Preface

This is only a glimpse…a brief look into the life and landscape of a community that has been home to tribes of Indians, Mexican grantees, Yankee farmers, village storekeepers and innkeepers, and today is home to more than 20,000 suburbanites.

During the dozen years the Lafayette historical Society and its predecessor, the Lafayette Historical Committee, have existed, members have spent countless hours searching for facts and artifacts for letters, diaries, pictures, drawings, maps, deeds and memories. Much has been done but more is left to be searched and researched before the entire story of La Fayette (an early spelling) can be completed.

We hope this booklet, which is presented as one of the Lafayette Historical Society’s contributions to our community, will spark a new interest in the hunt for these bits and pieces of our history.

Meanwhile, La Fayette … a Pictorial History is intended to arouse your curiosity about what happened here in days gone by and to introduce you to those who found the delights of living in the “Sunshine Valley” years before we did.

We’re indebted to the many citizens who’ve helped us find pictures, verify dates, and supply missing bits of information in the presentation of this book. We’re particularly grateful to the following:

 

Father William Abeloe, historian	Oliver Hamlin
Ronald Baker	Jim Lattannier
Betty Butt	Carlton and Territa Lowenberg
Angela Broadhead	Shirley Medau
Clarence Brown	Wayne Merryman
Ken Brown	Eleanor Starks Meyers
Capt. Alan Burton, County Sheriff’s Department	John Mustard, Tri-Valley News
City of Lafayette Staff	Jane Putnam, The Sun
Fern Powell Davis	Harry and Norma Radcliffe
Brother Dennis, historian	Alice McNeil Russi
East Bay Municipal Utility District	Homer and Christine Schreiber, Jr.
Genevieve Flood Gallagher	Louis L. Stein, Jr., historian
Thomas Gates, Contra Costa Central Library	Marian Steinbach
Bob Goddard, Lafayette Camera Shop	William Wakeman
	Sybil Brown Wilkinson

 

Our most sincere thanks go to all these friends of the Lafayette Historical Society and to the many others who had a part in preparing this book.

Sandy Kimball
Lafayette, California