Apr 26
They did not know they were in a race against time. A year later torrential rains would cause flooding everywhere but downstream from Lopez Dam. There the new structure would impound water filling the reservoir much more quickly than expected. Here workers pour concrete around the intake structure in January of 1968. The facility provides …
Apr 23
I have been told by some who work in a prison setting, they prefer not to know an inmate’s history. All they can deal with is the now. It could be overwhelming to reflect on the combined damage a group of mental health patients had caused. In the mid-sixties a then new approach included group …
Mar 26
Norman Coy, shared a story from his childhood after reading a previous post on Pirate’s Cove. During World War II fake gun emplacements were placed on the bluff to protect the Union Oil facility. Though the “guns” were only telephone poles, aimed at the never to arrive Japanese fleet, live men staffed the positions and …
Jan 14
How many bridges are there across the Union Pacific tracks in San Luis Obispo today? One at Mill Street, two if you include the pedestrian Jennifer Street bridge. The railroad seems to prefer forcing automotive traffic under their right of way as at Highland, Monterey, Johnson and Tank Farm. Only Marsh, Orcutt and Cal Poly …
Dec 10
The nuclear age dawned almost exactly 70 years ago under an abandoned University of Chicago football stadium on Dec. 2, 1942. Physicists Arthur Compton and Enrico Fermi conducted the first nuclear chain reaction. America and Great Britain provided home for many scientists fleeing Fascist oppression. Science thrives with the unfettered exchange of ideas. Ideology is …
Nov 26
Over forty years ago an adobe ruin was the biggest structure at Diablo Canyon. At the time every major California utility was in pursuit of a nuclear option to serve California’s expanding population. In March of 1968 the construction permits had not yet been issued by the Atomic Energy Commission. By June archeology was underway …
Oct 25
Sunsoaked and rain starved, California Valley is a unique place. This photo was made by Jim Vestal July 15, 1966 but I could not find an article to go with it. The building is unusually tall, perhaps it was built as a grain processing facility. Driving by places like this I wonder what the story …
Mar 15
Afternoon papers put special pressure on finding images the same day. If snow fell a phone call might come in before sunrise to get out and find a picture by first light and hustle back to the paper to develop, edit and print so the presses could run at noon with a picture from the …
Feb 17
Fires are the bane of hotels. A roll call of lost county landmarks include the Ramona, Paso Robles Hot Springs and El Paso de Robles. Today public buildings are required to have sprinklers and even California homes built after January 1, 2011 are required to have sprinklers. The Madonna Inn’s first rooms were completed December …
Oct 19
Interior view of Hollister Adobe at Camp San Luis Obispo, later Cuesta College. © Telegram-Tribune Jim Vestal How do you build a house without nails? In the early 1800s steel nails were costly, individually hand made by a blacksmith with raw material that came in by ship. You may want to skip that expense. Rawhide, …
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