Thursday Thirteen #23
The Library that I work at is in Fremont, so I figured it was about time that I did a Thursday Thirteen about the town I work in. As you might imagine, I discovered a thing or two along the way. So, without any more ado…
13 Facts About Fremont, CA
1. Fremont, California is 52 years old this year.
2. Five communities came together to form Fremont back in 1956 – Centerville, Irvington, Niles, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs.
3. Fremont has its very own Urban Legend – The White Witch of Niles Canyon. Early newspapers apparently do not have a mention of the woman who was supposedly killed and became the ghost. (Click on the link for more info on this story.)
4. Fremont has its very own silent film theater and museum. And why not? After all, the Essanay Film Company was in Niles. Charlie Chaplin worked for them at one point, in fact.
5. Did you know that Kristi Yamaguchi grew up in Fremont?
6. According to the Fremont City website, the record high temperature in Fremont is 106. This occured in some July or other. (It doesn’t say.)
7. Believe it or not, Mammoths once walked in Fremont. If you would like to see the proof, as located by a couple of young fellows in the 1940s-1960s, you can stop by the Wes Gordon Fossil Hall. It’s part of the Children’s Natural History Museum in Fremont. Also, did you know that one of the North American Land Mammal Ages is called “Irvingtonian”?
8. The Niles Canyon Railway is part of a railroad museum that includes train rides. Hey! You can even Rent a Caboose! (The Niles canyon tracks are part of the Transcontinental Railway.)
9. The California School for the Deaf is located in Fremont.
10. According to an article in the Fremont Main Library’s clipping files, Fremont’s Al Bernadin invented MacDonald’s Quarter Pounder in 1972. (Talk about leaving an impact on American culture.)
11. Ardenwood Historic Farm, as the name suggests, is a park that contains, among other things, Patterson House, farm animals, and a working Blacksmith Shop. Oh…and a horse-drawn train.
12. The Fremont city website lists the record low for the city as 22. (From some December or other.)
13. Fremont is the farthest South you can take BART (the Bay Area Rapid Transit system) in the East Bay. It’s the end of the line…or the beginning, depending upon how you look at it.
Sources:
* Ardenwood Historic Farm
* The BART Map
* The California School for the Deaf
* The Fremont City Website
* FremontOnline
* Janet Cronbach, Local History Librarian – Fremont Main Library
* Niles Canyon Railway
* Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum
* The Wes Gordon Fossil Hall
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Warm Springs, Fremont is the latest offering in Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series. Local authors, Philip Holmes and Patricia Wipfli Schaffarczyk, are historians at the Museum of Local History in Fremont. Together they have assembled the best images from the collections to tell the story of the once-tiny village of Warm Springs and nearby Drawbridge. This pictorial history boasts more than 200 vintage images and provides readers with a unique opportunity to reconnect with the history that shaped their community.
