Category: El Granada

(Photo: The Bathhouse, where, in 1910, a big party was held to celebrate its opening.)

The abundance of new street signs planted in the dark loamy soil must have been an eerie sight: street signs, concrete sidewalks, some fields of artichokes and no houses. Or maybe they were signs of hope, of future, prosperous neighborhoods, home to happy families.

Realtor Charles Wagner was a very good salesman, who captured imaginations, selling $6000 worth of lots on one occasion alone.

On a cool September night in 1910, the Granada Bath House–a symbol of the “Coney Island West” built overlooking the Pacific Ocean near Surfer’s Beach–was officially opened with a big party. Three hundred guests, including two bus loads of the Moss Beach elite, dined and danced to the music of Popken’s Orchestra.

Two incompatible forces were moving parallel lines. Prospective lot buyers flocked to the Coastside while local agriculture and quarrying thrive. Reportedly, in 1910, 2500 Ocean Shore Railroad cars were filled with fruit, vegetables as well as stone from the Ebalstone and Ransome Quarry and the Sand Pits. The Coastside produced one of the largest crops of hay and grain ever.

…more…

What a colorful scene when women wearing bulky looking, long dresses and beribboned hats, accompanied by serious, mustachioed men in three-piece suits and bowler hats, disembarked at the North Granada Station. They had come to survey what the land brochures described as a “Coney Island West” resort. Many had never seen the beach before and they came to enjoy the breathtaking train ride and the cool Coastside breezes.

In the distance, at the northern point of the half moon shaped bay, the visitors admired the spectacular sight of Pillar Point. Some said it reminded them of a snake’s head, a low, sleek and long slice of land that demanded attention.

To the south, as far as the Ocean Shore Railroad’s passengers could see, the beach was a continuous white, broad ribbon of sand, footprintless.

Remember, the passengers had come to El Granada to stroll along the beach and to learn about real estate opportunities. After the lovely beach walk, the popular realtor Charles Wagner launched into his sales pitch, lauding the finer points of real estate: 15 miles of curbing, 9 miles of cement work, 8 miles of water mains and sewer pipes, all that had already been completed, Wagner said. When the winter rains came, some 6000 trees would be planted along the concrete sidewalks.

Old photos capture the charm of the uncomfortably dressed visitors walking along a strip of concrete sidewalk with empty land on either side. The lone sidewalk is the promise of more to come and not far away stands Charles Morgan’s Hotel El Granada where weekend guests can rent a room while the more outdoorsy types can rough it out at Tent City in Moss Beach.

Already El Granada, as a blank slate, is showing signs of being a good place to live as well as a public resort.

…to be continued,,,

Note: Here’s a very sentimental piece I wrote about El Granada a long time ago…some of the things I describe may not be around anymore.
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A recent [see “note” above] walk past tall apartment buildings on Avenue Alhambra in El Granada–where a concrete slab is all that remains of the Ocean Shore Railroad–led me to reflect on the first buildings that appeared some 83 years ago.

In 1910 the 38-mile long railroad was running daily from San Francisco to Tunitas Glen, south of Half Moon Bay. The iron road closely paralleled Highway 1, which was to come some 40 years later. Two attractive, but strikingly different train stations were constructed. Until then prime agricultural land captured the eye, much of it farmed by Dante Dianda, the “Artichoke King.” Otherwise, the narrow strip of marine terrace, bordered by mountains and sea, was almost devoid of structures.

One station stood at the northern end of El Granada. Shot from afar, a vintage photo of the station is framed by endless rows of healthy artichokes, an artful contrast of man’s work with a farmer’s bountiful produce.

Another station stood near Avenue Portola; the building was later moved to accommodate a club, then a private residence.

Some people talk of three stations in El Granada. That’s because the Ocean Shore also built a platform used to store wood and other construction materials in southern El Granada. I guess some riders got off there, too.

Subdividing El Granada seemed like a good idea after the horrific 1906 earthquake and fire. El Granada was close to San Francisco but hard to get to because of the unforgiving geographical barriers. Fearing more earthshaking, and wanting to get away from it, city dwellers looked to other communities. Perhaps they were unaware that the moody fault line cut through the Coastside as well.

…to be continued…

You could get lost…

Until fences started appearing on the Coastside, putting up barriers where they had been none before, former trappers like Joe Feldman regularly rode his horse from Half Moon Bay to Montara and back. The fences struck a big blow to the freedom of his travels in the once rural landscape where he had been born.

Photo: The Ocean Shore Railroad depot in San Francisco had a separate office for visitors to El Granada!

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Urgent! Antique House at 639 Santiago – EG /Barb Mauz
Nature Watch

All – I was just informed by Yvonne that she observed earlier this evening a
bulldozer that had been parked adjacent to the Antique House at 639
Santiago….can you please see if you can contact
owner, Robert Dal Porto & see if there can be an extension of time – does
anyone have any suggestions to prevent the destruction of this County
Historic Resource that everyone worked so hard to establish?
could you please try speaking with someone on the County Historic Resources
Board – there has just got to be a way to save this historic home. Thanks,
Barb