Tuesday in Hollister: Standing Beneath Time

No guessing games today. We all know where we are, the northeast corner of Fourth and San Benito Streets. We're standing in front of the Eastern Star Masonic Temple Building, which is 102 years old. The clock tower is just as old.  Over the summer, the building got a new colorful look. Click here to see what it looked like before. Nice, huh?

I like looking into the store windows as I go by there to see what new dresses are being showcased. The dresses look like something Cinderella's fairy godmother would whip up for her.  They make me wish I was going somewhere fancy so I could buy one of those dresses to wear.

When I was a kid many years ago, the storefront was a grocery store owned by the Lum family. Anyone else remember the grocery store? Anybody know what other businesses came before or after the grocery store? Please share. All I know is the antique store that was there before the dress store.

If anyone is curious about the Order of the Eastern Star, check out this site. And, if you want to read something about the clock tower, check out "Happy Birthday to Time!"

21st Anniversary of the Loma Prieta Earthquake

Use of photo is courtesy of the Wapple House Museum
Research Room, San Benito County Historical Society.

So, where were you 21 years ago when the earth shook long and hard at around 5 o'clock in the afternoon?

Twenty-one years ago today (October 17, 1989) was a Tuesday.  The Giants and A's were about to play their third game of the World Series at Candlestick Park.  Then the Loma Prieta earthquake happened. It was a slip on the San Andreas Fault that measured a surface-wave magnitude of 7.1. It caused the Cypress Street section of the Nimitz Freeway in West Oakland to crumble and a section of the Bay Bridge to fall. Many residences and buildings collapsed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Cruz county. Sixty-three people were killed as a result of the earthquake, and nearly 4,000 people were injured.

The earthquake's epicenter was about 30 miles northwest of Hollister. According to an October 23, 1989 article in the Hollister Free Lance ("Rain Brings New Misery to Victims: Quake Damage Climbs" by Dennis Taylor), the earthquake caused more that $100 million of property damage in San Benito County. About 500 homes and commercial buildings were damaged and more than 400 residents were displaced.

For many days after the earthquake, downtown Hollister between Fourth and Sixth streets were out of bounds because of major damage to buildings. Eventually, several buildings were razed. That stretch of lawn next to the Vault and the parking garage was once lined with businesses, for example. That's how much downtown Hollister changed after the Loma Prieta Earthquake.

Do you recall where you were and what you were doing when the earthquake happened?

For more about the Loma Prieta Earthquake, check out these links:

• "Responders recall hours after the Big One" The Weekend Pinnacle Online  
• "The Great Quake, 20 Years Later" The Weekend Pinnacle Online 
• 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake  
• The San Andreas Fault From Above

The Hollister Mural

Really? You haven't seen this mural in person?

What are you waiting for? If you want an idea of what downtown Hollister was like during the 1950s and 1960s, go check out this beautiful mural. You'll find it in the small public parking lot on Fifth Street, between the Vault and the Granada Theater.  The mural was painted by Ernie Valles, a local artist.

Here's a closer look of part of the mural. Click the photo for a larger image.

Tuesday in Hollister

How many of you figured out what is now standing where the Hartmann Hotel (later the Dabo Hotel) was?

The hotel once stood at the northeast corner of 6th and San Benito Streets. It was torn down after being damaged by a 5.6 earthquake in 1961.

Standing on that corner today is the Wells Fargo Bank. The previous occupant was the Wachovia Bank. Before that, the World Savings Bank occupied the building. And, according to Marie at the "Take 25" Facebook page, the Monterey Savings Bank was there before that bank.

Tuesday in Hollister: What is There Now?

Photo is courtesy of the Wapple House Museum Research Room,
San Benito County Historical Society.

This photo shows the Hartmann Hotel around 1922. Several decades later it became the Dabo Hotel. According to the California Tourist Guide and Handbook by Wells and Aubrey Drury, which was published in 1913, lodging at the Hartmann Hotel was $2.50 A.P. (a person?). We'll never see those kind of lodging prices again!

The Hartmann Hotel was located on San Benito Street. Do you know what business is on that corner today? Can you bank on it?

For a sharper view of the Hartmann Hotel in the 1920s, click here.

Click here to see how the hotel, now known as Dabo Hotel, looked in 1961.

October 17: Immaculate Conception BBQ Fundraiser

Are you heading down Highway 25 this Sunday to check out the Wine Trail, hike the Pinnacles, drive the back roads of San Benito County, or do another adventure?  You're bound to get hungry and wonder what to eat and where to eat.

How about some BBQ in Tres Pinos?

On October 17, the  Immaculate Conception Church will be holding its annual BBQ fundraiser.  The BBQ meal includes chicken (half chicken for adult; quarter for child), pasta, salad, garlic bread, and dessert. Cost is $12 per adult and $6 per child.  You can eat there on the breathtaking grounds or take your plates with you for when you're ready to chow down. Adults who eat on the premise may receive a glass of wine with their meal.

The Immaculate Conception Church is on the south side of Tres Pinos, right off Highway 25. It was built in 1892 and originally was situated across the highway. In 1925, the parish became part of the Sacred Heart Church in Hollister because of lack of funds. Ten years later, the Immaculate Conception parish was able reestablish itself. To help raise funds for the church, the parishioners put on a BBQ fundraiser. This Sunday will be the church's 72nd annual BBQ fundraiser.

The fundraiser will also feature children's games and a cake walk, in which you get a chance of winning a homemade cake. There will also be a white elephant booth which will have knick-knacks, books, holiday decorations, and other items for sale. Most, if not all, items are donated. As one organizer said, "it could be 'junk' to someone and 'treasure' to someone else."

For more information about the Immaculate Conception Church, check out these links:

• Immaculate Conception Catholic Community 
• The Church in Tres Pinos

For info about some of the fun adventures that are available on and about Highway 25, check out these sites:

• Coming Up in October in San Benito County
• Pinnacles National Monument
• San Benito County Wine Trail
• Skydive Hollister
• Swank Farms Corn Maze, Haunted Ranch, and Pumpkin Patch Farm
• Watchable Wildlife
• Highway 25 Motorcycle Ride

Pinnacles National Monument