Julie C's Blog

The treatment of Japanese and Chinese workers during the late 1800's was harsh, and unnecessary. Look at this pic, from records of the Mt. Eden Cemetery. Although the name of the German and Dutch Families appear as their own, the Chinese are called "Chinamen" here, and are listed under that! this shows the deep ties to hate that have been a vital part of Bay Area history. Now that's interisting!Also notice that a majority of these bodies have been removed from the cemetery...maybe to make room? who knows....

Heres the Pics Promised

As promised, after my visit to the historic society in Hayward, i took some pictures of some Things that I thought were interesting. there are plenty of articles demonstrating the efforts of the city of Hayward trying to annex the islands of Eden, as seen on the pictures here. Also, heres late 1800's article on the Mohr family following a tragic accident that killed off various members of the family. it is interesting to note that the newspapers back then literally put your family business out! there was no privacy what so ever! that shows how tight knit the community of Mt. Eden was. Also Here, are pics included of more of those houses which I spoke about in my blog. Assignment 6 should be posted by manana...


Juan B

Assignment 5

The Main focus of my research into Mt Eden has now become the unwillingness of the community to annex to the city, and efforts to conserve historical relics . Historically speaking, Mt Eden has always been considered rich in land and huge parcels. To this day, a lot of home located on the main "Eden Islands" which include Saklan, Dunn, eden and a few others in the Mt Eden Area, still sit on parcels that the city of hayward sees as useless. The City of Hayward Argues that the land is a "Eye Sore: for the community, with many places here still lacking infrastructure such as a modern sewer system (Septic tanks are operated in these homes) water, whcih is provided via well by the Mohrland co., which was started by the Famous Mohr Family of the area. After reading many articles dating back to the 1800's and eaerly 1900's, The Mt eden-Russel city area has always had an instilled sense of pride in its community. many of the families that owned homes in the area, such as the Gadings, Mohr's, Frys and all, have fought hard to conserve many of the sites that are still standing. Even things such as the old post office and political center, where eventually torn down, but not before a fight with the Lyons Club and other community orginazations.
According to the city of hayward website, the last two of the five islands were finally annexed in february of this year, but that hasnt stopped the small town feel of the area. Through articles found at the Hayward area historical society, The city of hayward has been fighting hard since the late 1980's to annex the remaining eden islands. it is intereisting to note that the very residents of this place, only 605 people(Hayward review 2003), showed a huge opposition to any annexation plans. Even though these were little peices of land compared to overall Mt. Eden, it is important to note that the majority of the residents in this community is people that have been there for generations, and dont no anywhere else to go. During these first fights against annexation, 20% of the "Islands" population arrived and showed the city that they were to not lay down easy. Even though it took years to make this area a part of hayward, it will be interisting to see for years to come how old homes and new homes will merge on modern city blocks, as the city will pave these historic roads, which are currently still behind in things such as sidewalks and stuff....
The leader of the movement to annex Mt. Eden to the city of hayward was a politician by the name of John Dutra of Fremont(Hayward review 2005). As well as been a politician, John is a business man, and owned a real estate business which bought approximately 12 acres of land from Mt Eden "Saklan Island". johns plan was to buy all the land he could until he can have enough land to offer the city 8.5 million dollars to provide modern infrastructure for the part of the city. Dutra then sold the land to developers KB homes, who are now in the process of building 160 homes in the area. Although the homes will be along side these other parcels, they will never be the same as the houses of the old residents of hayward. The community, which has always been tight knit, is still holding on to their strong beliefs that have been passed to them from Joe Johnsom, and Cornelius Mohr, and the Olivers. These men were always loved not for been business man and large land owners, but for acting like a common man, offering jobs and money to the needy, and making sure Mt Eden Would never have to depend on a city to provide for itself (Examples, the windmills, Mohrland Water company, which still provides well water, the creation of community churches, schools, and other things considered benificial to all.)
I will be putting up pictures of teh NP articles I read, and the interisting maps I found on Mt. Eden. .....ALSO, NEXT TIME I will blog about the Mohrs and their unwillingness to sell off the land in which Chabot now stands.....

Mt Eden

when Most people see the Southland Mall, they think of it as just that; a place to shop. What theyn dont see is the rich significant history of the peice of land. The land that Southland is on was actually owned by the Famous Mohr Family of Hayward, who after the father died, sold off most land they held in Hayward. One of the Mohr Daughters, Mariahn, married Jeryl Fry, who was also a descendent of pioneers, as they went to school At Cal Berkeley. They sold off the land, and now they own multiple properties here in California. There is even a Fry Lane across the street From Chabot College, which is in a nicer neighborhood in Hayward. The Following Quote was taken from the website of the Pioneer Mohr-Fry family."The agricultural history of the Mohr's and Fry's extends back to the 1850's, when Bruce Fry's great-great-grandfather on Jerry's mother's side, Cornelius Mohr, left his job on a whaling ship in the port of San Francisco and began a farming operation on a Spanish land grant near what later became Hayward (Alameda County). His son, William Mohr, continued farming row crops and wheat, and breeding iris" (Mohr-Fry Ranches).

The picture you see is the actual house that still exist on the original property! I think of this as interisting because for some reason, things used to be built with quality, and ones own hands. These houses should be wowed upon simply because just building them took just the hands of the pioneer families, and nothing more. Sure, they were rich enough to have it planned out, but who built it? Sandoval Mentions in his book Cradle of the Salt Industry, that the whole Community loved Mr Mohr because he provided everyone in the area a job, and a chance to better prosper. Never in the book did he mention people were living in bad conditions or been mistreated. Only positive aspects of Mt. Eden have been recorded, and teh success of the Pioneers Family members show that they have come a long way.

Heres some Images I took at the Mt Eden Cemetary on Depot Road in hayward. here, the Dutch and German leaders of the community invested in property to assure proper burial of family members as they became diseased. personally, this is the cemetary richest in History in all of Hayward due to historical figures buried in here. Also included is a picture of property in Russel ZCity, located in old Eden. here, plenty of land still sits vacated, such as this parcel, and the one in the other. Although the rest of the city seems to be built on, Eden still enjoys a small town feeling. just been there the other day made me feel relaxed, as if i wasnt in the bay. You guys should walk around there some time, its pretty cool...

Juan barajas Jr

Sorry For Lagging, BUt....

I have Finally Finished reading the History Of the Mt Eden Area, and have been pretty Impressed on how a tight knit community, such as Mt Eden was able to keep its name and history for so long, thanks to advocated from the families of Pioneers that have settled in the Area. The Last week, I was looking for a way to get some kind of information to try to interview a family member from the original Mohr Estate, but that plan has gone sour since I recieved no response from the help I was suppose to get! I learned in the reading that The Mohr estate is still in existence today, directly next to Chabot College. What happen was the original benificiaries of the estate Of Mr Mohr, who owned land all through out alameda county, 700 acres in total, inlcuding Union City, and the part that was one of his kids ended up selling for the buiilding of a community college, Chabot. Wheat Grain was originally grown on this land immidietly after the arrival of plenty of Dutch Immigrants. Unlike immigrant groups from other parts of the country, these immigrants were actually professionals in their country, or they were just adventure seekers who hit it big. Wither way, people in this area were prosepering at the time, and the main land owners were loved by their communities as well.
The original Salt Ponds were all given to a SF bay Area conservation group, and are state ran now. One was over ran by the building of the San Mateo Bridge, and another, Off Clawiter, is a museum that you can visit today.
I will be putting up blog postings every day, the rest of the week, so stay tuned...pics are coming soon too ( Tomorrow, for sure, My bad on the lag class...)