Mark Read/Pages From The Past
100 Years Ago
September 1922
– Work on the five-roomed cottage, being built by the Rev. Charles Christensen on his recently acquired property, is progressing rapidly. The building will face on Reichart avenue and will be occupied by R. S. Teachout and family. J. W. Crow is the master builder and architect.
– Electric service in the district north of the cemetery has been initiated through the enterprise of Mrs. Beda M. Hanson, who is bringing the wires into her place from the main line for use in lighting the laying house and for general purposes. This requires a considerable investment and allows others to continue the line by assuming a share of the original cost. Mrs. Hanson’s example will probably be followed by others nearby in the poultry business.
– Jas. McClure, of Point Reyes, has leased the Rancho Olompali No. 2, consisting of about 2,000 acres, for a period of years, He has also purchased from J. S. Peoples a new Ford truck.
75 Years Ago
September 1947
– Fourth annual Horse Show Here – Plans are now complete for the largest horse show in Novato history. Over 250 of the Bay Area’s finest will compete at the club grounds Sunday, June 20 and 50 junior riders will be thrilled with the beautiful sterling mounted belts awarded in junior horsemanship class whether they place or not. A dance will be held at Druid’s Hall Saturday night preceding the show.
– Management of Keaton’s Mortuary announced that they had purchased property in Novato on Highway 101 between Vallejo and Olive Avenues on which they intend to build a branch mortuary. The building will be approximately 100 by 300 feet and will contain living quarters for the proprietor and a chapel which will seat 200 plus a parking area for about 60 cars. The building will be of Spanish type design.
– Black Point lost another of its old-time residents, Mr. John Boost, he was 91-years old. He was one of the earliest to purchase property on Manzanita Avenue, shortly after the land was subdivided and put on the market, about 1905.
50 Years Ago
September 1972
– Plans for the renovation of the cemetery at Pioneer Memorial Park. Plans approved by the commission nearly two years ago call for tombstones to be laid flat in the ground, a path system to be completed through the cemetery, lighting to be installed and a retaining wall to be erected around the knoll where the cemetery is situated. Novato Citizens to Preserve Historical Landmarks would like to see the renovation done a little differently. According to city recreation director Ed Adams, the group wants the tombstones to be placed upright and a fence to encircle the area.
25 Years Ago
September 1997
– Enid Porcella Monteiro, a Novato native and the daughter of one of Novato’s early blacksmiths, died peacefully Friday, Aug. 15, 1997, at her home in Santa Rosa. She was 89. Mrs. Monteiro was the daughter of Stephen Porcella, who owned the old Fashion Shop Blacksmith Shop in the building that is now Dr. Insomnia’s at Reichert and Grant avenues in Novato. She attended Novato Grammar School.
– Six years of planning, change, acceptance, rejection suits and countersuits come to a head next Tuesday, Sept. 23 when the Novato City Council considers the latest Master Plan for the Black Point Golf Links project. The plan to develop what is now the site for the Renaissance Pleasure Faire began in 1991 with a proposal for 152 homes and a championship 18-hole golf course on the 238.5-acre site. In late 1994, a revised plan, calling for 53 homes, the golf course and a 64-acre woodland habitat preserve was proposed.
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