John Michael McCarty's Blog, page 2

Biggest Floods Ever?

According to the National Weather Service, the floods of 1955 and 1964 were the largest ever along the Russian River.  The ’55 flood crested at 49.7 feet while the ’64 deluge peaked at 49.6 with the 1986 flood seeing the river rise to 48.56.  The torrents in the fifties and sixties both occurred during the Christmas holidays.

In 1955 two Pineapple Expresses arrived just four days apart, inundating Guerneville. The aerial view in the top photo is typical of major floods.  It is difficult for the human eye to distinguish between the Russian River, Main Street, and Armstrong Valley.  Locals recall Santa Claus visiting hungry families at the Hilton Park Family Campground (River Bend Park) in Forestville, hauling in dinner on a National Guard amphibian.

 

Christmas Floods:

The Christmas flood of 1964 was a major catastrophe in California. Governor Pat Brown was quoted as saying that a flood of similar proportions could “happen only once in a thousand years,” and it was often referred to later as the Thousand Year Flood. Nineteen people died, at least 10 towns (including Guerneville) were heavily damaged, more than 20 major highways were destroyed, and over 4,000 head of livestock were killed.  Yosemite Valley was flooded (lower photo), and residents of Yuba City were evacuated. The uncompleted Hell Hole Dam on the Rubicon River failed, sending even more water downstream. In total, 375,000 acres of the Central Valley went under water.  Many homes, including the famous Windmill House in low-lying Villa Grande near Monte Rio, received ten inches of water in the living space. Back then there was no such thing as the National Flood Insurance Program, which Sonoma County joined in the 1970s.

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Cost of living in 1900 Villa Grande

After the logging had been exhausted in Mesa Grande (Villa Grande today) along the Russian River, the North Pacific Coast Railroad formed a subsidiary, the North Shore Land Company, to develop its properties. There was a lumberyard located here with half of its twenty, full-time residents working in construction. Riverfront lots were sold at seventy-five dollars and the remainder at fifty dollars. Wood shingles beautified the exterior while burlap lined the inside walls. Electricity became available while a nearby windmill pumped water to the cottages. However, most cabins did not possess a proper kitchen and the only phone was located at the General Store (phone number: 15-R).

Lois Cottage:

Built in 1905, the Lois Cottage at 21866 East St. (upper photo) is typical of the early builds in Mesa Grande, costing roughly $200. Lois Tidball lived there with Captain Nelson, who sailed out of San Francisco. Legend states that the Captain took Lois and her daughter on his ship for one last voyage and returned married to the daughter. Captain Nelson supposedly buried valuables from his worldly travels for his bride’s financial security. Present day owners of Lois Cottage, Rich and Wanda Holmer, hired professional treasure hunters to explore the area with metal detectors, but no precious trove has been discovered at the time of this writing. Perhaps Lois Tidball had her revenge and lifted the booty from under her unfaithful lover’s eyes. Or perhaps the mother and daughter had schemed such an outcome all along. Oh, the drama! Another example of a Craftsman cottage in Villa Grande is at 21894 Russian River Ave. (lower photo), built in 1933. It was briefly on the market recently featuring 1100 sq. ft., two bedrooms, two baths and listed for $1.2 million. How things have changed.

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Earliest Recorded Russian River Floods:

The upper photo shows #9 worst flood along the Russian River. It was in 1879, Guerneville, with the very first recording of such torrents. Damage was widespread.  The tracks of the San Francisco & Northern Pacific Railroad dropped into the stream just east of Rio Nido. The boilers and engines at Korbel sawmill were likewise under water. Part of Guerne Mill fell into Fife Creek (near today’s Saefway parking lot).

The lower left photo pictures the 1907 flood where it destroyed the Bohemian Bridge.  It is uncertain if this was the pedestrian bridge or the railroad trestle.  The later delivered San Francisco Bohemians from where the ninth tee box is today at Northwood Golf Course (built in 1928) to the top of a granite bluff & into the Grove.

Early Floods:

The lower right photo shows a cluster of logs jamming up against the Hacienda Bridge in 1937.  It was not uncommon for floods along the lower reaches of the Russian River to decimate lumber mills, propelling valuable product downstream, free for the taking.  Bridges would incur damage as well as foundations to homes, which were uprooted and sent on their way.  Enterprising survivors would sometimes recover these wayward shacks and cart them off to house new residents.

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Historic Flood Along the Russian River, 2019

The flood on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 will go down in history as one of the worst along the Russian River.  But there are differences of opinion as to which historic floods rank first and second.  According to the Russian River Historical Society, the 1986 flood crested at 48.8′, making it numero uno.  This coincides with findings of the NOAA (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration).  The National Weather Service, however, states that the December 23, 1955 flood topped this at 49.7′ as well as the December 23, 1964 flood at 49.6′.  But both organizations agree that the recent deluge ranks sixth all-time.

The Russian River is 110 miles in length with its headwaters north of Ukiah and flows thru Alexander Valley, which was transformed last week into a six-foot-deep lake.

Historic Flood Levels:

The last twenty-five miles of the Russian River cuts a narrow path thru the Coast Range to its mouth at Jenner by the sea, leaving little room for the angry waters to roam beyond towns along its banks.  It is here where the river accumulates most of its runoff, where it inflicts the greatest damage.  It has flooded in the low lying communities 36 of the last 64 years.  Flood stage at Guerneville is 32 feet.  Last week it crested at 45.4 feet, the highest level since 1995.

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Russian River Flood History

       The following are the top ten recorded floods of the Russian River:   (1) 48.8’ – 2/18/1986; (2) 48.0’ – 1/10/1995; (3)  47.6’ – 12/23/1955; (4) 47.4’ – 12/23/1964; (5) 46.9’ – 2/28/1940; (6) 45.5’ – 2/27/2019; (7) 45.0’ – 1/1/1997; (8) 42.5’ – 1/5/1966; (9) 42.1’ – 2/18/1879; (10) 41.8’ – 1/1/2006.

       The upper photo shows #9 worst flood.  It was in 1879, Guerneville, with the very first recording of flooding along the lower reaches of the Russian River.  Damage was widespread.  The tracks of the San Francisco & Northern Pacific Railroad dropped into the stream just east of Rio Nido. The boilers and engines at the Korbel sawmill were likewise under water.  Some eighteen homes in Guerneville were either afloat or off their foundations.  Two homes were washed away.  Part of Guerne Mill fell into Fife Creek (near today’s Saefway parking lot).

Historic Floods:

The #6 worst flood of all time occurred yesterday, 2/27/2019.  The Russian River crested at 9:00 p.m. at 45.5′.  The lower left photo shows a backstreet in Guerneville.  People paddled to downtown Safeway only to see it taking in over a foot of water.  Rescue helicopters used the far east end of Main Street as a landing pad.  Most calls coming into the local fire department concerned stranded motorists who could not forge inundated roadways.  The lower right photo frames the Highland Dell on the south side of the river in Monte Rio.  The lodge would receive nearly eight feet of runoff by the time all was said and done.    Owners of Bartlett’s market pleaded for help on social media, asking for assistance in hoisting their products above the uninvited guest.  A huge slide on Main Street near the skateboard park coupled with road closures on Bohemian Highway (PGE test spot for underground lines) blocked access to Occidental.  The flood negated additional escape routes to Moscow Road and across the Monte Rio Bridge, stranding residents on the northeast side of the town.

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In the Beginning, Villa Grande

Between Monte Rio and Duncans Mills along the Russian River is Villa Grande, formerly known as Big Flat, Mesa Grande, and Grandville. Vacationers from San Francisco would climb aboard the North Pacific Coast Railroad for the three-hour ride from Sausalito to their front door. The community soon accommodated the Villa Grande Hotel, a firehouse, general store, post office, and numerous shingled cottages. 1910 was the first year that electricity arrived in Villa Grande along with a windmill (photo on left), which supplied water to the cabins. It was dismantled in 1977 and given to a camp in Cazadero but the attached house still exists. With the revenue collected from their whist games, the good ladies of the village erected a sturdy windbreaker for the main beach each summer, which was located directly in front of the windmill.

Villa Grande, the Early Years:

If you wanted to get away for a few days to swim and paddle around in shallow water or even just lounge away like a sloth in a tent-cabin, the Russian River was THE destination. Directly across the river from Villa Grande was the Sherman House (known today as “The Chocolate House”…photo on right), serving as a hotel for those visiting Monte Cristo. This tourist locale extended from the Sherman House to present-day Monte Cristo Avenue near the Monte Rio Elementary School. This was the most popular party venue for residents of Villa Grande as it rightly laid claim to hosting the largest dance floor along the lower reaches of the Russian River.

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Train Mishap Near Villa Grande

On December 20, 1920 the Northwestern Pacific Railroad experienced its worse mishap along the lower reaches of the Russian River. After leaving the station in Monte Rio (upper photo) and before crossing the bridge to Duncans Mills (lower photo), engine No. 222 encountered a slide that buried the tracks near Mesa Grande (Villa Grande). No sooner would a steam shovel remove the debris when another load of muck took its place. A large locomotive, which could furnish 200 pounds of steam pressure, made its way up from Tiburon with a hydraulic pump. Even though the engine proceeded at 10 m.p.h., its weight broke fifteen rails along the way.

Train Mishap:

Upon arriving at the scene, the cleanup endeavor went smoothly until January 9, 1921 when another slide tipped the engine over and partly buried it. The steam shovel went into action again. But a third slide came down and covered the machine along with its operator. Only one of his legs stuck out from the slime. Rescue efforts were unsuccessful. The operator suffocated to death and another lost his hand in the process. It was decided to let the slide sit until spring. In the meantime, passengers would disembark, walk around the work zone and board a second train to resume their trip. Operations continued in the ensuing years peaking in 1923 when the July 4th weekend saw some thirty thousand persons boarding ferry boats from San Francisco’s Embarcadero to the train terminal in Sausalito for the ride to the Russian River.

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Train Routes to the Russian River

It appears that the Russian River resorts reached a tipping point in the summer of 1910 when there was a jump in the number of visitors. It was the first season after the Northwestern Pacific (NWP) line finally connected with the narrow gauge railway coming up the coast. This meant someone in San Francisco could easily reach the popular resorts on the west end of the Russian River. No longer was it necessary to board the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad (SFNP) to Fulton near Santa Rosa and transfer to a slooooow connection that crawled as it made over a dozen stops along the way including Dell, Hilton, Eagle Nest, Guerneville, Montesano, and Camp Vacation near today’s Northwood. From there a determined soul would have to board the seventy-five-foot stern wheeler, the Monte Rio, in order to travel further downstream.

Getting to the River:

The coast route (map on left) took you through Fairfax, Tomales Bay, Valley Ford, Freestone, Occidental, Camp Meeker and onto Monte Rio where it continued down today’s Moscow Road (photo on right). From there it connected with Mesa Grande (Villa Grande) before going onto Duncans Mills and beyond.  This coastal trip was quite the adventure, rumbling through five different tunnels and over sixty-nine trestles. Two engines could pull as many as thirteen cars including open-end platform types, enclosed passenger coaches, smokers’ car, baggage and mail, second-class couches, picnic and hunters’ cars, students’ car, and a caboose. Next time we will visit one of the more infamous train wrecks of the NWP, which occurred just west of today’s Villa Grande.

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Villa Grande, the Beginning

Villa Grande is an unincorporated community in Monte Rio along the Russian River. How the name Villa Grande was born is a story unto itself.   In the very beginning, there was “Big Flat”, a patch of land filled with redwoods and owned by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, which ran along present-day Moscow Road. The logging boom started to fizzle out by the beginning of the twentieth century, causing NWPR to sell lots in the Big Flat area. A fourth-class post office was established under the title of “Mesa Grande”.

Unfortunately, there was another Mesa Grande located in the San Diego area, necessitating a name change. The post office operated under the new moniker of “Grandville”, doing business out of a cubbyhole in the general store.

What’s in a Name?

However, do to confusion with Grandeville in Tulare County, there was yet another adjustment. With a bit of linguistic trickery, “Grandville” was turned inside out to become “Villa Grande” and has remained such since 1921. In 1973, the post office was moved to the garage/workshop area of the general store owner’s private residence in order to create a private lobby and additional mailboxes.   It has remained at this site every since.  Sidebar: In 2012 there were post office closures up and down California. It was decided to keep open the venue in Villa Grande.

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Music of the Barbary Coast

My grandfather was a member of the California Grays, a San Francisco military fraternity. Prior to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the Grays aided the local police in clearing out the Barbary Coast. Fights broke out in many of the saloons with undesirables ferried across the bay to Oakland by the men in their natty West-Point-like uniforms. Grandpa recalls crawling under pool tables to avoid the mayhem. But the job was incomplete. The Barbary Coast remained a sideshow, a skid row and music mecca all rolled into one.

All That Jazz:

It was here that bandleader and pianist Sid LeProtti made his mark, and traveling jazzmen like King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton came calling. A crusade started up in earnest by the Reverend Paul Smith in 1915 to clean up the district. When a San Francisco newspaper got on the ‘band wagon,’ the police commissioner decided to put an end to the shenanigans once and for all. They toiled for five years. The police, with the assistance of the California Grays again, cracked down on prostitution first, and put all the sporting houses out of business. They got tough with dance halls, prohibiting dancing anywhere in the Barbary Coast. Finally they put a stop to the music, or tried to. Hard to stamp out legends. Lu Watters and Turk Murphy carried on the tradition into the 1980’s. Remember Turk Murphy’s Jazz Band at Earthquake McGoon’s (630 Clay St.)? The sound wasn’t ala modern jazz but brassy and bold. I can almost hear it now, whirling around in the back of my mind, loud and full of life.

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