Bachelder 'Dutch Boy' tiles were reproduced as part of the restoration of the Rotary Ryland Pool.

Near-downtown residents got together today to celebrate the completion of historical restoration work on the Rotary Ryland Pool at Ryland Park in the Vendome neighborhood. Vendome Neighborhood Association president Tina Morrill presented restored tilework on the pool, as well as educational signage, a commemorative plaque, and a new sign for the entry to the pool.

The pool was originally built in the 1920’s, featuring the Batchelder “Dutch Boy” tiles around its perimeter wall. These tiles were later painted over, probably in the 1970’s. What’s worse, to make the paint adhere better, the tiles were sandblasted, eliminating their original glaze and much of their relief pattern.

In 2006, when the city of San Jose wanted to close the pool, the public outcry, massive efforts by a small group of volunteers, and $1.4 million in funding came together to save it. The pool reopened last summer, but the historical restoration work continued over the past year.

Reproduction Dutch Boy tiles were produced from a mold taken from a 1920’s era Batchelder tile found at an out-of-state antique tile dealer. A commemorative plaque was installed, recognizing the contribution of the Rotary Club in donating the original pool and funding the recent restoration work. An education placard was also posted, explaining the restoration proces, and also hopefully making the point that historic resources should not be treated as cavalierly as the pool and its tiles once were. Finally, a new sign was added at the entry to the pool, designed by Northsider Sonya Lu and fabricated by Brian’s Welding, just down the street from the park.

The new entryway sign at Ryland Pool.

In the firehouse, there will be displays and demonstrations of early day hand crafts. Antique collectibles will be displayed on the lawn in front of the hotel and movies that include early day automobiles will be shown in the hotel. Of course, there are the historic buildings to visit and the trolley to ride.

There will be children’s activities provided by Schmahl Science Workshop and San Jose Fire Explorer Post 888.

Food, drinks, and ice cream will be available for purchase.

As is, History San José is a great place to visit on its own, check this earlier post.

History San José
Kelley Park, 1650 Senter Road

Sunday, September 13, 2009
12:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Free Admission
Parking $6.00

The California Room has moved into the digital age, as staff there gradually digitize its treasure trove of historic photos and documents. It’s an ongoing project, and eventually you’ll be able to find digitized versions of primary documents, letters, maps and more — right online!

My personal favorite is the Frontier Village collection, with the best photo (in my humble opinion) being this vintage photo of Marshall Clyde. Marshall Clyde’s daughter is my best childhood friend and she and I once perused the California Room’s collection in person, looking for photos of him. Now we can go online and see them from the comfort of our own homes. Ah, I love technology!

And guess what… There’s some fun involved, too! The library is sponsoring a treasure hunt with a digital camera as grand prize (and some great books for the runners-up). Another intriguing page on the digital collections site is the mystery photo page where visitors are asked to help identify the people in various photographs.

This new collection, another positive development in the relationship between the City and San José State University, is quite exciting, and I look forward to seeing what else comes along.

The latest renovation of this branch, a major undertaking, began on February 14, 2008. Because of its historic status and Carnegie designation, the old building needed to remain, so the architects designed a project that added onto the original building and increased the square footage from 7,281 square feet to 12,000 square feet, dramatically increasing the overall public space. There is now a tech center, teen center, expanded children’s room, community room, and family learning center.

The grand reopening of the newly-expanded branch is happening this Saturday, August 29. The opening ceremonies, followed by ribbon cutting, will start at 11:00 a.m. Afterward, everyone will be able to enjoy cake in the community room and various activities throughout the library.

Want to get involved with this new-old branch? Keep an eye on this page for future volunteer opportunities, or consider joining the Friends of the East San José Carnegie Branch Library.

Visit the History San Jose website for more details.

• What: Reading of the Pueblo Charter, accompanied by music, singing, dancing, and crafts.
• When: Sunday, July 26. Noon – 6 pm.
• Where: Peralta Adobe-Fallon House Historic Site; 175 W. St. John Street, San Jose.
• Cost: Free

The 1940 film The Grapes of Wrath adapted John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel about the difficulties faced by an Oklahoma family migrating to California to find work. The book and film were important for making the public aware of farm labor conditions and the violence used to prevent unionization of farm labor. John Ford won the best director Oscar for this film, and it is widely considered one of the most important films of all time.

Other LaborFest events are taking place in San Francisco, with only one more event in the South Bay: a tour of farm labor conditions in the Watsonville area, starting at San Jose City College on July 26. See the LaborFest schedule for more details (including price) for this event and San Francisco events.

The Center for Steinbeck Studies, located at the MLK library, houses an archive of over 40,000 items (manuscripts, letters, books, etc.) by or related to Steinbeck, and also administers a fellowship program funding significant writing projects by new writers.

What: Film screening and lecture.

When: Friday, July 10, 4:00 PM.

Where: Martin Luther King, Jr., Library, 150 East San Fernando Street, San Jose.

Cost: free.

To see what was once where your bed is now try Historic Aerials (can be slow to load). Put in your address, zoom in, zoom out or pan the image. I enjoyed looking at our valley in 1956 with ‘Major Roads’ on, to see where the freeways of the future would be. To get a look at Park Ave. as it runs through what is now Plaza De Cesar Chavez Park use 170 S Market St 95113 (The Fairmont Hotel). Panning the image can be a bit fussy and slow, but it is a good way to navigate to a spot if the address is not known. Set it to 1948, zoom out – pan around our valley and just look at the orchards.

Guru's Market today.

I was recently pointed at a discussion thread on Yelp!, on the topic of the proposed Little Italy district somewhere near downtown San Jose. The post that caught my eye was near the top, where Anthony B. says “Gurus liquor store was the first grocery store in San Jose, Jeoy Francos PW, and it was Italian owned.” Earlier investigation had led to the information that the Guru’s Liquor building was built in 1934 by the same contractor who had earlier built my house, back in the 1910’s; so I wanted to find out if he had really also built San Jose’s first grocery store, and started the Joey Franco’s chain that’s still around today.

Unfortunately, it turns out Anthony B.’s claim isn’t quite true, but there is an interesting story connecting the building and the Franco family.

First, this wasn’t a Joey Franco’s PW Market. As the story is told on the PW Markets community page, Joey Franco started out in the grocery business working for his cousins, the brothers Henry and Joseph Franco, at their Franco Brothers Markets. The 13th and Washington Street store was one of theirs, and it was known as Franco’s 13th Street Market.

Second, this wasn’t the first grocery store in San Jose. It wasn’t even Franco Brothers’ first store. Visiting the California Room at the San Jose Public Library to review the old city directories, I found out that as early as 1925 they had a store on Santa Clara Street. It might have moved in the interim, but in 1932 they were located at 5th and Santa Clara, a site that is now, I guess, buried beneath City Hall. One of the key selling points was their own “$25,000 Ice Cream Factory”. They built the 13th Street store in 1934, and by 1945 they had added a third store on The Alameda. They were still listed in the directory in 1950, but by 1960 Franco Brothers were out of business.

So, what’s now Guru’s Market and Liquors wasn’t actually San Jose’s first grocery, and it wasn’t Joey Franco’s PW Market; but it was Italian-owned and in the Franco family. And that’s still a nice piece of San Jose history to keep in mind.

Franco's Thirteenth Street Market, circa 1945.

The tour theme is “Preservation and Inspiration”, and the tour features five homes reflecting an “eclectic mix of architecture and lifestyles.”

When: Saturday, May 30. 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Where: Purchase same day tickets at 1265 Sierra Ave., San Jose. Addresses of Tour homes are provided on your ticket. Purchase advanced tickets at Silver Leaf Antiques (1343 The Alameda), Willow Glen Home and Garden (1123 Lincoln Avenue), or online.

Price: $21 per person in advance. $25 on tour day.

At 8:30 AM tomorrow  morning, March 28, a celebration of this American hero begins at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. The walk will be followed by a festival at the Plaza de César Chávez.