From the Editor

History and Heritage

    If you’re a history lover, the issue you’re reading is worth holding onto.
    Alameda has a rich past, and this issue explores the lore, tales and images of a city whose origins extend back to the 1800s. This issue is chock-full of historical facts and archival photographs that trace the development of Alameda, from its beginnings as sleepy farmland and a recreational Mecca through its emergence as a modern city crisscrossed by trains and dotted with the majestic Victorians that give today’s Island its charming character.
    It’s often said Alameda has more of those Victorians per capita than any other city. Is that true? Contributor Mary McInerney sets out to get to the bottom of the assertion, canoodling with the Island’s resident Victorian expert, George Gunn, the curator of the Alameda Museum who personally knows and has cataloged all of Alameda’s 3,000 Victorian-era manses.
    Ever wonder about Alameda’s historic train stations? Freelancer Susan E. Davis did, and in “Riding the Rails,” she comes up with a memorable tour of those famed emblems of a bygone era when trains ruled the Bay. From Bay and Morton stations to Versailles and High Street stations, Davis takes readers to each station, recounts its history and digs up a bit of catchy trivia.
    An Alameda history retrospective wouldn’t be complete without local historian and architectural preservationist Woody Minor weighing in, so in “Five Storied Structures,” Minor offers a history lesson of sorts, choosing landmarks—City Hall, the Croll Building, the Masonic Temple, the Meyers House and First Presbyterian Church—as the vehicle through which to lecture on the politics, commerce, civic affairs, architecture and religious climates of the times.
    One of the biggest events this spring will be the opening of the Alameda Theater, so Keith Gleason delves into the theater’s glory days as an Art Deco movie palace in “Now Playing!” and makes a few predictions about the famed structure’s future as a cineplex.
    There’s more—Alameda’s lost Riviera, Neptune Beach and businesses with 50 or more years of history. Remember dining at The Ark, The Driftwood or the lunch counter at Woolworth? Mary Lee Shalvoy leads a culinary tour of Alameda’s gastronomic terrain through the decades.
    There was a lot of territory to cover, and this issue only makes a dent. But I can promise you’ll be seeing more coverage of history in the future. Enjoy your heritage.







Judith M. Gallman
judy@alamedamagazine.com