Looking Back From Above
Friend Roberta sent me a website with photos taken during a flight on the only Zeppelin in the United States, that is operated by Airship Ventures based out of Moffett Field in Monterey. You can actually take a sight-seeing ride in the Zeppelin Eureka over the Bay Area and Monterey, or pretend to by checking out this website with the beautiful photos. Not only did it look like a fantastic experience, it brought back glowing youthful memories of Uncle Will, Aunt Martha and our cousins Bill and Barbara who lived in the hills above Lake Merritt. Bill and Barbara attended Oakland High School, and Barbara later graduated from U.C. Berkeley. I spent a lot of time with my cousins, and even attended California Fine Art School in my teens. They liked to spend vacations with us on Banner Mountain and Lake Tahoe. When Mel and I were married we lived in an apartment house near Lake Merritt, then moved to Castro Valley before returning to Nevada City.
The Bay, Oakland and Lake Merritt to the right.
The city has changed so much that it's hard to find which apartment we lived in.
Mel worked for Land-Air at the Oakland Airport before we married, but it has grown and he couldn't pick out which building.
Yerba Buena Island and....Treasure Island. Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland. It's connected by a small isthmus to Yerba Buena Island. It was created in 1936 & 1937, from fill dredged from the bay, for the Golden Gate International Exposition. According to the United States Census Bureau, Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island together have a land area of 2.334 km2 (0.901 sq mi) with a total population of 1,453 as of the 2000 census. The island is named after the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, who lived in San Francisco from 1879 to 1880.
Treasure Island is entirely within the City and County of San Francisco, whose territory extends far into San Francisco Bay and includes a tip of Alameda Island.
The island has a raised walkway, circumscribing almost its entire bulk, which is popular for recreation. Sea lions can be observed in the water from the shoreline, and construction of the new eastern span of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge can be observed from the eastern part of the island. The island used to have a gas station, but it is currently unused. It is served by a single Muni bus route, the 108 Treasure Island. It has a job training center, and is also home to San Franciscans and many college students who attend school downtown.
I'll never forget the times we went to the beautiful 1939-40 World's Fair on Treasure Island. (Relive it in the photos below). When WW11 started it was converted to a Naval base, but the memory of that marvelous place is still etched in my mind.
My friend Audine (whom I met when we belonged to Sierra Writers) grew up in Oakland. The Zeppelin photos jogged her wonderful memories that she shared with me:
"From the age of six until I was 55 (and my husband and I moved to Grass Valley for retirement) I was raised and lived my life in Oakland, worked in San Leandro, Berkeley and Castro Valley, went to Oakland High School and U.C. Berkeley, lived in earliest years on Perkins at Lake Merritt in Oakland........so it was a thrill to see what has happened to the Bay Area expansion. I saw the Bay Bridge being built. My family drove in our 1928 Buick over the Golden Gate Bridge when it was first opened. During the depression years my father was a night watchman at the Alameda County Courthouse when it was under construction. Now, what was a big building on the shores of Lake Merritt, could not be detected amongst the masses of huge high rises surrounding Lake Merritt. My parents bought a home on 11th Ave, close to Park Blvd., which was three miles from downtown Oakland. It was common for us to walk to town through the then low dwellings surrounding the park lined Lake Merritt. I could pick out familiar places, BUT oh my, how the area has expanded up and out.
The Bay Area was a wonderful place to be raised: marvelous year-round weather, excellent schools, relaxed living with kids playing kick ball in streets, walking great distances to schools (if necessary), no worries about having your children walking wherever it was convenient or necessary. At the end of WW II, my husband was released from the Navy and we bought a tract home. This tract in Hayward was between the Nimitz Freeway and San Leandro Blvd and was the last tract between Hayward and San Jose. The home cost us $10,000, with a Vet Loan of 3%. Now, there are towns and dwellings solid all the way to San Jose, and our little three-bedroom house now sells for close to $200,000.
It is a little frustrating to me now, since I just turned 90 and can share my memories with NO ONE. I know no one in this area who is familiar with the Bay Area and I am the last alive in my family. So, you had to read my reminiscences." Audine
Mel remembers, "When I was around twelve years old delivering newspapers for the Sacramento Bee, I got so many subscriptions for the newspaper that I won a trip to the World's Fair. Mom and Dad had a 1937 Buick sedan that we made the trip in. I forget how many other carriers went, but the Bee paid for the gas."
Reflections from Rich who flew in the Goodyear blimp years ago: "What great photography!! It was interesting to see this. Some years back, my daughter and I were fortunate enough to get a ride in the Goodyear blimp when it came through Fresno (at the time, we were buying lots of Goodyear tires). Our ride was not as glamorous as was this one, however. The Goodyear was only 2/3 the size of this one and had no modern electronics, such as fly-by-wire, to aid it. One fixed engine so loud you had to yell to communicate. I was amused to see the levers to adjust the air valves. On the Goodyear they connected the air valves to the pilot with ropes and the pilot pulled on the ropes to adjust the valves. No swivel engines to take off. Takeoff was up at 45 degrees by the crew holding the tail down while the other end raised and as quickly as possible. Oddly enough, there are no seat belts in either of these blimps, which feels a little strange when your knees are above your head. A great experience. My daughter still talks about it."
"You keep bringing back memories..........for which I am grateful! Many thanks for including one of mine in your web site stories. If you are interested, I'd like to dredge up and share another with you, particularly since you have very little choice in the matter. Your latest post brings back another memory of the Bay Area.
In 1935, my family moved from Washington to Berkeley where we lived until moving to Grass Valley in 1939. I remember in 1939 my father splurging and taking the family (all nine of us) to the Exposition on Treasure Island. I do not remember all that much of the Exposition other than being completely awed by the whole thing. The only thing that I remember vividly is the trip to and from Treasure Island on the steam ferry boat. I was mesmerized by the long walking beam going back and forth from the steam engine to the rear paddle wheel of the ferry. Didn't take much to entertain me in those days.
I also remember fondly our occasional weekend picnic trips to Lake Merritt, which I thought was out in the country. Of course, with nine people in one automobile of that vintage was definitely a adventure. I also remember the Catalina Flying boats (the China Clippers) landing and taking off from the bay. I could and did watch every move they made as they taxied in and out from open water to the terminal, which I could not see. Pretty heady stuff for the budding Huck Finn that I was in those days. Every day was an adventure. Well, once again you have entertained me." Thank you. Rich
Tony remembers: A lot of memories. When we lived on a ranch near Agnew in a three story house during WW2, we could see the dirigibles come and go at Moffett. When I was younger, my grandfather was in charge of cashiers at the Treasure Island Worlds Fair. When we stayed at their home at 1400 Jones St, my brothers and I would take the California St. cable car to Market St, take a street car to the Ferry Bldg and ride over to Treasure Island (all unescorted). We'd go to grandpa's office and get free passes to midway rides.
Fast forward to 1951: I went to Electronics school at Treasure Island. One day I had to go to the administration office where to my surprise I ran into my grandmothers sister working there. It really is a small world. Her name was McCraney. They used to live on Clay Street in Nevada City before the war. her husband was a mining engineer for the Empire Mine's parent company (Newmont?). After the mine closed he never worked again, hence his wife working at TI. There are more memories brought on by your photos, but my poor fingers just can't type anymore......."
Ken says: "I too recall going to the 1939 worlds fair on Treasure Island. I lived in Tracy, California from the first grade thru 6th and it was during that time we went to the fair. We had a flat tire on the bridge, had to repair the flat by patching the tube in the tire and never had a problem with police threatening to tow you off the bridge. When WW II erupted, dad moved to Richmond, Ca. to work in the shipyards and due to the housing shortage created by the influx of workers to fill the defense jobs, he had to sleep in a garage with many other men on army cots until Atchison Village was built and we moved from Tracy to Richmond. I spent the 7th grade in Richmond before moving to the Los Angeles area where I went thru 8th grade and high school. Left there and moved to Grass Valley where I found the country I like to call home.
We lived in Atchison Village at 38 Garrard Blvd. In 1940, Henry Kaiser started building lend-lease liberty ships in Richmond, and by the time WW II had ended 5 years later, Richmond was truly an "Arsenal of Democracy," having hosted 53 defense industries, including the largest and most productive shipyards on earth. Because of its role in the shipyard buildup, Atchison Village is now an ancillary site in America's newest national park, the Rosie the Riveter WW II Home Front National Historic Park. There was also a downside to the shipyard era. When the war ended, tens of thousands were left jobless, and Richmond entered an economic decline that lasted nearly fifty years. Particularly hard hit were African Americans who had been recruited from the South to fill the critical manpower shortages. Racial discrimination made it difficult to compete for jobs with returning G.I.'s. Atchison Village happened to be in one of the older neighborhoods that slipped into poverty and crime. Atchison Village remained, however, an example of what pride and good design can achieve.
Atchison Village was entered into the National Register of Historic Places on May 30, 2003. The National Register of Historic Places is the Nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. Authorized under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Register is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect our historic and archeological resources. Properties listed in the Register include districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that are significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. The National Register is administered by the National Park Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
In 1984 and part of 1985, I worked at the Standard Oil Refinery at the point of Richmond for Bechtel construction on a lube oil plant being built for the refinery. This refinery is located very close to Atchison Village and it was a great disappointment for me to view the rundown condition Atchison Village had become and I was thrilled to see it was restored to the condition it now remains. I. like most people have so many wonderful recollections from my youth and the short time I lived in Richmond has caused me to write a few of them".........Ken
Sister Giny writes: "Great pictures. I remember all of us going to the Fair with Aunt Martha. I don't remember if Dad was with us or not. There was so much to see. It was awesome. It was a magical place. I don't think I could find my way to Aunt Martha's house from Lake Merritt anymore. It seems to me that a Kaiser Permanente Hospital was somewhere on that lakeshore. Uncle Will had said that Kaiser Permanente was a threat to the independent practicing doctors. It would put them out of business and in a way it did. Those were the days a doctor made house calls when you were sick. Ah, memories."
Cousin Charlotte remembers: "We stayed with friends in Berkeley. At the Fair, the adults were looking for the painting of the Mona Lisa brought over from Italy. I was five years old and able to find it, because grandma had a book, I'd looked at many times, that had pictures of all the old masterpieces in it."
Ramona relates: "Another interesting, well-done addition to your website which brought back some of my memories also as my first husband & I lived in an apt . at Ashby & Shattuck in Berkeley from 1952 to 1954. It wasn't a bad area in those days, but not so nice now, I imagine.
We used to go for walks all over the area as we didn't have a car & took busses on further excursions like Lake Merritt & other Oakland areas as well as San Francisco, etc. I worked as the Assistant Secretary to the Supt. of the California School for the Deaf in Berkeley.
My daughter was born in 1954 at Alta Bates Hospt. On the day she was born, we took a walk from where we lived to University Ave. & back, - a lot of blocks, as I recall. No wonder she was born 2 weeks early. I had worked on Friday, had her on Sunday but didn't go to work on Monday." Thank you, Ramona
