Q is for. . .

Running along this hillside is the San Andreas Fault. This is below Mission San Juan Bautista, about seven miles east of Hollister.

Quake quips.

What did the San Andreas Fault say to the Calaveras Fault?

Answer: "What's shaking?"

Hollister is smack in the middle of earthquake country. It sits on and near two active faults that do their shaking thing nearly every day. Someone told me that we have earthquakes every day, but most are so slight you can't feel them. I don't get concerned until the house starts rocking or I see the trees rolling during an earthquake wave.

The infamous San Andreas Fault runs about nine miles southwest of the Hollister. Geologists say you can see evidence of it as you head up Cienega Road to the wineries and Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area. This fault also runs behind Mission San Juan Bautista, about seven miles west of Hollister.

The Calaveras Fault, a major branch of the San Andreas Fault, starts somewhere south of Hollister and actually runs through town. You can especially see it at Dunne Park between Sixth and Seventh Streets.

This bend was caused by the Calaveras Fault.
It's on Sixth Street across from Dunne Park.

If you want to learn more about the San Andreas and Calaveras Faults, check out these links:

• The Calaveras and San Andreas Faults in and Around Hollister by Deborah R. Harden, Heidi Stenner, and Imogene Blatz
• Geology Cafe.com: San Andreas Fault in the Cienega Valley, Wine Tour Route in San Benito County
• Geology Cafe.com: Calaveras Fault in Hollister, California

Click here to find other A to Z challenge participants.

A Different View of Downtown Hollister

Just when I think I've photographed everything under the sun in downtown Hollister, I see this view. Don't you think that if the banner wasn't there, the photo could be of somewhere in Southern California? 

By the way, that's the tower of the Porter House on Monterey and Sixth Streets.

P is for. . .

Parades!

Sometimes I wonder if Hollister may have the most parades of any small city in the United States. Not complaining, mind you. It's just amazing how many cool parades we have throughout the year. And, most of them go through Downtown Hollister.

Portuguese Festival Parade

Coming: Saturday, June 6, 2015

San Benito County Saddle Horse Show & Rodeo Parade

Coming: Thursday, June 25, 2015

Fourth of July Kiddie Parade

Coming: Saturday, July 4, 2015

Mexican Independence Day Parade

Coming: Sunday, September 13, 2015

San Benito High School Homecoming Parade

Coming: Friday, October 23, 2015

Veterans Day Parade

Coming: Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Lights On Celebration Parade

Coming: Saturday, November 28, 2015

Click here to find other A to Z challenge participants.

O is for. . .

Olives. . .Olive oil. . . olive festival. . .the San Benito Olive Festival!

I never thought of Hollister as being in the middle of olive country. Probably to some we don't have a humongous amount of olive trees, but the number is surely growing. I'd be walking along and suddenly notice, "That's an olive tree." It may be one tree planted in front of a house, several trees clustered together, such as in the public parking lot behind Wells Fargo Bank, or an olive grove, such as the one at the start of the road to the San Juan Oaks Golf Club.

Brigantino's olive grove overlooks San Juan Valley.

Local historians say that the first olive trees were planted in the 18th century by the Spanish padres around Mission San Juan Bautista. (That's about seven miles west of Hollister.) The mission padres turned the crop into olive oil for their private use. I guess it would be a long wait in those days for olive oil to reach them from the Old World.

The Mission San Juan Bautista olive grove where the annual
Old Mission San Juan Bautista Fiesta takes place.

Today, we have several local olive growers in San Benito County who produce award winning olive oils.

• Brigantino Olive Oil
• Guerra Vineyards and Groves
• Oils of Paicines 
• Pietra Santa Winery  
• Sharobed Grove
• Sons-of-Sicily
• Suncoast Organic Farm

San Benito Olive Festival

In 2013, a group of local community leaders, businesses, and volunteers organized the first San Benito Olive Festival to celebrate the agricultural bounty, artisanal food producers, and natural beauty of our area.

One Saturday in October, the event brings together amazing olive oil makers, food crafters, celebrity chefs, artists, musicians, restaurants, and others from the local area as well as from other parts of California.

This year, the San Benito Olive Festival will be October 17, 2015. The venue to be announced soon. Save the Date!

Click here to find other A to Z challenge participants.

N is for . . .

Credit: Anonymous photographer (Life time: Hollister (1818-1886))
Photo is in public domain. It was found at Wikipedia.

Namesake.

In 1868, the San Justo Homestead Association named the new town they established in Monterey County after the man who sold his property to the group. He was William Welles Hollister, who was originally from Hanover, Ohio.

About 14 years earlier, the 36-year old Hollister, called Colonel Hollister by some, which was an honorary title, probably to distinguish himself as gentleman of means, led a sheep drive of several thousand sheep from Ohio to California. His party included his brother and sister (Mrs. Lucy Brown) and over 50 other people. In Nevada, Hollister met Dr. Thomas Flint, Benjamin Flint, and Llewellyn Bixby, who were leading a sheep drive from Illinois. By 1855, the four men formed a partnership. That same year, the partnership purchased the Rancho San Justo land grant, which consisted of much of the land around present-day San Juan Bautista and Hollister.

In 1861, the partnership was dissolved and the rancho divided in half, with the San Benito River as the demarcation line. Hollister owned everything to the east and Dr. Flint, everything to the west. Colonel Hollister thought he got a bum deal and demanded $10,000. Flint offered to trade parcels if Hollister paid him $10,000.

So, they exchanged lands. And, Hollister built his mansion at the foot of Park Hill, which is where the new courthouse now stands.

After several years, Hollister decided to sell his property of nearly 21,000 acres. A group of men organized the San Justo Homestead Association on October 10, 1868, with a capital stock of $370,000, according to the San Benito Advance (January 15, 1876). The association agreed to pay $370,000 to Hollister, who received $100,000 upon signing the sales contract and the rest of the amount, plus 10 percent interest, within seven years. The association made the last payment to Hollister in January, 1876.

After selling his property, "Colonel" Hollister moved to Santa Barbara where he became known as the largest wool grower in the state, according to Wikipedia. He died in 1886 at the age of 68.

Hollister, California became an incorporated city on August 29, 1872. It became the county seat of the newly formed San Benito County two years later.

Interested in learning more about the history of Hollister, the man, and his namesake, the city of Hollister?  Check out these links:

• A Brief History of San Benito County by the San Benito County Historical Society
• William Welles Hollister by Wikipedia
• San Benito Advance

 

Click here to find other A to Z challenge participants.