Hog farms are about more than just ham and bacon

As San Francisco grew to be a larger city, disposal of garbage became a major concern. Farmers already established in the nearby Colma and Daly City area quickly saw the potential of hog farming. Not only did one not have to buy food for the animals, city dwellers often paid to provide it. Restaurants, hotels, hospitals and even private homes would pay to have the "wet slop" removed from their establishments. Chinatown was a lucrative area, and the Palace Hotel was a major customer. The swill was hauled away in carts, or later, in trucks, preferably at night when it was less offensive.

The farmers then would be able to recycle the hogs as food. In 1891, Gustavus Swift brought the Western Meat Company to South San Francisco.

Having a slaughterhouse and meat distributor nearby further facilitated the local business of hog farms. By 1911, there were 25,000 hogs on the various swill ranches in northern San Mateo County.

One drawback to this industry, however, is the stench that hog farming generates. The western edge of Daly City to Skyline Boulevard was a location of many of these farms. Travelers along the roads of the north county found the nearby hog farms offensive. Complaints to officials brought about regulatory legislation. The "Hog Wars" were on.

Inspectors found illegal stills among the pig sties The odor of garbage masked the tell-tale smell of the whiskey. The hog farms were found to be a public health nuisance. Rats populated the area. Anti-garbage laws were passed that forbid moving the waste across the county line. There were a few arrests. Most of this was just ignored, however, as the hog farms continued to operate.

In 1929, San Francisco decided to eliminate their offending hog farms in "Butchertown" along Islais Creek. There the hogs were kept indoors in what were called "hog tenements." San Mateo County obligingly arranged to take over the business entirely. They repealed the anti hog laws against swill collection. All that was required was to obtain the appropriate licenses. "New sanitary techniques" were cited as reasons to justify the reversal of the earlier laws.

The hog farms gradually declined until around 1968, when the last 10,000 porkers lived on Hillside Boulevard in Colma. One of our major north county developers, Tom Callan, started out as a hog farmer. He was born in 1897 on the family farm in Colma. With the profit from his hogs, he was able to buy up property, particularly at tax delinquency sales. In the postwar housing boom, he subdivided such places as the Westborough area of South San Francisco. Hog farming may be gone now, but we can see around us some results from the old industry.

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 History Museum, 777 Hamilton St., Redwood City.