When Mr. Bernardi was a little boy, he did not want to be a fireman. But when he grew up, a friend got him interested. Mr. Bernardi joined the Arcata Volunteer Fire Department in November of 1945, and has worked there ever since. Mr. Bernardi became Chief of the Fire Department in 1974, and retired in 1978. Now he works as a volunteer. Mr. Bernardi is very proud of Arcata's Fire Department and he came to tell us about its history. Arcata did not have a fire department for its first 25 years. Our first fire department was organized in 1884, and it was called the"Arcata Fire Department #1."
One month later, its name was changed to the "Arcata Hook and Ladder Company." Its only equipment was a horse-drawn wagon that carried ladders. In May of 1900, its name was changed to the "Arcata Fire Department." Then in 1924 the word "volunteer" was added to its name, and in 1954 the words ". . .a non-profit organization" were added, too.
Mr. Bernardi told us about some of the major fires in Arcata and why they happened. In 1875, 1885, and 1890 there were large fires around the Plaza, and whole blocks were burned to the ground. Many of the fires were caused by wood stove pipes. Most of the buildings on the Plaza were made of wood, so fires caught and spread very quickly. A bucket brigade was the way to put out the fires then. (A bucket brigade is where men had to get in line and pass buckets of water from a well. The last man would dump the water on the fire and then pass the bucket back up the line.) There were three wells to get water from. There was one in the center of the Plaza, one where the Post Office now stands, and one where the Arcata Co-op is. The buckets had special, rounded bottoms, so that no one would want to steal them.
In 1945, two major fires occurred. The old Trinity Hospital, that stood where Toni's II now is, burned down, and a skating rink that used to be where the Fire Depart ment is now.
Mr. Bernardi said that hay and brush fires also happened often. Hay fires would start when hay that was wet when stored loose in barns. The wet hay would give off gases that would get hot enough to ignite. Hay fires were hard to put out because they started on the inside of the hay piles and were hard to reach.
The Fire Department had different ways of calling its men to a fire. In 1887, they were called by a bell that was given to them by the Arcata Mad River Railroad. (That bell is in a church in Hoopa now.) Then the Arcata
Fire Department bought itself a new, 800 pound bell. That bell was rung by hand at first, then by a machine. The bell was replaced in 1904 by an air whistle at the California Barrel Company, and then by a siren. Now the firemen are called by siren in daytime and by radio at night. The firemen always carry a pager around with them too.
The equipment the Fire Department uses has changed a lot since it began. In 1885, they got their first piece of equipment. It was a horse-drawn cart, which is now in Blue Lake. In 1908, they got a 45-gallon "chemical cart" that used water, soda and acid. It had to be pulled by rope. The Fire Department still has the cart. In 1916, they got a "Model T" chemical cart that was pulled by a car.
In 1928, the Fire Department got their first "pumper," which Mr. Bernardi fought his first major fire with. The Fire Department sold the pumper to the Simpson Timber Co., but then later bought it back and restored it. Today they give rides on it when they have their Open House every year. Now the Fire Department has a ladder truck, water tender, rescue unit, a Chief's car, and a pickup.
Mr. Bernardi had several interesting stories to tell about his experiences as a fireman. Once his Chief or dared him to jump into Jacoby Creek to dam it up for water. Mr. Bernardi ruined his brand new shoes from J.C. Penney, and his wife was very mad at him. He remembered another day when the Fire Department answered 13 calls in one day. Mr. Bernardi worked from 7:00 a.m. until 4:00 the next day fighting those fires.
Ms. Louanna Kinsey is a speech therapist at our school and an owner of the Minor Theatre. She has been a part of the Minor Theatre Corporation for 15 years. Ms. Kinsey showed us how the Minor Theatre has changed over the years.
Isaac Minor and Noah Falk were two wealthy men who both wanted to build a hotel in Arcata. Mr. Falk built the Arcata Hotel first. Mr. Minor had spent $10,000.00 on the land that he was going to build on and didn't have enough money left to build his hotel. A nickel odeon owner named Mrs. Pettengill talked Mr. Minor into
building a theatre on his land instead.
Many parts for the theatre came here on a ship from San Francisco, so it took a long time for the theatre to open. It was December 3, 1914, when the Minor Theatre finally did open. That night pigeons were released in the theatre and two shows were sold out. A movie showing the celebration of the finishing of the railroad from Arcata to San Francisco was shown.
The Minor Theatre closed in 1938, the year that the Arcata Theatre opened. It opened again in the 1950's. In the 1960's television became popular and people didn't come to the theatre as often. The Minor closed once again and then reopened in 1972.
Ms. Kinsey pointed out many of the changes that the Minor Theatre has gone through. The walls of the theatre used to be stenciled. Now they are painted and only one corner still has its stenciling. There used to be box seats on the side walls and an aisle through the middle of the seats. The seats were smaller then, and less comfortable. There were also two small bathrooms called "smoking rooms."
The Minor Theatre used to have a trap door in its stage that dropped down into the dressing rooms below the stage. The trap door was used by the magician Houdini. Houdini hired a local boy or girl to help him when he performed. He would give them a signal. There was a rope or lever that the helper would pull on to make the trap door open, and Houdini would "disappear." In one of the dressing rooms, you can see some signatures of actors who performed plays at the Minor. There are also steps leading up to the stage for the actors. There was and still is a spring under the Minor Theatre and it has to be pumped out all the time.
There used to be a proscenium arch that framed the Minor's screen, but the owners tore it down to make the screen wider so that they could compete with television.
Mr. Mitchell-Brown came to our classroom to talk about the history of Arcata's railroads and how the railroads changed Arcata, its transportation and economy.
In 1850, gold was discovered in the Trinity River which flows through Willow Creek. Gold miners went to Union (renamed Arcata in 1860) to get supplies. Humboldt County was very isolated and supplies were hard to buy. If you wanted soap, you had to make it and if you wanted vegetables, you had to grow them.
The supplies were shipped up from San Francisco by steamer. They dropped off the supplies at Eureka and sent them up to Arcata, and from there they went up to
the Trinity River by pack mule.
In 1855, the Union Plank Walk Railtrack and Wharf Company formed and built a horse-drawn railtrack car. This was very special because it was the first rail road built in California. The U.P.W.R.T. and W. Company connected the Arcata wharf located at the present Arcata Marsh) with the Jacoby Storehouse. In 1875, the track was extended to the Dolly Varden Mill located northeast of Arcata. Around this time they bought their first steam engine. The U.P.W.R.T. and W. Co. became the Arcata & Mad River Railroad in 1881 (later nick named the "Annie & Mary). As time went on, railroads became so important that, at one time, Arcata had four different railroads passing through.
The U.P.W.R.T. and W. rails were laid 45 V4 inches apart. This would become a problem because the 45 1/4 inch spacing was too narrow. The American standard gauge of 56 1/2 inches was used elsewhere.
The train station was located where the post office now stands. The roundhouse was located where Isackson's Ford dealership is.
The supplies were then taken on a train to Blue Lake and transported by mule to the Trinity River area. Other trains were used locally to pick up logs in the woods.
At this time you still could not take a train from Arcata to San Francisco. You could have gone by boat or stagecoach. It took two days to travel to San Francisco by steamer. If you took a stagecoach, it would be a very bumpy ride. If you took a ship, you could get seasick.
In 1908, the Southern Pacific Railroad and the California & Northern Railroad were trying to find a way to build a railroad from Eureka to San Francisco. They did find a route and the track was completed in 1914 (the same year that the Minor Theatre and the Arcata Hotel were built) at the cost of $23.00 a foot. When completed,
it had 28 bridges, 9 trestles, and 30 tunnels. It became known as the Northwestern Pacific Railroad.
A ceremony was held to celebrate the completion of 257 miles of N.W.P. railroad track. At this ceremony the Golden Spike was driven. During the ceremony, a land slide over the tracks kept the train from immediately returning to Eureka, 80 the people decided to have a party while waiting the five hours that it took to clear the tracks. The party included fishing, singing songs, and building bonfires.
Now, both the N.W.P. and the Arcata Mad River Railroad are joined, creating the line known as the Eureka Southern Railroad. This line is now struggling to remain open and active. For further information about these railroads, contact Arcata Mad River Railroad His torical Society, Box 230, Arcata, CA 95521.
Alexander Brizard came from Peru to San Fran cisco on a sailing ship in 1849. In 1850, at the age of 11, he came to Arcata (Union) with his family. They brought in by sailing ship a prefabricated house that was put up on the south side of the Plaza. The Brizard house was just down the street from the present Jacoby Building.
Alexander's father was interested in the gold rush. Alexander helped his father with any honest work in the Trinity mines. His father did not have much luck finding gold. When Alexander came back to Arcata from the gold country, his friend James Van Rossum, who worked for
the Roskill and Co. mercantile store, helped him get a position with that firm at the age of 19. When Alexander was 24 years old in 1863, he and Van Rossum opened their own mercantile business. As his share, Alexander contributed $693.70 and James Van Rossum $1,447.00 to buy supplies for their new store. In 1871, Mr. Van Rossum retired and Alexander became the sole owner of the business.
A. Brizard's first store was located near where the Arcata Hotel now stands. His store building burned down in 1875. Right after the fire, Alexander opened his store in a barn he owned on 10th Street back of his old store. In 1880, he bought the Jacoby Building and moved his business there. As his business grew, he added on to the building.
At first the building was one story with stone and brick walls that were two feet thick. The stone that was used to make the walls, etc., was quarried locally. The building was the first fire-proof structure in Humboldt County. In 1898, Alexander added a balcony on the inside and the glass on the front of the building. Then in 1907, two more stories were added. For years, the building was known as the A. Brizard building. It is now called Jacoby's Storehouse.
Alexander Brizard was "determined to spare no pains" in serving his customers. He mailed things, sold mining equipment, stocked clothing, groceries, tools and furniture, etc. He bought baskets from the local Indians and sold them all over the United States, many to museums, through his Indian Basket Catalog.
Not only did Alexander start A. Brizard in Arcata, he also started a number of smaller A. Brizard stores in small mining towns such as Willow Creek and Hoopa. At one time there were as many as seven stores. Miners bought food, equipment and clothing with gold. A. Brizard would also credit miners for gold they brought in
and allowed miners to use their credit to buy supplies. The gold was weighed with scales by the store managers. The managers sent the gold to Arcata, where it was sent on to San Francisco.
A. Brizard also delivered merchandise to local people and the miners in the gold camps and nearby towns. In the beginning, A. Brizard delivered things by mule pack train. The mules were kept in a nearby barn and taken to the back of the A. Brizard store for loading with supplies. People, called packers, packed the mules. The packers blindfolded the mules, then they packed the supplies so that the mules couldn't knock the things off their backs. When the mule was packed, a canvas was put on in case of rain. The packers had to take wood stoves, pianos, and other big items apart so the mules could carry them. When steel cables were carried, the load was spread out over as many as five mules.
Later, supplies were brought in wagons pulled by teams of five mules, three in front and two in back. They did this to help the wagon turn around sharp curves. Brizard's also ran horse-drawn stages. People who drove stages, as well as the passengers, wore dusters (long white coats) to keep the dust off. The stages held up to nine passengers inside with three more on top. A. Brizard used pack trains until the 1920's.
By this time trucks were being used. The tires were hard rubber, so when a truck went over a bump, things would get bumped all around.
A. Brizard stayed in the mercantile business for over a century. In 1977, the store building was renovated to become Jacoby's Storehouse. Some of the original brick and stone walls are still there. The Jacoby Building is a California Landmark because of its age and history.
Mr. Appleton taught us many things about A. Brizard and the Jacoby Building.
Note: A. Brizard (A. Brizard, Inc. from 1904) is the name of the mercantile and transportation business started by Alexander Brizard. This business was closed in 1974, but the Jacoby's Storehouse and other Brizard interests con tinue to be owned and managed by his descendants.
Marino Sichi was born in Italy, September 4, 1920. His father came to America before he and his mother did. Mr. Sichi and his mother came to America after she won a lottery (she had dreamed about some numbers one night and had walked 30 kilometers to another town to bet on those numbers. Her numbers were the right ones. She had won the lottery!)
Mr. Sichi's family first lived in Korbel, at a place known as Riverside. Mr. Sichi lived in Korbel until he was 6 years old. When he was little he sometimes got into trouble at the mill, because when no one was looking, he
jumped on the logs in the log pond and rode the logs up the conveyer belt into the sawmill. The men at the mill gave him a job helping the watchman to keep him out of trouble; he had to wind the clocks at each station (the clocks were used to show that the watchman had checked all his stations).
Mr. Sichi told us that there were no playgrounds in Korbel, not even at the school, where he went to school. He told us about something that happened when he went to school in Korbel. He said that one day when a boy was talking too much in class, the teacher wrapped string around and around his head and chin and made him sit in the closet for the rest of the period. When Bryan asked him, "Did he like it?", Mr. Sichi answered, "No, I did not like it. It was me!"
Mr. Sichi moved to Arcata when he was six years old. Growing up in Arcata back then was different from growing up in Arcata today. There were lots of stores on the Plaza then. H.S.U. (Humboldt State University) was much smaller then. Founder's (Hall) was the first building on the campus. There was a movie theater on the Plaza. The Brizard store (now known as the Jacoby Storehouse) was on the Plaza, too. Arcata High School was one brick building, then. Stewart School was Arcata Grammar School. Mr. Sichi shared some of his memories of going to school at Arcata Grammar School. He said that after recess, the students had to line up in the basement and then march quietly upstairs into the classroom when a teacher would play the piano. Later, he graduated from Arcata High School.
Marino Sichi's favorite sports were baseball and football. He played baseball in Sunset School's field before the school was built. He played baseball with a stick and a ball, but didn't get a baseball bat until he was in high school. He also told that he would go to the blacksmith to get horseshoe nails to make darts with cork and feathers.
As a young boy, he was never allowed to go on the "Annie & Mary" (Arcata & Mad River Railroad) tracks down by the bay. One day he decided to go with his friends. A train went past him. The conductor was a friend of his mother's. When he got home his mother whipped him with a belt ("and she was good at it, too!" said Mr. Sichi).
During World War II, Mr. Sichi was 21 years old and was considered to be an enemy alien because he had been born in Italy and wasn't an American citizen. Italy was at war with the United States at the time. All "aliens" living west of Highway 101 had to move east of the highway; Mr. Sichi's family had to move in with friends on the other side of the highway. Mr. Sichi was arrested by the FBI one night because he was out after the 8:00 p.m. curfew during the war (he was an "alien" and could be suspected of being a spy). He was taken to Sharpe Park in the San Francisco area for about a month.
When asked about prices of things when he was growing up, Mr. Sichi said that things cost less, but you got paid less. Candy bars cost 5 cents and they were twice the size of the 50 cent ones today. He said that he got a job at the bakery. He got paid $5.00 a week. He later became a baker there.
Today, Mr. Sichi still lives where he did when he first came to Arcata, right behind Sunset School. He owned a wholesale candy business for many years, retired from that, and then worked at a bank. He has been involved in scouting for many years, 35 years as a scout master.