Half Moon Bay Memories & El Granada Observer

Hi June-
This is the Odd Fellows Building, 526 Main Street, then & now, top & bottom

(further down) Across from City Hall

next door to the HMB Bakery. M.Coffee and Tokenz are on the ground floor.

The Ocean View Lodge has been active, but many people in town have never seen the upstairs, which remains close to the way it was in 1870.

Before there was a city government, the fraternal organizations ran most towns, including Half Moon Bay. All five of the original city councilmen in HMB were members. The city government was formed right in our hall.

The hall was also the social center of town, hosting dinners, meetings of various groups - Mason, Son of Italy, Scouts, 4-H, etc. I remember quite a lot of activity there as a boy. San Mateo County History Museum Founder Dr. Frank Stanger writes about it in his book, “South from San Francisco,� published in 1963.

The Half Moon Bay lodge was chartered in 1868 (when the town was called Spanishtown), the same year that the first church arrived in town. I have been compiling a lot of information about all of this for some time.. There are meeting minutes

dating back to the beginning- a whole history of Half Moon Bay– still unknown.

Take care,

Tony

During this month, April 2008, Ocean View Lodge celebrates its 140th anniversary.

(Photo: Tony Pera points out items of historical interest.)

You decide.

Before:

(View from the hill overlooking Half Moon Bay. To find Main Street, look for the “cupola.”)

After:
(The Independent Order of OddFellows (IOOF), a landmark building in Half Moon Bay stands to the left.)

(The IOOF building stands to the left and the trees in front are larger.)

Has parallel parking ruined the historic look of Half Moon Bay’s Main Street?

with Cunha’s Country Grocery Store in the background (left hand side), later heading for and arriving at the old Catholic Church.

“…It is strange that nothing has ever been said about Half Moon Bay and the country around it; it is bounded by a large body of beautiful land, and I am informed the land is very rich and fertile. I saw large herds of cattle grazing on the plains and some indications of farming. This will certainly be a place of some importance in a few years…”

(Photo courtesy Bill Claudino)

Why is it that everything that makes the Coastside “the Coastside”–the place that is (and has been) so different from other places….Why is it that everything that makes the Coastside unique has to go?

I am reminded of the giant Cypress tree on Hwy 92 that used to greet us as we drove into Half Moon Bay…it wasn’t just a tree, a Cypress tree; it was a genuine landmark, warm and welcoming, dependable. Around the corner on Main Street, near the concrete bridge (built in 1900; the first of its kind) there used to be a classic barn…it belonged to Pablo Vasquez, the son of Tiburcio, who once “owned” all the land from around the bridge to Miramar. It was an old, old barn that hadn’t been taken care of but it had character, lots of personality.

Both the grand Cypress tree and the Half Moon Bay barn are gone…

Now I hear the goats I so enjoyed seeing going back and forth on Highway 92 have been evicted (and some say they are headed for the slaughterhouse). I understand the goats were kept there rent-free and the owner of the goats had a lucky break== but the goats grazing in their green patch of pasture also made the Coastside “the Coastside.”

And that’s what attracts people to the Coastside and why many of them want to live here.

But why such a rush to erase every special thing that makes the Coastside “the Coastside”?

…The popular 19th century Half Moon Bay hotel where intrepid stagecoach driver “Buckskin” Bob Rawls dropped weary passengers off– after a thrilling ride over dusty, serpentine Highway 92.

because, for one good reason, they welcome pets.

These are old photos of the Z-House, located on Main Street, near the concrete bridge (built in 1900) and across the street from the Pasta Moon Restaurant–the one in color was taken in the 1970s.

(Photo: Judge John Pitcher and his Half Moon Bay office. In the left corner (accidentally cropped out by me), it reads: “Where The Speed Cop Takes You”).

It didn’t hurt Judge John Pitcher’s image that he also held an excellent record for keeping crime out of Half Moon Bay.

When he ran for re-election in 1914, Judge Pitcher said:

“…Right here in Half Moon Bay, there is no need for law. Why our jail just fell into rust, it did. I’ve been Justice of the Peace for 35 years and never arrested more than a hobo or a speeder. I remember one man that went to state prison from here and that’s about it.”

Now came election Tuesday in 1918–and many said Pitcher’s opponent E.E. “Red” Kerrick should have listened to his friends’ advice and not challenged the old jurist–for John Pitcher easily trounced his young rival.

Pitcher continued his ironclad rule as Justice of the Peace for yet another four years. And when election time rolled around in 1922, “Old Man Pitcher”, now 94, announced again.

But time had finally run out for the old warrior and he was defeated by C.W. Borden. Once out of office, Pitcher lost some of his spark for life. He fell ill and died in 1924. All the business and schools in Half Moon Bay closed their doors in honor of Judge John Pitcher. They all knew there would never be another man like him.

In 1861 John Pitcher and wife, Louise, came to Half Moon Bay where they farmed and became well known and admired. Almost 20 years later in 1879 John was elected as Half Moon Bay’s Justice of the Peace–and for forty years nobody who ran against him could win. John kept winning election after election after election–effortlessly.

It was said that John had enough political experience to run for governor. Although he served in the tiny and remote village of Half Moon Bay, population 1,000, Pitcher built a solid statewide reputation as a jurist.

When, in 1917 California’s Gov. Stephens stopped to campaign in Pitcher’s Coastside town, he met with “the old judge of whom he had frequently heard.” Afterwards Stephens allegedly described the white-haired Pitcher “as the man who ought to be governor”.

John Pitcher was often asked for his tips on living a long, healthy life. He may be 92, he stressed, but he felt like he was 45. Age didn’t interfere with what he wanted to do.

“Keep active,” he counseled, “and there will not be time to grow old. Live simply, eat simply, sleep well.”

John advocated a life without smoking, a lemon sour after every drink and not too many alcoholic drinks at that. By 1918 he had been ill only twice in his lifetime, he confided to a reporter.

“Worry,” he emphasized, “should be avoided at all times”.

…To Be Continued…

Born in Indiana in 1827, John Pitcher came to California during the Gold Rush. He earned his informal, legal education while living and working in the shanty-town atmosphere of the Yuba mines. There was no sense of permanence here–and in this harsh environment where few women ventured– “popular justice” (think of HBO’s “Deadwood” series)–was meted out by the miners themselves.

There were no courts or judges as we know them today. Most of the time the system of “popular justice” worked, Pitcher later explained.

“Laws have loopholes,” he said. “Justice has none. Tell a man he must do right or pay the price and he’ll do right.”

But John Pitcher also learned that “popular justice” harbored a dark side. On one occasion Pitcher defended a “foreigner” accused of stealing gold which was held communally. The man was convicted although no evidence had been presented to prove that he was indeed the thief.

“A jury composted of miners,” Pitcher recalled, “sentenced the frightened man to hang. They strung him up and kept him up there encouraging the poor man to confess…Finally they cut him down and he was more dead than alive.”

The convicted man was ordered to leave at once and Pitcher said he followed his former client to the outskirts of the mining camp to make certain he was okay. Several weeks later the same men who had been the man’s jurors discovered the missing gold–and when they sent someone to search for him all “they found was his skeleton.”

…To Be Continued…