|
| You
can purchase a copy of her book for $30.00 at the Brentwood
Chamber of Commerce or by calling Kathy at (925) 634-0917. |
| 1500 - 1800 |
Native Americans roamed this region of California |
| 1772 |
Spanish Explorer, Captain Pedro Fages, discovered this region of California |
| 1835 |
The Spanish land grant, Los Meganos was deeded to Don Jose Noriega |
| 1837 |
Doctor John Marsh purchased the Los Meganos Rancho |
| 1841 |
The first immigrants,
the Bidwell Party, arrive at John Marsh's home on Marsh Creek Road |
| 1865 |
The Liberty School, a one room grammar school, was established on Marsh
Creek Road |
| 1867 |
The Brentwood Coal
Mine was established and Lone Tree School was established |
| 1869 |
Deer Valley School was established |
| 1874 |
Louis Grunauer and Joseph F. Carey established the first business in
Brentwood. Grunauer a mercantile and carey a blacksmith shop. |
| 1876 |
Brentwood's first Saloon was established by E. Bacigalupi |
| 1878 |
The San Pablo and Tulare Railroad comes through town |
| |
Brentwoods Post Office was established with Clarence Esterbrook at the
first postmaster |
| 1879 |
Brentwood School was established |
| |
The Union Cemetery was established on four acres |
| 1881 |
The first map was
filed for Brentwood as a township |
| 1882 |
Brentwood boasted of having one hundred residents |
| 1884 |
The Brentwood Hotel was built by Louis Grunauer. |
| 1885 |
The Methodist Episcopal Church established |
| 1886 |
Doctor H.V. Mott was appointed postmaster |
| 1887 |
Brentwood Grammar School District built a large two room addition onto
their existing school |
| 1888 |
The Sanford Family donated land for the Brentwood City Park. This site
was known as Brentwood Grove until 1935 when a Park Council was established. |
| 1889 |
The First Christian Church was dedicated |
| 1890 |
Brentwood was the largest shipping point for grains between New Orleans
and San Francisco |
| |
There was a devastating
fire in town. Moody and Brewers Blacksmith, Shafer's Livery, and Mr.
Humphrey's Printing House burned. |
| 1891 |
President Harrison's train stopped in Brentwood. He gave a short speech
and shook many local residents hands |
| 1892 |
The Brentwood Courier, Brentwoods first newspaper, was established |
| 1897 |
Fred Eachus established the Brentwood News. He later sold his plant to
E.W. Netherton who started the Brentwood Enterprise. |
| 1900 |
Robert Wallace was elected Justice of the Peace |
| 1901 |
The Brentwood Women's Club was organized with Henriette Stone as president |
| |
Liberty High School
was established with classes held in the grammar school storeroom. |
| |
The first Brentwood
Library was established as part of the Liberty High School |
| 1902 |
E.W. Netherton established
the Contra Costa Herald, a new eight page newspaper being published in
Brentwood |
| |
The Brentwood Masonic Lodge 345 organized with Will Jerrisleu as first
Grand Master. |
| 1903 |
The Brentwood Hotel burned to the ground. |
| 1905 |
Liberty Union High
Schools first graduation. Edith A. Sellers was the only graduate. |
| |
Brentwoods first high
school is built on the corner of First Street and Maple Street. |
| 1908 |
Brentwood School had 111 students enrolled. |
| 1910 |
Balfour, Guthrie and Company purchased the Marsh Ranch (12,616 acres)
for $650,000. |
| 1912 |
There was a scarlet fever epidemic in the Brentwood area which closed
the schools for several weeks |
| 1913 |
Balfour, Guthrie and Company built the Brentwood Hotel on same site as
the first Brentwood Hotel had been built at the corner of Oak Street and
Railroad Avenue. |
| |
The Bank of Brentwood
was built. The bank was absorbed by bank of California in 1927 and later
taken over by Bank of America in 1930. |
| |
Balfour, GUthrie and Company maps the town and sub-divides farm land |
| 1915 |
The Brentwood Public
Library and reading room opened. Credit is given to the Library Association
with Mrs. Andrew Bonnickson as president. |
| |
Oak Street was paved. |
| |
Fire hits Brentwood
burning several businesses on First Street. Lost to the flames were Tremley's
Hardware, Peter Olsen's Building; the residences
of Hercules Logan, Frank Golden, and M. Sargent, two barns, and the tank
and tank house owned by Balfour, Guthrie and Company. |
| 1917 |
Ninety four young men from Brentwood signed the roll for the draft (World
War I) |
| |
Erastus granville Nash became principal of Liberty Union High School,
a position he held for twenty nine and a half years. |
| 1918 |
Liberty Union High
School burned from a fire started in the Chemistry lab. |
| 1919 |
Roy Frerich's Post 202, American Legion was established. |
| |
Fire swept through downtown Brentwood. The fire started in Jansse Store,
which was located on the corner of Oak Street and First Street. |
| |
Dudley D. Watson settled in Brentwood. he became one of the biggest property
managers, Realtors, and farmers in the area. |
| 1920 |
Sam Hill purchased the Brentwood News from H. W. Bessac. |
| |
A new Liberty Union High School was built on Second Street costing $93,000. |
| 1922 |
The first orchards were planted in Brentwood area. |
| 1923 |
The new Brentwood Elementary School was built on Second Street. |
| 1924 |
The American Legion Hall was built on the corner of Maple and Second
Street. |
| |
The Gregory Brothers Nursery acquired acreage for seedling and experimental
trees for fruits and nuts. |
| |
Rural free mail delivery began in Brentwood extending to Marsh Creek,
Deer Valley and Antioch Road. The service included 115 homes. |
| 1925 |
William T. Kirkman Jr. came to Brentwood from Fresno and purchased 1600
acres. He planted many of the first fruit trees in the area. |
| 1926 |
The first Apricot Festival was held. |
| |
H. P. Garin came to Brentwood and leased 600 acres. By 1935 Garin controlled
more than 30,000 acres in the state. |
| |
By an overwhelming vote, the residents of Brentwood established the first
Contra Costa water district to serve the town with a domestic water supply.
This was the first district in Contra Costa County under the county water
district act. |
| |
East Contra Costa Irrigation District was established. The new district
consolidated Lone Tree, Knightsen, and brentwood Irrigation Companies. |
| 1927 |
Saint Albans Episcopal Church was founded. |
| 1928 |
The Brentwood Fire Department organized with Clyde Watson as the first
fire chief. |
| |
The Union Cemetery District was formed. Prior to this time the cemetery
was governed by the Union Cemetery Association. |
| 1929 |
The Brentwood Lion's Club was established with Dean Watson as the first
president. |
| |
H. P. Garin Company had three packing sheds and twenty two cottages for
employees. The Garin Company shipped 794 carloads of fruits and vegetables,
and used the first refrigerated railroad cars. |
| 1930 |
Charles Barkley was elected constable, a position he held for thirty
years. |
| |
Balfour, Guthrie and Company had the state's largest dry-yard and packing
shed. They had more than 600 employees. |
| 1931 |
Edgar Allen purchased the Brentwood News from Sam Hill. |
| |
Dr. Catherine Holden moved the Brentwood Hospital to the second floor
of the O.K. Garage building on Oak Street. |
| 1932 |
The Diablo Valley Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars was organized in Brentwood. |
| |
The Brentwood School closed for several weeks because of a measles epidemic. |
| 1934 |
The Apricot Harvest Strike hit Brentwood. It was estimated that 1,000
to 1,500 more pickers than needed came to Brentwood seeking employment. |
| 1940 |
Brentwood School had an enrollment of 417 students. |
| |
Mary P. Allen was librarian at the Brentwood Library. |
| 1943 |
Brentwood Irrigated Farms (Balfour, Guthrie) sold their holdings (2,250
acres) to Tom Peppers of Mentone, California. |
| 1947 |
The Edna Hill School site was purchased. This school was first known
as Brentwood Primary School and renamed Edna Hill in 1955. |
| 1948 |
Brentwood
incorporates. John Lane is the town's first mayor. |
| |
The Brentwood Police and Planning Departments were organized. |
| |
The Brentwood Order of Rainbow Girls was instituted. |
| 1949 |
The Brentwood Rotary Club was established with Clyde Olney as the first
president. |
| |
The Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church was built on First Street. |
| |
Oliver Danielson was appointed mayor. |
| 1950 |
Joseph Silva was appointed mayor. |
| 1952 |
The Brentwood Chamber of Commerce was organized with Ben Peterson as
president. |
| |
Everett LeMoine was appointed mayor. |
| 1953 |
The first Lion's Carnique was held. This annual event was the Lion's
primary fund raiser until 1977. |
| 1954 |
Wesley Curtis was appointed mayor. |
| 1955 |
Liberty Union High School was rated the best Class B football team in
all northern California. Scoring 222 points and only 38 points against
them. They won seven of eight games played, losing only their first game
of the season to Antioch 6-0, and winning all league games. In fact, between
1949 - 1955 the team lost only two league games, and won five championships.
Lou Bronzan was acting coach and Jack Ferrill was assistant coach. |
| 1956 |
William "Pete" Gibson was appointed mayor. |
| 1957 |
Postmaster Robert J. Wallace announced house-to-house mail delivery. |
| 1958 |
Clifford Avery was appointed mayor. |
| 1960 |
Art Christensen was appointed mayor. |
| |
Hugh Armstrong was elected constable. |
| 1962 |
The Brentwood City Hall was built on Third Street. |
| |
The Brentwood Gun Club was founded with Charles Cogswell as the first
president. |
| 1963 |
The central portion of Liberty Union High School containing the administration
offices, library, some classrooms, and school entrance burned. |
| |
The Brentwood Health Center was established in the old Barkley home next
to City Hall on Third Street. |
| 1964 |
George Nunn was appointed mayor. |
| 1967 |
The Post Office was built on the corner of Dainty Avenue and First Street. |
| |
The Brentwood Hotel was torn down to make way for a new service station. |
| 1968 |
Alan Jensen was appointed mayor. |
| 1969 |
The Garin School was built on First Street. This School is named for
H.P. Garin. |
| |
|
| 1970 |
The East Contra Costa Historical Society was founded. Walter Sharafanowich
was the first president. |
| |
The Soroptimist International of East Contra Costa was organized with
Kay Davis as president. |
| |
George Gamble was appointed mayor. |
| 1971 |
The last passenger train passed through Brentwood. The tracks continued
to be used for freight runs. |
| 1972 |
Charles B. Weeks Sr. was selected Brentwood's first Citizen of the Year. |
| 1976 |
Joe Cunningham was appointed mayor. |
| 1978 |
Bruce Ghiselli was appointed mayor. |
| |
The Brentwood Library was built on Third Street. |
| 1980 |
The Southern Pacific train depot was demolished. |
| |
Barbara Guise was appointed mayor. |
| |
Brentwood's first harvest Festival was held in City Park. |
| 1982 |
Roger Moore was appointed
mayor. |
| 1984 |
Nathan Fisher elected mayor. He was Brentwood's first elected mayor. |
| 1986 |
Catherine Palmer was elected mayor. |
| |
The Nail Family donated a large historic home on Sellers Avenue to the
East Contra Costa Historic Society for a museum. |
| 1990 |
Art Gonzales was elected mayor. |
| 1992 |
Brentwood's first Cornfest was held in the Brentwood City Park with Kathy
Leighton and U'Geni as chairmen. |
| 1994 |
Bill Hill was elected mayor. |
| 1996 |
John Morrill was elected mayor. |
| 1999 |
Quintin Kidd was elected mayor. |
| 2000 |
Mike McPoland was elected mayor. |
| 2002 |
Brian Swisher was elected mayor. |
