History

Fire Lays Fernside in Ashes

Jun 25,2020

The Cohen family estate Fernside burned in a spectacular fire that started in the attic on Tuesday morning, March 23, 1897. A man driving a milk wagon noticed smoke coming from the roof of the mansion just after 6 a.m., and sounded the alarm.

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'Big Reds’ Take Over

Jun 25,2020

The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 destroyed the bridge that the South Pacific Coast Railroad used to cross San Leandro Bay east to Encinal Avenue. It also made the tracks that ran along today’s Main Street on the West End unusable. 

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Things Haven’t Changed Much

May 14,2020

In this 1918 photo courtesy of the San Francisco Public Library, a San Francisco police officer confronts a man in public for not wearing a facemask. The Spanish flu pandemic 102 years ago, was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic believed to be caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus.

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Tour Festive Homes this Saturday

Dec 12,2019

The Alameda Family Services League will present “49 years of Holiday Magic,” the 49th edition of the annual self-guided Holiday Home Tour this Saturday, Dec. 14. The tour will feature five historic Alameda homes mixing festive holiday décor and Island lore. 

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Courtesy Google Maps &nbsp&nbsp Work on the Western Pacific Railroad stopped at Dead Cow Curve in Niles Canyon on Oct. 2, 1866. The decision not to lay rails from this point to Sacramento played a role in making Alameda the transcontinental railroad’s first West Coast destination.

Transcontinental Railroad Arrived 150 Years Ago

Sep 05,2019

A curse, a failed land grab and murder played roles in an important end game

Tomorrow marks the 150th anniversary of an event that took place in the little town of Woodstock on Alameda’s West End that changed the history of our country. 

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