City Websites
Community Organizations
Mission San Jose Chamber of Commerce — The Mission San Jose Chamber of Commerce is organized for the purpose of creating, enhancing and promoting business activity.
Niles Main Street Association — The community of Niles is rich in history and has gained recognition as a truly unique spot in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Centerville Business Association
Irvington Business Association
California Nursery Legacy Council — A non-profit group dedicated to the California Nursery Company in Niles.
Tri-City Ecology Center — Tri-City Ecology Center works to maintain or improve the environment in Fremont, Union City and Newark. They also maintain the Museum of Local History’s native and introduced plant garden at 190 Anza St.
Facebook Connections
Things to do in Fremont – Current happenings in Fremont, CA
Newark Review – A look through Newark, California’s rich history – Historical photos, facts and stories from Newark, CA
Fremont Current Happenings – Current happenings in Fremont, CA
You know you’re from Fremont, CA if… – Historical photos, facts and stories from Fremont, CA
You know you’re from Newark, CA if… – Historical photos, facts and stories from Fremont, CA
I was NILES when Niles wasn’t cool
Fremont California for Ages 50 and Over
Fremont – Past, Present and Future
Nature & Outdoors
Alameda Creek Trail — Alameda Creek Regional Trail follows the banks of Alameda Creek in southern Alameda County from the mouth of Niles Canyon.
Coyote Hills — East Bay Regional Park District web site.
Quarry Lakes — Quarry Lakes incorporates the historic boundaries of two Mexican ranchos and the former Mission San Jose lands
Roadside Arboretum — The unofficial online arboretum of Washington Township (Fremont, Newark and Union City).
Alameda County Library Helpful Resources
Fremont Local History Introduction
Indigenous Communities
Art
Fremont – Art in Public Places
Other
Afro-American Cultural & Historical Society
Alameda County, California Biographies
Architectural Record Magazine — Most issues going back to the the magazine’s founding in 1891, available as high-resolution PDFs
Browse a selection of U.S. Census Records for Alameda Co., California
Complete collection of Hutchings’ illustrated “California Magazine” — View and explore using any keyword or topic you can think of!
Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose – Virtual Tour of Motherhouse in Fremont, CA — Sisters Pauline Bouton, OP and Mary Catherine Antczak, OP take us on a virtual tour of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose’s Motherhouse in Fremont, CA.
Drawbridge, California (our local ghost town) — Drawbridge was established along the South Pacific Coast Railroad’s line between Oakland and Santa Cruz. The line crossed a navigable slough which required the building of a drawbridge, tower and crew quarters. The location was good for fishing and hunting ultimately leading to a small community.
Fremont Dragstrip: A Quarter Mile of Asphalt – Most Saturdays and Sundays in Fremont, California were filled with the roaring sounds of funny cars, fuel dragsters, and even jet powered-dragsters as they thundered down the quarter-mile-long double-wide asphalt pavement of the Fremont Dragstrip.
The Fremont Podcast – The only podcast dedicated to telling the stories of the people and places of Fremont, CA. The diversity and integration of people and cultures of Fremont truly makes it a special place. This podcast explores these stories.
Fremont: Rapidly growing, rich in diversity – FOX KTVU 2
Fremont’s Connections to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition — One hundred years ago, the city of San Francisco hosted the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The PPIE celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal and the re-birth of San Francisco nine years after the 1906 earthquake. California, many U.S. states, and many countries participated in the ten month long celebration.
Our towns (Niles, Centerville, Irvington, and Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs) participated in the event in various ways. At the very least, almost everyone attended Alameda County day on June 10th, shutting down the county. The California Nursery helped to build the fair by providing palm trees, other plants, equipment, and labor to create the beautiful grounds. Others ended up with pieces of the exposition, large and small.
Fremont Sounds Like… A field recording podcast that attempts to capture contemporary Fremont in sound.
Historic Aerials – Travel seamlessly through time to any geographic spot in the United States to view recent and historical aerial photographs and maps.
History of Fremont, CA and the Citywide 4th of July Parade — From the Fremont 4th of July Parade Committee
The Transcontinental Railroad and Niles Canyon — History and timeline
USGS: Read excerpts from a 47-page log of earthquake damage, 1868
White Pages and Yellow Pages (Phone Books) – Alameda County – March 1935 through March 1946. — Via the Library of Congress Website, view 696 images of phone books from 1935 – 1946, Alameda County, California
Chinese Bunkhouse Preservation Project
The Chinese Bunkhouse sits between a barn and a packing shed at the back of the Shinn Historical Park & Arboretum in Fremont, California. The Bunkhouse was once part of a complex of buildings along Alameda Creek — for sleeping, eating, and washing — for the Chinese workers at the Shinn ranch. Only the Bunkhouse and an outhouse remain now.
Project Goals
- Preserve: To stabilize and preserve the Shinn bunkhouse so that it may be used by park visitors and schools.
- Tell the stories: Who were the people who worked for the Shinn family? Where did they came from? What was life like in the Washington Township?
- Document: Work with the local museums to record and present the history of the Chinese people who lived and worked in the Washington Township – for the Shinn family and for other ranches, farms, and nurseries. Create exhibits, talks, and events.
- Collaborate: Bring the stories alive — of immigration, struggle, and success — by creating sustainable partnerships with museums, parks, schools, universities, and other agencies
- Sustain: To plan for the continued use and maintenance of the bunkhouse.
Learn more at the Chinese Bunkhouse Project website.
