Daly City and Colma
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The area that later became Daly
City was initially a farming community called Vista Grande.
(www.britannica.com/eb/topic-677560/article-9096019)
Daly city home page: www.ci.daly-city.ca.us
100 Mil BP The
Colma Hills are gently sloping mountains that are tertiary in age and
made of sandstone, shale, and a conglomerate of marine and continental
origin. The bulk of San Bruno Mountain is composed of late Cretaceous
dark, greenish gray graywacke of the Franciscan Formation. Outcrops of
dark shale chert of many colors are among the rocks found on the
mountain. Two main streams drain the mountain, Colma Creek from the top
to the valley eastward, and Guadelupe Creek, which flows through
Guadelupe Valley.
(GTP, 1973, p.119,126)
1-3 Mil BP The Colma Hills are gently sloping
mountains of this age.
(SFEC, 2/8/98, p.A9)
3000BC Radiocarbon tests indicated human habitation
at the bay side foot of San Bruno Mountain back to this time.
(SFEC,12/29/97, p.A13)
c1550AD Radiocarbon tests indicated human habitation
at the bay side foot of San Bruno Mountain up to this time. The
Sipliskin Tribe (The Ohlone called the site Siplichiquin), a northern
branch of the Ohlone Indians, occupied the site until the 18th century.
(SFEC,12/29/97, p.A13)(Ind, 5/11/99, p.1A)
1774 Fernando Rivera and 4
soldiers climbed San Bruno Mountain and watched the sun rise over the
bay.
(GTP, 1973, p.126)
1775 Captain Bruno Heceta led a
group of explorers along the slopes of San Bruno Mountain to the shores
of Lake Merced. He most likely named the mountain for his patron saint.
(GTP, 1973, p.124,126)
c1777 Priests from Mission Dolores
and soldiers from the SF Presidio marked out a trail to Southern
California. The gap between San Bruno Mountain and the Coastside Hills
was named La Portezuela, later known as the Top of the Hill, and Daly’s
Hill.
(GTP, 1973, p.1)
1790 Hides and tallow from the
Colma Hills were shipped to Spain and down the coast to mines and
plantations in Mexico and South America.
(GTP, 1973, p.64)
1821-1846 Mexico ruled over California with a series
of 12 governors. During part of this time Gen’l. Jose Castro commanded
all of the Spanish forces in California and was an active opponent of
US rule in 1846. The governors reduced the Spanish missions to mere
parishes and granted the acres owned by the priests to Mexican nobles.
(SFEC, 9/21/97, p.C7)(GTP, 1973, p.2)
1822-1846 Rancho Buri Buri, owned by Jose Sanchez,
covered 15,000 acres in what later became Colma, Burlingame, San Bruno,
South San Francisco and Burlingame. Rancho Laguna de la Merced, owned
by Jose Antonio Gallindo, covered a half league around the lake. He
sold it to Francisco de Haro, the son-in-law of Jose Sanchez.
(GTP, 1973, p.2)
1822-1846 Canada de Guadalupe la Visitacion y Rodeo
Viejo was a third rancho that stretched from the Visitation District of
SF southward to South San Francisco, and eastward from Mission Road to
the Bayshore. It was granted to Jacob Primer Leese and his wife Rosalia
Vallejo, sister of Gen’l. Marano Vallejo.
(GTP, 1973, p.3)
1838-39 Jacob Primer Leese of Ohio obtained his grant
and put cattle on the land.
(GTP, 1973, p.3)
1839 Senor Gallindo was arrested
by Francisco de Haro, the alcalde, for murder and sent to San Jose
because there was no jail in SF.
(GTP, 1973, p.2)
1840 Jacob Leese built a mud and
timber house in what is now Brisbane and enclosed 8-10 acres for
cultivation. He built another house in Visitacion Valley for his
majordomo and Indian herders and spent most of his time in Yerba Buena
where he had built the first dwelling in the city.
(GTP, 1973, p.3)
1841 San Bruno Mountain was
included in a grant to Jacob Leese as part of the Rancho Guadelupe la
Visitacion y Rodeo Viejo. Later it became part of open space land
dividing the eastern cities of northern San Mateo County from those in
the west.
(GTP, 1973, p.124)
1841 Jacob Leese traded his rancho
to Robert Ridley for Calloyomi Rancho in Sonoma. Ridley built a house
with a shingled roof that set it apart from the thatched houses of the
rancho. Ridley was later forced to sell his holdings with 700 acres
going to Robert Eaton and the rest to Alfred Wheeler, who got his share
for $875.
(GTP, 1973, p.3,128)
1841-1851 Butchers, bakers and dairymen moved onto
the land of the Guadalupe la Visitacion y Rodeo Viejo.
(GTP, 1973, p.1)
1846 Rancho Laguna de la Merced
passed to American owners and later to the Spring Valley Water Company.
It was eventually subdivided to become part of the Westlake area of
Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.2)
c1846 After California became a
state the owners of the Rancho Laguna de la Merced laid claim to the
land between San Bruno Mountain and Lake Merced.
(GTP, 1973, p.5)
1850s The village of Colma began
as a farming community centered at the corner of Mission St. and San
Pedro Ave.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.4)
1852 Patrick Brooks came to the
Colma Hills and selected 400 acres in the center. He carted the
building materials in from SF.
(GTP, 1973, p.119)
1853 A US government survey stated
that most of the contested land, between San Bruno Mountain and Lake
Merced, was government property and could be acquired by private
individuals.
(GTP, 1973, p.1)
1853 The declaration of the
government survey prompted settlers, mostly of Irish extraction, to
stake claims and establish farms and ranches in the area that became
known as the Colma Hills.
(GTP, 1973, p.5)
1853 M. Holenworth established a
homestead near La Portezuela. He built a dairy that became a
cornerstone of the area. The land passed to John Donald Daly from the
Millbrae area around 1868.
(GTP, 1973, p.23)
1853 J.G. Knowles established the
first dairy in San Mateo County in the middle of what is now Daly City
to supply milk to SF.
(GTP, 1973, p.63)
1853 Robert S. Thornton from Rhode
Island established a claim south of Lake Merced near the ocean beach
that now bears his name. After 2 years he returned home to fetch his
wife Sarah. He later wrote: "A Brief History of Colma’s Early Days."
(GTP, 1973, p.6)
1856 A school house was built at
Mission and Old San Pedro Road. When the railroad came through the area
was called School House Station.
(GTP, 1973, p.29)
1858 Robert S. Thornton became an
ex-officio roadmaster and called for funds to improve the road on
"rough Old Mission."
(GTP, 1973, p.66)
1859 Henry Schwerin, a German
baker, bought several hundred acres south of what is no Geneva Ave. He
kept a herd of cows in what is now the parking lot of Cow Palace and
started a horticulture nursery.
(GTP, 1973, p.112)
1859 Settlers of the Colma region
were encroached by owners of the Laguna Merced Rancho and a major
litigation followed that went to the Federal Supreme Court.
(GTP, 1973, p.11)
1860 The San Bruno Toll Road,
which later became Bayshore Blvd., was established. The toll gate was
at Seven-Mile House.
(GTP, 1973, p.112)
1860s A shopping area developed at
the confluence of Mission Trail and Old San Pedro Road, where Joseph J.
Hill built a general store. Ned Daly established a butcher shop. A
school house was built here.
(GTP, 1973, p.15)
1863 Jun 6, A SF Sheriff and hired
roughs prepared to evict the settlers of the Colma Hills region. The
settlers prepared to do battle but were advised by Judge Crockett to
not fight and await a federal ruling.
(GTP, 1973, p.12)(LaPen, 12/86, p.4,5)
1863 Oct 23, The railroad came to
the SF peninsula. Some 400 people swarmed into 6 cars and rode to San
Mateo’s Francisquito Creek to join a picnic as guests of the railroad
management. The first stop out of SF was near the school house where
Mission St. and Old San Pedro Road met. The depot was called
Schoolhouse station.
(GTP, 1973, p.73)
1864 St. Anne’s Church in Colma
was first dedicated.
(GTP, 1973, p.105)
1865 Dec 15, Robert S. Thornton
led the settler’s case to the US Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of
the Colma settlers and title to the lands was granted them.
(GTP, 1973, p.13)
1865 John D. Daly acquired the
1,000 (250) acre Hohenworth (Holenworth) Ranch in Colma. [see 1868]
(Ind, 10/7/00,5A)
1865 Henry R. Payson acquired
5,473 acres of the former Visitacion Rancho and soon subdivided it with
the Visitacion Land Co. acquiring the largest portion.
(GTP, 1973, p.128)
1866 The Jefferson School District
was formed.
(GTP, 1973, p.29)
1867 May 5, John D. Husing, a
German immigrant, developed a general store on Mission St. around the
corner from Joe Hill’s store by Old San Pedro Rd. The Husing store
later became a saloon called the White House Gardens.
(GTP, 1973, p.15)
1867 A new school was built on 2
lots donated by Peter Dunks at the site where the Jefferson School
Annex now stands. It closed from Dec. to Mar. so that children could
help with spring plowing and planting. Peter Brooks and Robert Thornton
were the trustees.
(GTP, 1973, p.29)
1868 Jul 24, Archbishop Alemany
dedicated the Catholic Church of St. Anne. It was named after the
patron saint of the eldest daughter of Peter Dunks, who donated the
land. The church later became the parish of Holy Angels.
(GTP, 1973, p.16)
c1868 John Donald Daly of the
Millbrae area acquired the 250-acre dairy of M. Holenworth near the
"Top of the Hill," and renamed it the San Mateo Dairy. He distributed
his products from 1010 Valencia in SF and sold under the name Dairy
Delivery Company.
(GTP, 1973, p.23,24)(CHA, 1/2001)
1868 The SF-San Jose railroad line
joined the Southern Pacific Railroad and became a part of the statewide
system. Farmers of the Colma-Daly City area could now ship to far away
markets.
(GTP, 1973, p.73)
1869 The first Colma village post
office opened.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.)
1869 Dec 24, A shoe manufacturing
building under construction by the rail depot was leveled by a gale.
The owners rebuilt the factory.
(GTP, 1973, p.16)
1870 Aug 20, A fire destroyed the
new shoe manufacturing building by the rail depot. [2nd source says Aug
29]
(GTP, 1973, p.16)(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.18)
1870 A saloon named Sweeney’s was
built on the corner of Mission and Market. It was later sold to George
M. Collopy who built a large brown shake building that was used for
dances and other entertainment. It was torn down in 1970.
(GTP, 1973, p.50)
1871 A homestead craze struck the
SF area and a new homestead called the Abbey Homestead was planned from
Vista Grande Ave. to past Holy Cross cemetery. The homestead was named
after a tavern built at the "Top of the Hill" that served a landmark to
travelers for 50 years. The streets of the homestead were to be named
after European statesmen and generals such as: Gambetta, Moltke,
Bismarck and Thiers. The development failed but the street names
remained. Another development by the School House Homestead Association
laid out a tract west of the Colma business district with 13 streets
running north south from the juncture of San Pedro and Mission.
(GTP, 1973, p.17)(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.26)
1874 The Jefferson School District
was divided. The area east and north of San Bruno Mountain along the
Bayshore became the Visitacion District and a new school house was
built.
(GTP, 1973, p.32)
1876 W.C. Ralston organized the
Union Pacific Silk Manufacturing Co. in the Bayshore District. After a
few years it moved to SSF.
(GTP, 1973, p.112)
1877 Dampness and a potato blight
reached a peak of severity in the Colma Hills and most settlers left
but for a few Irish families. Potato seeds from Oregon, known as Garnet
Chili, were brought in and proved impervious to the plight. Cattle
raising and dairying proved profitable on larger tracts. Italians
bought into the area and planted artichokes, cabbage and flowers.
(GTP, 1973, p.5,6)
1880 Emperor Norton died and had
an elaborate funeral sponsored by the Pacific Union Club at a cost of
$10,000. His remains were later moved from the Masonic Cemetery to
Woodlawn Cemetery with a marble tombstone inscribed: Norton I...Emperor
of the United States and Protector of Mexico. Joshua A. Norton
1815-1880. Dr. Robert Burns Aird (d.2000) later composed a musical
based on Norton's life. The organization E Clampus Vitius later
proceeded to hold an annual memorial services at his Colma grave site.
(HFA, '96, p.65)(G&M, 7/30/97, p.A24)(SFC,
2/22/00, p.A20)(CHA, 1/2001)
1883 The Brooks and Carey Saloon
opened on Mission Road, Colma, Ca. It was later renamed the Brooksville
Hotel. Frank Molloy purchased the place from Patrick Brooks in 1929 and
renamed it Molloy's.
(Ind, 1/30/98, p.5A)(SSFC, 3/8/09, p.E8)
1884 Charles Crocker acquired
3,814 acres of the Visitacion Rancho.
(GTP, 1973, p.128)
1884 Charles Crocker acquired San
Bruno Mountain.
(Ind, 4/27/99, p.11A)
1885 Charles Crocker acquired an
additional 183 acres of the Visitacion Rancho.
(GTP, 1973, p.128)
1887 The Roman Catholic Church
consecrated Holy Cross cemetery south of Colma on Mission Road.
(GTP, 1973, p.45)
1887 A bond issue was passed to
make repairs on the old school and to put up a new building. The new
2-room school had a pot-bellied stove and served 80-90 students.
(GTP, 1973, p.29)
1888 Home of Peace was established
as a Jewish cemetery.
(GTP, 1973, p.)
1888 Colma became the official
name of the former School House Depot area.
(GTP, 1973, p.29)
1888 Charles Crocker died and San
Bruno Mountain became an asset of the Crocker Land Co.
(Ind, 4/27/99, p.11A)
1889 The Weekly Reader, the parent
paper of the DC Record was founded. It was later purchased by John
Marchbank who renamed it.
(GDCH, 1986, p.16)
1889 The Hills of Peace (Home of
Peace) and Hills of Eternity Jewish cemeteries were established in
Lawndale (Colma), Ca.
(GTP, 1973, p.45)(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1891 The land of Charles Crocker,
that included San Bruno Mountain, passed to the Crocker Land Co. and
then to the Foremost McKesson Co.
(GTP, 1973, p.128)
1891 The Salem memorial Park
Jewish cemetery was established in Lawndale (Colma), Ca.
(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1892 A trolley line from SF
reached Daly’s Hill.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.5)
1892 Cypress Lawn, a non-sectarian
cemetery, was established in Lawndale (Colma), Ca.
(GTP, 1973, p.45)(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1893 The San Francisco-San Mateo
Railroad Company began service to Daly City on a line referred to as
the Joost Line. Branch lines were later run to the cemeteries
(GTP, 1973, p.73)
1893 The Salem Jewish cemetery was
established.
(GTP, 1973, p.45)
1894 The Italian Cemetery was
established.
(GTP, 1973, p.45)
1894 A school bond issue was
passed that led to the building of the Vista Grande school at Mission
and Vista Grande, now demolished.
(GTP, 1973, p.30)
1894 The Colma Vegetable Growers
reported shipping 1,742,825 pounds of cabbage from the region.
(GTP, 1973, p.62)
1895 A quarry called The
California Rock & Asphalt Inc. was founded on the side of San Bruno
mountain just outside Brisbane. In 2004 a proposal, dormant since 2001,
re-surfaced to close the quarry and build 183 homes on the site.
(Ind, 3/20/04, p.1A)
1896 The Olivet Memorial Park
non-denominational cemetery was established in Lawndale (Colma), Ca.
(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1896 Gaetano and Leopoldo Bocci,
immigrant Italian stone masons, opened a gravestone company on Mission
Blvd. in Colma. The last of the stone carving Boccis closed the
business in 2004. In 2009 the business re-opened under new Russian
owners.
(SFC, 6/25/09, p.A11)
1898 William J. Savage became
principal of the Jefferson School and served until 1918.
(GTP, 1973, p.31)
1899 The Italian cemetery in
Lawndale (Colma), Ca., was established.
(Ind, 11/28/98,
p.5A)(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1901 The Serbian Cemetery, the
Eternal Home Cemetery (Jewish) and the Japanese Cemetery were
established in Lawndale (Colma), Ca.
(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1903 The Greenlawn cemetery, also
called Old Fellows Cemetery, was established in Lawndale (Colma), Ca.
(GTP, 1973, p.45)(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1903 James W. Coffroth, aka
Sunshsine Jim, secured a license for sparring exhibitions from San
Mateo County officials. He built an arena on Sickles Ave., within 50
feet of the SF line.
(GTP, 1973, p.57)
1903 The San Francisco-San Mateo
Railroad Company extended its service down to San Mateo.
(GTP, 1973, p.73)
1904 Greyhound racing was popular
at the Union Coursing Park, later the site of Jefferson High School.
However a wave of public sentiment brought a law that made coursing
races illegal and ended activities at Union Park.
(GTP, 1973, p.56)
1904 The Woodlawn Memorial Park
non-denominational cemetery was established in Lawndale (Colma), Ca.
(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1905 Jul 15, The picture of a
greyhound dog covered half the page of this day’s sports section of the
SF Call newspaper.
(GTP, 1973, p.56)
1905 Sep 9, Battling Nelson, the
"Durable Dane," kayoed Jimmy Britt in the 18th round at the Sickles St.
Arena of James W. Coffroth.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.22)(Ind, 3/22/03, 5A)
1905 The Woodlawn Memorial Park
cemetery, also known as the Masonic Burial Ground, was established.
(GTP, 1973, p.45)
1906 Apr 18, The big earthquake
drove scores of people south toward the Colma Hills away from the
devastation in SF. Landowners were persuaded to subdivide their lots
and deeds were sold from $200-300. Homes were constructed for as little
as $1,500.
(GTP, 1973, p.27,28)
1906 The Red Cross devised and
built standardized temporary houses that measured about 14 x 18 feet
and came in 2-3 room designs. They were designed to see people through
the winter and to be moved from public property by Aug of 1907.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.3)
1906-1916 In Daly City, Ca., businesses made gas out
of oil at 731 Schwerin St.
(SFC, 3/2/09, p.B1)
1907 Jun 12, A committee from the
Vista Grande Improvement Club (Daly City, Ca.) was appointed to arrange
for a volunteer fire department and a fire alarm system.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1907 Aug 2, Fire Chief George
Edmonds called roll call at Poket’s Hall for the 45 members of the
newly organized Vista Grande Fire Dept. members were ordered to respond
to calls with their own buckets until equipment could be purchased. The
area population (Daly city, Ca.) was estimated at 2,900.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1907 Summer, A thriving business
was begun moving the temporary earthquake houses in SF by wagon to
private lots. Lots in Daly City were offered for a total price of $400
payable at $10 down and $10 a month.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.4)
1907 Sep 2, Middleweights Stanley
Ketchel and Joe Thomas fought a 32-round match at the Sickles St. Arena
of James W. Coffroth.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.22)(Ind, 3/22/03, 5A)
1907 Oct 2, Another railroad began
serving the SF peninsula. The Ocean Shore Railroad ran from 12th and
Mission across the peninsula on what is now Alemany Blvd. to Daly City,
Broadmoor, Thornton Beach and down the coast to the end of the line at
Santa Cruz.
(GTP, 1973, p.74)
1907 John Daly broke up his
250-acre dairy ranch and sold all the land except for 3-4 acres between
San Jose and Mission St. The ranch was subdivided and became what is
now Daly City
(GTP, 1973, p.24)(CHA, 1/2001)
1907 The Sunset View Cemetery was
established in Lawndale (Colma), Ca.
(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1908 Apr, The Wooster Company, a
private water provider (Daly City, Ca.), allowed the first hydrants to
be installed on its water system.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1908 Aug 22, A petition was
published proposing the incorporation of the City of Vista Grande, with
boundaries from the bay to the ocean, north to SF, and south to SSF. A
development called Visitacion City was proposed but lots failed to sell
and the project died.
(GTP, 1973, p.79,124)
1908 Sep, John W. Marchbank
arrived in Colma from Alaska where he had operated a casino named the
Northern. He soon opened a local casino with the same name. He later
opened the A Mon Chateau, at Junipero Serra and School St. for
higher class gamblers. Its name was later changed to the Villa Mateo.
(Ind, 11/18/00, 5A)
1908 A post office named Vista
Grande was established on Daly’s Hill.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.4)
1908 James Casey got elected to
the Board of Supervisors for the express purpose of fixing the roads.
He induced Santa Clara, San Mateo and SF to pass resolutions asking
that Mission St.-El Camino Real be made a state highway.
(GTP, 1973, p.66)
1908 Pacific Gas and Electric co.
acquired a gas-making company in Daly City, Ca. Wastes contained
lamp-black, a finely powdered carbon, and thick, sticky tars containing
cancer-causing compounds.
(SFC, 3/2/09, p.B1)
1909 Oct, Stanley Ketchell,
middleweight champion, fought with Jack Johnson, the first Negro
heavyweight world’s champion in Daly City at the Sickles St. Arena.
Johnson knocked Ketchell out before a paying crowd of 3,400.
(GTP, 1973, p.58)(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.22)(Ind, 3/22/03,
5A)
1910 Nov 25, "The Crocker
Improvement Club thoroughly discussed the subject of incorporation and
unanimously passed resolutions favoring the same."
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.15)
1910 Dec 16, The Colma Record
under J.L. Brown later noted that the name Daly City emerged as a
candidate for the area known as Vista Grande.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.15)
1910 Jim Casey induced the SF
Motor Club to sponsor a show at Tanforan with the proceeds going to
road improvement. Air pilots, balloonists, and glider pilots joined the
first automobile drivers and demonstrated their skills.
(GTP, 1973, p.66)
1911 Jan 16, A petition was filed
with the San Mateo County supervisors to incorporate the City of Daly
City. The boundaries proposed were determined by building tracts that
ran south of SF along the San Bruno Hills to Price and School Streets
and west to the summit of the hills. The population was estimated at
2,900.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.8)
1911 Mar 18, A vote was held for
the incorporation of Daly City, Ca. The voting place was the upstairs
backroom of Jack Letlos’ Restaurant on Mission Rd. The vote was for
132, against 130. Also passed in the vote was the new official name of
Daly City in honor of John Daly.
(GTP, 1973, p.84)(LaPen, 12/86, p.4)
1911 Mar 22, Daly City was
incorporated by a vote of 138-136.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.6)
1911 Mar 24, The Colma Record
published the official election results indicating the vote at 138 vs.
136. A copy of the page was here reprinted.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.14)
1911 Jul 4, A city christening
parade was held.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.25)
1911 Otto Reichardt established
the Reichardt Duck Farm in unincorporated Colma along 29 acres of Old
Mission Rd.
(Ind, 4/17/99, p.5A)
1911 The City Council appointed
Walter J. White as the first City Clerk.
(Tattler, 3/99)
1911-1912 Edward Freyer was the first mayor of Daly
City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1911-1914 The Daly City Council met in various
places, usually in buildings along Mission St.
(GTP, 1973, p.102)
1912 Oct 28, Daly City passed
Ordnance #46, which stated "It will be unlawful to engage in disorderly
or immoral dancing…i.e. Turkey Trot, Bunny Hug, Texas Tommy." A fine of
$50 or both could be exacted from offenders.
(Tattler, 9/01)
1912-1945 The number of acres in Colma and Daly City
planted with cabbage reached 10,000.
(GTP, 1973, p.62)
1912-1916 B.C. Ross was the 2nd mayor of Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1913 San Mateo County voters
passed a bond issue for $1,250,000 that was matched by the state and
used to connect Colma and Daly City to the coastside villages, and
improve School St. and Spring Valley Blvd, now a part of 87th St. The
funds also provided for Junipero Serra Highway.
(GTP, 1973, p.66)
1913 The voters of Daly City
approved a bond issue of $100,000 to: install a water system where it
was most needed; to purchase the existing Crocker system and wells; and
to build a pump house and a reservoir of a million gallon capacity. The
area served was bound by Citrus Ave. on the south, the SP railroad on
the west, Hillside Blvd. on the east and the city limits on the north.
(GTP, 1973, p.90)
1913 The PG&E plant east of
Cow Palace closed down. Since 1906 it had processed oil into gas and
left deposits of coal tar and lampblack, later identified as
carcinogenic polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. Soil from the property
was used as fill for military housing during WW II.
(SFC, 3/10/98, p.A14)(SFC, 1/5/00, p.A12)(SFC,
1/19/00, p.A4)
1914-1938 The first City Hall was built at 75
Wellington Ave. for $6,000. It was a 2-story wood frame building with a
dance hall on the 2nd floor.
(GTP, 1973, p.102)
1915 The California legislature
outlawed boxing and ended Colma’s golden decade of boxing.
(Ind, 3/22/03, 5A)
1915 A new water system was placed
into service in Daly City, Ca., and tested in front of the new City
Hall on Wellington Ave.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1915 The Lagomarsino family of
Daly City employed dozens of women to pick violets and fashion them
into bouquets and boutonnieres for the World’s Fair in SF. The next
generation of the family branched into real estate and built the
apartment houses along Hillside Blvd. in Daly City and Colma.
(GTP, 1973, p.118)
1915 By this year 15 out of 49
businesses in the Daly City area were saloons or businesses that served
liquor.
(GTP, 1973, p.50)
1915 The population of Daly City,
Ca., reached 5,000 people.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1916 Feb, A branch of the San
Mateo County Free Library opened in James Casey’s meat market in Daly
City. Within a year it was moved to Pettingill’s Mercantile. Until this
time 3 women had served as Book Custodians for DC readers, the last
being Mrs. Frank Woodhouse, wife of the Mayor.
(Tattler, 1/03)
1916 Over 450 acres in Colma were
devoted to raising violets. 100 dozen bunches were taken to SF daily.
(GTP, 1973, p.59)
1916-1918 Frank B. Woodhouse was the 3rd mayor of
Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1917 The Woodrow Wilson Elementary
school on Santa Barbara Ave. was constructed. It was later rebuilt.
(GTP, 1973, p.30)
1918 William J. Savage became
superintendent of the entire Jefferson Elementary School district and
served until 1931.
(GTP, 1973, p.30)
1918-1936 H.H. Smith was the 4th mayor of Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1919 Phoebe Apperson Hearst (77),
wife of Senator George Hearst and mother of William Randolph Hearst,
died in the influenza epidemic. She had donated an estimated $25
million to UC Berkeley, hospitals, schools, senior centers, art
galleries and other institutions. She was buried at Cypress Lawn in
Colma.
(SFEM, 10/24/99, p.20)(CHA, 1/2001)
c1919 Shortly after WW I John
William Marchbank purchased the Tanforan Race Track and later the Daly
City Record. Marchbank contribute heavily to the Daly City Library and
gave the city the park that bears his name.
(GTP, 1973, p.53,54)
1920 Apr 25, Daly City’s first
library opened at 6351 Mission St. on land donated by John Daly and
John Marchbank. It was expanded 3-fold in the 1930s. The back room was
dedicated to young readers and called the "Happy Children’s Room."
(GDCH, 1986, p.14)(Tattler, 1/03)
1920 By this year it was estimated
that 20% of the land in northern San Mateo County was used to raise
flowers.
(GTP, 1973, p.59)
1920 The last run of the SF-Santa
Cruz Ocean Shore Railroad was made.
(GTP, 1973, p.74)
1921 In California the Daly City
Fire Dept. volunteers began publishing “The Alarm,” a department
newsletter.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1921 Aug, Rev. Patrick Heslin of
Holy Angels Church in Colma was kidnapped. William A. Hightower (41)
was later convicted of Heslin’s murder and served 44 years in prison.
He was paroled in 1965 at age 86.
(SFEC, 3/1/98, p.W20)
1921 V. Fontana & Co., the
Colma tombstone-making operation, was started by Valerio Fontana, an
immigrant from Italy.
(SFC, 8/1/98, p.D1)
1922 Aug 5, A bond issue was voted
to provide $180,000 for a new school.
(GTP, 1973, p.41)
1922 The Jefferson Union High
School District of Daly City and Pacifica was founded with Neil O. Best
as the head of a faculty of three teachers.
(SFC,10/29/97, p.A18)(GTP, 1973, p.41)
1923 Mar 29, Voters selected the
old Union Coursing Park on Mission St., #6996, as the site of the new
Jefferson High School.
(GTP, 1973, p.41)
1923 John Daly, for whom Daly City
is named, died and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma. He was
from Boston and had arrived in the Bay Area alone at age 13 via the
Isthmus of Panama, where his mother died of yellow fever.
(CHA, 1/2001)
1924 Aug 5, The San Francisco Bay
Area town of Colma was incorporated under the name “Lawndale.” The name
was changed in December, 1941, as the US Post Office declared that
there was another Lawndale in California.
(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1924 Oct 11, The owners of the
cemeteries and adjoining lands agreed to incorporate into a town called
Memorial Park. The name was not permitted because it was already in use
by the county. The name Lawndale was accepted but rejected by the US
Post Office. They settled on the old name of Colma. [see 1941]
(GTP, 1973, p.104)
1924 Voters approved a bond issue
to replace the old Crocker water system.
(GTP, 1973, p.90)
1925 Daly City took over all Fire
Department property and paid firemen $1.00 per year to assure
compensation from the newly formed State Industrial Accident
Association.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1925 Voters approved a tax
increase for local schools.
(GTP, 1973, p.42)
1926 The large ranches in the
Colma hills were broken up to make "little farms" of 1-2 1/2 acres or
more. This movement proceeded on down the peninsula.
(GTP, 1973, p.64)
1928 Voters approved a tax
increase for local schools.
(GTP, 1973, p.42)
1928 The Daly City Fire Department
in the Crocker Tract completed the building of a new fire engine at a
cost of $746.52.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1929 Jan 13, Frontiersman Wyatt
Earp died in LA, Ca., after an illustrious life in the West. Cowboy
stars William S. Hart and Tom Mix served as pallbearers. Born in
Illinois in 1848, he served as a lawman in Wichita and Dodge City,
Kansas, as well as Tombstone, Arizona Territory, where Wyatt and his
brothers Morgan and Virgil were notorious for violent clashes with
outlaws. Western historians have disagreed about the particulars of
Wyatt Earp's life, but he is said to have been a freighter-teamster,
railroad construction worker, policeman, prisoner, saloon keeper and
horse farmer, and he was involved in several gunfights--for reasons
that may or may not have been related to law enforcement. When Morgan
was killed, Wyatt avenged his death by killing Frank Stilwell, an
outlaw he had previously arrested. Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp died and was
buried in Colma, Ca.
(HNPD, 1/12/99)(SFEC, 3/14/99, Z1 p.10)(MesWP)(CHA,
1/2001)
1929 Frank Molloy purchased the
Brooksville Hotel on Mission Road from Patrick Brooks and renamed it
Molloy's.
(Ind, 1/30/98, p.5A)
1930 Daly City annexed a portion
of Colma and the new Fire Dept. Company 6 formed.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1930 Daly City’s first Well Baby
Clinic opened under the sponsorship of the Red Cross and the city’s
PTAs.
(GDCH, 1986, p.14)
1930 A promoter, who was said to
have lived in Australia, began to develop the area on the east side of
San Bruno Mountain that he called "Brisbane on the Bay." Another story
holds that Arthur Ennis, the agent for the tract, named it in honor of
columnist Arthur Brisbane.
(GTP, 1973, p.124)
1930 Edgar Wakefield McLellan
retired from his Burlingame flower business that boasted some 324,000
square feet of glass houses. He had pioneered the shipment of flowers
to cities across the US. The operation was taken over by his son
Roderick and moved to a 61 acre site in Colma.
(PI, 1/24/98, p.5)
1931 The Daly City Fire Dept.,
through a variety of fundraising and member contributions, outfitted
all personnel in dress uniforms.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1932 Dec 28, An irregular portion
of the populated area of the Bayshore was incorporated as Bayshore City
with Robert J. Hatch as mayor. The councilmen were J.P. Lawson, J.
Franzer, Herbert A. Ford, and Ernest Durbin. The chief attraction was a
race course and dog racing was the chief industry.
(GTP, 1973, p.112)
1933-1934 Coit Tower was built with $100,000 in funds
bequeathed by Lillie Hitchcock Coit. It was designed by Arthur Brown
Jr. and contains frescoes by Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Eliza Wychie
Hitchcock Coit died at age 88 and rests in Cypress Lawn, Colma.
(SFEC, 11/3/96, DB p.33)(HT, 5/97, p.14)(CHA, 1/2001)
1934 Apr 9, Election day. H.H.
Smith was re-elected mayor.
(GTP, 1973, p.88,91)
1934 The Daly City budget for the
Fire Dept. budget was set at $5,000.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1934 The Italian Country Flower
Shop opened in Colma and was run by Ida Pellicci and her daughter Ida.
(Ind, 11/28/98, p.5A)
1935 Nov, Groundbreaking
ceremonies for Cow Palace were held on 25 acres of land in Visitacion
Valley. The original owners were C.H. "Bert" Sooy, a SF lawyer; George
J. Giannini, a wholesale fruit and produce merchant; R.B. Henderson, a
SF city official; Thomas L. Hickey, a San Mateo County Supervisor;
Robert P. Holliday, newspaper publisher; Charles S. Howard, automobile
dealer and sportsman; R.B. Krobitsch and Ernest Drury, hotel men. Sooy
raised more than $1,900,000 from federal, state, local and private
interests. "While people are being evicted from their homes, a palace
is being built for cows."
(GTP, 1973, p.113)
1935 The first Daly City Fireman’s
Ball was held for the benefit of the Widows and Orphans Fund.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1935 Nicholas Doukas (d.1974 at
85) opened the Greek Orthodox Memorial Park cemetery, the only one in
the US, at the site of a heather farm in Colma, Ca.
(CHA, 1/2001)(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1935 Bones from the SF Odd Fellows
Cemetery, established in 1865 on the slope of Lone Mountain at Stanyon
St., were moved to Colma.
(SFCM, 1/18/04, p.12)
1935 Ida Pellicci, as a
representative of the Marconi Club, was elected Queen for the Columbus
Day Parade.
(Ind, 11/28/98, p.5A)
1936 Greenhouse fern growing
became a major industry and 28 acres of the Colma Hills were under
glass. Hog raising also became popular and 43,000 hogs were reported in
San Mateo County.
(GTP, 1973, p.60,64)
1936 Voters approved a tax
increase for local schools.
(GTP, 1973, p.42)
1936 The entire streetcar line
through Daly City was shifted and new pavement was laid over the center
lines on Mission St. Later service ceased beyond the Top of the Hill,
which remained the terminus for SF car 14. [through at least 1973]
(GTP, 1973, p.74)
1936-1940 Paul G. Selmi was the 5th mayor of Daly
City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1938 May 6, The Daly City Record
reported that the Jefferson High School gymnasium and pool were opened
for use. Also National Auto Ford at 7370 Mission offered a new Tudor
sedan for $729.
(Tat., 5/98)
1938 In Daly City a new air horn
system went into service at 4 Fire Dept. locations: Niantic Pump
Station, City Hall on Wellington St., Company 4 on Peoria St and
station 6 on Werner St.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1938-1939 The Visitacion School District was divided
and a new Bayshore School District was established.
(GTP, 1973, p.32)
1939 Aug 22, It was Daly City Day
at the Golden Gate Int’l. Exposition on Treasure Island.
(GDCH, 1986, p.14)
1939 The attorney general of
California ruled that dog racing was illegal.
(GTP, 1973, p.112)
1939 The population of Daly City,
Ca., reached 12,000.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1939-1967 The city’s 2nd City Hall was in operation.
(GTP, 1973, p.95)
1940-1942 John F. Fahey was the 6th mayor of Daly
City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1941 Nov 15, Cow Palace opened in
Daly City, Ca. Construction labor was largely supplied by the WPA.
(GTP, 1973, p.113)(SFC, 2/28/08, p.A11)
1941 Colma annexed the cemetery
city of Lawndale. [see 1924]
(LaPen, 12/86, p.5)
1942 Aug 16, The US Navy L-8
patrol blimp crash-landed at 419 Bellevue St., Daly City, Ca., after
drifting in from the ocean. The ship’s crew, Lt. Ernest Dewitt Cody
(27) and Ensign Charles E. Adams (38), were missing and no trace of
them was ever found.
(GDCH, 1986, p.17)(Ind, 5/3/03, p.5A)
1942 The first SF Sport and Boat
Show was held at Cow Palace.
(SFEM, 1/11/98, p.2)
1942 Passenger service on the
Southern Pacific horseshoe line, through Brisbane, South San Francisco,
Daly City and back to SF, ceased.
(GTP, 1973, p.73)
1942-1946 Anthony J. Gaggero was the 7th mayor of
Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1943 In Daly City an Army fighter
plane crashed on Alexander Avenue, killing the pilot.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1944 The US Navy built the Midway
Village housing complex in Daly City, Ca., next to the former PG&E
gas plant site off Bayshore Blvd. Plant residues were used to fill the
marshland of the complex site.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A4)(SFC, 3/2/09, p.B1)
1945 Oct, Henry and Ellis Stoneson
formulated plans to build Broadmoor Village, one of the 1st major
post-war subdivisions. The 1,500 homes were surrounded by Colma and
Daly City.
(Ind, 11/30/02, 5A)
1945 The firm of Henry Doelger
purchased 1,350 acres that stretched east and west of the developed
section of Daly City to the ocean and south from Lake Merced to the
Pacifica Hills. This land of pig ranches and cabbage patches was
purchased from the Spring Valley Water Co., which had acquired it from
the owners of the old Laguna de la Merced Rancho. He made plans to
build a subdivision that came to be called Westlake.
(GTP, 1973, p.107,109)
1946 Apr-Dec, James P. Green was
the 8th mayor of Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1946 The US Grand National Rodeo
began an uninterrupted string of yearly shows at the Cow Palace in Daly
City, Ca.
(SFC, 2/28/08, p.A11)
1946-1948 Melford B. Battye was the 9th mayor of Daly
City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1947 Sep, By this month the
Stoneson Co. had laid Sweetwood and Louvaine Streets in Broadmoor and
erected enough homes for the first families to move in. A little creek
ran up the middle of the street that became MacArthur Dr. Broadmoor
remained an unincorporated area.
(GTP, 1973, p.115)
1947 Voters of Daly City approved
a tax increase for local schools.
(GTP, 1973, p.42)
1947 The Pet’s Rest Cemetery was
established in Colma, Ca.
(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1948-1949 Anthony J. Gaggero was again elected mayor
of Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1948-1962 Henry Doelger build the Westlake
subdivision of Daly City. The first lot was sold to Harley and Esther
Appleton with a $1 downpayment.
(GTP, 1973, p.107)(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.2)
1949 Mar, In Daly City, Ca.,
groundbreaking ceremonies took place for the Westlake Town and Country
shopping Center. Henry Doelger created the Westlake Subdivision
Improvement Association. Doelger built 32 separate subdivisions with
the same set of by-laws, but each one had a separate set of covenant
conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs). The original by-laws barred
non-Caucasians from purchasing property in Westlake.
(Ind, 6/22/99, p.1A)(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1949 Oct 14, Pat Valentino
(1920-2008), SF boxer, was knocked out by Ezzard Charles in the 8th
round at the Cow Palace in a boxing heavy-weight match before a crowd
of 19,950.
(SFC, 8/8/08, p.B5)
1949 Dec, The Daly City
Firefighters joined with the community based Operation Santa Claus
program to provide food and Christmas toys to the disadvantaged in the
community.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1949 Daly City voters approved
bonds for a War Memorial Building.
(Ind, 11/30/02, 5A)
1949 The Colma Theater with 2
connected stores rose up for $145,000.
(Ind, 11/30/02, 5A)
1949-1952 James P. Green was again elected mayor of
Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1950 A private group invested
$150,000 for a 17-lane bowling alley in Daly City.
(Ind, 11/30/02, 5A)
1950 The Serra Theater on Junipero
Serra Blvd. opened with evening movies showing for 30 cents. It was
closed in the early 1980s.
(Ind, 8/3/99, p.11A)
1950s Federal officials returned
the former PG&E plant side east of Cow Palace to PG&E. The
military housing was deeded to San Mateo County.
(SFC, 3/10/98, p.A14)
1950s-60s Gus Pedemonte, a Colma resident, led a firm
that developed apartment complexes in the vicinity of Price and
Garibaldi Streets, and others from 88th Street to the Daly City Civic
Center on 90th and from Sullivan Ave. to the heart of Broadmoor.
(GTP, 1973, p.118)
1951 Jan 16, Daly City, Ca., hired
its first 6 paid firefighters. Volunteers still provided additional
staffing at all stations.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1952 The Daly City War Memorial
was dedicated with special honor to the 26 local veterans who died in
WW II. In 2003 a $12.5 million reconstruction was planned.
(Ind, 11/15/03, p.1A)
1952 Daly City’s Central Station,
later renumbered as Station 91, was constructed at 151 Lake Merced Blvd.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1952-1954 Anthony J. Gaggero served again as mayor of
Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1954 Oct 29, Henry Doelger
fulfilled his New year’s resolution to build 1,000 homes in Westlake,
Daly City. Sales reached 6 per day and the community’s population grew
to 11,235.
(SFC, 10/29/04, p.F11)
1954-1958 Joseph J. Verducci served as mayor of Daly
City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1955 The US Navy turned over the
Midway Village, Daly City, site to San Mateo County, Ca., for public
housing and schools.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A4)(SFC, 3/2/09, p.B1)
1955 Daly City adopted the
Council-Manager form of city government, while Dan E. Anderson served
as city administrator.
(GTP, 1973, p.90)
1955-1958 The City Manager was Howard Sites.
(GTP, 1973, p.90)
1956 Aug 20, The Republican
Convention opened at the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca.
(SFEC, 5/16/99, Z1 p.4)
1956 The Hillside Homeowner's
Association was formed.
(Ind, 5/11/99, p.4A)
1956 Westmoor High School opened
and Tony Giammona (d.2005) began a 27 year career as coach there. He
later served for 26 years on the Daly City Council and became known as
"Mr. Daly City." In 1999 he was inducted into the San Mateo Sports Hall
of Fame.
(Ind, 7/6/99, p.1A)(SFC, 7/29/05, p.B7)
1956 The population of Daly City,
Ca., reached 30,506.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1957 Feb 7, George McKeon of the
Zita Corp. announced that St. Francis Heights would be a $50 million
development.
(GTP, 1973, p.117)
1957 Mar 22, An earthquake,
centered in Daly City, Ca., hit the SF Bay Area and caused extensive
damage to Mary’s Help Hospital.
(Ind, 8/11/01, 5A)(CW, Winter 04, p.45)(DCFD,
Centennial, 2007)
1957 The Zita Corp. moved its
equipment into Daly City and began home construction on a 276 acre plot.
(GTP, 1973, p.117)
1957 The first Annual Daly City
Police and Fire Baseball game, held at Marchbank Park, was won by the
fire dept.
(GTP, 1973, p.100)(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1957 The Daly City Scavenger
Company opened the Mussel Rock Landfill downhill from Westline Drive.
It was closed in 1978.
(SFC, 4/21/00, p.A22)
1957-1979 Rev. Herbert C. Tweedie (d.1998) served as
the pastor of the Broadmoor Presbyterian Church.
(SFC, 1/20/98, p.A18)
1958 Jan 16, The Daly City Record
carried a picture of graded lots that had been sold to home seekers.
(GTP, 1973, p.117)
1958 Apr 27, Billy Graham began a
6-week Bay Area crusade at the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca. Some 18,000
crowded inside as another 5,000 stood in the parking lot.
(SSFC, 4/27/08, DB p.58)
1958 Nov 13, As many as 79 units
were being started each month in St. Francis Heights. At completion the
project consisted of over 2,000 homes, a multi-million shopping center,
and 3 schools: Daniel Webster, M. Pauline Brown, and Christopher
Columbus. In the north it met Broadmoor Village while its southern rim
extended into the Serramonte portions of Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.117)
1958 The Serra Theater opened at
2710 Junipero Serra Blvd. In 1995 it became the home of the Serra
Coffee Co. In 1998 it was scheduled to be torn down for a new Hampton
Inn Hotel.
(Ind, 4/21/98, p.1)
1958 Vista Grande School opened to
serve children in the Hillside area.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.14)
1958 Evangelist Billy Graham held
a 3-day revival crusade at the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca., that drew
nearly 700,000 people.
(SFC, 10/1/96, p.D1)(SFC, 2/28/08, p.A11)
1958-1959 Michael R. DeBernardi served as mayor of
Daly City. The City Manager was George W. Watts.
(GTP, 1973, p.88,90)
1958-1983 Samuel Chandler served as the Librarian of
Daly City.
(GDCH, 1986, p.16)
1959 The St. Francis Heights
Improvement Assoc. was started.
(GTP, 1973, p.118)
1959 The Reichardt Duck Farm on
Old Mission Rd. was forced to close for development of the El Camino
High School. The farm was moved to Petaluma.
(Ind, 4/17/99, p.5A)
1959-1960 Edward J. Dennis served as mayor of Daly
City. He was also a noted labor leader.
(GTP, 1973, p.88,89)
1960 Nov 2, Democratic
presidential candidate John F. Kennedy told an audience of 20,000 at
the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca., that the US should establish a Peace
Corps. The idea was first presented 3 weeks earlier at the Univ. of
Michigan.
(www.peacecorpswriters.org/pages/2000/0009/009indexp1.html)
1960 The musical "Dear Old Colma"
was written and produced at Broadmoor Presbyterian Church on 87th St.
in Colma.
(Tat, 1/98)
1960 In Daly City, Ca., fire
Station 95 at 191 Edgemont Drive was placed into service.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1960-1961 Francis P. Pacelli served as mayor of Daly
City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1960-1969 Edward Frank served as the City Manager.
(GTP, 1973, p.90)
1960s Mary’s Help Hospital on
Guerrero St. moved to what is now Seton Medical Center in Daly City.
Mary Mahoney (d.1997 at 82) played a major role in the move.
(SFC, 6/14/97, p.C2)
1960s The DC Rec. Dept. sponsored
an annual Doll Show at the War Memorial Building chaired by Ruth
Galindo.
(GDCH, 1986, p.18)
1961 Nov 28, Brisbane became the
official name of the general law city when it incorporated.
(GTP, 1973, p.124)
1961 The Daly City Golden Jubilee
Parade lasted 2 hours and included 130 entries.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.25)
1961 Thomas Dove reported that the
birth rate in Daly City was 707 babies per 1000 women, about double the
national average.
(GTP, 1973, p.129)
1961 The population of Daly City,
Ca., reached 43,000.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1961-1962 Robert B. St. Clair served as mayor of Daly
City. He was also captain of the SF 49ers football team at this time.
(GTP, 1973, p.88,89)
1962 Jan 21, Snow fell in the SF
Bay Area and accumulated to about 3 inches in Daly City.
(SFEM, 12/22/96, p.20)(GDCH, 1986, p.14)
1962 The SF Warriors basketball
team, formerly based in Philadelphia, chose the Cow Palace in Daly
City, Ca., as its new arena.
(SFC, 2/28/08, p.A11)
1962-Nov, 1963 Joseph J. Verducci again served as
mayor of Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1963 Apr 1, Edwin J. Duggan and
his wife, Madeline, opened Duggan’s Serra Mortuary in Colma.
(Ind, 9/8/98, p.8A)
1963 The 950-acre center of Daly
City, that included the dairy known as the Christen Ranch and the land
of Patrick Brooks and other pioneers, changed hands and was renamed
Serramonte and slated to become a housing development. The planned
community was laid out by the Suburban Realty Company.
(GTP, 1973, p.119)
1963 Jefferson High School was
rebuilt.
(GTP, 1973, p.42)
1963 The newly formed city of
Brisbane announced its desire to annex the San Mateo County lands
between its borders and the SF line. A citizens association from
Bayshore proposed that the residential area and Cow Palace be annexed
to Daly City. A fight ensued and the residents approved the Daly City
annexation after legislation failed to pass blocking the annexation of
Cow Palace.
(GTP, 1973, p.113,114)
1963 The Bayshore Fire Dept. was
annexed into the Daly City Fire Dept.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1963-1965 Michael R. DeBernardi again served as mayor
of Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1964 Jul 15, The Republican
National Convention was held at the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca. It
elected Barry Goldwater as its presidential candidate. John Chancellor
was ejected from the convention for blocking an aisle during a
demonstration by the delegates. Here Goldwater proclaimed "Extremism in
defense of liberty is no vice."
(SFC, 7/13/96, p.A5)(WSJ, 8/5/96, p.A10)(AP, 7/15/97)
1964 Aug 19, The Beatles performed
a concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca. They returned there for
another concert in 1965.
(www.rarebeatles.com/photopg7/sf81964.htm)
1964 The Suburban Realty Co.
planted 80 acres of graded slopes to beautify the new $200,000,000
Serramonte development. The project included 1,126 housing units, the
Serramonte High School, the Serramonte Shopping Center (opened in
1968), several grade schools and a 25-acre city park with a public
library and fire house. Suburban Realty under the direction of Carl and
Fred Gellert also developed the Sunstream Homes of Southern Hills.
(GTP, 1973, p.119)(SFC, 2/8/02, p.B1)
1965 Aug 31, The Beatles returned
to the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca., for another concert.
(www.geocities.com/bratbear_51/cowpalacebeatles.html)
1965 Dec 12, The transfer of 26
patients was completed from Mary’s Help Hospital at 145 Guerrero St. to
the new $8.4 million 11-story structure in Daly City.
(Ind, 8/11/01, 5A)
1965 Dec, Mary’s Help Hospital, a
270 bed general hospital later renamed Seton MC, was dedicated.
(GTP, 1973, p.101)
1965 There was an unsuccessful
proposal to slice off the top of San Bruno Mountain for airport
landfill. 200 million cubic yards from the mountain were proposed to
fill in the Bay for airport expansion. This led to the founding of the
Committee to Save San Bruno Mountain.
(Ind, 4/27/99, p.A1,11)
1965-1966 Francis P. Pacelli again served as mayor of
Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1966 Apr-Dec, Albert E. Polonsky
served as mayor of Daly City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1966-1973 Bernard J. Lycett served as mayor of Daly
City.
(GTP, 1973, p.88)
1967 May 20, The new Daly City
Civic Center on 90th St. was dedicated. It was a neo-classic design by
the architects Donald F. Haines, Zaven Tatarian and Assoc. It cost $3.5
million and the funds were raised by the Civic Center Corporation.
(GTP, 1973, p.96,102)
1968 The Serramonte Shopping
Center opened.
(SFC, 2/8/02, p.B1)
1969-1995 David R. Rowe (d.1998 at age 60) began
serving as the City Manager at age 31 and served for 26 years.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.12)(SFC, 10/30/98, p.D4)
1970 Jan 23, Evel Knievel made a
motorcycle jump over parked cars and trucks at the Cow Palace in Daly
City, Ca.
(www.stevemandich.com/evelincarnate/eveltimeline.htm)
1970 Serramonte High School was
dedicated.
(GTP, 1973, p.42)(LaPen, 12/86, p.14)
1970 The fertility ratio in Daly
City dropped to 380 per 1,000 women. The population reached 66,922.
(GTP, 1973, p.130,133)
1970s-1980s Schemes to develop San Bruno Mountain
brought large crowds before various city councils. The Save Bruno
Mountain Association was organized and opposed the annexation of the
mountain by Daly City. It was finally determined that most of the
mountain would remain in its primitive state as a park administered by
the San Mateo County Parks and Rec. Dept. Parts not included in the
park were awarded to Brisbane, Daly City and South San Francisco.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.10)
c1971 Malvina Reynolds wrote her
song: "Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky
tacky..."
(GTP, 1973, p.130)
1971 The Daly City, Ca., Fire
Dept. placed into service its new Van Pelt Engine and the 85 foot Van
Pelt Snorkel Truck.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1972 Five blocks of houses were
razed to build the Daly City BART station and widen John Daly Blvd.
(Ind, 5/25/99, p.2C)
1972 The San Bruno Mountain Area
under the planning of the Foremost McKesson Co. had 290 acres developed
as the Crocker Industrial Park, Antenna Hill used for broadcasting
transmitters, and a quarry of 107 acres next to the industrial park
(slated for long term phase-out to landscaping). The Crocker Land
Company proposed plans for commercial, industrial and residential
communities on the northern and eastern slopes and called for at least
1,140 acres for a permanent regional park.
(GTP, 1973, p.128)
1972 The Original Daly City
Protective Assoc. was formed for home owners south of the Daly City
BART station. Politicians had called the area "old Daly City." City
manager David Rowe suggested high-rise apartments for the area and
$20,000 for the homeowners' property, but was rebuffed by the
association.
(Ind, 5/25/99, p.2C)
1972 Henry Doelger sold his lasts
interests Westlake, the Westlake Apartments.
(GTP, 1973, p.109)
1973 Jan, The Daly City, Ca., Fire
Dept. began a 56 hour work week for its line personnel.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1973 Nov 16, Groundbreaking for
the Serramonte Library took place.
(Tattler, 1/03)
1973 Dec 1, The Daly City, Ca.,
Fire Dept. placed into service the new combination Station 7 and Fire
Administration building at 444 Gellert. Station 7 was later renumbered
as Station 94 in the San Mateo County numbering program.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1973 Samuel C. Chandler, longtime
DC Librarian, published "Gateway to the Peninsula: A History of Daly
City."
(LaPen, 12/86, p.2)
1973 In Brisbane Eugene Aiello
served as the city manager and William E. Lawrence as mayor. The
population was 4,476.
(GTP, 1973, p.125)
1973 Colma covered an area that
was 1 and 8/10 square miles. It was governed by a 5-man city council.
One man was named mayor and presided over the council meetings which
were held twice monthly.
(GTP, 1973, p.104)
1973 Anthony A. Giammona was
elected Mayor of Daly City. Victor G. Kyriakis was Mayor pro tem; Paul
M. Hupf, Bernard J. Lycett, and McRobert L. Stewart were Councilmen;
Anna Ohlendorf was the City Clerk; and Anthony J. Zidich was the City
Treasurer.
(GTP, 1973, p.103)
1973 Six commissions were
operating in Daly City. They included: The Personnel Board; the
Planning Commission, the Recreation Commission, the Library Board of
Trustees, the Civic Center Corporation, and the Redevelopment Agency.
(GTP, 1973, p.90)
1973 Daly City had 165 miles of
pipe for water, serving all the city except the Bayshore District.
(GTP, 1973, p.90)
1973 David Pelzer (12) was rescued
from horrifying family abuse that included starvation and physical
beating. In 1998 his 2 books, based on his childhood in Daly City, Ca.,
made the NY Times best-seller list: "A Child Called It" and "A Lost
Boy." His father was a SF fireman and his mother was a homemaker with 4
other sons who were spared the abuse.
(SFC, 7/30/98, p.C1)
1974 The Daly City Community
Service Center was established by the Daly City Council.
(DCN, winter ‘98, p.6)
1975 Sep 20, The Serramonte
Library opened.
(Tattler, 1/03)
1975 Visitacion Associates,
co-owners of 3600 acres of San Bruno Mountain with the Crocker Land
Co., proposed a major development of over 8,500 residential units and 2
million square feet of office and commercial space. Residents began
lobbying county officials against the development.
(Ind, 4/27/99, p.11A)
1976 Nov 28, Elvis Presley
preformed a concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City, Ca.
(www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/pictures/1976_nov_28.html)
1976 Harry Flamburis, president of
the SF chapter of the Hell’s Angels, was found shot to death in his
Daly City house along with roommate Dannette Barrett.
(SFC, 1/11/02, p.G4)
1976 San Mateo County, Ca.,
rebuilt the military housing by the PG&E plant east of Cow Palace
in Daly City with a housing complex of 150 units called Midway Village.
The units stood over toxic soil from PG&E that was used by the
military during WW II as land fill. Dirt and groundwater in the area
contained polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PNAs), a known carcinogen.
No soil tests were conducted.
(SFC, 3/10/98, p.A14)(SFC, 1/5/00, p.A12)(SFC,
1/19/00, p.A4)
1976 The Crocker Neighborhood
Assoc. was founded.
(Ind, 7/27/99, p.1A)
1976 A $50 million modernization
program began for Mary’s Help Hospital (later Mary Seton MC).
(Ind, 8/11/01, 5A)
1976 An endangered species listing
for the mission blue butterfly on San Bruno Mountain temporarily halted
the massive development plans for San Bruno Mountain.
(Ind, 4/27/99, p.11A)
1977 A History, Arts and Science
Commission was declared by the City Council. It was organized to serve
Daly City under the administration of the City Librarian. The
commission formed individual guilds, each represented in a parent
council known as the Daly City Advocates.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.12)
c1977 The Fred Gellert Foundation
extended to DC a grant of $1 million to fund programs in the arts. DC
invited other municipalities in Northern San Mateo County in the
formation of the Northern San Mateo Center for the Arts. Within a year
a small theater and exhibit rooms were established in a former high
school.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.12)
1978 Jun 6, California voters
overwhelmingly approved Proposition 13, the Jarvis-Gann amendment, a
primary ballot initiative calling for major cuts in property taxes. It
limited the taxing abilities of local governments and many city
services were reduced as a result.
(AP, 6/6/97)(LaPen, 12/86, p.8)
1978 Sep 28, The Teachers Union
ended a 3-week strike against the Jefferson High School District's 6
schools in Daly City and Pacifica.
(SFC, 9/26/03, p.E4)
1978 The Crocker Land Co. donated
546 acres and sold to San Mateo County 1100 acres of land along the
main ridge of San Bruno Mountain. This became the bulk of San Bruno
Mountain State and County Park.
(Ind, 4/27/99, p.11A)
1978 The Daly City Scavenger
Company closed the Mussel Rock Landfill downhill from Westline Drive.
The 29-acre dump, carved into a slope atop sand and silt, suffered from
erosion and began seeping waste. It cost the city $200,000 annually for
monitoring and maintenance and failed to comply with state standards.
(SFC, 4/21/00, p.A22)
1978 Henry Doelger (b.1898), SF
and Daly City home builder, died on his boat in the Mediterranean. His
1st SF house is believed to be at 1419 39th Ave.
(SFC, 10/15/02, p.A20)
1979 Dec, A traditional annual
Christmas party was begun in Colma.
(Ind, 1/30/98, p.5A)
1979 The Serramonte Homeowners
Association dedicated the neighborhood clubhouse in Gellert Park.
(Ind, 6/1/99, p.1A)
1979 A community feed was begun at
Molloy's roadhouse on Mission Road.
(Ind, 1/30/98, p.5A)
1979 K-Mart won approval for an
86,000-square-foot store on El Camino Real.
(Ind, 1/30/98, p.5A)
1980 Jun, K-Mart opened its new
store on El Camino.
(Ind, 1/30/98, p.5A)
1980 Nov 1, The Doelger Senior
Center was dedicated by Mayor Anthony Giammona. It was converted from
the former Fernando Rivera Junior High School.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.11,14)
1980 Jan Powell was appointed to
the City Council after serving 11 years as trustee of the Jefferson
Union High School District.
(SFC, 6/10/99, p.C6)
1980 The Census Bureau reported
the DC population to be 78,519.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.6)
1980 PG&E workers first
complained to the US EPA about chemicals uncovered during construction
at the Martin Service Center on Geneva. Some of the soil at the site
was hauled away.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.A14)(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A4)
1981 Oct, A South San Francisco
measure to prevent the development of San Bruno Mountain failed
decisively. The Citizen's Action League opposed the development of San
Bruno Mountain and placed an initiative that would deny municipal
services to developer W.W. Dean Co. unless the southern slope and the
Juncus Ravine were donated to the county park. After the vote the
developer donated the Juncus Ravine, filed for bankruptcy and withdrew
from the project.
(Ind, 4/27/99, p.1,12A)
1981 The city of Bayshore was
annexed to Daly City.
(Ind, 7/13/99, p.1A)
1982 The History Guild of Daly
City / Colma was founded with one grant-subsidized employee. Its logo
was the outline of San Bruno Mountain’s Antennae Peak in front of a
rising moon, together set in a circular frame and the name outlined on
the outer edge.
(Tat, 1/98)
1982 Jane Powell was elected to
the Daly City Council and was picked by council members as the first
female mayor of Daly City. She served 3 separate one year terms.
(SFC, 6/10/99, p.C6)
1983 Apr, Mary’s Help Hospital was
renamed Mary Seton Medical Center.
(Ind, 8/11/01, 5A)
1983 The state put the PG&E
property near Geneva and Bayshore on its Superfund list named after the
federal program for toxic waste cleanup.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.A14)
1984 Jun, Tony Giamonna retired
after 32 years with the Jefferson School District, the last 28 of which
he served as a physical education teacher and athletic director of
Westmoor High School.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.4)
1984 Richard Sims (1933-2008) was
named chief of police for Daly City, Ca. Sims retired in 1990 following
a 34 year career in the city’s police department.
(SSFC, 2/10/08, p.B3)
1984 PG&E fenced off its
property at the Martin Service Center from Midway Village. The site was
placed on the Superfund list of most contaminated sites in California.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.A14)(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A4)
1985 Mary Mahoney, nurse, wrote
"Reflections on Mary’s Help Hospital and Seton Medical Center."
(SFC, 6/14/97, p.C2)
1985 An arson fire at Westmoor
High School in Daly City, Ca., caused $1 million in damage.
(SSFC, 2/10/08, p.B3)
1986 Daly City celebrated its 75th
anniversary. A time capsule with DC memorabilia was buried at the Civic
Center with an opening planned for the year 2086.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.1)(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.2)
1986 Mar 22, The City Hall
Mortgage Burning, dedication of a new official city flag, that had
flown over the Iwo Jima Memorial Monument in Washington, and community
reception was held. Official US commemorative postcards were issued
along with envelopes.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.15)(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.2)
1986 Sep 27, The DC 75th
Anniversary Parade was held.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.15)
1986 Oct 4, The DC 75th
Anniversary Formal Black Tie Dinner & Dance was held at the Lake
Merced Golf and Country Club.
(LaPen, 12/86, p.15)(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.2)
1986 The History Guild of Daly
City became an self-dependent entity with by-laws and elected officers.
(Tat, 1/98)
1986 Bunny and Ken Gillespie
published "The Great Daly City Historical Trivia Book." It contained
386 questions and answers in 8 chapters with pen and ink drawings by
Ken.
(GDC, 1987)
1986 PG&E notified the state
that it was examining some 32 sites where gas was once manufactured
from oil. The EPA estimated that there were up to 3,000 sites left over
from the gaslight era contained harmful chemicals.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.A14)
1986-1996 Anthony Governale (d.1998 at 69), former
mayor of San Bruno, served as executive director of the Daly City -
Colma Chamber of Commerce.
(SFC, 1/2/99, p.C2)
1987 The 62 units of the 4.5 acre
Serramonte Highlands townhouse development were completed. Phases II
and III followed under a different developer.
(Ind, 6/29/99, p.1A)
1987 Bunny and Ken Gillespie were
designated as the Official Daly City Historians. They had published
"The Great Daly City Historical Trivia Book" in 1986.
(GDC, 1987)
1987 Target opened a store in
Colma and expanded it to 140,000 square feet.
(Ind, 1/30/98, p.5A)
1988 The Chinese Hoy Sun Cemetery
was established in Colma, Ca.
(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1989 PG&E consultants under
state orders found toxic residues at Midway Village and then found
records that that the 150-unit subdivision was atop contaminated fill -
toxic scrapings from the next-door PG&E site - originally covered
by WW II era housing. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PNAs),
previously know as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, were found. These
substances were linked to numerous types of cancer.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.A14)
1990 Sep, San Mateo County, Ca.,
and PG&E held a public meeting to tell residents of Daly City’s
Midway Village about the contaminated soil on the site. Residents wee
informed that toxic wastes have been found in about one of every four
of the buildings.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A4)(SFC, 3/2/09, p.B1)
1990 Nov, San Mateo County, Ca.,
hired contractors to remove some of the soil from Midway Village in
Daly City and to cap some areas with concrete patios.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A4)
1990 A $13 million traffic project
was begun along John Daly Blvd. that stretched from the BART station to
Skyline Blvd. It was completed in 1999.
(Ind, 6/29/99, p.10A)
1991 Oct 5, The San Jose Sharks
opened local play at the Cow Palace in Daly City while they awaited the
building of an arena in San Jose, Ca.
(SFC, 2/28/08,
p.A11)(www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/sanjose/sharks.html)
1991 The Hillside Homeowners
Improvement Association donated $10,000 for the construction of the
Teglia Community Center.
(Ind, 5/11/99, p.1A)
1991-1993 The state and housing authority tried to
cap harmful residues in Midway Village and Bayshore Park.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.A14)
1992 Sep, The Mini-Museum of Daly
City, operated by the History Guild of Daly city, was dedicated in the
Serramonte Library. It was open every Tuesday afternoon 1-2:30.
(Tat, 1/98)
1993 Feb, Some 250 residents of
Midway Village filed a $125 million class-action suit against the
federal government over their contaminated area. The suit was dismissed
in 1994.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A4)
1993 Jul, The federal government
granted $1.8 million to San Mateo County for capping more soil at
Midway Village.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A4)
1993 Jul 26, In the SF Bay Area
Pat Hatfield founded the Colma Historical Association.
(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)(Ind, 9/8/98, p.1A)
1993 Aug, Jane Powell resigned as
a councilwoman after she was left off a key committee that was to
select a site for a proposed educational facility.
(SFC, 6/10/99, p.C6)
1994 The Gap opened its Old Navy
discount clothing store in Colma, Ca.
(SSFC, 2/29/04, p.I1)
1994 Midway Village, east of Cow
Palace, was cleaned of toxins.
(SFC, 3/10/98, p.A14)
1994 The Chinese Golden Hills
Memorial Park cemetery was established in Colma, Ca.
(www.colmahistory.org/History.htm)
1995 The Council of Homeowners and
Residents Association (COHRA) was founded.
(Ind, 4/20/99, p.1A)
1996 Nov, Helen Flowerday was
elected as city clerk following a recent vote to keep the post an
elected position.
(Tattler, 5/99)
1996 The Daly City fire Station 93
at 464 martin Street was placed into service.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
1997 Apr 27, There was a report
on the toxic hot spot at Midway Village, just southeast of the Cow
Palace. Toxic waste from lampblack was left over from gas manufacturing
a century ago.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, p.A1)
1997 Jun 13, There was a fire on
the east side of San Bruno Mountain that sent flames over Highway 101.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.A17)
1997 Jun 26, A fire on San Bruno
Mountain scorched 150 acres over Brisbane.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.A17)
1997 Nov, The city acquired a new
$55,000 robot to assist in law enforcement.
(SFC,12/5/97, p.A15)
1997 Dec 5, The Federal fish and
wildlife authorities listed the calippe silverspot butterfly, known to
exist only on the grasslands of San Bruno Mountain and a park in
Alameda Ct., under the Endangered Species Act.
(SFC,12/5/97, p.A17)
1997 Dec 30, Former teacher
William C. LaForge pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud in
Municipal Court. He agreed to pay $44,000 in restitution to a worker’s
comp fund. He had claimed to have hurt his back in Jan 1995 at the
Jefferson Union alternative education campus. He was then discovered to
be playing golf as many as 15 times a month, while collecting
disability.
(SFC, 1/1/98, p.A22)
1997 Dec, Colma dedicated the new
$750,000 Recreation Center on F. St.
(Ind, 4/21/98, p.1)
1997 The $1.2 billion, 8-mile BART
route between Colma and the SF Airport broke ground with completion set
for 2001. It was to pass through 7 cemeteries in Colma.
(SFC, 1/27/98, p.A20)
1997 In California a San Mateo
County Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by 195 residents
and former residents of Daly City’s Midway Village, who claimed they
deserved compensation from PG&E and the county housing department.
The court said plaintiffs had not established that exposure to toxic
waste had caused their illnesses.
(SFC, 3/2/09, p.B5)
1998 Jan, Ernesto Fuentes stabbed
and killed his neighbor Jose Arraiaza (38) and then attacked John
Morgan at a liquor store. Fuentes was convicted of voluntary
manslaughter and sentenced to 14 years in prison in 1999.
(SFC, 9/2/99, p.C4)
1998 Feb 5, Heavy rains caused the
street to collapse into the sea on Avalon Dr. Another collapse followed
Dec 20, 2003.
(SFC, 2/6/98, p.A1)(SFC, 12/23/03, p.A20)
1998 Mar 23, Megan Hogg (25) was
arrested for killing her 3 daughters, aged 2-7, on Higate Drive. Hogg
pleaded no contest to 3 counts of first-degree murder and was to 25
years to life in prison in 1999.
(SFC, 3/24/98, p.A1)(SFC, 9/25/99, p.A18)
1998 Mar 25, A 13-year-old student
at Fernando Rivera Middle School shot at Principal Matteo Rizzo with a
semiautomatic pistol, but missed. He sought revenge for being sent home
after getting into an argument. Rizzo had also talked to him about
wearing his pants low and looking sloppy. The teen was sentenced to the
California Youth Authority.
(SFC, 3/26/98, p.A1)(SFC, 12/5/98, p.A18)
1998 Apr 8, The City of Colma
council stipulated that adults of its 1,100 member community will have
to pay 10% of costs for a summer vacation to Lake Tahoe or Washington
D.C.
(Ind, 4/21/98, p.1)
1988 Spring, Terra Bay Phase II
and III were scheduled to begin. 300 condominium units were approved
and approval was pending on an additional 375 condos along with a hotel
and retail complex over the historic Indian site on the east side of
San Bruno Mountain.
(SFEC,12/29/97, p.A13)
1998 Apr 7, A new Lucky grocery
store opened at the site of the former Mission Bell Hotel on Mission St.
(Tat., 5/98)
1998 Jun 24, Dan Lungren, the
state attorney general, approved a provisional license for the $20
million Lucky Chances Card Room in Colma.
(SFC, 6/27/98, p.A18)
1998 Jul 2, The new, 43-table,
Lucky Chances casino opened on Hillside in Colma.
(SFC, 7/3/98, p.A21)
1998 Dec 8, In the SF Bay Area an
electrician’s error in San Mateo caused a power outage along the
northern peninsula that lasted some 6 hours.
(SFC, 12/9/98, p.A1)
1998 Colma passed an ordnance to
allow unlimited card betting at the Lucky Chances casino. In 2005
California state lawyers told officials to reimpose a $200-a-hand limit.
(SFC, 9/7/05, p.B1)
1998 The Geneva Drive-in closed.
(SFEM, 3/19/00, p.24)
1998 Daly City paid the Korean
Central Presbyterian Church $2 million to use the sites soil to repair
areas damaged by El Nino storms.
(SFC, 12/23/03, p.A19)
1999 Jan 18, A gang shooting on
Huntington between Glenbrook and Castleton left 2 young men wounded and
led to the arrest of 3 others aged 17.
(SFC, 1/19/99, p.A12)
1999 Jan 30, The new web site for
the Daly City and Colma Chamber of Commerce was announced.
www.dalycity-colmachamber.org
1999 Feb 4, A seismic trace
linking to the San Andres Fault was identified as the Mussel Rock Fault.
(SFC, 2/5/99, p.A1)
1999 Mar 3, Voters passed a $1.2
million parcel tax for the Brisbane elementary School District 666-333.
(SFC, 3/4/99, p.C16)
1999 Apr 24, A jogger found the
body of a 17-year-old boy, William Posada Tejada, behind the M. Pauline
Brown Elementary School at 305 Eastmoor. Gang violence was suspected.
Tejada had agreed earlier to work with police on a Jan 8 attempted
murder case. Police later arrested Edgar Hernandez (20) of SF, Juan
Ruiz (19) and Randy Reyes (18) of Daly City, along with 3 17-year olds,
all members of the Daly City Locos gang.
(SFEC, 4/25/99, p.C2)(SFC, 4/27/99, p.A17)(SFC,
4/27/99, p.A16)
1999 Jun 2, Joseph Ignacio
Pagaduan (18) shot and killed his mother and father, Edwin (44)
and Cecilia (44), at 444 Higate Drive.
(SFC, 6/4/99, p.A18)
1999 Jun 7, Former Daly City Mayor
Jane Powell died at age 71. Powell was the first female mayor of Daly
City in 1982 and served 3 separate one year terms.
(SFC, 6/10/99, p.C6)
1999 Jun 22, It was reported that
the City Council had approved a $47 million plan to improve facilities
over the next 5 years. Included was a $10 million plan to demolish and
rebuild the War Memorial Community Center.
(Ind, 6/22/99, p.1A)
1999 Jun, The federal Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry released a study that showed high
levels of genetic abnormalities among the residents of Midway Village.
(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A4)
1999 Jul 19, Leonard Nathan
Sherman of Daly City shot his sister, Betty Dreyfuss, who died on Aug
4. In 2001 Sherman (85) was sentenced to life in state prison and
believed to be the oldest man in San Mateo County to be convicted of
murder.
(SFC, 1/25/01, p.A14)
1999 Jul 26, The demise of the
Serra Theater was marked with the removal of the first letter from the
marquee. A new Hampton Inn, the first hotel in Daly City, was scheduled
to replace the theater.
(Ind, 8/3/99, p.1A)
1999 Oct, A work project was begun
to enlarge an outdated storm drainage system overturned contaminated
soil at the Midway Village area of Daly City. Residents protested the
work and sought compensation from ailments attributed to the
contaminated soil.
(SFC, 1/5/00, p.A12)
1999 Nov 3, Ground was broken for
the new Pacific Plaza development on Junipero Serra. Completion was
expected in the Fall of 2002.
(Ind, 11/9/99, p.1A)
1999 The Colma City Council
planned to open a historical museum.
(SFC, 9/8/98, p.1A)
2000 Feb 15, Rains threatened the
17 seaside cliff homes along Westline Drive, which also sat on the
Mussel Rock Fault. Mayor Sal Torres asked government agencies for a
rerouting of emergency funds to stave off any tragic slide of homes.
(SFC, 2/16/00, p.A15)
2000 Feb 17, PG&E turned off
the gas connections to the 17 homes on Westline Drive for fear of
hazardous leaks.
(SFC, 2/18/00, p.A21)
2000 Feb 23, City Manager John
Martin announced that the state made the 18 homes along Westline Drive
eligible for emergency funding.
(SFC, 2/24/00, p.A20)
2000 Feb 28, Police, responding to
an alleged assault, shot and killed Anthony Ramos (40) at 888 Higate
Dr. after Ramos charged at them with a 6-inch kitchen knife.
(SFC, 2/29/00, p.A18)
2000 Mar 9, An out of court
settlement created a 25-acre-preservation zone around the 4-acre shell
mound on san Bruno Mountain along with protection for the callipe
silverspot butterfly. San Bruno Mountain Watch under David Schooley
made the agreement with Meyers Development Co., the city of South SF
and the US Army Corps of Engineers.
(SFC, 3/10/00, p.A17)
2000 Mar 21, The San Mateo County
Board declared the housing complex at Midway Village in Daly City in
need of demolition.
(SFC, 3/22/00, p.A16)
2000 Mar 25, A 2-alarm house fire
at 444 Templeton Ave. left one man (37) dead.
(SFEC, 3/26/00, p.D3)
2000 Jul 26, Police Capt. Gary S.
McLane (45) was named as the Chief of the Daly City Police Dept.
(SFC, 7/27/00, p.A18)
2000 Jul, Daly City in a 4-1 vote
approved the construction of a new Korean Central Presbyterian Church
on Northridge Drive. Mayor Sal Torres was the only dissenter.
(SFC, 12/23/03, p.A19)
2000 Nov, The 5-member city
council voted to extend its eminent domain along Mission St. and
Junipero Serra for another 12 years. The council had already held this
power for 24 years.
(SFC, 12/20/00, p.A26)
2001 May 21, The body of
Quetzalcoatl Alba (15) was found in a storage room in the carport area
of the Park Plaza Drive apartment complex in Daly City, Ca. Murder
suspect Carlos Maldonado was arrested in Miami in 2007. Maldonado
attempted to escape police on arrival at the SF Airport. He jumped a
railing plunging 25 feet to the arrival area of the airport, suffering
serious, but non-life threatening injuries. Police still sought Erick
Morales in the case.
(SFC, 10/24/07, p.B4)
2001 Aug, The state Dept. of Toxic
Substances began excavating earth away from Midway Village and Bayshore
Park due to PNAs.
(SFC, 8/25/01, p.A14)
2001 Sep 26, Pat Martel, ass’t.
manager of Daly City, was named general manager of SF PUC, the 1st
Latina, lesbian or woman to head the agency.
(SFC, 12/30/01, p.D5)
2001 Oct 25, SF, Daly City and 3
golf courses agreed on a plan to restore the health and water level of
Lake Merced.
(SFC, 10/26/01, p.A24)
2001 Daly City brought control to
the ongoing fired danger in Southern Hills through its gorse management
program. It became the first jurisdiction in California to have a
designation of Special High Severity Zone removed.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
2002 Feb 7, Plans were reported
for the sale of Serramonte Center to Capital & Counties USA, a
division of Britain’s Liberty Int’l. for $119 million. The mall had
860,000 sq-feet on 80 acres and was being sold by Gelsar Inc.
(SFC, 2/8/02, p.B1)
2002 Mar 15, SF and DC officials
along with representatives of 3 golf courses and a conservation group
signed a 50-year contract to use recycled water and storm runoff to
counter the shrinkage of Lake Merced.
(SFC, 3/16/02, p.A17)
2002 Mar 16, Richard Tims of SF
was shot dead by police at Geneva and Mission. Tims had just stabbed a
boy (16) following an altercation on a bus.
(SFC, 3/19/02, p.A14)
2002 A Daly City $1 million
technology upgrade was begun and expected to take 18 months for a new
Geographically-Based Information System.
(Ind, 10/19/02, 5A)
2003 Jun 22, A BART link with San
Francisco Int’l. Airport (SFO) opened.
(SSFC, 6/22/03, p.A1)
2003 Oct 18, The 24th annual SF
Exotic Erotic Ball took place at the Cow Palace in Daly City.
(SFC, 10/20/03, p.D1)
2003 Nov 22, The Diva2Diva show at
the Daly City, Ca., Cow Palace featured Filipino singers Kuh Ledesma
and Zsa Zsa Padilla.
(Ind, 11/15/03, p.1A)
2003 Dec 20, Tons of earth plunged
into the ocean off Northridge Park at Avalon Canyon. John Martin, DC
manager, soon halted nearby construction of a 25,000 square-foot Korean
Central Presbyterian Church.
(SFC, 12/22/03, p.A17)
2003 The North county Fire
Authority was established to provide administrative governance to the
three city departments of Brisbane, Daly City and Pacifica with
headquarters in Daly City.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
2004 Feb 26, Most of the 90 houses
along Westpark Drive in Daly City were deluged when a major storm sent
torrents down a freshly stripped hillside of the Olympic Club golf
course.
(SFC, 2/27/04, p.A23)
2004 Mar 25, Lawrence May (48), a
Daly City methamphetamine user, stabbed his wife Sharen May (40) over
100 times with scissors to death in San Mateo, Ca., following a divorce
mediation session. In 2006 May was sentenced to life in prison.
(SFC, 1/24/06, p.B4)(SFC, 3/22/06, p.B4)
2004 Jul 20, San Mateo County
closed 4 parks 3 days a week to help cover a $700,000 budget cut. These
included San Bruno Mountain, Junipero Serra, San Pedro Valley and
Edgewood County Parks.
(SFC, 7/16/04, p.A1)
2004 Oct 23, The 25th annual
Exotic Erotic Ball was held at the Cow Palace in Daly City.
(SFC, 10/27/04, p.E1)
2004 The Daly City fire Station 92
at 18 Bepler Street was placed into service.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
2005 Jan 27, Daly City officials
and developers broke ground for the Landmark Plaza at 6501 Mission. The
project included 17,000 square feet of retail space and 95 new
2-bedroom apartment units that would sell for about $400,000.
(Ind, 2/1/05, p.A1)
2005 Feb 21, A storm caused a
landslide in Daly City at the Northridge bluff near the construction
site of a new Korean Church.
(Ind, 2/26/05, p.A1)
2005 Mar 21, Justin Mendoza of
Daly City was shot and killed outside the Café Cocomo nightclub
in SF. In 2008 Gerry Phongboupha (25) was convicted of 1st degree
murder and other charges in connection to Mendoza’s murder.
(SFC, 4/16/08, p.B5)
2005 Jun 3, Bench clothing store,
founded in the Philippines in 1987, opened up its 1st US store at
Serramonte Center in Daly City, Ca.
(SFC, 6/4/05, p.C1)
2005 Jul 22, Tony Giammona (78),
former basketball coach and Mayor of Daly City, died. He served 26
years on the Daly City Council (1966-1992) and was known as "Mr. Daly
City."
(Ind, 7/6/99, p.1A)(SFC, 7/29/05, p.B7)
2005 Jul 25, San Leandro, Ca.,
police officer Nels Niemi was shot and killed by a convicted
methamphetamine user. Police arrested Irving Alexander Ramirez the next
day in Daly City. In 2007 Ramirez was convicted of first-degree murder.
(SFC, 7/27/05, p.A1)(SFC, 5/11/07, p.B1)
2005 Sep 9, The San Jose, Ca.,
KNTV station (Channel 11) hoped to soon complete a new tower on Daly
City’s San Bruno Mountain. It would allow viewers in SF to receive NBC
television broadcasts. A target date of Sep 12, KNTV’s 50th
anniversary, was planned.
(SFC, 9/9/05, p.C1)
2006 Jul 22, Tamika Mack Norton
(31), the wife of Quincy Norton Sr. (32), was stabbed to death at her
home in Daly City, Ca. Norton was arrested a month later and charged
with her murder. In 2008 he was convicted of murder after his sons
testified against him, but the conviction was overturned on the grounds
that his defense attorney was incompetent. In 2009 a new trial date was
set.
(SFC, 4/22/08, p.B2)(SFC, 5/16/08, p.B5)(SFC,
9/23/09, p.D2)
2006 Jul 31, A wall collapsed at
the former El Rancho grocery off of Geneva St. and crushed a woman in
her car. The structure was undergoing demolition.
(SFC, 8/1/06, p.B1)
2006 Oct 3, A federal grand jury
indicted Colma City Councilman Philip Lum Jr. for allegedly taking
gifts from the owner of the Lucky Chances Casino and then voting on
matters that benefited the cardroom.
(SFC, 10/4/06, p.B1)
2006 Dec 24, Alex Nuevo (44), a
flight attendant for United Airlines, was shot to death outside his
in-law unit in Daly City, Ca.
(SSFC, 2/4/07, p.B1)
2006 Rob Keil published “Little
Boxes: The Architecture of a Classic Midcentury Suburb.” The
photo-filled book focused on the Westlake district of Daly City, Ca.
(www.dalycityhistory.org/westlake/home.htm)
2006 California’s EPA chief asked
the San Mateo Housing Dept. to help relocate concerned residents of
Daly City’s Midway Village.
(SFC, 3/2/09, p.B1)
2007 Jan 21, The Daly City History
Guild held its 25th Anniversary at the Doelger Senior Center. This also
marked the 25th anniversary of the guild’s newsletter, The Tattler.
(Tattler, 1/07)
2007 Apr 28, Lou Papan (78),
long-time California state assemblyman for San Mateo County, died.
Papan had started his political career as a Daly City councilman.
(SFC, 5/1/07, p.B5)
2007 Jul 12, Philip Lum Jr.,
former mayor of Colma, Ca., was sentenced to 18 months in federal
prison for failing to report numerous free airline tickets from the
Lucky Chances Casino in 1999 and 2000.
(SFC, 7/13/07, p.B6)
2007 Oct 18,
Rene Medina (62) of Atherton, owner of the Lucky Chances Casino
in Colma, Ca., pleaded guilty to evading $591,000 in income taxes. In
2008 he was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for evading
$973,000 in income taxes.
(SFC, 10/23/07, p.D2)(SFC, 10/31/08, p.B3)
2007 Nov 11, The new War Memorial
Community Center at 6655 Mission St. in Daly City, Ca., held its grand
opening. The structure included the new John Daly Library.
(www.ci.daly-city.ca.us/city_news/fogcutter/fall_2007.htm)
2007 Daly City, Ca., placed 2 new
fire engines into service. Each cost $318,000.
(DCFD, Centennial, 2007)
2008 Feb 22, California state
Senator Leland Yee introduced a bill to let Daly City purchase the
68-acre Cow Palace property, owned by the state, and tear it down for
redevelopment.
(SFC, 2/28/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 1, A California state
Senate committee declined to act on a bill by Senator Leland Yee to
declare the Cow Palace in Daly City to be surplus property.
(SFC, 4/2/08, p.A1)
2008 Apr 15, California Sen.
Leland Yee dropped efforts to put the Cow Palace in Daly City up for
sale and settled on a compromise plan to allow an adjoining parking lot
to be sold.
(SFC, 4/16/08, p.B14)
2008 Oct 18, In Daly City, Ca.,
the new Landmark Plaza announced the opening of its mixed use project
at 88 Hillside Blvd. Sales for 43 of its Phase I townhome and tower
units began in November. Phase II would bring on an additional 48
unites.
(SFC, 10/18/09, p.G5)(SFC, 11/22/08, p.F8)
2009 Feb 19, In Daly City, Ca., a
car with 4 friends was sprayed by gun fire on John Daly Blvd., near the
BART station. Moises Frias Jr. (21), a student at City College, was
killed. Two men in a sedan escaped. The 4 friends had no known gang
affiliations. Police later arrested Luis Herrera (18) and Danilo
Velasquez (28), members of the MS-13 gang, for their participation in
the murder. Jaime Balam (20), a 3rd gang member was being sought. He
was deported to Mexico 8 days after the shooting, but before being
identified as a suspect.
(SFC, 2/25/09, p.B2)(SFC, 7/10/09, p.D1)
2009 Mar 15, The History Guild of
Daly City dedicated its new museum located at the former John Daly
Library, 6351 Mission Street, Ca. 94014, (650-757-7177).
(Opening Day Flyer, 3/15/09)
2009 Jun 25, The population of
Colma, Ca., was reported at 1,600. Its 16 cemeteries included some 1.5
million graves.
(SFC, 6/25/09, p.A1)
2020 The US Army Corps expected
the population density of Daly City and its neighbors to reach 7,452
persons per sq. mile.
(GTP, 1973, p.129)
2086 The 175th Anniversary of DC
and the planned date for the opening of the time capsule buried in 1986.
(SMTS, 10/1/86, p.2)
Subject = Daly City
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End of subject