Even Iceland added to our state dream

Greenland is the one that is stark and icy; Iceland is the one that is green and beautiful. It was populated by Nordic and Gaelic people and was claimed first by Norway and then by Denmark, but is now an independent republic. It is a developed country, the world’s fifth in terms of gross domestic product per capita. You may have noticed lately a lot of advertising of Iceland as a vacation spot. Europeans have known about it for years.

Back to our story. The contributions of Icelanders might not have been recognized, but Caroline Cartwright wrote a term paper on the subject of her family heritage in 1978. She was a student at the College of San Mateo at the time, and such term papers on local history were preserved in the archives of the San Mateo County History Museum.

The Stoneson brothers, Henry and Ellis, were building tycoons in San Francisco. Their name had originally been Thorsteinsson, which translates to Stoneson. They came here by way of Alaska, Canada and Washington State. They began doing odd jobs in home repairs and alterations. They went into the building business with a partner, Fred Thorarinson, who had come with them to San Francisco. Eventually Fred decided to go into business for himself, and all three continued to be successful in the trade. The Stoneson Brothers developed homes in the St. Mary’s Park area of the city and even build their own homes in that neighborhood. They also developed much of the Lakeside District near Lake Merced.

World War II interrupted civilian building, but after the war, the Stoneson Brothers built a planned community that they called Stonestown. It opened in 1952, but Ellis Stonston died suddenly a week before it opened. Ellis had been born in Canada, but his wife, Kritbjorg Thordarson, had been born in Iceland before she moved to Canada.

Ellis and Henry had two sisters. One was Stephanie Ingibjorg Maria who married Andres Fjeldsted Oddstad, Jr. Andy Oddstad began the Sterling Building Company after World War II. He built Sterling Terrace and Sterling Manor in South San Francisco and Sterling Highlands in Redwood City. He also built Sterling homes in Belmont and Palo Alto. He changed his company name to Oddstad Homes Corporation and continued to develop lands on the Peninsula. Farm Hill in Redwood City and Linda Mar in Pacifica are notable locations. Andy donated land for a park in Pacifica, and a school there is named in his honor.

Andy Oddstad was an innovator. He used a new type of prefabricated concrete for floors and walls with reinforcing steel already built into them. Andy died at age 45 in an automobile accident.

Andy’s sister, Elma, was also a notable Icelander. She worked at the National Broadcasting Company in San Francisco and was the only woman trained to be a broadcast engineer. World War II had caused a shortage of trained men. She was the first woman to run for Congress from San Mateo County in 1958. She lost, but enjoyed the distinction of being first woman to run.

These are just a few of the Icelanders mentioned in Caroline’s paper. Thank you Caroline, wherever you are, for preserving this bit of local history for us.

Rediscovering the Peninsula appears in the Monday edition of the Daily Journal. For more information on this or related topics, visit the San Mateo County