One of the Bay Area’s first business booms was the rapid growth of explosives manufacturing following the Gold Rush. The power of nitroglycerine and later dynamite enabled industrial-scale mining, continent-spanning railroads, and a total reshaping of California’s landscape. For many decades, the small Contra Costa town Hercules produced millions of tons of explosive chemicals that were used to move mountains, build cities, and wage wars. This episode features an interview with Stephen Lawton, a longtime resident of Hercules who co-authored a book all about his town’s earth-shattering history.  

If you enjoy the episode, please support East Bay Yesterday: www.patreon.com/eastbayyesterday

For more info about the Hercules history, including a link to Stephen Lawton’s book “Hercules”: http://herculeshistory.org/

EBY Q&A: The earth-shattering history of a small East Bay town

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There’s a small stretch of Oakland’s shoreline unlike any place else. Nestled between the restaurants of Jack London Square and the modern apartment blocks of Brooklyn Basin sits 5th Avenue Marina. This collection of rusty warehouses, eclectic studios, and surreal art installations recalls a bygone era, when crafty Bohemians dwelled amongst decaying shipyards. Schultz, a man who bought a chunk of this area in 1979, calls it “the neighborhood time forgot.”

Although developers have attempted numerous times to dislodge the scrappy community at 5th Avenue Marina, these efforts have been stubbornly blocked, most notably in 2017 when residents formed a nonprofit called SHADE (Shadetree Historical Artisan Development Engine) and purchased the property formerly owned by Schultz.

This episode traces the long history of the 5th Avenue Marina, from its days as a World War I shipbuilding facility up through its transformation into an unusual compound sometimes referred to as “Oakland’s Riviera.” Our tour guide for this voyage is the legendary Schultz, who is still a feisty storyteller at 88 years old and, like Rihanna or Cher, prefers to go by a mononym. To see images related to this story, visit: https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/the-neighborhood-time-forgot/

Follow East Bay Yesterday's Substack for news & upcoming events: https://substack.com/@eastbayyesterday

Special thanks to the sponsors of this episode: UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals Oakland and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. To learn more about UCSF Benioff Oakland’s new program BLOOM: the Black Baby Equity Clinic, visit: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2023/07/425846/new-black-baby-equity-clinic-helps-infants-and-moms-flourish

To learn more about BAMPFA's upcoming exhibit, “A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration,” visit: https://bampfa.org/program/movement-every-direction-legacies-great-migration

East Bay Yesterday can’t survive without your donations. Please make a pledge to keep this show alive: https://www.patreon.com/eastbayyesterday

“The neighborhood time forgot”: A strange sliver of waterfront

It would be easy to overlook the significance of Indian Rock and Mortar Rock, two relatively modest outcroppings located in the Berkeley Hills. Unlike the towering cliffs of Yosemite, which dominate the landscape, these boulders are partially obscured by the homes and trees that surround them. But for nearly a century, some of America’s most influential climbers have used these rocks as a training ground to test new techniques and technologies. The guidebook “Golden State Bouldering” calls these rocks “the heart and soul of Bay Area climbing.”

In a recent Berkeleyside article titled “How Berkeley’s famous boulders took rock climbing to new heights,” reporter Ally Markovich explored the history of these influential outcroppings and the loyal community of climbers who have spent decades scrambling around on them. Her article uses these Berkeley boulders as a lens for tracing the emergence of modern climbing, the rise of “dirtbag” culture, the relationship between outdoor climbing and the current proliferation of indoor gyms, and sport’s growing diversity. To hear our conversation about all these topics and more, listen to the new episode. https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/climbing-was-all-i-had/

East Bay Yesterday can’t survive without your donations. Please make a pledge to keep this show alive: www.patreon.com/eastbayyesterday. Subscribe to my newsletter at: https://substack.com/@eastbayyesterday

Special thanks to the sponsors of this episode: UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals Oakland and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. To learn more about UCSF Benioff Oakland’s new program BLOOM: the Black Baby Equity Clinic, visit: https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2023/07/425846/new-black-baby-equity-clinic-helps-infants-and-moms-flourish
To learn more about BAMPFA’s current exhibit “What Has Been and What Could Be,” visit: 
https://bampfa.org/program/what-has-been-and-what-could-be-bampfa-collection

“Climbing was all I had”: A history of bouldering in the Berkeley Hills

After spending more than three decades working in the underground economy, Titus Lee Barnes compiled his stunning stories of “the street life” into a self-published book titled “Drug Lords of Oakland: The untold stories of California’s most notorious kingpins of the 1970s, 80s and 90s.” Starting with the rise of infamous heroin kingpin Felix Mitchell, Barnes traces the trajectory of bloody turf battles and shifting allegiances throughout the emergence and implosion of the crack era. His personal connections with many of the young kingpins he profiles provides a uniquely nuanced view into a world of notorious figures that most people are only familiar with through mugshots.

Although “Drug Lords” details the flashy cars and lavish parties that accompanied booming profits, Barnes doesn’t shy away from the heartbreaking consequences that inevitably followed. 

In this interview, he shares his own experiences of being shot and incarcerated as “a cautionary tale” and offers some surprising insights into the Bay Area’s ongoing crime woes. Listen now to hear Barnes’ memories of growing up in Ghost Town, the improbable romance between a small-time East Oakland hustler and Colombian “cocaine godmother” Griselda Blanco, drug dealer investment strategies, and much more. See images related to this episode at: https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/the-streets-have-changed-drastically/

East Bay Yesterday can’t survive without your donations. Please make a pledge to keep this show alive: https://www.patreon.com/eastbayyesterday Don’t forget to follow East Bay Yesterday’s Substack newsletter to stay updated on upcoming tours, events, and other local history news: https://substack.com/@eastbayyesterday

“The streets have changed”: “Drug Lords of Oakland” author on the rise and fall of local kingpins

Emeryville is a tiny town – less than 2 square miles. It’s nestled between Oakland and Berkeley, right at the foot of the Bay Bridge, and most people probably think of it as a place to go shopping. Two major freeways cut through Eville and from your car, while you’re inevitably sitting in traffic, you can see giant signs for Ikea, Target, and Bay Street mall. If you’re not from the Bay Area, you might know it as the home of Pixar. 

This era of Emeryville as a mecca of cartoons and commerce is relatively new. A generation ago, the landscape looked drastically different. Media often described it as an “industrial wasteland” due to the toxic pollution left behind by factories that fled in the 1970s and 80s. It was also known as a place where corruption festered during the reign of an allegedly corrupt police chief who “ruled the town with an iron fist,” according to former city manager Joe Tanner. 

Flash forward to 2024 and Emeryville’s brand new mayor Courtney Welch, the first Black woman to hold that position, can legitimately claim that the town is “having a bit of a renaissance.” Brand new parks, apartments, and shops now occupy land that was littered with junked cars, rusty warehouses, and crumbling buildings. Taking notice of this transformation, I wrote about some of my favorite things to do in Emeryville recently for SF Gate and the article got a huge response. So, since a lot of people seem to be checking out Emeryville for the first time, I though it would be a good opportunity to look back at Emeryville’s history and ask some important questions… 

Like: How did it become such a hell hole in the 80s? How did it transform so radically since then? Why does this extremely unique tiny little town even exist? Spoiler alert: The answers to all these questions are pretty crazy. There’s a good reason why former Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren famously called Emeryville “the rottenest city on the Pacific Coast.”

Today’s episode features interviews with Rob Arias, publisher of The Eville Eye community news site, and creator of the Emeryville Historical Society’s new Park Avenue District walking tour; and also Joe Tanner, who served as Emeryville’s city manager in the 1980s. https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/rotten-city-no-more/

Note: Note: To hear my previous episode about the history the “Emeryville shellmound” and battles over Ohlone sacred sites, click here: https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/where-are-those-ancestors-now/

This episode is sponsored by UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. For over a century, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland has upheld a long legacy of providing essential healthcare for kids and families across the East Bay. Today, UCSF is continuing the tradition of care by making a major investment which includes a new hospital building that will expand critical treatment options for those that need it most. To learn more about the future of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, click here: https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2023/12/01/ucsf-benioff-childrens-hospital-expansion.html?b=1701377706^22331569

East Bay Yesterday can’t survive without your donations. Please make a pledge to keep this show alive: www.patreon.com/eastbayyesterday. You can also support East Bay Yesterday by purchasing the official t-shirt or hat from Oaklandish.

"Rotten City" no more: The history of a tiny town's transformation

In 1970, Dr. Marcus Foster was hired as the first Black superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District. Widely recognized as one of the greatest educators of his generation, he was brought here to help rescue a deeply troubled system. Within three years of his arrival, exactly 50 years ago this month, Foster was assassinated by a shady militant group that called itself the Symbionese Liberation Army. Even though many of the details of Foster’s death are known, it remains one of the most mysterious murders of a notoriously turbulent era. 

Although the SLA supposedly emerged from Berkeley’s revolutionary underground, there are some startling connections that point to a far more complicated story. On the anniversary of this tragic killing, this episode celebrates the legacy of Foster’s impact on Oakland school and also delves into the murky origins of the group responsible for this death.   

The first segment features Patanisha Williams, the curator “The Audacity to Believe,” an exhibit about Dr. Marcus Foster currently on display at the African American Museum and Library at Oakland. The second half of the show includes bestselling author and investigative journalist David Talbot, who wrote about the SLA in his book “Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love.”  Music for this episode was generously provided by Jason Stinnett and Justin Lee.

To see images & more, visit: https://eastbayyesterday.com/episodes/he-was-bringing-people-together/

Note: As I was finalizing production on this episode, KQED Arts published an article about alleged financial mismanagement by the Marcus Foster Education Institute. You can read about the allegations here: https://www.kqed.org/arts/13937772/artist-as-first-responder-marcus-foster-education-institute

This episode is supported by UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals. I highly recommend checking out their new podcast, “Revolutionary Care: An Oakland Story,” a series about the history of treating sickle cell anemia: www.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/sickle-cell

East Bay Yesterday can’t survive without your donations. Please make a pledge to keep this show alive: www.patreon.com/eastbayyesterday.

EBY Q&A: The earth-shattering history of a small East Bay town

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