Mark Read/Pages From The Past
(Editor’s Note: This feature is compiled by the Novato Historical Society and highlights news items from the Novato Advance.)
100 Years Ago
August 1920
— The Novato correspondent of the San Rafael Independent says: “We note with sorrow the announcement in the San Francisco Call that gold has been found In Novato while digging a well. We know quartz can be found around this locality, and some time ago several pieces of quartz were sent to the University of California and to New York city for analysis. A two percent tracing was found. Mineral indications of copper and silver were also found. The matter was kept quiet until a larger shipment could be made for analysis. There is no question but what there is gold in the surrounding hills. About twenty years ago a slide on one of the hills uncovered large rocks bearing indications of gold. It is still in evidence and can be seen today. In the hills near Sausalito there is a gold mine worked in the early days by the Padres, who tunneled some sixty feet or more and found sufficient gold to pay at that time with cheap labor obtainable. It was hoped that the matter could have been kept quiet, as we did not wish to attract to our peaceful and quiet valley the riffraff that usually precedes the real miner.”
75 Years Ago
August 1945
— Novato fruit growers are singing the blues again this week. It is the old, sad, and familiar story of a fine crop and no place to sell it. Charles Legnitta sold 69 boxes of pears Sunday from his truck on Highway 101 just south of Novato but was made to stop Monday by the Highway Patrol. He and other growers are trying to find a property owner on the highway who will permit them to operate.
— Lights shining in the new club house on the Bugeai ranch just nine months after acquiring the property, greeted members of Novato Horsemen Inc., at their first meeting Saturday evening with their president, Mrs. Ethel Murphy presiding.
— A pay station telephone has been installed at the Black Point Inn, on the porch right next to the front door of the grocery. This matter has been under discussion by the Black Point Improvement Club who took up the matter through the California Railroad Commission. There long has been a need for a public telephone accessible at all hours and it was to remedy this that the matter was agitated. Anyone desiring to use a telephone at night, regardless of the hour, can now do so without having to rouse a neighbor who may happen to have a telephone. Remember where it is, outside on the small porch of the Black Point Inn, near the entrance to the grocery and the entrance to the post office. Be sure to have the right change.
— We, the undersigned, do hereby certify that we are partners, transacting business in the Town of Novato, County of Marin, State of California, under a designation not showing the names of the persons interested as partners in such business to-wit: “PINI HARDWARE” The names of the partners are: D. D. PHILLIPS, residing at Novato. C. BAXTER HOVIS, residing at Novato. WITNESS our hands this 22nd day of August 1945.
— Everett Pozzi wishes to announce to his old and new customers that he is again hauling sand and gravel. Phone Novato 168 to place your orders.
— Miss Patty Martin has sold her Spanish type bungalow built by the Sanchez family, and its grounds on the Novato Boulevard to Mr. and Mrs. Everett Pozzi.
— Mrs. Elanor Black has opened a beauty parlor in the former medical offices of the late Dr. M.D. Allen, lease from its present owner, Mrs. Golden Ryan on Grant Avenue.
50 Years Ago
August 1970
— The Hill Road-Diablo Avenue intersection improvement job, an $80,000 assignment from Bresnan-Dalecio, will be completed in about six weeks, according to Public Works Director Clifford Temps. The job includes providing two adequate lanes for Hill Road, which ultimately will be four lanes, and improving the intersection at Diablo by straightening it out and eliminating dangerous blind spots. Hill Road between Diablo and Indian Valley Road will be able to serve increased traffic coming through the Arthur Street extension.
— The grading has been completed to link Arthur Street with, Indian Valley Road and paving will finish the $70,000 project in about one month. Bresnan-Dalecio is doing the work, which provides an alternate route to Novato High School and takes the load off South Novato Boulevard at peak times. The job includes a 365-foot extension of Arthur and rebuilding 1000 feet of Indian Valley Road. Motorists already are using the extension before it is paved.
25 Years Ago
August 1995
— A Novato group has reached an agreement to buy the Novato Theater in Old Town Novato with plans to renovate it and make it a performing arts center. Members of the Novato Theater Committee have been working toward the purchase of the theater since early spring and their efforts were rewarded last week when the property owner, Al Bowman who now lives in Santa Rosa, agreed to sell. The deal was complicated because the Bowman building also includes two thriving downtown businesses, a flower shop, and a jewelry store. Jean Lewis, a Novato attorney, and a committee leader, said committee members believe they can go ahead with the purchase of the theater only, leaving the neighboring businesses intact. The theater has been closed for 3 1/2 years. Although structurally sound, it needs to be upgraded to current seismic, handicap accessible and other codes. Bowman, a former Novato civic leader, who was involved in a multitude of local issues in the 1940s, ’50s and early ’60s has staunchly held onto the theater and Lewis said a major item in his agreeing to sell was that it would be for community use. Lewis would not disclose the purchase price but noted that to buy the building and refurbish the theater would cost a little over $2 million.
— Broderbund Software’s $440 million merger with The Learning Company will not change Broderbund’s commitment to Novato. “We like it here and we are not going any place,” said Broderbund spokesperson Eric Winkler. “If anything, this will accelerate our hiring in Novato.” Winkler added that Broderbund has already begun moving into another floor of its headquarters building at 500 Redwood Blvd. Broderbund and The Learning Company officials Tuesday, Aug. 1 announced a “definitive agreement to merge.” The merger, expected to be completed by the end of October, is subject to various conditions, including regulatory approvals and the approval of the stockholders of each company. Winkler said that adding The Learning Company’s expertise in traditional educational software with Broderbund’s highly acclaimed entertainment and education/entertainment software.
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