico Caruso made his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, appearing in “Rigoletto.”

In 1936, Life, the photojournalism magazine created by Henry R. Luce, was first published.

In 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed Nov. 25 a day of national mourning following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

People are also reading…

In 1980, some 2,600 people were killed by a series of earthquakes that devastated southern Italy.

In 1996, a commandeered Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 crashed into the water off the Comoros Islands, killing 125 of the 175 people on board, including all three hijackers.

In 2000, in a setback for Al Gore, the Florida Supreme Court refused to order Miami-Dade County officials to resume hand-counting its election-day ballots. Meanwhile, Gore’s lawyers argued in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court that the high court should stay out of the Florida election controversy.

In 2003, five U.S. soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

In 2006, former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko (leet-vee-NYEN’-koh) died in London from radiation poisoning after making a deathbed statement blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In 2008, the government unveiled a bold plan to rescue Citigroup, injecting a fresh $20 billion into the troubled firm as well as guaranteeing hundreds of billions of dollars in risky assets.

In 2011, Yemen’s authoritarian President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to step down amid a fierce uprising to oust him after 33 years in power.

In 2012, actor Larry Hagman, best known for playing the scheming oil baron J.R. Ewing on TV’s “Dallas,” died in Dallas at age 81.

In 2020, the federal government recognized Joe Biden as the “apparent winner” of the Nov. 3 election, formally starting the transition of power; President Donald Trump still refused to concede and vowed to continue a court fight.

In 2021, a federal jury in Cleveland found that CVS, Walgreens and Walmart pharmacies recklessly distributed massive amounts of pain pills in two Ohio counties. (A judge awarded $650 million in damages.)

In 2022, the Middle East’s first World Cup opened in Qatar. Ecuador beat the host country 2-0 in the opening match.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Franco Nero is 82. Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is 79. Actor-comedy writer Bruce Vilanch is 76. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is 73. Singer Bruce Hornsby is 69. Former Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is 68. Actor Maxwell Caulfield is 64. Actor John Henton is 63. TV personality Robin Roberts (“Good Morning America”) is 63. Rock singer-musician Ken Block (Sister Hazel) is 57. Actor Salli Richardson-Whitfield is 56. Actor Oded Fehr is 53. Rapper-actor Kurupt (Tha Dogg Pound) is 51. Actor Page Kennedy is 47. Actor Kelly Brook is 44. Actor Lucas Grabeel is 39. TV personality Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is 36. Actor-singer Miley Cyrus is 31. Actor Olivia Keville (TV: “Splitting Up Together”) is 21.

Be the first to know

Get local news delivered to your inbox!

The post As we speak in Historical past — Nov. 23 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Today is Sunday, Nov. 12, the 316th day of 2023. There are 49 days left in the year.

On Nov. 12, 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.

In 1920, baseball got its first “czar” as Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was elected commissioner of the American and National Leagues.

In 1936, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in Washington, D.C. and gave the green light to traffic.

In 1942, the World War II naval Battle of Guadalcanal began. (The Allies would win a major victory over Japanese forces.)

People are also reading…

In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.

In 1970, the Bhola cyclone struck East Pakistan; it is believed that as many as a half million people were killed.

In 1975, Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas retired because of failing health, ending a record 36-year term.

In 1982, Yuri V. Andropov succeeded the late Leonid I. Brezhnev as leader of the U.S.S.R. with his election as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party’s Central Committee.

In 1996, a Saudi jetliner collided shortly after takeoff from New Delhi, India, with a cargo plane, killing 349 people.

In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, headed to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.

In 2009, Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the Fort Hood, Texas, shooting rampage. (Hasan, who was left paralyzed from the abdomen down when police shot him during the Nov. 5, 2009, attack, was later convicted and sentenced to death, but has not yet been executed.)

In 2012, the United States was re-elected to another three-year term on the U.N. Human Rights Council in the only contested election for the organization’s top human rights body.

In 2017, President Donald Trump exchanged taunts with North Korea’s leader, tweeting, “Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me ‘old,’ when I would NEVER call him ‘short and fat?‘”

In 2018, Stan Lee, the Marvel Comics writer and publisher who revolutionized the comic book and developed superhero characters that made billions for Hollywood, died at age 95.

In 2019, Venice saw its worst flooding in more than 50 years, with the water reaching 6.14 feet above average sea level; damage was estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

In 2020, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, a broad coalition of top government and industry officials, rejected President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud, saying that the election was “the most secure in American history.”

In 2021, a judge in Los Angeles ended the conservatorship that had controlled the life and money of pop star Britney Spears for nearly 14 years.

Today’s birthdays: Singer Brian Hyland is 80. Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 80. Rock musician Booker T. Jones (Booker T. & the MGs) is 79. Sportscaster Al Michaels is 79. Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 78. Rock musician Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser (Blue Oyster Cult) is 76. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., is 74. Country/gospel singer Barbara Fairchild is 73. Actor Megan Mullally is 65. Actor Vincent Irizarry is 64. Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci is 62. Rock musician David Ellefson is 59. Retired MLB All-Star Sammy Sosa is 55. Figure skater Tonya Harding is 53. Actor Rebecca Wisocky is 52. Actor Radha Mitchell is 50. Actor Lourdes Benedicto is 49. Actor Tamala Jones is 49. Singer Tevin Campbell is 47. Actor Ashley Williams is 45. Actor Cote de Pablo is 44. Actor Ryan Gosling is 43. Contemporary Christian musician Chris Huffman is 43. Actor Anne Hathaway is 41. Pop singer Omarion is 39. NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook is 35. Folk-rock musician Griffin Goldsmith (Dawes) is 33. Actor Macey Cruthird is 31.

Be the first to know

Get local news delivered to your inbox!

The post Right now in Historical past — Nov. 12 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

• Alcatraz Island is a National Historic Landmark most famous for its 29-year operation as a prison.
• The small island offshore of San Francisco, California, housed famous criminals including Al Capone.
• Today, tourists can see the former prison’s small cells, dining hall, and warden’s house.

The story of Alcatraz is a fascinating dive into US history. 

It was the site of a US military prison from the late 1850s to 1933, and later, between 1969 and 1971, it was occupied by Native American activists.

But Alcatraz Island, which is off the coast of San Francisco, California, is best known for its years operating as a maximum-security federal prison. From 1934 to 1963, it housed criminals, including the infamous gangster Al “Scarface” Capone and murderer Robert “Birdman of Alcatraz” Stroud. 

The Golden Gate National Recreation Area was created by Congress in 1972, placing Alcatraz Island under the control of the National Park Service. Today, it is a popular tourist spot, with more than 1 million people visiting the island every year, according to the ​​Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

Take a look at what it’s like to visit Alcatraz Island.

Prisoners also worked in the laundry, or completed factory work or general maintenance. Wages were deposited into their prison accounts to buy items from the commissary.

The linen area. Claudine Van Massenhove/Shutterstock

Source: National Park Service

The post Pictures Present What It is Prefer to Go to, Historical past, Tour appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

One of the most storied buildings in Louisiana is set for a modern makeover, promising visitors an unparalleled experience rooted deep in the state’s history.

Located in the heart of the historic town of Washington, LA – the third oldest European settlement in the state – this iconic building, once the bustling Klaus general store, is getting a second lease on life.

“You can see that we’re actually restoring this building, which was erected just after the Civil War by Jewish merchants from Prussia,” explained Stephen Ortego, Principal Architect at SO Studio, in a recent Instagram video. These entrepreneurs not only set up a general store on the ground floor but also made it their family residence, living just above their thriving business. The store remained a local landmark even as Max Klaus, who later married the founder’s daughter, took the reins, maintaining its legacy until the late 1960s.

Ortego shed light on the careful and respectful approach being taken with this project, stating, “This is a historic preservation project, and we are meticulously adhering to the guidelines from the national park service to ensure that we are using the best practices for historic preservation.” However, he clarified, “It’s not a complete restoration, because we’re not returning it to its pre-electricity and pre-plumbing days, but we are making sure it’s as close to its original charm, with a touch of modernity.”

The ambitious project will transform the old general store and residence into a boutique hotel, boasting nine exquisite rooms. Guests will soon have the unique opportunity to stay in one of Louisiana’s most historic places, making their visit a literal walk through history.

An excited post from @SOStudioArch on Instagram reads: “Introducing one of our newest projects in the historic town of Washington, LA. This project promises to transform the original general store and residence into a boutique hotel with 9 beautifully designed rooms. Guests will be enveloped in history while indulging in modern luxury. Stay tuned for more updates and sneak peeks.”

This rehabilitation project symbolizes a gorgeous blend of history with contemporary comfort, making it an exciting destination for history buffs and travelers alike.

KEEP READING: Here are the best places to retire in America

The post Spend The Night time in One of many Oldest Elements of Louisiana Historical past appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

San Francisco Refugee Cottages were built in San Francisco parks after the 1906 earthquake. Some were later moved to Santa Cruz as summer homes and guest cottages. (Contributed)

At 5:07 a.m. April 18, 1906, Santa Cruz County awoke to a slight tremble, then a deep rumble, soon joined by shaking that increased each second into a frightening melee, that cracked plaster and windows, cleared shelves, moved furniture, and toppled chimneys.

Every bell in the county rang spontaneously, from steeples, clock towers, schools and fire stations. In Soquel Village, the bell in the Congregational Church tower was broken from its armature. At the conclusion of the shaking, as quiet returned, people came outside in their night clothes to inspect the damage.

For Watsonville, the silence was short lived. The convent bell rang a new alarm, soon echoed by the Watsonville fire bell. The Moreland Notre Dame Academy was burning. Fire Chief George Tuttle led the response, only delayed because the back wall of City Hall had fallen on the engine house and buried their fire engine. As quick as possible, the firemen unearthed their engine, and turned their soaking hoses on the fire, a miracle in itself, as most water mains were broken and dry, and Corralitos Creek was cut-off by a landslide. While the wooden school was not saved, the fire company parked their engine in the middle of the street to prevent any further blockage.

In Santa Cruz, the high water table of the downtown flats resulted in several geysers erupting from the riverbank, shooting water 20-30 feet in the air. South of Barson Street, the Riverside Hotel’s orchard had eruptions of sand and mud squeezed out of the ground like toothpaste.

The troughs at Brookdale’s new fish hatchery produced small tidal waves that sloshed young trout onto the floor.  Workmen quickly swept them up in dust pans and returned them to the troughs.

J.J.C. Leonard was asleep at his Sea Beach Hotel on Beach Hill, when his little boy woke him.  The boy said he didn’t like the noise, and wanted to go back to the St. George Hotel. Leonard suddenly bolted up, realizing the chimney tops were falling, and rumbling off the roof. He called the St. George, and learned that hotel’s back wall had collapsed. So he telephoned for carpenters and masons. Failing to find all he wanted, he ordered a horse, and before 6 a.m. had men engaged to begin repairs. The kitchen chimney was quickly made functional enough to serve meals in the undamaged Sea Beach dining hall.

By 6 a.m., the Building Trades Council set up headquarters in the unharmed Santa Cruz Carnegie Library, suspending new projects in favor of residential repairs. Unreinforced masonry buildings were the bulk of the damage. Woodframe structures road out the quake with little problem, except when their chimneys crashed through the roof, or nearby brick walls dropped on them.

The electricity went off when Watsonville’s power plant boilers tipped over, and its well filled-up with sediment. In Santa Cruz, workmen risked electrocution to shut off a broken pipe gushing scalding hot steam onto a 2,500-volt generator. Yet Santa Cruz’s electric power was restored by 3 p.m.

Miss Snedecor worked tirelessly to give Santa Cruz uninterrupted phone service. Yet those trying to reach Santa Cruz from neighboring counties, didn’t know they had to bypass broken Bay Area infrastructure by relaying their calls through Los Angeles. As a result, Santa Cruz seemed unresponsive. Trains attempting to leave the county, had to return in reverse, finding tunnels collapsed, and bridges damaged. Even the highway bridges had offsets of 2-8 feet, with roads blocked by boulders, trees, fissures and landslides.

As a giant plumb of smoke arose to the north, fears grew that the disaster was not over. Henry Cowell wanted to reach his family in San Francisco, so he hired the electric speedboat of John Perez. But the sea was so rough, it threatened to swamp the boat, so they returned to Santa Cruz. This condition had even produced a tidal wave in San Francisco Bay that wiped out several East Bay wharves. Perez said he’d make another ocean attempt the next morning, and anyone else who wished to go should be on the wharf at 10 a.m. April 19.

Persistence

In San Jose, the Landon family home experienced $1,000 in damages. Destruction extended throughout San Jose, including a fire, along with choking smoke from the San Francisco inferno.  But the Landons were told they couldn’t reach their daughter in Santa Cruz because the county had been destroyed. So their teenage son Vernon got on his bicycle, hoping to cross the Santa Cruz Mountains and rescue his sister. He saw the shaking had been worse at the summit fault line, destroying the Hotel de Redwood, and many homes. Oakland Traction Co. president Ernest Heron and driver Morgan Miles attempted to reach Santa Cruz by auto, but were turned back at Patchen Pass when warned the road ahead was impassible. Vernon was undeterred, hiking and biking his way over or around all obstacle.

To his surprise, Vernon discovered Santa Cruz showed little of the hardships San Francisco and San Jose were experiencing. That evening, Heron and Miles arrived, having detoured through San Juan Bautista, entering Watsonville via the railroad bridge with planks for ramps to overcome the sunken bridge approaches. Likewise that evening, County Supervisor Linscott and his wife struggled into Santa Cruz by the mountain-route in a rented two-horse wagon. Linscott was relieved he could phone his daughter, Carrie, in Watsonville, and let her know her mother and father were safe.

Compared to the widespread destruction elsewhere, Santa Cruz had only five public use buildings damaged: the County Court House; the new Pilot Hose firehouse (with the Pilots relocating to Milo Hopkin’s barn-like “City Stables”), Chestnutwood’s Business College and Hihn Corner, both owned by F.A. Hihn; and the Farmers Union, which dropped walls on wooden structures housing the Electric Trolley offices on Soquel Aveenue and the Unique Theater on Pacific Avenue.  All were unreinforced brick buildings; and the County Court House builder was found to have charged for rebar that was never installed. Watsonville fared worse, with damage to about nine unreinforced masonry buildings: the City Hall, I.O.O.F. Building, Pajaro Valley Bank, Peck Building, Ford’s Department Store, Porter Building, Jefsen Block, Foresters Hall, and $15,000 in damage for St. Patrick’s Church.

Linscott rebuked Santa Cruzans who complained of their fate, which in comparison had been a blessing, if only an inconvenient one. Eye witnesses told their stories of horror in San Francisco and San Jose, yet the masses of refugees did not panic, but were orderly and helpful. It inspired locals on April 20, to start relief efforts and collect bedding, clothing and funds. Quilt-making machines were set up in the Sea Beach Ballroom, and the nearby Bay State Hotel produced free meals. Cottage City was expanded for refugee housing. Linscott spent the next day hard at work at the damaged County Court House on Cooper Street, removing important county records, and determining if the building should be demolished, or repaired.  It was rebuilt.

News

The Sentinel and Surf newspapers kept publishing, and the Pajaronian didn’t want Watsonville’s lack of electricity to cancel the news. So a small printing press with treadles was hooked up by a belt-drive to their linotype machine, and, powered by a couple of strong boys, they got the paper out. But co-owner George Radcliff was concerned about his wife and others last seen in San Francisco. Hammond Weeks wanted to find his brother, architect Wm. Weeks; Judge Hiram Tuttle had offices in San Francisco; other missing there were Graniterock co-founder Warren R. Porter; Frederick Hihn of lumber, realty and waterworks; Otto D. Stoesser visiting relatives; plus Dr. Peter Watters, and Dr. S.C. Rodgers.  So a search party was assembled April 20, to find 15 residents, with a letter signed and sealed by Watsonville mayor W.A. Trafton hoping to allow them through the military barricades.

Yet Carl Christensen left Watsonville alone in an automobile on April 18, transported people from San Jose to Oakland, then returned to San Jose to take people to San Francisco, which he entered at night by turning off his headlights, and coasting down a hill. He returned to Watsonville on April 19, with Dr. Watters, Wm. Weeks, and W.R. Benteen. Weeks recounted viewing the fire from the Flood Building, watching flames consume great structures, yet at the same time, marveled at the resilience of the steel-frame structures.

F.A. Hihn arrived in Watsonville at 5 p.m. on April 20. After the quake, Hihn had walked around San Francisco to check on his properties, which at first were safe, but when he returned the next day, had been completely destroyed. Around 1852, Hihn had already seen San Francisco burned down several times by warring gangs. Yet for a man with great losses, Hihn was upbeat and optimistic, meeting with Wm. Weeks to plan for rebuilding whatever had been ruined.  All insurance was canceled for Santa Cruz County, covering no damages  up to two days after the quake, to make sure no one was tempted to burn their properties for the insurance.

For several weeks, Postage was free, delivering letters written on anything at hand, including with chalk, and Mary Jane Hanly provided free medical assistance at her Sanitarium. Refugees came to Santa Cruz to stay in their summer homes, or rent tourist cottages. When a San Francisco orphanage was destroyed, 100 orphans were put in the care of nuns at the Santa Maria Del Mar resort in Live Oak. As refugee cabins were later removed from San Francisco parks, a number were sent to Santa Cruz as ready-made summer cottages, still found today.

San Francisco chose to rebuild in Santa Cruz concrete, lime and lumber, with improved construction methods foreseen by Wm. Weeks.

No one wants a disaster. But learning from our mistakes can make hardship an inconvenient blessing.

The post 1906: An inconvenient blessing | Ross Eric Gibson, Native Historical past – Santa Cruz Sentinel appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The 1886 Dr. P.B. Fagan House at Mission & Union streets. it was designed by J.C. Matthews of Oakland in Eastlake/Qheen Anne style, and is a great example of a furniture-like finish, including on the chimney. (F.S. Harrison’s 1892 county brochure).

Brunswick native LeBaron R. Olive became a carpenter as a teen, moving at 19 first to Boston in 1868, then to Manhattan. In the Big Apple, Olive became superintendent of construction for a number of New York’s finest buildings. The 37-year-old Olive was attracted to Santa Cruz in 1886, loving its suburban setting and picturesque architecture. While LeBaron appeared quite formal with his lacquered hair and wax mustache, he had a gregarious side that underscored his free approach to architecture.

At first, he served as supervisor and contractor on other architect’s projects, becoming close friends with the “Stick King,” Daniel Damkroeger. Alpine Stick was one of the “Arts & Crafts” styles popular in Central California, while Olive preferred its later evolution of “Eastlake Style.” Charles Locke Eastlake was a beloved English furniture designer and his turned posts, carved brackets and fretwork panels were borrowed to use in “Stick-Eastlake” style cottages. Eastlake himself was not happy for his name to grace such a California travesty, which wasn’t even “a true revival style.” Wallpaper designer Christopher Dresser even created themed rooms of Greek, Gothic, Nouveau, Moorish and Japanese styles. The architecture even incorporated Astian-style “Botany Panels” depicting birds, flowers, foliage or vases. This lack of stylistic consistency may have been more pronounced on the West Coast, where many contractors without classical training, filled in as architects, mixing styles freely from the millwork yards. Some called it the “Free Classic Style,” and Olive preferred to have this freedom.

“Cherry Court” was the 1889 home of Santa Cruz Sentinel publisher Duncan McPherson, at the corner of Chestnut and Church streets. Architect J.H. Williams shows the evolution replacing plain Alpine Stick-style gingerbread with furniture-like Eastlake millwork. (F.S. Harrison’s 1892 county brochure)

The “Arts & Crafts Movement” was a progressive reaction against the industrial revolution’s pollution, poverty, degradation of nature, and disenfranchisement of craft professionals. It idealized simple country life, hoping to improve the countryside with picturesque architecture and inspire a folkcraft movement that would bring the arts to all walks of life. Eastlake sought to justify the practicality of his artistic simplicity. He wrote in his 1874 book “Hints on Household Taste,” that to depict a realistic rose, would be a tripping or crushing incident if real. Instead, it should be reduced to a geometric folk design. Yet the “Aesthetic Movement” discarded all justification, believing in “Art for Art’s Sake.” Beauty needs no excuse. It was said that Olive “endeavors to adapt his buildings to their surroundings. His style is light and airy, and his work as a whole has given this young man a desirable and enviable reputation.” (Harrison, 1892).

Santa Cruz work

Olive did some magnificent Eastlake Villas, although what looks like a mansion to modern eyes was actually the homes of the middle class. And indeed the structures were built like pieces of furniture. Damkroeger and Olive worked together on the Thomas J. Weeks House at 724 California St.; the Harriet M. Blackburn House at Pacific and Sycamore (near Olive’s own Sycamore St. house), the Wm. Kerr House on Old San Jose Road, and the Soquel School. In 1891, Olive designed the Capt. Wm. Gray House at 250 Ocean View Ave., which was considered so beautiful, that A.M. Johnston ordered an exact replica of it nearby at 317 Ocean View Ave. Other notable homes were the 1889 H.H. Clark House at 104 King St., the Barfield “Rio Vista House” at 611 Third St. and Rio Vista; and the Anson Litchfield Cottage at 311 Oceanview Ave.

Tiny homes

While his larger picturesque villas were real scene stealers, Olive was also known for producing small artistic cottages that felt like mansions. It was part of the progressive ethos of the Arts & Crafts Movement, siding with the living conditions of laborers, with beautiful worker housing intended to reinforce the notion that one’s home is one’s castle. Olive produced numerous Baycliff Model homes, usually one story on a half-basement, L-shaped, with a corner porch in the “L”, a front bay window, and front gable.  These are still quite desirable today.

Transcendentalists had helped settle the community of Seabright. But unlike the Puritan impulse to reject art as frivolous, sacrilegious, or useless excess; Transcendentalists believed beauty was the visible expression of God’s harmony, and nature was the return to God’s Eden. They created a community of tiny homes, often decorated with gingerbread, similar to the cottage retreat in Chautauqua, New York. There are several surviving versions of a Chautauqua Eastlake cottage in Seabright, each once included a second floor coved sleeping balcony (all now enclosed). They also believed in the Arts & Crafts Movement to bring art to all walks of life. Seabright widow Forbes opened the first arts and crafts gallery downtown to support her children, and when she closed it, F.A. Hihn opened the Santa Cruz Decorative Arts Society in 1885, bringing in commission items from mostly women artists.

Practical jokes

Once in 1890, Olive got a box in the mail, marked “From T.J. Clunie.” This was the popular Sacramento Democrat, an assemblyman in 1879, a state senator in 1887, and would become a congressman in 1891.  Clunie always mailed out his political advertisements with a packet of vegetable seeds, and he’d send what was left to select friends to pass out. Olive was delighted at the prospect, and took the package to Brazer’s bookstore in the Odd Fellows Building, to open in front of his friends. But instead of vegetable seeds, it was a box of moldy walnuts marked “Californiensis mildewensis.” The group speculated as to who the prankster was, and noticed Dr. Thompson Drullard the dentist, who had rooms just upstairs, was suspiciously absent.

The 1888 A.J. Hinds House at 529 Chestnut Street, was built by J.H. Williams with a furniture-like Eastlake finish, “China hutch” stacked balcony and gate-leg turned porch posts. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (F.S. Harrison’s 1892 county brochure)

Drullard was running for city councilman. The next day, people were popping into the California Market, which was displaying a rare Giant Devil Ray that had been brought in by a fisherman.  When Olive saw it with its wide mouth, he thought of his prankster friend Drullard. So he sent the stinking carcass to the dentist’s office with instructions to fit it up with a complete set of dentures!  The dentist suddenly found a large crowd of rubber-neckers filing through his office all day just to see the devil ray.

Olive’s 1886 Arlington Hotel stood at the head of Pacific Avenue (last known in the 1970s as the McHugh & Bianchi Grocers). It was built for the “Whiskey King” of San Francisco, A.P. Hotaling. It was one of the first two Santa Cruz landmarks placed on the National Register of Historic Places, was a designated theme building of the Pacific Avenue National Downtown Historic District, and was illegally demolished in 1973 by Golden West Savings Bank. Olive also designed the Laurel School, the Congregational Church (Boys & Girls Club site), across the street from Calvary Episcopal Church, The C.B. Pease Building at 1532 Pacific Ave., the Boulder Creek Hotel, and the Soquel Odd Fellows Lodge.

Bad luck

In February 1891, both LeBaron and his wife Sarah Anne came down with influenza, making it hard to care for their five children. Convalescing for a week, his wife suddenly died. After her burial, he was still sick with flu, came home, and two days later, warming himself beside the fireplace, some embers got loose and started a fire. Olive evacuated his children from the house, ran to the curbside firebox, but the key switch to turn on the alarm was missing. Someone else went running down the street yelling “Fire!” until the Alerts Hook & Ladder Company showed up. They attached their hose to the Hihn Company water hydrant, but the water pressure was too weak to reach the fire, and “would have been a discredit to a garden hose,” the Surf noted.  Then the Pilot Hose Company arrived and attached their hose to the city hydrant. The pressure was at last more than sufficient, to the point that it burst their canvas fire hose! The house burned for about an hour, while the fire companies battled the blaze with buckets. Volunteers managed to save LeBaron’s furniture, but not his Persian carpets.

One of the ironies of this story is that, only two years before, LeBaron became one of the first architects to design roof sprinklers into some of his home commissions, to guard against this very thing! The only good news about the fire, was that within 11 hours after his house burned, the Home Mutual Insurance Company paid LeBaron’s claim for damages. And within 15 days, his home was completely rebuilt, and ready to be roofed. (The speed was considered a record, even in those days).

The plunge

By 1893, the 1868 Dolphin baths and 1879 Neptune baths at the Main Beach were quite inadequate for the waterfront’s growing popularity. So Captain Fred Miller joined Johnnie and David Leibbrandt, to build a new plunge. With the financial backing of San Francisco’s A.P. Hotaling, they hired LeBaron R. Olive, who studied the best bathhouses on the coast and incorporated numerous features into his $25,000 creation. The Miller-Leibbrandt Bathhouse was state of the art, with an Eastlake beach veranda, the indoor hot salt water plunge had observation balconies, trapeze equipment, two glass-lined slides and diving boards.

This was the pinnacle of Olive’s success in Santa Cruz. In 1903, his office and residence were at 543 Bay St. and included a telephone. In 1904, he moved to Palo Alto to make architecture for the community around Stanford University, including “Professorville.” Olive continued to innovate with new styles. In 1909 he built the small Portola Valley School west of Palo Alto, in a wood-clad “Mission Revival Style.” The structure is now on the National Register for Historic Places. Olive died in 1942.

LeBaron R. Olive’s 1891 A.M. Johnston Villa, at 317 Ocean View Avenue. It was once the twin of the Capt. Gray Villa at 250 Ocean View Avenue. This Eastlake design has an octagonal tower under a “witches hat” cap with “pie-crust trim.” The porch has “birdhouse panels” with “bird-cage” beaded spandrels. (Ross Eric Gibson collection).

The post Constructing structure like furnishings | Ross Eric Gibson, Native Historical past – Santa Cruz Sentinel appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.