Mike Read/Pages From The Past
(Editor’s Note: This column by the Novato Historical Society recounts news of the past from the pages of the Novato Advance. The Advance’s website can be found at MarinLocalNews.com.)
100 Years Ago
July 1923
– The old screen of the Community House being rather small for the new building, the council donated it to the school and installed a larger one.
– The igniting of a gasoline torch in Nave’s garage last week caused some lively stepping for a while. The flaming torch was carried to the street and extinguished with chemicals.
– K. Omi, S. Shada and T. Agakaki, three Japanese chicken farmers of Petaluma, were arrested for having a great deal over the limit of abalones in their possession. All of them had been taken out of the shells when W. B. Selmer appeared on the scene and confiscated them. Judge H. Rudolff fined each of the lawbreakers $25.
– The Standard Oil Company’s three big tanks have been installed, and the local station is now ready for business.
75 Years Ago
July 1948
– Novato Sanitary Board held its regular meeting with its president, Frank M. Jacques. Contractors reported that the main sewage pipeline on Lamont and Railroad Avenues had been set. The pumping station at Olive and Railroad Avenues is nearly completed and work on the main sewage disposal plant is going ahead rapidly.
– Otto R. Oldham became the sole owner of the Antlers Drug Co., 901 Fourth Street, San Rafael, as of July 1 and gave up his interest in the Novato Pharmacy. Oldham said he purchased the interest of Paul R. Elmore and William A. Naye of Petaluma, in the San Rafael drug store, but the latter will retain his ownership of the Novato Pharmacy. The two drug stores had been owned by the trio in a three-way partnership. He has been a resident of San Rafael for the past 12 years and managed the Novato pharmacy for six years previously.
50 Years Ago
July 1973
– The new building to house Hoytt Enterprises now under construction between the library and Sambo’s restaurant on Novato Boulevard will be ready for occupancy in mid-September, according to Gerald Hoytt, president. Hoytt has been based in Richmond for the past 15 years but is looking forward to “taking advantage of the beautiful green park area” behind the new building. Sliding glass doors will overlook the creek and the architecture will have a Spanish Mediterranean effect. The building will have more than 6000 square feet of space of which half will be used by Hoytt Enterprises and the other half will be available for tenants. Hoytt, who developed the adjacent shopping center (Mayfair, Longs, TG and Y etc.) will commute here from his home in Tiburon.
– Most working Novatans are looking forward to a restful, relaxing day off tomorrow on our” nation’s 197th anniversary. Not so with Bill Barnes, manager of San Marin Texaco. It’s not that he is unpatriotic, but because of the severity of the gasoline shortage, he is being forced against his will to take the day off by closing down his service station at San Marin and San Andreas Drive. Others are in the same predicament. Out of 11 gas stations called by the Advance, four won’t be pumping gas at all tomorrow, three will maintain shorter hours, while two stations will be operating as usual. Two others say they have not yet decided what their hours will be on the holiday.
– A use permit for the Renaissance Centre project proposed for the Veronda Ranch in the San Antonio Creek Valley will be approved today — for the second time – but Sonoma County is still expected to appeal the decision.
25 Years Ago
July 1998
– The glory (and the gold) of Novato past and present will be featured in this year’s Novato Fourth of July Parade. Grand Marshall for this year’s parade is George Gnoss, who has watched Novato grow from one of the Bay Area’s agriculture leaders to one of its high-tech centers. The changing faces of Novato’s economic and social life are reflected in this year’s parade theme: “Novato’s Gold Rush – Then and Now.” The theme ties in with the California Sesquicentennial and the 150th anniversary of the California Gold Rush. While Novato wasn’t directly involved in the Gold Rush, its prosperity and growth somewhat parallels that of the’ state as it evolved from a community dependent on cows, chickens and apples, to one that embraced and thrived on the military at Hamilton Field, to one that provided homes for much of the Bay Area’s highly skilled workforce, to one that today, ranks with the top high-tech business centers in the country.
– The Novato Advance has learned that the city and U.S. Navy have reached agreement on the transfer of 408 acres of Navy-controlled property at Hamilton Field to the city. Reliable sources say a formal announcement, ending almost two years of negotiation, will come this week. Novato city manager Rod Wood neither confirmed nor denied that an agreement had been reached, but reaffirmed what he told the city council last week—”We have resolved the price, terms and conditions.” Sale price has not yet been disclosed. Hangup in the sale of the property, which includes the vacant Rafael Village in Ignacio across Highway 101 from the military base, has been a conflict in environmental standards required by federal and state regulations. Specifically, the problem involved stricter state standards for lead paint and asbestos removal of abandoned Navy homes and who would pay for the cleanup.
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