Washington Township Museum of Local History

Tri-City History (A-Z) in Photographs

A monthly column in the Tri-City Voice

Starting in 2024, the Tri-City History column will start going through the alphabet, with historical photos on a shared theme for each letter.

Have a topic or idea you’d like us to explore? Email us at info@museumoflocalhistory.org.

M: Maps

No. 13: January 28, 2025: Maps

Map (noun): A diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical features, cities, roads, etc…

All photos courtesy of the Washington Township Museum of Local History

This map shows Alvarado (Union City) in 1878.

This map shows Newark in 1876.
This map shows Warm Springs (in Fremont) in 1878.

This map shows Washington Township—Fremont, Newark and Union City—in 1909.

N: Nurseries

No. 14: February 25, 2025: Nurseries

Nursery (noun): a place where young plants and trees are grown for sale or for planting elsewhere.

All photos courtesy of Washington Township Museum of Local History

Aerial view of Four Winds Nursery, 1957. (Mission San Jose).

Aerial view of California Nursery, 1937. (Niles)
Aerial view of Edenvale Nursery, 1955. (Niles)

Advertisement for Shinn Nursery, 1876. (Niles)

O: Orchards

No. 15: April 1, 2025: Orchards

Orchard (noun): a piece of land planted with fruit trees:

All photos courtesy of Washington Township Museum of Local History

View looking west from the Durham orchard, ~1900-1910. (Irvington)

Picking and packing fruit in an orchard, 1967. (Fremont)
Mayhew Hill and orchard, ~1880-1885. (Niles)

A student walks among the olive trees in the orchard on the campus of Ohlone College, 1970s. (Mission San Jose)

P: Panama Pacific International Exposition

No 16: April 22, 2025

Panama Pacific International Exposition (proper noun): a world’s fair held in San Francisco from February 20th to December 4th in 1915.

In 2025, from April to October, various locations around Fremont are celebrating the 110th anniversary of the PPIE. View exhibits and learn about local contributions to the infamous fair that took place in San Francisco in 1915.

All photos courtesy of Washington Township Museum of Local History

After the conclusion of the fair, the Japanese Commissioners’ Office was sold and barged to Ardenwood Farm. Clara Patterson hired California’s first woman architect, Julia Morgan, to remodel it into a residence at the site. Clara died in 1917 and the work was never fully completed.
Centerville residents Carrie Stevenson Emerson, Dr. Henry Emerson and Beattie Heaken attend the fair.
Centerville resident John A. Bunting’s PPIE admission passport.
Before the fair opened, hundreds of palm trees were transported from Niles to the construction site. Weighing 8-30 tons each, the trees were from the California Nursery Company.

Q: Quarries

No 17: June 3, 2025

Fossils, gravel for roads, and future parks: the unusual history of East Bay quarries

Quarry: an excavation or pit, usually open to the air, from which building stone, slate or the like, is obtained by cutting, blasting, etc…

Beginning in the 1950s, developers started digging in the Dumbarton Quarry for rock for roads and construction. The quarry was in use until 2007, after which time the planning began for the future use of the land. In 2021, after many years of preparation, the Dumbarton Quarry Campground opened for public use. Photo courtesy of EBRPD
The rock sorting and crushing plant at the Bell Quarry produced large orders of rock and sand for roads and other construction. Originally the Osgood Quarry was just for extraction, with crushing being added by the Bells around 1950. Photo courtesy of Washington Township Museum of Local History
The ‘boy paleontologists’ are at work in Bell Quarry digging for ice age fossils. The Pleistocene fossils found at Irvington were so unique that the era they marked was named the Irvingtonian Era. In 1945, LIFE Magazine sent a photographer to record the boys and their adviser Wesley Dexter Gordon at work in the quarry. Photo courtesy of Washington Township Museum of Local History
Henry Curtner used gravel from the quarry located at the end of Scott Creek Road to cover the miles of roads cut to traverse his property. The men in this picture are loading a truck using a conveyor system. Photo courtesy of Washington Township Museum of Local History

R: Race

No 18: July 1, 2025

Photos from olden times when amateur racing was a big deal in the Tri-City Area

Race: (verb) to engage in a contest of speed; i.e. to race cars or horses.

All photos courtesy of Washington Township Museum of Local History

Siblings George and Adeline Amaral with race car #68, Centerville, 1930s.
Sulky race at the Walton Track, Centerville, 1920s.
Gil Prevette of Union City wins ‘Union City Night’ at the San Jose Speedway in his car, Union City Special #66, San Jose, 1961.
‘Nostalgia Night’ at Baylands Raceway (formerly known as Fremont Raceway), Warm Springs, 1986.

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Fremont, CA 94539