The town of Pinole, situated on San Pablo
Bay, twenty-three miles from San Francisco, has a population of fifteen
hundred, and is one of the thriving manufacturing towns of western Contra
Costa County, being adjacent to the Hercules powder plant, the largest
explosives concern west of the Rockies. The town has excellent shipping
facilities by rail, both the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific roads passing
directly through it.
Pinole is one of the oldest towns in the
county, the first settlers locating in the year 1839, when the Mexican
Government held sway over California. A great many old Spanish families
resided in the beautiful fertile valley a short distance to the southeast of
the town's present location. Here were built many adobe mansions by Spanish
grandees, whose landholdings were very extensive.
Just before the "Gringo" came Pinole and
its valleys were the hunting and recreation grounds for the Spanish soldiers
stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco. Deer and other wild game
abounded in the valley, and it was during these expeditions in quest of game
that the settlement received its name. The hunters carried little sacks of
ground parched corn, in the early days considered a delicacy in the food
line. The corn in its prepared state was called pinole, and no
traveling equipment was complete without it. While going through the thick
underbrush in the hills and valley many of these sacks were torn and a large
quantity of pinole was lost. This circumstance occurred so frequently that
the hunters, when referring to an expedition, invariably used the word
pinole in designating their favorite hunting locality. Hence the
present name, Pinole.
With the advent of the California Powder
Works the town grew in size. In 1896 Pinole was incorporated, and it now has
a fine sewer system, macadamized streets, cement sidewalks, a fire company,
and excellent lighting and water facilities.
The Bank of Pinole, established in 1905,
is one of the staunchest banking institutions in the county. A fine new
banking building was erected in 1915, and this structure, and the Downer,
Ruff, and Pinole Theatre buildings in the center of the business district,
are some of the latest valuable improvements to the town. Pinole also has a
large department store, numerous smaller stores, an opera-house, a union
public school, and two churches. St. Joseph's Catholic Church was erected in
1889 and remodeled in 1915. The Methodist Episcopal Church was constructed
in 1886, and has since been extensively improved.
The Pinole-Hercules school building is one
of the largest in the county, and was erected on an imposing site in 1907.
Several new rooms and an assembly hall have recently been added to the
building. A corps of nine teachers is now employed.
Those principally identified with the
early history and advancement of the town were the late Bernardo Fernandez,
who settled in Pinole in 1849, and conducted a general merchandise store and
a large hay and grain business; E. M. Downer, the present mayor of the town
and president of the Bank of Pinole, and J. Bermingham, Jr., superintendent
of the old California Powder Works.
There are many beautiful residences in
Pinole, among which are the Downer, Fernandez, Poinsett, and Ellerhorst
homes.
The Pinole Times was established
in 1894 by E. M. Downer and Doctor M. L. Fernandez, and was issued in
pamphlet form from the press of a job-printing office at Martinez. About six
months later the paper was enlarged to a six-column folio, and printed in
Pinole, Downer assuming full control. A few years later John Bermingham,
Jr., superintendent of the California Powder Works, took over the management
of The Times and issued the paper for a period of two years. In
1901 the present editor and manager, E. C. Ebsen, took charge and is now
issuing the paper. The Times is the pioneer newspaper of Western
Contra Costa, and, with the exception of the Antioch Ledger and the
Contra Costa Weekly Gazette of Martinez, is the oldest newspaper of
continuous issue in the county. As regards political affiliation, the
Times is, and always has been, Republican.