Half Moon Bay Memories & El Granada Observer

In an email, Bruce Hayden writes:

I was reading your article [click here] on the battle to electrify Half Moon Bay. I find it interesting as I am retired from PG&E and at one time worked in Berkeley and Richmond area in the mid 60’s. Great Western and PG&E were also rivals there. It was interesting as construction standards for each was different as well as working on some structures that were installed prior to 1920 gave you a sense of history of the two companies.

In the 70’s I transferred to Auburn eventually ending my career in the transmission department where I had access to the old hydro generation plants some of which have been operating as far back as 1890, many of course were on line in 1910-1920.

Steel transmission towers were constructed from Drum Power House to Newark in 1912. I researched a Rite-a-way easement once that had been purchased in 1890 for “electric poles and wire”.

The purchase of a Rite-a-way for one milk cow, another for a $20 gold piece.

I also enjoyed your article on Ken Kesey, and the “Search for Beatniks” [click here] which is how I came to your web site via a link that was posted on the Strawberry Music Festival list serv.
Bruce

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P.S.

I just wrote you about PG&E and then I read Vietnam, I saw the picture of the Hand Book for Conscientious Objectors. I was a draft counselor for 4 years in Walnut Creek. This brought back memories of that time. I primarily dealt with CO’s, draft board appeals and preparation for court cases.

I understand very much why the present administration doesn’t want a draft, if they had one the country would be in an uproar over their policies.

The Hoovers spent many happy years at Rancho del Oso, south of Pescadero. When Mildred died in 1940, Theodore was grief-stricken but found solace in the memory of the Taj Mahal he had visited decades earlier. He recalled that this “wonder of the world” had been built in honor of a lost love–and Rancho del Oso–his natural wonder–was a testament to Mildred, his lost love.

Hoover eloquently expressed this sentiment in the epilogue of Mildred’s memoirs.

“I now understand,” Hoover wrote, “and see clearly that it was his attempt to form a concrete expression of that haunting mixture of pain and pleasure that is in the hearts of all good men who have ever loved and long loved and lost a loving and good woman.”

Theodore Jesse Hoover died at age 85 at his beloved Rancho del Oso in 1955. He never achieved the fame and notoriety of brother Herbert–but he lived a full life and is remembered fo rhis great love for a wonderful woman.

Theodore “Tad” Hoover was an early conservationist–and an honorary Fish and Game warden, a job he took very seriously.

In the 1930s, near full retirement, he was patrolling Waddell Creek on a Sunday, as was his custom, when he discovered three high school boys. They were fishing the headwaters of Waddell Creek far up in Big Basin country outside the Hoover preserve.

Upon questioning the kids, Hoover discovered they had been fishing without a license and had caught more than the legal limit of trout–way over the limit.

The boys explained that part of the catch was from the previous day and that they intended to bring home the entire batch to friends and family to show what great fishermen they were.

If that excuse wasn’t good enough, the boys offered another: the only reason they were there was because the game warden’s brother, President Hoover, had had terrific luck at that spot.

Theodore Hoover was unimpressed with both explanations even though one of the boys was the son of a state senator. He arrested them, confiscating as evidence the prize of their efforts, a magnificent 24-inch trout.

When the case came to trial, it was Theodore who urged the judge to be lenient.

…to be continued…

Yes, the Pescaderan’s called Theodore (”Tad”) Hoover, “Our Mr. Hoover.”

One story that was told and retold–never failing to bring a smile–probably took place in 1935 when former President Herbert Hoover attended a barbecue with Stanford faculty and students at brother Tad’s ranch. On the beautiful drive to the Waddell, the ex-president’s car had a flat tire near the Old Davenport Landing.

A neighbor, County Supervisor Pinkham, offered to help. When he recognized the famous passenger, Pinkham said, “You’re ‘our’ Mr. Hoover’s brother, aren’t you?”

…to be continued…

Mildred and Theodore (”Tad”) wanted to move in full time to their house at Rancho del Oso but Stanford University and Palo Alto had too many claims on them.

Theodore was still the dean of the School of Engineering and Mildred helped organized the Palo Alto Art Club, known today as the Pacific Art League. She was president of the club when the membership included the famous newspaper cartoonist James Swinnerton and artists Elizabeth Norton and Phimster Proctor.

Art club member and Stanford geologist Bailey “Earthquake” Willis had a special relationship with the Hoovers. Bailey’s son, Cornelius, wed the Hoover’s daughter, also named Mildred, at Rancho del Oso in 1922.

But the Hoovers visited Rancho del Oso at every opportunity.

As brother Herbert Hoover’s fame continued to skyrocket–ultimately as the 31st president–Theodore’s reputation as a resident of the Waddell also grew. After all he was he the president’s brother. To the locals, he was “Our Mr. Hoover.”

…to be continued…

(to catch up, please see previous stories 1-6….Theodore and Mildred Hoover purchased property in the Waddell Canyon, south of Pescadero…Hoover was the dean of the Engineering School at Stanford, a conservationist and the older borther of the 31st president. Mildred was a writer whose books were published about California history).

Mildred’s study of the Waddell proved to be a labor of love. She learned its name was derived from William W. Waddell, a Kentucky woodsman who established a sawmill at what was t hen called “Big Gulch.” To move the lumber from deep within the Waddell canyon to a wharf near Ano Nuevo on thhe Pacific, Waddell had constructed a five-mile tramway., marked with more than 10 bridges, an amazing achievement.

This rough-and-tumble man also raised flowers in a hot-house near his home and built living quarters for his mill workers.

Waddell had prospered for a quarter century, taming nature but then nature, almost in retaliation, saw fit to cut him down. Waddell’s life ws ended as the result of an attack by a grizzly bear.

Upon Waddell’s death, the logging industry fell into decline–but the descendants of the mill stayed on, scratching out a living by farming and whatever else they could do to make ends meet. The Hoovers, who knew every inch of the property, befriended these folks and found them to be remarkable sources of local history.

…to be continued…

At some point it became clear to many that Herbert Hoover was destined for greatness. He fulfilled that expectation by becoming a post-World War I international hero and later the 31st president of the United States.

By contrast, brother Theodore’s future appeared more modest, although he did become the dean of the School of Engineering at Stanford and traveled extensively with wife Mildred.

Theodore never had high political ambition but when something caught his fancy he could become willful and tenacious.

By 1898, he was enthralled with the sight of the beautiful Waddell Canyon near the San Mateo-Santa Cruz county line. Describing the stunning natural grandeur, he wrote of the “fern-carpeted redwood forest,” the “polychromic blue Pacific” and the “little Waddell river with its still pools and singing ripples running through the meadowed valley into the wide lagoon…”

The scenery was unforgettable, a setting of incomparable beauty, bursting with energy. “The Waddell” became an indelible image, forever a part of Theodore Hoover’s life.

…to be continued…

He may have been Theodore to the world, but when they were alone Mildred affectionately called him “Tad.”

The young Iowa-bred couple had much in common. Similiar childhood experiences gave them a special understanding of each other. Tad knew how to comfort Mildred, emotionally scarred by the loss of her mother, who died of complications during Mildred’s birth. He had suffered similar grief losing his parents as a small child. They thought of themselves as “orphans,” providing inner strength for these “soul mates.”

It was not radom choice that led Theodore to Stanford. He had joined his younger and more ambitious brother, Herbert, also enrolled as an engineering student. Herbert excelled in the fields of geology and mining, and, like his older brother, he too fell in love with and married a gal from their home state of Iowa.

….to be continued…

In 1899, Mildred Brooke, a schoolteacher from Iowa, and Theodore, an engineering student at Stanford, also from Iowa, were to be wed in a Palo Alto church.

Once the young couple had set the date, things moved quickly. The day before the wedding found Mildred on a train speeding from Iowa to California. As the train raced through the changing scenery, click-clacking closer to the big day, she passed the hours chatting with newfound friends.

Bubbling over, she described her soon-to-be husband: Reserved but a good raconteur, under the right circumstances, the life of the party.

When Mildred got off the train in California on June 6, she handed the new friends her “visiting” card. It read: “After tomorrow in Palo Alto as Mrs. Theodore Hoover.”

…to be continued…

“You have had a half-century of splendid companionship and have the memories of them: for forty years you have had the beautiful, modest, dark-eyed Mildred of Penn College as a treasure in your keeping: treasure these memories and recount them.”

–John Jessup in a letter to Theodore Hoover upon the death of his beloved wife.

The passing of Mildrew Crew Brooke Hoover in Palo Alto in 1940 left husband Theodore desolate. How painful the loss was. He wondered if and how he could continued without her.

…to be continued…

As the official victor in the race to bring light to Pescadero in 1925–Great Western again petitioned the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors for a new franchise. Great Western was then working at Colma, where, according to the Half Moon Bay Review, the power company was “strengthening its poles, making it possible for them to carry 44,000 volts to Half Moon Bay where a substation is to be built…

“When all the new construction is completed, at a cost of approximately $2 million, [ed. can that figure be right?], the Coastside, including Half Moon Bay, San Gregorio and way points, will receive electric service equalling any city in the nation.”

Winning the race bestowed Great Western with a high profile and new purpose. The company donated the services of its legal staff to help secure the right-of-way of the abandoned Ocean Shore Railroad for a scenic highway. Great Western also granted the services of one of its leading engineers, W.J. Walsh, to help improve Pedro Mountain Road.

In December, 1925–as PG&E concentrated on buying out smaller power companies all over Northern California–Great Western was finally granted permission to extend itshigh tension wires from South San Francisco to Half Moon Bay.

Then–a strange twist in the tale.

Just when Great Western appeared to be in total control of the Coastside’s light and power, the company sold its interest in the South Coast, including San Gregorio and Pescadero. The buyer was PG&E!

Great Western was soon to bow out of the electrical business on the Coastside altogether. Again, PG&E was the buyer.

In this ironic turn of events, the loser of the race to Pescadero emerged as the winner who took all.

Photo: The old HMB Review office. Is that a power pole in front?

…In the late summer of 1925 the Half Moon Bay Review devoted plenty of space to the race between Great Western and Pacific Gas & Electric Co.– the two power companies engaged in, well, a power struggle, to see who could electrify Pescadero and San Gregorio first. Beginning the work of planting poles in different parts of San Mateo County, Great Western was declared the winner, having lit the first light in Pescadero 24 hours before PG&E….

For decades there had been a subtle competion between Half Moon Bay (the “metropolis”) and Pescadero (the little village). There were some in Half Moon Bay who looked down on the Pescaderans–who were roundly criticized in the paper for not painting the fence around the old cemetery. In my opinion, Half Moon Bay could act a bit snooty when it came to their neighbors on the South Coast.

In 1925 the Half Moon Bay Review’s editor wrote: “Scarcely had the electric current reached their town, the inhabitants started a movement to have a street lighting system. Pescadero is without doubt populated with boosters, who never overlook an opportunity to advance the welfare and profess of their city.

“Only a short time back, they saw a bank and post office building erected on their mainn street, just at present a new high school is in course of construction.

“But still their desire for advancement in proding them, and ere long they will enjoy the evening walk along their electrically lit streets.”

Barely able to contain their curiosity about how Pescadero looked under electric lights, a headline in the Review read: “Pescadero. We’re Coming”.

The excuse was a meeting of the Coastside Civic Union to be held in Pescadero.

“….there will be at least several auto loads from this point alone,” the Review article warned. “Everyone is anxious to see Pescadero with her new ‘crown of jewels’–the town should fairly shine with the juice from two great systems running into the veins of the community. In other words, the town will really be ‘lit up’….”

…To Be Continued…

THUS FAR: In the summer of 1925 a most unusual “race” took place on the Coastside between the arch-rivals Great Western and Pacific Gas (GWPG) and Electric (PG&E). The two power companies agreed to compete to see who could get power poles to electricity-starved Pescadero first.

For PG&E, the starting point was in the magical redwood forests near La Honda. From there, PG&E crews labored up and down the steep grades, drilling holes for power poles.

Following the rugged coastline, and employing two dozen men in three crews, Great Western started work at Lobitos Creek, south of Half Moon Bay.

Some 400 poles were shipped by boat from San Francisco to Pigeon Point–once the site of a busy wharf.

For three weeks, the crews toiled, day and night. At 4 a.m. on July 16, 1925, an exhausted GWPC crew brought the first electric current into Pescadero–and were proclaimed the victors. The Great Western workers had beaten the PG&E crew by 24 hours.

The winner installed a temporary generating plant in the Roy Scott garage in Pescadero.

According to the Half Moon Bay Review, it was not likely that the power companies’ only interest had been in providing Pescadero with power. More likely it was symbolic of a larger struggle.

“Rumors of a corporation battle for control of the electrical supply of the coast region of central California have been frequently heard,” explained the Review, “but there has been no official word that would verify this.”

The race to Pescadero would not end the struggle. PG&E, “using their own power,” showed an educational silent motion picture ont he screen at the Community Center building in Pescadero.

“Both companies are building parallel lines on the streets” of Pescadero,” the Review reported. PG&E was extending its lines to Davenport while Great Western was heading toward Butano Canyon.

A few days after the race to Pescadero ended, the Review wrly commented that the new lights had “spoiled” the Pescaderans– long accustomed to a rustic lifestyle.

…To Be Continued…