Now & THEN

By Deirdre Cerkanowicz
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Wine...in Richmond?
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     Help the Richmond Museum of History celebrate their 40th anniversary,
October 23, for more information). The event itself will be most historic.  For
the first time since prohibition, wine will flow at Winehaven.  The Navy has
generously allowed the Richmond Museum to use their facilities.

One person's Junk is...
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    Don't stop at cleaning up the California coastline.  Start on your home and
garage.  It's not too early to start cleaning out your cabinets and garage in
order to dig out those treasures to donate to the Richmond Museum of History's
Annual Junque Fair, which will be held November 12 and 13.  The museum accepts
appliances, furniture, and nicknacks.  (They don't take clothes, however, so
you'll have to take those precious threads you hate to give up to your local
Goodwill Store, the Richmond Rescue Mission or the Methodist Church of El
Sobrante's Flea Market.)The place for this great Richmond Museum fundraising
event will be announced shortly.  Call (510) 235-7387.  (Also the Museum has a
new fax number (510) 235-4345.)

Point San Pablo and Winehaven
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     The Winehaven area has a long history of human activity.  Before the
arrival of the Spanish the area was the home of the Huchiuns.  These local
tribes made little impact on the land, as they harvested shellfish and acorns
along the shore.  At least 17 sites have been discovered by archeologists.  In
the 1800s the land was deeded to Joaquin Isidro Castro.  Little physical
evidence remains of the Castro Family or their extensive land grant.  The
original Rancho disappeared under El Cerrito Plaza.  A plaque on San Pablo in
front of the Wells Fargo Bank marks the location.  The Castro name shows up in
many place names: a street, a cove, a clump of rocks located almost under
the Richmond San Rafael Bridge and Castro Point, located at the South end
of the bridge.  The area was also the home of a quarry and the now defunct
Castro Point Railroad.  The area was also the home of the Richmond Belt
Railroad.
     The east shore of San Pablo bay was also the home of Chinese Shrimp
Camps.  These fisheries thrived for awhile, but were abandoned around
1912, when industrial pollution and over fishing destroyed the shrimp
industry.  Around the same time, the California Wine Association built a
winery and a town on 48 acres just north of Point Molate.  They built a huge
red brick fortress complete with crenalated parapets, Winehaven.  The town
included company houses, a school, post office and a hotel.  Once touted as
the largest winery in the world, Winehaven  was forced to close when
Prohibition was passed.  The warehouses at Winehaven were full to
capacity -- approximately 20 million gallons were dumped in the bay -- any
shrimp left in the area were well marinated.  The buildings were bought by the
Navy and it commissioned as a Naval Fuel Depot.
     Just west of the bridge are the remains of Red Rock Marina and the old
fairy terminal, where ferries hurried back and forth across the bay carrying
passengers and cars until the Richmond San Rafael bridge was completed in
1956.

Former Train Museum
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    It wasn't that long ago when residents of area could hear the lonesome wail
of the old steam engine whistle as the Castro Point Railroad made its once
monthly run for train buffs.  In a reaction to a no-use-you-lose policy, the
Navy asked the railroad museum to move.  Now, with the military downsizing
thruout the Bay area, residents are wondering about the fate of this historic
area.  For years, ideas of turning the area into another Ghiradelli Square have
been mulled over, but with the urrent economy, that idea is a long
way off.  Turning it into an arts complex, similar to the Marin Headland Art
Center at Ft. Cronkite, have also been suggested, but so far no one has stepped
forward to champion the cause. It would be a shame to have the area turned into
a corporate industrial complex.

Washington School
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     Not long after California became a state, school districts were formed and
the San Pablo School district was one of the first.  There were several schools
in the district.  As Standard Oil grew, more families moved into the area.  The
original school in Point Richmond was established in 1901 in Richard's Hall
on Washington Avenue.  The teacher Alpheus Odell, had 15 students.  The
school was moved to the basement of the Methodist Church after a fire
destroyed Richard's Hall.  Mr. Odell was replaced by Calista Rumrill, who
was later replaced by Emily Boorman.  The school was moved to a new two
room building on Standard Avenue on land donate by Mrs. Emily Tewksbury In 1912
a new School at Richmond and Vine street was opened and replaced the Standard
Avenue classes.
     A lot has happened in the years since.  A different building sits on the
same lot and children still sit at desk and think about things besides school.
Problems that faced families in those years, typhoid and influenza, for
example, are things of the past; but the children then did not have to contend
with AIDS, drugs, apathy, and violence affecting today's youth.  It is great
that Washington School in growing and evolving to meet the needs of
today's students.  The building may be old but the spirit is new.
Question: What do Walter T. Helms, John Nystrom and Harry Ells have in
common?
     Send Answers to Now & Then, PO Box 453, Richmond CA 94807-0453.
First Correct reply wins a Channel Pin.