Test your knowledge of El Cerrito's history. Questions may have one or multiple correct answers.
You may enjoy reading the following notes related to the questions:
1. While it is often said that Kaiser built homes for his managers in the hills there is no evidence that this is so. In fact many of the fine, Period Revival homes that are sometimes cited as Kaiser homes, on such streets as Barrett Avenue, Edwards Avenue and Charles street, were built years before the 1940 opening of the shipyards.
2. All are true at least in part except for “B.” In fact, although El Cerrito only had a few thousand people in the 1920s, complaints about gambling were frequent – so much so that mayor Phil Lee had to defend the city and his administration often. “El Cerrito has been pictured as the home of vice and the center of a hideous vice ring,” he said in defense of the city. “The fact is that El Cerrito is a city of average Americans -- responsible, home-loving people, who work in the industries of the East Bay section.”
“C” is only partially true. Many people say gambling flourished here because the land was unincorporated and thus lawless. But after El Cerrito incorporated in 1917 gambling continued to flourish. What makes the statementpartially true is – once El Cerrito cracked down on gambling and crime in 1946, both continued unabated in the Bayview district on the west side of San Pablo Avenue near Central Avenue until that land was added to the city in 1956.
3. The plan, more a student exercise than a serious proposal, nonetheless was well thought out and called for creating a town square, and in part for returning the Plaza’s layout to a standard street grid for a more town-like atmosphere. For a time city officials did try for more of an “urbanist” rebuild of the Plaza but no developer would go along.
4. Harry Kiefer, who used the marquee sign to advertise sales for his store Kiefer’s Furniture, which used the theater for storage, was ordered to remove it in the mid-70s by what he called the city’s “taste board,” probably referring to the Design review Board or a predecessor agency.
5. Sally Rand’s club at San Pablo Avenue near the Albany line later became a jazz venue, Hambone Kelly’s.
6. Fantasy was and is based in Berkeley. There were other El Cerrito record labels as well.
7. Gamblers throughout town opposed the incorporation of El Cerrito. In devising its proposed border, proponents of cityhood carved out areas they knew would vote no to ensure there were enough yes votes to establish a city. Also excluded was the enclave known today as Kensington, where ranchers opposed joining the new city. Vigorite did produce dynamite at Albany Hill – but not after the 1880s.
8. Earl Warren did crack down on gambling, but that was in 1939 when he forced closure of the El Cerrito Kennel Club, the dog track. And even then, his action followed much outcry from the public against the track.