Mission Pass

Except for several low-level passes, travel between east and south bay communities with California’s inland valleys has always been thwarted by the coastal range of hills. Dublin Pass through Castro Valley and Niles Canyon in Fremont are busy routes.  However, one of the Bay Area’s toughest commutes is Interstate 680 between Fremont and Pleasanton where motorists are funneled through Mission Pass and over the infamous “Sunol Grade”. Unaware of its storied history, tens of thousands of people travel this route daily connecting the valleys: Livermore, San Joaquin, Central, and Sacramento with the South Bay’s “Silicon Valley”, through the natural gap in Mount Hamilton Range near Mission San Jose.

The Ohlone people settled in this region thousands of years ago in permanent villages near marshes and springs, collected shellfish from the bay shores, hunted abundant migratory waterfowl and established a trail through the natural low-level pass below Mission Peak for trading with inland tribes. Spanish explorers Pedro Fages and Padre Juan Crespi were the first Europeans in 1772 to cross the Pass, later used for clandestine inland expeditions by Spanish soldiers. Jedediah Smith restocked supplies and made wagon repairs at Mission San Jose in 1827 before traveling east through the pass. Two years later Kit Carson traveled the same route after trading furs with the missionaries for fresh produce. John C. Fremont’s California Battalion camped at Mission San Jose and mapped Mission Pass in 1846, staying long enough to be enthralled by the region’s beauty and Mission Valley’s fertile soil, and making an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the entire region.

Following the discovery of a gold at John Sutter’s lumber mill in 1848, hordes of hopeful prospectors disembarked eastern sailing ships in San Francisco and made their way to the village of Mission San Jose where they purchased food and supplies for the trip through Mission Pass to Stockton, the jumping off place for reaching the gold camps of the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Automobile gas stations and garages began replacing buggies and blacksmiths in the early 1900’s and at least six Mission San Jose gas stations and several towing services served motorists heading east through the pass. Fig Tree Station, named for several of the vintage trees planted on the site by Spanish Missionaries, opened in 1925 with two outdoor gas pumps on the gravel roadside. A repair garage, covered fueling area, and restrooms were added in the 1940’s. Through the years the humble little roadside station has provided petroleum products from Mobil, Standard, Flying A, McMillan and Tidewater. Now a Chevron property, with roots in Mission San Jose for 99 years, it patiently serves the local community as well as anxious commuters backed up for miles, unaware that they are following in the footsteps of the Indigenous people, Spanish Missionaries, Trail Blazers, and 49’ers.

Vacation, Empty Nest Syndrome, and Hope

Returning from vacation usually means coming back with renewed energy and happy memories, (even though we know the return also means unpacking, doing laundry, putting away items, answering emails, etc.!)  Ah, yes, but the MEMORIES REMAIN!

Sometimes, we come back to face an “Empty Nest Syndrome” even though our adult children left home years ago, or perhaps because our children- still-at-home are moving into an unknown we never had to face. 

Empty Nest Syndrome occurs anytime we are involved in the process of change, whether that change is happening around us or within us.

At UCH we experience a nest, empty of how it used to be: of Bingo games, potluck suppers, flea markets, and other gatherings.  However, we balance out that sense of “emptiness” with the reality that we have come very far in building a foundation utilizing technology enabling us to reach the hearts of others city-wide, nation-wide, and world-wide through Zoom – something we did not even imagine 10 years ago. 

Although we might not see dozens of new faces appearing at our worship service, we know that our outreach of Transitions Groups, recorded sermons, Bible Study, Healing Circle, Guided meditations, Podcasts, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram etc., are touching the hearts of others by the responses we receive.  And isn’t that what church is about, anyway: providing outreach avenues where people are encouraged and inspired in their own relationship with the Holy One.

Awareness of an empty nest syndromes always calls us to look deeply at our values and their relationship to the reality we are living in now.  It calls us to grow through problem solving.  It calls us to renewed hope in a God who is still speaking.

We can, therefore, rejoice because an empty nest of “what used to be” is being filled in another way – a way we had not imagined.  This is a time for hope and encouragement – because “we are not done yet.” This a time to remember that our God is a God who provides what we need as we continue moving forward into the Unknown of this marvelous Journey of Faith.

Changing Seasons

Autumn does not officially begin until September 22 this year, but there seems to be a hint of it in the air already. Even though sometimes within our own journey we experience winter in the midst of summer, and spring in the midst of autumn, seasons are great reminders of the importance of our own growth cycles.  Seasons also remind us of beautiful realities we seldom notice. 

Yard Trees

Hardly noticed
since you’re always there
silently amid rustling leaves
breathing in
    my breathing out
and breathing out
    my breathing in

Unseen symphony
graciously offering
graciously receiving.

May my grudge
of raking your leaves
become a simple song
of gratitude.

— by Jackie Freitas

Resources on the threat of Christian Nationalism

“When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross” — Widely attributed to (but never confirmed) to Sinclair Lewis

From a recent interview with Rev. Jeanne Loveless, here are a series of resources about the very real threat of Christian Nationalism in the United States:

• Book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez More info

• Book The False White Gospel by Jim Wallis More info

• Video Series White Nation Under God by Jemar Tisby Watch here.

• Documentary Bad Faith with William Barber Watch here.

• Podcast American Idols and Book American Idolatry by Andrew Whitehead

• Documentary God & Country Watch here.

• Toolkit A Preacher's Toolkit for Confronting Christian Nationalism by Rev. Rebecca Littlejohn More info.

• Statement Christians Against Christian Nationalism Read and sign here.

---

Share this: This 5-minute video is from interviews conducted with Rev. Jeanne in May 2024 talks the rise of Christian Nationalism and why she’ll never tell you how to vote from the pulpit.

PFEFFERMINZ

You would never guess that on a quiet street in the industrial section of Hayward, California in an unassuming factory building is one of the world’s largest collections of candy dispensers and an assortment of rare and banned toys. The only clue that something unusual is inside are the twenty-foot-tall fiberglass Muffler Man and Western Cowpoke standing guard outside.

 Originally sold as peppermint lozenge drops in 1927 by Austrian Edward Haas as PEZ (short for the German name pfefferminz for peppermint) the sweet product evolved into a compressed brick shape breath mint containing sugar, corn syrup, plant-based fat, flavoring and coloring was sold as an alternative to tobacco and packaged in a cigarette shaped dispenser. PEZ candy mints were first introduced to the United States in1955 in packages of twelve and marketed to children in manual plastic dispensers with the heads of Santa Claus, Popeye, Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck. The PEZ company built a factory in Orange, Connecticut in 1973 to handle the increasing demand for their mint products while having the highly desirable collectable dispensers produced in Hungary and China. Billions of PEZ candies are consumed annually in nineteen flavors and through the years have been packaged in several thousand different highly sought after dispenser designs.

 One of the world’s largest private PEZ dispenser collections, outside of the company’s Visitor Center in Orange, Connecticut, is located in The Hayward Toy Museum. More than world’s 2400 unique and rare dispensers dating from the 1950’s are on display along with the original Mr. Potato Head, first Barbie Doll and first Comic Book, as well as an assortment of “banned” toys. Remember Lawn Darts?

 The Hayward Toy Museum is the passion of the owner of Bell Plastics and takes up a small portion of his National Avenue factory location. His private PEZ and toy collections along with a display of giant fiberglass figures are open to the public. Check the Hayward Toy Museum website for more information.     

How have your childhood memories of things you enjoyed and games you played, influenced what you do and who you are today?

She Wrote a Long Letter on a Short Page

Long letters are easier to write than short ones.  Long letters allow me to ramble on and on – choosing topics as I go, and never ever running out of ideas to include.

But I have only a short piece of paper on which to condense what I learned that year as an apprentice in the artist studio - I who knew nothing about what to call different shades of purple, blue or green, whether textured paper was more appropriate for water colors or acrylics, or whether the biggest secret to a good oil painting was to let one layer of paint dry before applying the next.

 All I know is that the apprenticeship taught me more about Ife, more about balance and harmony, about doing and waiting, about seeing the spaces between the leaves and branches of the eucalyptus tree. 

 So perhaps my short letter is that each of us, in our own way, is artist of our own “canvas” of life as we transform the secrets of painting into developing the picture we are becoming.

Historical Ramblings: Francis Marion Smith (1846-1931)

Chances are that you have never heard of Francis Marion Smith. It’s more likely that you are familiar with the names of Jack London, Robert Luis Stevenson, Domingo Ghibelline, Charles Crocker, Joaquin Miller and Anthony Chabot. All are East Bay pioneers that once called Oakland home.

 Smith was known as “Borax Smith”, the highly successful founder and owner of the company that produced 20-Mule-Team Borax, the household cleaner made famous as the sponsor of the popular Death Valley Days TV show. As a young man seeking mineral wealth, Smith discovered a high-grade deposit of borate in the Great Basin Desert in 1872 and with his brother staked claims and established a primitive borax processing facility.  

Within five years, Smith was regularly shipping thirty-ton loads of the cleaned and concentrated borax crystals in large wagons, pulled by the now famous 20-mule teams, to the nearest Central Pacific Railroad siding one hundred and sixty miles away. Over time financial success allowed Smith, the “Borax King” to buy out his brother, purchase additional productive properties in the region, and replace the slow and cumbersome mule shipments with his own railroads. 

 In 1893 he commissioned the construction of the Pacific Coast Borax Company refinery in Alameda, CA, the first reinforced concrete building in the country, to process the mineral into household and commercial products under the 20 Mule Team brand. With the surge of income from his Borax business Smith formed a partnership with Frank Havens developing projects including extensive Key System lines, an urban and suburban commuter train, ferry and streetcar system serving the East Bay. 

Smith and his wife Mary moved from the Nevada desert to Oakland in 1881 where he managed operations of his expanding business empire from their large estate, Arbor Villa. Located near MacArthur and Park Blvd. on thirty-five manicured acres, their three-story extravagant Oak Hall mansion contained forty-two rooms including fifteen bedrooms, a ballroom, bowling alley and attached conservatory. The grounds featured tennis and croquet courts, stables, a small zoo with deer and rabbits, greenhouses, a variety of guest houses, and a signature five story water tower and observation deck with views of the Bay and San Francisco. The Smiths were active in Oakland’s charitable and community events often making Arbor Villa available for fundraising activities, as well as supporting his first wife’s desire to provide homelike accommodations for orphaned girls by financing, constructing, and operating thirteen residential homes.

 After suffering a major stroke at the age of 82, Smith and his wife moved from their mansion to a smaller residence near Lake Merritt. He began selling off parcels of Arbor Villa, however the stock market crash of 1929 eliminated potential buyers and following his death in 1931 at the age of 85, his prized mansion was demolished. Francis Marion Smith, miner, business man, railroad builder and “Borax King”, buried along “Millionaires Row” in Mountain View Cemetery, is not well known in Oakland but has a 5,915-foot peak in the Amargosa Range of Death Valley named Smith Mountain in his honor.  

Puzzles & Problem Solving

Problem solving and making choices are like putting a puzzle together.

In a crossword puzzle, it’s very helpful to recognize where the horizontal and vertical words cross each other (share the same empty box.)  For example, suppose the horizontal and vertical words share the same beginning box (letter) – i.e.  both of them start with the same letter.  The horizontal clue is “close” (which has 4 empty boxes to fill.)  Now, “close” can either mean to “shut” or “to be near something.” Which should you choose – “shut” or “near”?  The vertical clue is “not ever” (5 letters.) That answer would be “never”.  So, you can clearly conclude that the horizontal answer to “close” in this instance is “near” not “shut”.

Perhaps you enjoy putting jigsaw puzzles together.  How do you handle the pieces you pour out of the box onto the table?  Do you look at the picture first before starting.  Or do you prefer the adventure of being surprised by the picture?  Do you form the border first to build a frame to put the picture into, or do you cluster the pieces by colors first and create small patches you can fit together?  Maybe you prefer solving puzzles which contain only numbers?  Those puzzles, too, have various ways to begin the solving process.

The important thing that any kind of puzzle teaches us is that although there are some guidelines and commonalities to puzzle-solving and problem-solving, there is no one way to accomplish the completion of the picture or the finished product. 

So, too, there is no one way to grow in our relationship with each other or with the Holy One.  What are the unique ways you resolve situations when faced with decision making? Are you at peace with your current “method?”  Are you so boxed in with how you have always solved problems that you completely miss the opportunity to understand that your “clue” might have more than one meaning when looked at from a different perspective?

Blessing on your Journey as you continue to move into the unknown, even though you cannot see the entire picture all at once, even though some of the pieces do not seem to fit into the scheme of things, even though you have asked for insight and answers that do not seem to be arriving. 

Remember, you have made the journey thus far, through many ups and downs, through many unknown and seemingly impossible situations.  Yet, here you are today, able to read this article.  The Holy One has not abandoned you in the past, and will continue to be with you as you move through trying to make sense of the various clues along the way.  You are not alone in this Adventure called Life.

Prayers for Peace

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. - Philippians 4:6-7

Injustices and inequalities manifest as racism, discrimination, gender-based violence, economic disparities, and other issues. As a communal response to uplift these sorrows and support our neighbors near and far, General Minister and President, the Rev. Karen Georgia Thompson calls the church to a season of prayer. Prayer undergirds our witness, ministry, and advocacy as we work for peace and a just world for all.

This is an open invitation to anyone who feels called to offer a prayer to end violence in any manifestation, and to bring about peace. Share your prayers using the People’s Prayers for Peace form on this page. New prayers will be published on this page daily. Publishing is at the discretion of the National Ministries of the United Church of Christ and prayers may be edited for content and length.

Send a Prayer | Read a Prayer

May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

The UCC Mental Health Network has sent worship resources to use during this time.  May 19 is Mental Health Sunday this year, but any Sunday is a great day to focus on mental health!  The following prayer was created by The Right Rev. Dr. Richard Bott, Moderator, United Church of Canada.

We recognize,
God of all life,
all people, all places;
that many of us continue to not understand
issues of mental health— our own, and that of others’. For so many broken reasons
stigma is placed upon folks
living with mental health difficulties,
building walls of isolation,
rather than the support and love of beloved community;
the support and love
of radical belonging;
the support and love
that Jesus exemplified,
over and over and over again.

Open our hearts, open our arms,
open the ways to knowledge
     and comprehension—
that all your beloved children
would find safe home, here.
Now.
Always.  

We ask this in the name of the One whose hands and heart always reach out, Jesus, the Christ. Amen.

- The Right Rev. Dr. Richard Bott, Moderator, United Church of Canada

Roadside Distractions: Pee Wee Golf

Known in various parts of the country as Miniature Golf, Mini-Putt, Goofy Golf, Midget Golf, Crazy Golf, or Putt-Putt, my brother Jimmy and I knew the wacky offshoot version of the grown-up game of golf as “Pee Wee” Golf. Jimmy was so enamored with the game in the 1950’s that he transformed a portion of our Castro Valley backyard into his own Pee Wee golf course and earning himself a Boy Scout Merit Badge. Typically, the game requires hitting a golf ball through a collection of themed barriers, silly obstacles, revolving windmills or rising drawbridges to sink the ball in the shortest number of strokes. Jimmy’s backyard course was designed and constructed in contoured dirt and featured an arched cement bridge.

Claims of creating the silly game can be traced to China in AD945, France in the 1400’s, Scotland in the 1500’s, and England in the early 1900’s, however one of the first documented American themed Minigolf courses was located in Mrs. Garnet Carter’s 700-acre resort “Fairyland Inn & Fairyland Golf Club” on Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga in the 1920’s. Each of the resort’s buildings were themed after familiar fairy tales while her “Tom Thumb” miniature golf course featured carefully positioned Garden Gnomes and a life size stature of Snow White. Unwittingly, Mrs. Carter launched a national minigolf fad that flourishes to this day.

We can recall seeking out the Fantasy Land Golf Course on early trips to Disneyland that featured a collection of diminutive park attractions, pirate themed courses at Lake Tahoe, and Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk’s indoor nautical course.  Closer to home was the Mini Golf Course on E 14th Street next to the Roller Arena in San Leandro, and the colorful dragon has been standing guard since the 1950’s creating new memories at the Golden Tee Miniature Golf Course on Castro Valley Blvd. Jim is still at it seven decades later transforming a pond at their home in the Sierra foothills into a kid-sized putting green for the great-grandchildren to enjoy.

Fore!     

Classroom of Faith

This week has been as full as last week, and I find myself both tired and energized. I know that sounds strange, but sometimes being energized can just plain tire you out. In Isaiah 54 around verse 17, as translated in “The Message” it says, “All your children will have God for their teacher - what a mentor for your children!”

I believe that God not only lives in me, but plays, acts, teaches, and reaches out through me. Am I bringing God the teacher and mentor to the people in my life and those I meet when I need to be out? While I pray about that, what comes to me is how my friends, family, and others whom I experience are bringing God to me, teaching me, showing me how uncomplicated and satisfying life can be, how honest and open life can be. I pray that I am doing the same for all of them and can only trust that what I do with and for them is done trusting that I am being guided by God. This can be exhilarating.

The thing is, doing this means working only from the heart. That is exhausting. It makes me look at how I am present with others. Why is it easier with some than it is with others? What I know is that some people have no expectation of me other than being there. Most of us, myself included are not always clear about expectations and because of this, we have to guess, imagine, decide, or ignore what we think is expected and this makes us hold back some. God is our Mentor and Teacher. Can we believe that?  Can we live that?  Can we allow that in our own lives?

I am graced to be able to be with the UCH Congregation and learn from you, and I am graced to walk with you in this life. I am blessed to have you in the same class with the best Teacher ever.

Historic Ramblings: East Bay Skies

Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s super…. nope, it’s probably just a plane!  Seeing the steady stream of evenly spaced passenger aircraft lined up over Mission Peak on final approaches to busy Oakland Airport, I’m reminded that the skies over the East Bay have been the scene of many forms of flight since the mid-1800’s. Hot air balloon ascensions, experimental aircraft, gliders and daring barn stormers thrilled crowds at the turn of the last century. The Navy airships Akron and Macon based at nearby Moffett Field were a common sight over the South Bay. China Clipper seaplanes based at Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay made the first commercial flights to Hawaii.  Charles Lindbergh and Jimmy Doolittle always created a stir when landing at nearby Oakland Airport, and was the departure location for Amelia Earhart’s fateful flight. World War I Ace Eddie Rickenbacker once landed his squadron of biplanes in a vacant field in Irvington.  

Local residents were probably most aware of the busy skies during the war in the early 1940’s with the arrival of a squadron of US Army’s P-38 Lightning aircraft assigned to Hayward for use in training combat pilots and defending the region from a potential attack. The unique distinctive twin engine pod design and central single seat cockpit aircraft were easy to hear and easier to spot. The P-38 was developed for the United States Air Corps as a fighter-bomber for use as long range escort for medium and heavy-duty bombers, aerial reconnaissance missions, as well as for combat roles against enemy aircraft.   

The United States entered World War II before the City of Hayward could move forward with plans to build a municipal airport on land at the intersection of Hesperian and Russell Road (now Winton) purchased in 1939. The US Army took control over more than five hundred acres of the former tomato fields in 1942 and built two parallel paved runways, offices, storage sheds and barracks for the Army’s 355th Fighter Squadron. The airfield was declared surplus at the end of the war and was turned back over to the City of Hayward in 1947. The skies remained busy when the California Air National Guard moved to adjacent land for the home of the 61st fighter Wing in 1949 and served various flight training functions up until 1980. 

The East Bay continues to make a significant impact on regional aviation with Oakland and nearby San Jose International Airports serving millions of passengers annually. The Hayward Executive Airport is a busy hub for private pilots as well as for commercial enterprises including charter flights, medical transport, courier services and Bay Area traffic monitoring.  

Federal Aviation Administration’s Oakland Air Route Traffic Control Center in the Centerville District of Fremont, one of twenty two control centers in the United States,  is responsible for the sequencing and separation of arrivals, departures and routes of flights assuring safe and orderly flow of aircraft over sections of California and Nevada, while the adjacent Oceanic unit manages international flights over huge portion of the Pacific Ocean air space, the largest in the world covering nearly 10% of the Earth’s surface. 

Yeah, my guess it’s probably a plane.   

Historical Ramblings: It's All About the Dirt

For more than a century between the mid 1800’s and mid 1900’s the alluvial plane at the base of Mission Peak that drained Alameda and Mission Creeks was one of the richest farming areas in California. On the rich fertile land where olives, figs and palms were first planted by missionaries, John Horner harvested wheat and potatoes, A.O. Rix grew almonds and there were acres and acres of apricot and plum orchards. The Gallegos and Los Amigos wineries had extensive vineyards, the Gomes family grew tomatoes for Rancho Soup, the Irvington Packing Co. was kept busy in season canning pickles from locally grown cucumbers, the Driscoll Brothers began a strawberry empire in the rich soil and longest growing season in the country, and George Roeding established the California Nursery Company, at its peak the largest ornamental nursery west of the Mississippi.

When the old fish hatchery at Yosemite’s Happy Isles was demolished and replaced with a Nature Center a large window was installed facing an enclosed native flower garden, pond and collection of established trees. Inspired to replicate the tranquil scene with our own “Little Yosemite” front yard we built a fenced enclosure blocking the view of the street and neighboring homes. One of our first planting was spindly three-foot-tall Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) native to the foggy canyons along the Northern California Coast, not Fremont’s hot and dry summers. Planted in the rich soil a few feet in front of our living room window forty years ago, the three-foot-tall tree with a two-inch diameter has grown to more than sixty feet in height with a circumference of nearly ten feet.

 Unlike it’s slow growing Giant Sequoia cousins (Sequoiadendron giganteum) of the Sierra Nevada range that take thousands of years to reach their towering heights, Mission Valley’s moderate weather, long seasons, high water table and rich former farmland soil is responsible for the astonishing growth of our coast redwood, and at this rate…. potential future National Park.

 It’s all about the dirt.

Signs and Markers on the Journey

Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat, mixed her wine, and set her table. She has sent out her servant girls to wave signs and call from the highest point of the city, ‘You who crave simplicity…Turn in here!’” 

— Proverbs 9

One of my favorite places on Christy’s family farm in Arkansas is the Native American Marker Tree. Native American travelers required natural sources of food and water, good navigational skills, and a method of marking trails. They didn’t have neon signs or GPS. So, one of the ways they provided signposts and markers for their journeys was by wrapping a leather rope around a green sapling, so in time, it would grow in an obviously unnatural way to point the direction to a nearby village, water source, or natural shelter. It would have been a welcome sign to weary Native American travelers—pointing in the general direction of something especially important—something that was key to their journey and survival. I’m delighted to report that Anthropologists are now recording the locations of these trees so they can be preserved, protected, and honored as the significant cultural and historical artifacts they are.

God is also perpetually dropping signs and markers in front of us trying to get our attention on the journey—signs that say, “Go this way at the Crossroads!” Or “There are things that will nourish you this way! Turn in Here!” Our work is to listen and to be willing to adjust course and turn when the time comes - and to tune our Spiritual GPS into “Still-Speaking God” mode- So we can notice those sometimes-subtle signs and markers on the journey. The world will attempt to distract us with Vegas-style, darkness-shattering, flashing bright neon signs, bells, and whistles that scream “Stop here!” “Feel good here!” “Log in here!” “Get it here!” (And have your Cash, Visa, or MasterCard Ready!)  But if we look carefully, beyond the clamor, deeper in the woods, into the deeper, quieter places, there are ancient, quiet, vine and moss-covered signs—signs that mark narrower but extremely rewarding paths. And there are twisted, well-worn, God-rooted markers that whisper directive and transformative words that point us toward spiritually transformative places called, “Forgiveness,” “Repentance,” “Justice,” “Compassion,” and “Stillness.”

The signs and markers of the Divine are present in the wilderness we are wandering at UCH. I invite you to tune in and learn to interpret those signs and markers. And when we have the good fortune of finding one pointing us in a new direction - let's cluster around it and celebrate the milestone (like we will be doing in our Congregational Gathering on Sunday). We are not going to stop for long. But we can rest, refuel, and regather at the crossroads. Then we will shift direction and follow God's direction down that wisdom path - a path that may seem very ancient. But is also completely new. I’ll see you on the journey. Many blessings as we travel the wilderness together.

Historical Ramblings: McIvor’s Hardware

A bustling village began growing up along the old Vallejo Road soon after the founding of Mission San Jose in 1797 providing services and goods to the nearby residents and wayfarers. Throngs of fortune seekers including John Fremont and Kit Carson passed through the village and over Mission Pass on their way to the gold fields in the mid 1800’s purchasing goods, and fresh Mission Valley grains, fruit and vegetables for their journey. By the end of the century Mission San Jose was providing a range of services including a hotel, general stores, boot makers, winery’s, an ample collection of Saloons, and horseshoe and wheel makers.  

The sounds of clanging and hammering from the forge at Frank Martin’s Blacksmith Shop on Washington Blvd., could be heard across the dirt street at the old mission and for blocks around. Burton and Maria McIver, newly arrived in Mission San Jose from Canada and sensing the need for the continuation of horseshoeing, the forging of rural agricultural implements and metal work on motorcars purchased Martin’s historic business in 1927.

Within two decades the smithing business had faded and the McIvor’s began a fledgling hardware department in the front of the shop creating “McIvor Hardware and Farm Tools”.  Son Bob joined growing family business in 1952 and encouraged his father to build a larger store next door and increase the hardware inventory to serve the newly formed city of Fremont and the growing number of contractors and do-it-yourself home owners. Bob and his wife Pauline ran the family business for nearly forty years before deciding to take the next step and create larger full-service Hardware business a block away on Ellsworth Street that was run by son-in-law Al Auer’s family in the final years.   

Frank Martin’s original Blacksmith Shop still exists on Washington Blvd. and is now home to Firestone Photography, the Blvd. And recently vacated former Mission Roasting Company building was McIvor’s second location, and their imposing stucco building on Ellsworth Street has been vacant since Blvd. And 2018, a victim of competition from nearby Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe’s. Sadly, the third and final location of McIvor’s ninety-one-year-old historic family business sits behind a chain link fence and is designated by the city ironically as “future residential housing”.