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 Three Groves in 1922. |
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For a complete index of articles about the History of Homestead Valley, click here.  Alto Powerhouse - December, 2009  Undated photo of the Alto Powerhouse. Click on the image to see a larger version. From 1890 to 1902, the North Shore RR served Mill Valley via a branch line. The main line went from Sausalito along Richardson Bay and through the Alto tunnel to Corte Madera, San Anselmo and beyond. The trains to Mill Valley had steam locomotives that burned wood until 1900 when they switched to oil. In 1903, the North Shore RR electrified the line from Sausalito to Mill Valley. The view from Homestead Valley looking east became dominated by the Alto Powerhouse which provided the electricity. It was located on the side of a hill on the far side of Richardson Bay. A railroad siding from the main line had been installed to allow delivery of construction materials as well as fuel oil for its boilers. The large brick building, 61 ft. by 171 ft., was divided into an engine room, a battery room and a boiler room. Adjacent to the engine room was a tower for the high voltage transmission line. Transformers stepped down three-phase 50,000 volt alternating current to 4500 volts. This powered motor-generator sets producing 600 volt direct current which was fed to the third rail along the railroad tracks. Steam generators in the boiler room could provide 600 volt direct current in case of a failure in the high voltage transmission line. The electricity was generated at the Colgate hydroelectric powerhouse on the north fork of the Yuba River. The 150-mile high voltage transmission line passed through Woodland, Napa, Petaluma and San Rafael. It was the longest such line in the world. The electrified railroad was the first in California to involve a third rail. By 1930, electrification of the railroad had been extended to Corte Madera, San Anselmo, San Rafael and Fairfax. There were power stations in Sausalito, Larkspur, San Anselmo and San Rafael. But Alto was the only installation that required an operator; the others only had batteries which switched on automatically at the approach of a train. The last Mill Valley passenger train ran on September 30, 1940. The Alto Powerhouse was demolished in the 1960s. On the site today is a PG&E transformer substation on Roque Moraes Drive opposite Longfellow Road. Transportation in 1910 - November, 2009  Undated photo of the train depot. Click on the image to see a larger version. How did Homestead Valley residents get around a hundred years ago? Edwin and Josephine Ezekiel lived in a big house on Laverne at Scott. They had seven children ages 7 to 27 in the house plus a boarder, age 34, and her 4 year old son. They got around by walking, train and ferry. Automobiles were rare. Edwin worked in San Francisco. He left home at 7:30 am, walked to Locust Ave. Station, boarded the 7:47 train and arrived at the San Francisco Ferry Building at 8:35. He took a street car up Market St. to his office. In the evening he took the 5:45 ferry, and arrived home before 7 pm. The oldest daughter, Florence, age 27, walked over to the post office in Cooper's Grocery on Linden Lane. She was the Postmaster of LaVerne, California.  Twice a day she carried a heavy sack of mail to and from the Locust Ave. Station to meet the incoming and outgoing trains.To get to work, Edwin, age 22, walked to Locust Ave. Station and boarded the 8:02 am train for a three minute ride to the Mill Valley Depot. He walked to Dowd's Fashion Stables on Throckmorton Ave. to get his two horses, and led them to his nearby warehouse. He hitched the horses up to the Emporium's delivery wagon, drove it to the railroad freight shed on Miller Ave. and loaded up merchandise that had been shipped over from San Francisco. He then delivered packages to Emporium customers. One fine day, Eve, age 25, and Sarah, age 19, both unemployed, walked to Locust Ave. Station, took the train to the Mill Valley Depot, crossed the platform to board the mountain train, had lunch at the top of Mt. Tam, rode down on a gravity car, took the train back to Locust Ave. and walked home. Six days a week, Ann Foley, the boarder, took the 8:32 am train to Sausalito where she worked as a bookkeeper for the telephone company. Mrs. Ezekiel stayed home with the younger children. Throughout the day, various horse drawn vehicles would deliver groceries, milk, bread, ice, vegetables and supplies. Her friend Carrie Eells would come for tea in her horse drawn cart. LaVerne Heights Maps - October, 2009   LaVerne Heights Recorder's Map, left, and Sales Map. Click on each image to see a larger version. Pixie Trail open space originally consisted of large blocks of raw land. A developer purchased the land, platted it and graded the streets. Part of the LaVerne Heights subdivision map recorded in 1911 is shown above.  At that time, there was only one house in the entire subdivision—it had been built in 1909. Access to it from Molino Ave. was likely via what is now called Seymour Lane.J.W. Wright & Co., exclusive agents for lot sales, prepared a sales map for prospective buyers. Part of the sales map is shown above. Note the artistic rendition of Tamalpais High School which is misnamed "Marin Co. High School." A 12-minute walk to it seems quite speedy. The train information is OK. A 1907 timetable states that trains stopped at Park Ave. station every half hour, and it took 17 minutes to reach Sausalito. The sales map shows a house on Seymour Lane and no other houses in LaVerne Heights. Other streets are named Bolinas Ave., Portola Ave., Fiesta Ave., Pacific Ave., White Ave., Wright St., Plymouth Rock Ave. and Marin Ave. LaVerne Heights had 175 lots, but only 60 of them now have houses on them—the rest are open space. The sales map strays from reality north of Molino and Edgewood. Mirabel, misspelled as "Maribel", never did lead to the railroad—it ends at Ethel Ave. which is not shown on the map. Park Ave. never existed in the location shown. Commuters from LaVerne Heights would descend steps (not shown) at Molino opposite Seymour Lane down to Ethel Ave. They would then descend Una Way to Park Ave. Station. Una Way was named for Una Wise who lived in the Wise residence which was not on "Maribel" as shown on the map, but on Una Way. The rest of the sales map has a large number of inaccuracies and misspellings as well as poor representations of houses in existence at the time outside the boundaries of LaVerne Heights. Homestead Valley residents should be pleased that LaVerne Heights did not turn out as planned. Eric Krag eventually acquired most of the land for his Rancho del Topé and sold it for Homestead's Pixie Trail open space. Cool Hostage - September, 2009 On a July afternoon in 1979, following an armed robbery in San Rafael, police chased the get-away car to Mill Valley where one suspect jumped out of the car and was arrested. The other sped off with Mill Valley police in pursuit, came to a dead end on Evergreen Lane, jumped out, ran through the school yard of Homestead School to a house across the street, kicked in the door, forced Orville Erringer to leave and held his wife Letty hostage with a .45-caliber revolver. Forty police agents flocked to the scene. Nearby residents evacuated. Streets were cordoned off. A command post was set up at the fire station next door. Officers from the San Rafael tactical squad dressed in camouflage outfits and armed with automatic rifles surrounded the house, hiding in bushes and perching on rooftops.  Sheriff's negotiators set up phone contact with the suspect. They credited Letty's para-professional training in counseling with helping to keep him calm. After four hours as a hostage, Letty emerged. She calmly handed the gun to Sheriff Howenstein, who noticed that the gun was loaded and cocked.  A negotiator then entered the house and handcuffed the suspect, who was allowed to spend 30 minutes in the fire station with his parents. He was then taken away in a patrol car. Marin County Sheriff Al Howenstein faced a thicket of microphones and said, "It's over." There was applause from at least two dozen news gatherers from the Chronicle, the Examiner, the Independent Journal, and the wire services. TV channels 2, 4, 5, and 7 were also there with their vans, cords and cameras. The three Erringer children had arrived during the event and joined their father in the fire station. Orville, Letty, and the children managed to avoid the press by climbing over the fire station fence, jumping in their car and driving off to Red Boy Pizza. School Girls - August, 2009  Summit School. Click on the image to see a larger version. August 3, 1908 was the first day of school for three Homestead Valley girls: Edith, age 9, Margaret, age 10, and Leslie, age 11. They would enter fourth grade at Mill Valley Grammar School (later, Summit School) located near downtown. Edith lived at 361 Ridgewood on her father's dairy ranch. Margaret lived at 424 LaVerne, an 8-acre gentleman's farm—her father was a San Francisco attorney. Leslie lived in a large house at 227 LaVerne—her father was a buyer for a fur house in San Francisco. That morning, Edith left home at 8 am, walked down the lane from Ridgewood to Ferndale and waited at the corner of LaVerne for Margaret who was walking down LaVerne. They met Leslie at her house and the three of them walked down Hawthorne to Evergreen. The streets were very dusty. But on Linden Lane there was a wooden sidewalk all the way to Miller Ave. They did not stop at Cooper's Grocery on Linden Lane, but planned to do so on the way home to buy penny candies. They crossed Miller to the train platform which extended from La Goma to beyond the depot at the end of Locust Ave. It served long electrified trains full of tourists on weekends. They boarded the 8:32 single-car train which arrived at the Mill Valley Depot at 8:35. They walked up Throckmorton to Madrona and then up the Madrona steps to the school, arriving well before the 9 o'clock bell. They were the only Homestead kids in the fourth grade, a class of 10 girls and 9 boys. [The bell had been loaned to the school by the Church of Our Savior—it was too heavy for the church building.] The above account is based on census data, school records, railroad timetables, old maps, etc. What follows is fantasy. Fast forward to today. Three Homestead Valley girls attend fourth grade at a private school located in downtown Mill Valley. Emma's mom drives her to school in a Prius on the way to her law office. Madison's dad, a hedge fund manager who works from home, drives her in an Escalade to Boyle Park, and walks with her to the school. He jogs back for his 9 o'clock tennis lesson. Lauren's nanny drops her off in the family's Explorer, and then goes to Mill Valley Market. The girls cannot walk to school—too many SUV's on the roads, too far and no train. Marriages in Three Groves - July, 2009  Pete Sears and Jeanette Dilger at their Three Groves wedding in June 1975 In 1904, Lillian Ferguson named her house and garden, a three-acre estate at the end of Montford Ave., "Three Groves." In 1974, the property was split so that the house could be privately owned and most of the garden could be purchased with funds from the 1973 open space bond issue. The owner of the house, Mrs. Dorothy Noble, recently widowed and remarried, had moved to her husband's home in San Francisco. The house was rented until 1979 when she sold it to a nephew of her husband. Two couples rented the house at Three Groves from 1974 to 1979. The men were sound engineers for Hot Tuna, an outgrowth of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. In June 1975, a wedding ceremony was held in Three Groves. The groom was Pete Sears, British-born pianist and bassist of Jefferson Starship.  The bride was Jeanette Dilger of Mill Valley. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. Guests were ferried to Three Groves from the Tam High parking lot in a Rolls Royce. Some wore formal attire complete with top hat. Rock stars were well represented including Grace Slick, Paul Kantner, John Barbata, Marty Balin and David Freiberg.The San Francisco Chronicle reported: "Rock Stars Unplugged. The biggest rock wedding in ages—the biggest ever within the ensemble of Jefferson Starship, nee Airplane—sounded through the Mill Valley wildwood yesterday. And what sound did it sound? Man, would you believe Haydn's Lark Quartet, and Mozart's Hunt Quartet and his Dissonant Quartet. With the non-electric Homestead Valley Quartet on catguts? Meantime, through the neighboring redwood grove [Stolte Grove] came the faint sing-song of rondelets from a competing party thrown by the Homestead Valley PTA." [Amplified sound is prohibited in both Three Groves and Stolte Grove.] This was the first of many wedding ceremonies in Three Groves—often half a dozen each summer. An altar and folding chairs would be set up on the large south lawn. Musicians performed on an adjacent lawn. Sometimes a reception followed on the north lawn. More often, the reception was held in Stolte Grove where the stage was used for entertainers and dancing. By 1990, nearby redwood trees had grown so tall that the sun did not shine on the south lawn in Three Groves. Grass could not survive. A restoration attempt was unsuccessful. Wedding ceremonies were henceforth not permitted—the south lawn is now covered with wood chips. It is unlikely that Three Groves will ever see a wedding like the first one. A Homestead Valley Politician - June, 2009  Photo of John D. Saxe The Tamalpais Union High School District was formed by the union of the Sausalito and Mill Valley Elementary School Districts. The first meeting of the Board of Trustees was held on September 20, 1906. Mill Valley representatives were John J. Newbegin, Michael M. O'Shaughnessy and Clinton Folger, all three distinguished citizens. Tam High opened in August 1908. In April 1909, John D. Saxe of Homestead Valley was elected to replace John Newbegin on the Board of Trustees. In 1911, Folger and Saxe were re-elected and praised for their work in obtaining overwhelming voter approval of a $35,000 bond issue. Who was John D. Saxe of Homestead Valley? Born in Santa Clara in 1868, he lived in Belvedere from 1896 to 1904. He moved to San Francisco and married Alice Aguirre of the old Castilian Spanish family that had arrived in 1846. He worked first as a telegrapher and then became an insurance broker. In 1906, their house at Lombard and Taylor was destroyed in the earthquake and fire. They fled to Belvedere. In 1908, they bought a lot on Linden Lane at Reed Street in Homestead Valley and built a house there. He commuted to his insurance agency at 19 Leidersdorf in San Francisco's financial district. In 1909, John D. Saxe ran for School Trustee of the Mill Valley Elementary School District.  Homestead School had opened in January 1908. The Mill Valley Independent endorsed Clinton Folger and E.A. Evans for election to the two openings, but noted that Homestead voters were supporting Saxe and Folger. "The only fight is between Evans and Saxe." A week later the Independent reported that Folger and Saxe had been elected. "The vote that was piled up to the credit of Saxe was a surprise, for he polled the largest vote of the three candidates and defeated E.A. Evans. The large vote for Saxe is due to the zeal of his friends and the fact that many voted for him alone, the method of single shotting being designed to give him a winning vote. Saxe is a prominent business man of San Francisco who represents the people of Homestead Valley, and will no doubt make an excellent school trustee." Saxe was reelected in 1911. Both Saxe and Folger served simultaneously on the Board of Trustees of both the Mill Valley Elementary and Tamalpais Union High School Districts.In 1910, John D. Saxe was the Republican party nominee for County Assessor. The Marin Journal endorsed him. "This is a Republican county and there is no reason why the Republicans should give this important office to a Democrat." Saxe lost by 2 to 1. In 1914, John and Alice Saxe moved to 84 Buena Vista in Mill Valley where they lived until they died, he in 1946, she in 1967. LaVerne Railroad - May, 2009   Locust Avenue Station, left, and an overhead view of Big Lagoon. Click on each image to see a larger version. In 1909, local capitalists sponsored a project to construct an electric railroad through Homestead Valley to Muir Woods and Big Lagoon (Muir Beach). Passengers would board the train at Locust Station. The new tracks would come off the Mill Valley line at Doherty's Lumber Yard at Evergreen and Miller - where Whole Foods is today. The line was to follow LaVerne Ave. up to the Dias ranch. John Dias, the president of the corporation, gave a right of way over the proposed route through his ranch. From there, the line went down to Muir Woods and followed Redwood Creek to Big Lagoon. The above photo of Muir Beach shows today's lagoon which is much smaller than it was one hundred years ago. A September 3, 1909 editorial in the Mill Valley Independent stated the following: "The announcement made in the Independent last week regarding the possibility of a road being constructed from Mill Valley to Big Lagoon has awakened the public interest in the matter to such an extent that engineers and financiers have investigated the matter thoroughly during the past week. The feasibility and excellence of the proposed electric railroad is beyond question. Some day some far seeing financier is certain to build the railroad to Big Lagoon and Willow Camp [Stinson Beach]. The possibilities of that spot on the Coast are just being made known and have long been unappreciated. It is a certain proposition that before many years one of the finest summer resorts in the State will be located on the sea coast in that neighborhood, which will rival Santa Cruz, and bid for more San Francisco patronage because of its closeness to the city. For that reason, the railroad that will be constructed will prove a valuable investment for the owners." A November 12, 1909 article entitled, "Railway Company Now ready for Subscriptions," stated that D.C. Braid, organizing director of the to be Muir Woods and Lagoon Electric Railroad was still directing every energy to make the railroad a reality. Braid stated that construction would not begin until at least $30,000 worth of stock had been subscribed for. Evidently, the project died for lack of subscriptions. Amaranth - April, 2009   The Amaranth community, left, and the view from there. Click on each image to see a larger version. In 1910, Carrie E. Bridge purchased about 30 acres on the west end of Homestead Valley. About 14 acres became the Castle Park subdivision. Most of the rest of the land remained undeveloped for over 60 years. A 12-acre portion is now Amaranth, a community of 12 homes with several acres of commonly owned open space. In 1971, twelve families formed a housing cooperative with a vision of living lightly on the land, reducing consumption of resources, and creating an interdependent community. The land would be owned in common, each family would live in a separate house, and a central lodge would provide such functions as laundry, cooking and dining. There would be a workshop with jointly owned tools, a central garage with community-owned cars, a co-op nursery school and a community garden. Work parties would preserve food from the garden as well as food bought in bulk. Community meals would be prepared by different families taking turns. Gray water would be used for the garden and the toilets. Parking would be along the main road and in the central garage. Foot paths would lead to the houses. In 1972, the cooperative purchased 12 acres between Homestead Blvd. and Ridgewood Ave. and chose the name Amaranth, an imaginary undying flower (amaranth is also a grain). The adjacent Homestead Blvd. was renamed Amaranth Blvd. But things didn't work out exactly as envisioned. Costs escalated. The lodge became unaffordable. MMWD had problems with the gray water system. Banks would not finance a Cooperative. Amaranth Cooperative became Amaranth, Inc. Project plans for 12 conventional homes were presented to the County Planning Commission in 1973. The first family moved in on New Year's Eve 1975. Several housing cooperative concepts survived. Although there is no central lodge, home owners share maintenance responsibility for the jointly owned portion of the 12-acre parcel. None of the homes has a garage. There are two parking lots on Amaranth Blvd. Footpaths lead to Homestead's Open Space and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Views are spectacular as is evident from the above photo. Amaranth, the imaginary undying flower, lives on. Castle Park - March, 2009   Castle Rock c. 1904 and in 2008. Click on each image to see a larger version. A majestic vertical greenstone outcrop forty feet high overlooks Homestead Valley from high up on the west end of the valley just below Sequoia Valley Road. In 1904, the rock dominated the landscape. It could be seen from the lower reaches of Homestead Valley. Today, trees block a view of the rock from all but a few vantage points. In 1903, Tamalpais Land & Water Co. subdivided Homestead Valley. The rock is not shown on the subdivision map. In 1910, Carrie E. Bridge purchased Homestead Valley subdivision block 32 where the rock is located. From this and other blocks she created a 30-acre subdivision of 112 lots which she named Castle Park. Her subdivision map shows the rock and identifies it as Castle Rock. The present Castle Park subdivision is about half the size of what she originally planned. The south half is now the Amaranth subdivision. Its entrance is at Sequoia Valley Road and historic Homestead Blvd., now named Amaranth Blvd. Castle Rock Drive which serves the Castle Park subdivision is a 20 ft. wide one lane private road for residents only. The magnificent outcrop, Castle Rock, abuts the pavement. In 1908, John Trewavas purchased block 12 east of and below block 32 to create Camp Tamalpais, a subdivision of 138 lots. Ridgewood Ave. divided the two subdivisions. Ridgewood Ave. is still a paper street in that area. Because of the steepness of the terrain, there is no direct road connection between the two subdivisions. It is a 2-mile drive from the entrance to Camp Tamalpais at Tamalpais Drive and Montford Ave. to the entrance to Castle Park on Sequoia Valley Road. Hikers can go more directly via the Cowboy Rock Trail from the end of Tamalpais Drive to the top of the Dipsea Steps. From there it is a short block up Sequoia Valley Road to the entrance to Castle Park. The more adventurous can follow Laurel Way from Tamalpais Drive and climb up Log Arch Trail to the south end of Castle Rock Drive. Betsy's Legacy - February, 2009   A map of Elizabeth Bayard Weedon's property and photo of her. Click on each image to see a larger version. Elizabeth Bayard Weedon moved to Homestead Valley shortly after graduating from Vassar College in 1960. "Betsy" became an accomplished writer, poet, horsewoman, master gardener and noted philanthropist. She also became a great benefactor to Homestead Valley. In the 1970s and 1980s, she purchased several acres of undeveloped land and donated it for open space. Weedon Redwoods across La Verne Ave. from Stolte Grove provided access via the Eagle trail to Homestead Valley's open space and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Another property on Tamalpais Dr. is also adjacent to open space. She died in 2006 and bequeathed her home on Tamalpais Drive and an adjacent lot on Ridgewood Ave. to the San Francisco Zen Center with the understanding that her property, a total of 2.25 acres, would never be developed. The San Francisco Zen Center, established in 1962, is one of the largest Buddhist assemblies outside Asia with three practice places: City Center in San Francisco, Green Gulch Farm near Muir Beach and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, inland from Big Sur. These three complementary practice centers offer daily meditation, regular monastic retreats and practice periods, classes, lectures, and workshops. Betsy's father, philosophy professor William S. Weedon, was a benefactor of the San Francisco Zen Center. Betsy's memorial service was held at Green Gulch Farm. There was ample evidence of Betsy's desire that her property not be developed, but her will lacked specifics. The San Francisco Zen Center could have profited handsomely from selling her properties for development. Several months of legal discussions were required to settle her estate. The result was a grant deed specifying that the house may only be used for residential, meditative or religious purposes, and that no new buildings shall be sited on the adjacent lot. Betsy lived in Homestead Valley for over 40 years. Her legacy to Homestead Valley is over six acres of land that will never be developed. Another part of her legacy can be found at www.artvisionatl.org. Significant Events of 1973 - January, 2009  Homestead School's PTA published the Homestead Bread Book in 1973. Click on the image to see a larger version. The World, 1973: Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in the Yom Kippur war. The Arab oil-producing nations declared an embargo on oil exports to the U.S. The price of crude oil tripled. The energy crisis began with heating oil shortages and long lines at service stations. Coup d'état in Chile—Pinochet replaced Allende. The Nation, 1973: President Nixon began his second term. Watergate hearings got underway. The Supreme Court decided Roe vs. Wade. Henry Kissinger signed a pact providing for the withdrawal of U.S. Troops from Vietnam. Secretariat won the triple crown. Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned. Gerald Ford replaced him. New York's World Trade Center was completed. Barcode was invented. Homestead Valley, 1973: Following the sale of Brown's Hall in 1972, planning was underway to acquire a home next to Homestead School for a community center. The annual Mozart Festival attracted an audience of 700 in Stolte Grove. A bond issue passed, 79.3% yes, to acquire 80 acres of open space lands. Part of the Three Groves estate was set aside for a publicly owned park, leaving the home in private ownership. Homestead School, 1973: The Parent Teachers Association published a bread recipe book. For many years, Homestead Valley families had baked a wonderful variety of breads to sell at the Mill Valley Arts Festival. The book was in response to many requests for recipes. Homestead School was founded in 1908, the second school in the Mill Valley School District. In 1983, the school closed for lack of students. In 1992, the school was leased to Marin Horizon School. Throughout its history, the Homestead School PTA had played an active and important role in the community. A significant contribution originated in the 1960's when the PTA sponsored a popular after-school recreation program. When funding became a challenge, the PTA worked with county officials to establish County Services Area #14 in 1967. CSA #14 taxed property and funded Parks and Recreation. In 1973, CSA #14 was the legal entity that passed the bond issue to fund open space land acquisitions. CSA #14 currently funds the operating expenses of the Homestead Valley Community Association and the Homestead Valley Land Trust. Thank you PTA for the creation of CSA #14 in 1967. Thank you PTA for the Homestead Bread Book, a significant event of 1973. Back to index The History of Sunnyside Tract The History of Early Mill Valley The History of Homestead Valley, 2010 Articles The History of Homestead Valley, 2008 Articles The History of Homestead Valley, 2007 Articles The History of Homestead Valley, 2006 Articles The History of Homestead Valley, 2005 Articles The History of Homestead Valley, 2004 Articles The History of Homestead Valley, 2003 Articles The History of Homestead Valley, 2002 Articles The History of Homestead Valley, 2000-2001 Articles |