Next Wednesday, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony, New Leaf Market in Half Moon Bay opens its doors to Coastsiders. This is a big deal! Here’s a preview from Mark and Jim, the produce coordinator, and manager, respectively, on what exciting things we can look forward to.
RIP: Earl B. Whitmore, former San Mateo County Sheriff
In the 1950s, during a daredevil operation to rescue stranded hikers, Sheriff Earl B. Whitmore lowered himself, using a cable, at Devil’s Slide. Whitmore was San Mateo County Sheriff from 1950-73. He passed away at age 90 in San Rosa in late May 2008.
A Tale of Two Sheriffs
By June Morrall
(I wrote this in 1999)
The polls indicated “Big Jim” McGrath, the 58-year-old six-term county sheriff, faced almost certain defeat in the 1950 election.
San Mateo County’s landscape had changed dramatically since McGrath took office in the late 1920s. He had inherited a community where a powerful gambling network permeated every shadowy political corner.
An equally potent, more positive influence during McGrath’s tenure was the dramatic growth of the county. Industry moved in, home building was on the rise, and the population soared to 250,000.
The sheriff attempted to accommodate all factions, but political debts, as usual, had priority.
Sheriff McGrath’s career was dogged by years of grand jury investigations and his reputation sullied by an inappropriate relationship with gambling czar Emilio Georgetti. When the heat was on after each grand juries’ finding, the county’s gambling houses would shut down–only to quietly reopen when the pressure subsided.
Perhaps foolish pride led to “Big Jim” McGrath’s decision to seek one last re-election for the coveted county sheriff’s badge. After all, the easily identifiable 300-pound sheriff hadn’t lost his presence and charisma, but the 1950 election was not a personality contest. This time voters demanded reform in the sheriff’s office.
McGrath’s formidable opponent was Earl B. Whitmore, a handsome 32-year-old Redwood City police sergeant and graduate of Sequoia High School who studied law at the University of San Francisco.
Sheriff McGrath’s campaign focused on his valuable experience as head of the county civilian defense committee. In that critical role he was in charge of preparing Peninsula communities for an atom bomb attack by the Soviet Union, a widespread fear at the time.
But the political skills honed by McGrath were attuned to days gone by. In contrast, Whitmore, with an impeccable ear for good public relations, represented the model of modern law enforcement. As the reform candidate, Whitmore promised voters a shake-up of the sheriff’s department staff, a business-like administration and a merit system to replace the old one based on seniority.
It was no surprise that Whitmore swept the veteran sheriff out of office by a vote of better than three-to-one. The final result was Whitmore, 64,095; McGrath, 21,236.
After receiving the election results, the defeated McGrath announced that he had no future plans, and the lifelong bachelor retired to the Redwood City home he shared with his elderly father.
Out of public view, McGrath’s past association with people like Georgetti continued to haunt him. In 1952, representatives of the State Crime Commission visited McGrath’s home. The investigators sought leads in the unsolved dynamite death of San Mateo sportsman, Tom Keen. A close friend of McGrath, Keen, inventor of the “totalizer,” a betting machine, had suspected links to underworld figures.
The strain and pressure of non-stop interrogations may have taken its toll on the former sheriff. McGrath’s health began to fail, and 60-year-old “Big Jim” suffered a fatal heart attack a few months later.
Political life was intoxicating for the new county sheriff. Whitmore had thoroughly enjoyed campaigning and was bitten by the political bug. After only two years as sheriff, he considered a possible run for Congress, or a seat on the state Board of Equalization. He reconsidered and successfully won re-election as county sheriff.
Whitmore was serious about the quality of his department and received special training at the FBI school. During the 1958 election he assured voters of “the same kind of honest, impartial law enforcement I’ve tried to give the county during the past eight years.”
Whitmore had been elected as a reform candidate but he, too, would face corruption allegations in the early 1960s. The background of his problems read like a script written for a B-grade Hollywood movie.
The California State Attorney General’s office had been secretly investigating gambling in San Mateo County. They even went so far as to recruit a Burlingame pharmacist to act as their undercover agent.
The information they gathered was turned over to San Mateo County, and a grand jury pursued a “bookie probe.” The grand jury heard testimony from Brisbane Police Chief Calvin Smith, who alleged he had been offered a $300 per month bribe by one of Whitmore’s officers to allow bookmaker telephones in his jurisdiction.
Simultaneously, the grand jury heard the state’s undercover agent/pharmacist recount a conversation between a Millbrae bookie offering a bribe to a member of the San Mateo County district attorney’s office.
Rumors flew and Whitmore requested a hearing before the grand jury to clear his name. Although the grand jury testimony was sealed, we do know that a serious fissure existed between Sheriff Whitmore and District Attorney Keith Sorenson.
As a result of the grand jury findings, one of Whitmore’s men was fired, and later indicted, but Whitmore and the district attorney’s office were exonerated.
Whitmore remained a highly regarded public figure during his tenure in office, but the bookie scandal tarnished his image.
Soon Sheriff Whitmore ws ready to enter the political arena again. He announced he would seek Congressman J. Arthur Younger’s seat. Younger died in office and a special election was called.
The field of Republican contenders was large, but the contest boiled down to two candidates and national attention focussed on maverick Palo Alto attorney Paul N. “Pete” McCloskey and Shirley Temple Black, the former famous child movie star.
Continue reading “RIP: Earl B. Whitmore, former San Mateo County Sheriff”
1970s: The Launching of the Deacon at Pillar Point Harbor, Princeton-by-the-Sea &
Nancy, the fisherwoman, cleans and fillets fish. I don’t recall who the Deacon belonged to. Do you?
Here’s the old video.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/1157746[/vimeo]
Fayden Holmboe says: don’t recognize the boat however the trailer it was launched on was Larry Fortado’s who still buys fish in Princeton.
Thoughts after an Accident this afternoon on Hwy 92
We were heading west on Hwy 92 around 4 this afternoon, and we were getting close to Skyline, when we noticed a string of parked cars, and then a curious crowd of people looking over the edge into the canyon. Further west, we saw people parked in the lot on Skyline, arms crossed, looking downward.
The “weather & traffic together” channel was on the radio but no news of what must have been a horrific accident. Apparently we arrived just moments after the crash, and we wondered: “Is there a car down there in the canyon? Or maybe something bigger, a trailor? A bus?” We talked about the vehicles but what we really meant was, Who was in the car? Who’s down there? Are they okay?
There were no police or ambulances on the scene yet. But they were on the way; we saw the first ambulance half down the hill near Lombardi Spring. Fifteen minutes later we arrived home and the sirens of fire trucks and police made us wonder again, what had happened on Hwy 92?
Sketches from an Evening of Art
Architect/artist Doug Snow penciled the likenesses of guests at Linda Montalto Patterson’s Art Opening. Moon News Bookstore in Half Moon Bay hosted the evening “soiree”.
Below: Doug Snow; classical guitarist Richard Patterson; Burt Blumert; images of various guests.
Beautiful Day in El Granada
Giant Bird of Paradise in my garden reaches for the blue sky.
The Coastside’s Richard Henry is a PLUMBER, not an electrician
If you haven’t read it, here’s the link to “The Three Richards,” click here
New to me: Richard’s got a new gypsy wagon.
1980: Buffalo Shirt Co Goes Into The Print Business
“Half Moon Bay Californai Retailer Attempts To Build A Merchandising Empire”
“The Buffalo Shirt Company opened its doors sometime in March 1980. It is this reporter’s opinion that the owner
is a little crazy even if he does know good merchandise. The following is an excerpt from an interview I had with the owner not long ago. I had asked him the question, ‘What kind of store is this?’ And following is his answer, but it is so lengthy that I decided to title the answer
“(WHAT IS) AN ANACHRONISM?
“Not long ago, a gentleman was by the store. He looked all through the place, really studied it, kinda like an art student touring the Smithsonian. When he’d finished his tour of the store, he walked up to the divider door, looked into the back where I was working on a new bag design (and try to do it without joining my fingers with stiches) and he asked what I was doing back there. I explained that we make all of our own canvas products. Some right on the premises and others in friends’ homes.
“Ah, a cottage industry,” he remarked, and I agreed. He wondered why I had done it that way instead of going to a big contractor over the hill where I could probably have the made for less. I went on to explain how I and others working with me took pride in making a first quality product. One we could be proud to put our Coastside Creations label on. I also went on to tell him how we guarantee all of our products against ripping out where we had sewn the together and that we were so sure of our quality we made that guaranteed good for a lifetime. He kinda shook his head, curled his lips into a smile and mumbled something that sounded like, ‘that’s anachronistic.’ I wasn’t sure what he said or what it meant if he said what I thought he’s said so I continued to babble on.
Then he asked if we made the other items displayed in the store. I replied that once in a while I would get real ambitious and do some shape designing on a few western hats. But good hats were hard to come by and I didn’t use anything but 5X beaver hats and even when I could get them it takes so long for me to get one designed that I am usually sold out with people waiting. Then I told him that the rest of the items in the store were purchased by me from other manufacturers and we looked all over for the best we could find and that often we were able to offer the item at exceptional prices….”
The Purisima House–A Fave In the 1920s
During Prohibition and afterward, the Half Moon Bay crowd often visited the Purisima House for an evening of drinks and dancing.
(Photo courtesy Spanishtown Historical Society)
1912, Purisima: “Antique” document–John F. Johnston
(This following document relates to the 1931 consideration of the Cassinelli Ranch, south of Half Moon Bay, as a site for the San Francisco County Jail.)
Notice of Appropriation
John F. Johnston
Dated June 14, 1912
Vol. 1, Water Rights, 62.
RECITES; Notice is hereby given by the undersigned John F. Johnston, that under and pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Code of the State of California, and as provided by law, he intends to, and does hereby,
I. Appropriate and claim the waters flowing, and to flow in that certain creek situated in the County of San Mateo, State of California, and commonly known as and called the “Arroyo Leon”, extending and flowing through the lands of the undersigned hereinafter mentioned, to the extent of 60 miners inches measured under a 4 inch pressure.
II That the purposes for which he so appropriates and claims said water are, for domestic use, the watering of livestock and animals and irrigating the lands hereinafter mentioned, and by and through such irrigation to promote the better raising and increased production of vegetables, grain and fruits.
III That the place of intended use of said water so appropriated and claimed is on those certain pieces or parcels of land situate in the County of San Mateo, State of California, and bounded as follows, to-wit:
1st. Lots Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6k, 7, 8, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35 of the Johnston Ranch, San Mateo Co., survey by J.J. Cloud Co., Surveyor, April, 1879, and which said map was filed in the office of the recorder of said county of San Mateo, January 25, 1885, and to which reference is hereby made a part hereof for greater certainty.
2nd. And after such use, first, and on said first described parcel of land, then any remainder of said water to be so used on that certain tract of land bounded on the north by the lands of Antone S. Cardoza; on the east by the said Arroyo Leon and the lands of the undersigned John F. Johnston, on the South by the County road from Higgins to the main county road from Half Moon Bay to Purissima, and on the West by said main county raid from Half Moon Bay to Purissima.
IV. That the means by which he intends to divert and appropriate said water of and from said creek is by a dam made, placed and maintained across said creek and a flume extending into the water above such dam, and thence through and across said dam and down the course of said creek on to the lands where said water is to be used as hereinbefore set forth, and that the size of such flume is and will be 12 inches in width and 11 inches in height or depth, and that said dam will be so made and placed across said creek at a point 960 feet distant, running and measured down and along the center of the channel of said creek, from that certain point where the dividing line between lots Nos. 28 and 29 as laid down and delineated on said map, intersects the center line of said creek (said lot No. 28 being known as the Pimental Tract and said lot No. 29 being the property of the undersigned.
Signed John F. Johnston
Acknowledged at the County of San Mateo, State of California, June 14, 1912 by John F. Johnston, before Lee T. Rose, Notary Public in and for the County of San Mateo, State of California.