Celebrating Redwood City’s 150th year: Sesquicentennial shines a light on city's history

Sarah LaTorra, division manager of the Redwood City Public Library, has been coordinating the Redwood City Now and Then events, which invite community members to upload or scan photos they have of Redwood City buildings that have stood the test of time. LaTorra has coordinated sessions dedicated to collecting and sharing photos of specific Redwood City sites, such as the Sequoia Hotel at 800 Main St. or Emerald Lake Country Club in the hills west of the city, allowing participants to share glimpses of familiar sights at different periods of the city’s history.

“I think people are really surprised at some of the things that have occurred in Redwood City’s history,” she said. “We’ve been in this constant state of change in Redwood City, and things come and go.”

LaTorra said the events, held multiple times every month at the library’s downtown branch at 1044 Middlefield Road and the Veterans Memorial Senior Center at 1455 Madison Ave., have brought teenagers from the Red Morten Youth Center and seniors together in piecing together the city’s history through the city’s growing photo collection. She said a group of residents viewing photos gathered of the Courthouse Square shared an “aha” moment when they figured out the order of a set of photos based on what features remained on the courthouse, now the San Mateo County History Museum, before and after one of the area’s larger earthquakes.

“You can still discover things by looking at some of these older photographs,” she said.

For Barbara Pierce, former mayor and co-chair of the Redwood City Sesquicentennial Celebration Committee, the conversations spurred by retellings of old memories have turned up stories even she wasn’t privy to before this year. Though Pierce is well-versed in many of the city’s stories, she recently discovered that the land where the downtown library, once a firehouse, currently stands was an island floating between branches of the creeks that flowed through the city’s downtown decades ago.

Pierce and committee co-chair Dee Eva, who have been planning the sesquicentennial for well over a year, have enjoyed seeing the public respond to events illustrating how the city inherited its signature characteristics.

“It’s really blossomed, I think, into a huge celebration,” she said.

Pierce said events like Mezes Pioneer Day on March 25, featuring a pioneer re-enactment camp, have drawn families and residents willing to dip into the city’s early days, boding well for May events, many of which are inspired by the national celebration of Historic Preservation Month. A historic downtown walking tour on May 27 and tours of the historic Union Cemetery on May 6 and May 29 are aimed at helping residents uncover the stories behind some of the sights they pass by daily.

Pierce is focused on the 150th Festival and Flower Extravaganza planned for May 20 and expected to bring several ongoing events and one-time celebrations together to celebrate the city’s former title as the flower capital of the Bay Area. The city’s first annual Redwing City Chicken Wing Competition will challenge amateur and professional chefs to prepare the best version of their chicken wing rub or sauce for 30 pounds to 50 pounds of chicken wings to be judged by the public. The art and flower exhibition will feature flower arrangements by local florists inspired by the local artwork with a new 3-D light show projected from the Fox Theatre onto the San Mateo County History Museum across the street capping the day’s events.

Titled RWC 150, the light show is contributed by the Redwood City Improvement Association and will premiere Tuesday, April 18. Eric Lochtefeld, operator of the Fox Theatre, said he worked closely with light show artist Bart Kresa to funnel the city’s history into a 20-minute visual narrative, a project Lochtefeld soon came to realize was an ambitious one.

“I think we all tend to think that this is video, but it’s really not … it’s a little different form of storytelling,” he said. “Ultimately, you have to kind of jump on themes.”

Lochtefeld is excited to kick off the show, which will run on Tuesday nights through the fall. Kresa chose to use transportation as a theme to capture moments of the city’s past, from its days as a logging town to its role as a home to Silicon Valley businesses and entrepreneurs today. Colorful images of stagecoaches, early models of the passenger car and a Volkswagen bus are slated to fill the facade of the old courthouse.

Now in its third year, the light show may be on track to become part of Redwood City history. Though Lochtefeld said Kresa has designed two or three shows each summer the program has run, he will only design one show this year to highlight the city’s 150th year.

For Vice Mayor Ian Bain, who also serves on the organizing committee, coordinating the celebration has both brought him into the city’s history and brought stories he wasn’t aware of to the surface. Bain donned a 19th century hat and tie as a part of the Jan. 9 re-enactment of the city’s first council meeting held May 18, 1867, and recently learned from Councilwoman Diane Howard that Bela Lugosi, the actor who played Count Dracula in the 1931 film, was married in the courthouse years ago. Bain is looking forward to seeing the community’s engagement in future events.

“I’m really pleased to see how the community has been embracing it,” he said.

Visit rwc150.org or redwoodcityhistory.org for more information on sesquicentennial events.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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