Days Gone by in Contra Costa County, California, Vol. 2
Days Gone By
in Contra Costa County, California
Volume 2
by Nilda Rego
Published by the Contra Costa County Historical Society
1998
$17.00 including tax
Contents
County ‘Boys’ Eager to Fight in Spanish War
Whole World Passes By Port Costa Saloon
Quilts Improved the Fabirc of Life
County Teachers Had to Pass Grueling Test
World’s Largest Livestock Farm in 1897
Nathaniel Jones Helped Farmers Develop Clout
Road to Moraga
Lafayette Dam Has Sinking Spell
Ground Squirrels Plague the County
Indians Kidnapped for Cheap Labor
Memories of Byron Hot Springs
‘Floating Palaces’ sunk in 1916
Family Plot Became Gregory Gardens
The Judge Made Beer at Port Costa
Black Diamond’s Coal Fueled San Francisco
Fleagle Gang Cut a Wide Swath
Job-hunting Black Killed by Constable
Captain Kimball Comes to Antioch
Martinez Enters the Twentieth Century
The Founders of Concord
Early Black Settlers in Contra Costa
County Sheriff for Forty Years
A Widow’s Tale of Red Tape
A Drunken Murder for Six Dollars
The Last Execution in Contra Costa County
The Smell of Cocktail Sauce
Panoramic Views From Mount Diablo
Fales Cemetery Moved for Homesites
Moraga’s First Family
Catering to the Carriage Trade
John Marchbank and Heather Farm
Geary’s General Store
Mission Life Spells End for Indians
Danville Goes Dry
Epidemics in the 1800s
French Jewish Emigre Makes Home and Fortune
First Cemetery in Lafayette
Laidlaws Print the News of Crockett
Education in the 19th Century
When Sherman Marched to Benicia
Critics Went Gaga Over “The Mikado”
The Martinez Canteen in World War II
Laying Out the Dead in the 1800s
Fighting Over Railroad Routes
The Lumber King’s Empire
Matinez gets a Railroad
The Flood of 1958
Port Costa Shipped Wheat Worldwide
Aunt Rosie Moved to the Farm in 1923
Blacks Rise in Pittsburg Politics
Women’s Suffrage Comes to California
Farm Life at the Turn of the Century