Princeton by the Sea

and find out why his friends used to call him “Deep,” and why they now call him “Shallow.”

See the video: Meet Frank and the adorable dogs; you can’t see him, but that’s Rocky in the back window.

Frank’s business is:

Seven Pittsburg Men Form Fish Cannery Co. for Half Moon Bay

1945, Half Moon Bay Review

“The Princeton Packers, recently organized by seven Pittsburg men, has started construction of a Fish Canning Plant at Princeton-by-the-Sea, Half Moon Bay, which will cost, when completed, more than $150,000, and will have this cannery in full operation by August 1st, so they will be able to can sardines during this season. The cannery will be able to pack 3,000 cases of sardines, or about 200 tons of fish daily.

“The canning building will be 60 x 140 feet, and equipped with the latest machinery.

“The fish used by the company will be brought in by suction pumps from the fishing boats into the old warehouse, now standing, which will be used as a cutting room and from there into the main canning room.

“Besides the main building and the cutting room, a building 50 x 60 feet will be erected and will be used exclusively in caring for the by-products of fresh fish, after they have been prepared for canning. The by-products will be made into fish oil and fertilizer.

“Sardines will be the principal product of Princeton Packers although the cannery may expand later to handle other products.

“Approximately 100 persons will be required to operate the plant and personnel will be recruited among Half Moon Bay and vicinity residents.

“A.M. Patrick, President and Manager of the Princeton Packers, said, ‘Government orders will absorb most of the sardine pack handled by the company.’

“Name of Princeton Packers was derived from the town of Princeton, near Half Moon Bay, William M. Wilson revealed.

“We hear that the [Henry] Cowell wharf, now owned by the new company, will be extended 150 feet, making the pier extending in the bay 600 feet.”

There were several owners of Princeton Packers; here’s a little info on A.M. Patrick from the Half Moon Bay Review, 1945

“”Ending 20 years with F.E. Booth Company, A.M. Patrick, San Francisco production manager, who recently submitted his resignation, is President and Manager of the newly organized Princeton Packers. He is a native of Berkeley. Patrick lived in Pittsburg until two years ago when he was promoted from superintendent to production manager.

“‘Pat’ as he likes to be called by his friends lives in Berkeley, with his wife and two daughters, Margaret and Kathleen.

“William M. Wilson, former accounting department employee of Columbia Steel was transferred to the Booth firm about two years ago.

“With the Booth plant oil refinery department in Pittsburg only two years, Wilson worked for Columbia Steele Company’s accounting department about 15 years. He makes his home in Half Moon Bay with his wife and three children, William, James and Sally Ann.

“Vincent Carusa is the father of three sons and a daughter. Vincent has two children in service, Corporal Irving Carusa in the Aleutian area 18 months, and Bernice Carusa, a yeoman, third class in the WAVES, based at San Francisco. Walter Carusa is married and makes his home in Pittsburg, Calif., while Stephen Carusa, is a student at St. Mary’s College, following his recent graduation from Pittsburg High School. He expects to enter service on his 18th birthday.

“Vincent and his brother Steve Carusa founded several of the Pittsburg’s business firms and were responsible for Pittsburg’s first mortuary, dray business and ice and fuel plant; the latter of which they sold to Union Ice Company in 1934.

“Steve, and his brother, Vincent, who pioneered several of the Pittsburg’s major business firms, are stockholders in the corporation, as is James J. Davi, owners of James Jewelers, and now in Coast Guard services, based in Alameda. James Jewelers is now being operated by his wife, the former Victoria Daniele.”

Back in the late 1970s, I self-published “Half Moon Bay Memories: The Coastside’s Colorful Past.” It was an exciting project, taking me places: physical, intellectual and emotional that I’d never explored before. My dream of emulating the Paris publishers of the 1920s had been fulfilled. I published a book that I loved.

“Memories” received a lot of publicity, including a big spread in the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle. As a result, I got letters from all over the country, letters that I’ve kept in a couple of shoe boxes. I realize now, having the Internet as an excellent resource, that I should have paid closer attention to some of the letter writers because they had good stories to tell me– but I didn’t follow up.

There were three letters from the Wiegels, postmarked San Francisco and Berkeley. J. Mason Wiegel, an attorney and editor of the Weekly Law Digest, headquartered on Montgomery Street, noted that as a child he had lived in El Granada in the house pictured on the bottom of page 142 of my book. His father had worked for the Ocean Shore Railroad, riding the train into the City every day. The Wiegels moved when the Ocean Shore filed bankruptcy.

In 1979 I also received a letter from R.I. Wiegel, a Berkeley resident. He was interested in buying the Memories book.

I didn’t connect the two Wiegels, J. Mason and R.L., until recently when I rummaged through the shoe boxes, opening and reading the 30-year-old letters, still crisp in their envelopes. A quick search of J. Mason Wiegel on the ‘net told me that he was gone–but copies of his Weekly Law Digest were available at a used book site. About R.I. Wiegel, I didn’t have a clue.

Meanwhile John Vonderlin, fascinated with the 1946 April Fool’s Day Tidal Wave, discovered that some photos of the tsunami’s damage at Princeton-by-the-Sea, might be found in the archives at UC Berkeley.

John was right. There were photos I hadn’t seen archived in the Water Resources Center, O’Brien Building, at Berkeley. The specific collection I wanted to see was kept in the R.L. Wiegel Collection. (There are some 50,000 images in the Wiegel Collection with about 16 of them relating to the 1946 tsunami.)

After the first of the year, 2008, Burt and I headed for the O’Brien Building, which we saw right away, is like going back in time. It is not a hi-tech venue. All around the old O’Brien Building, there are brand new structures going up, serving to emphasize the difference.

School wasn’t in full session so I didn’t have to wait long to see the slides in the R.L. Wiegel Collection. About 15 minutes later an elderly man walked into the room. He was clearly a man of authority and respect as the staff gathered around him.

One of the staff approached me and told me the man was Professor Robert Wiegel, would I like to meet him? Of course. Seconds later I was talked with the professor and had learned he was the man who had written me the letter in 1979. His brother was J. Mason Wiegel. Their father had worked for the Ocean Shore, completing the plans for El Granada and when the railroad ran out of money, Wiegel, Sr. was paid in building lots which he sold off slowly.

“My father said El Granada was the most beautiful place in the world,” Professor Wiegel told me.

I told him I had kept his correspondence; he said he still lived with his wife in the same house. Now in his 80’s, he didn’t come into the office much, so our encounter was special, indeed.

————————————
Here are the photos, all courtesy: Robert L. Wiegel Coastal Slide Collection, Water Resources Center Archives–University of California, Berkeley
1. Anderson, Howard (UCB Waves Project). About 10:30 a.m. Coast Guard pier and Romeo Fish Company. Tidal wave receding, highest level of water tried to lift boat in davits (at end of pier) and came to deck stringers. Highest tide reached 14.8 stage. (Robert L. Wiegel Coastal Slides Collection.)
2. Anderson, Howard (UCB Waves Project). April 2, 1946, tide at 3.7 stage, showing normal appearance of pier. Water came level with porch deck of Coast Guard shack at left. (Robert I. Wiegel Coastal Slides Collection.)

3, 4. Anderson, Howard (UCB Waves Project). Half Moon Bay 4-1-46. (About 10:30 a.m.) Miscellaneous pictures of tidal wave receding.(Robert L. Wiegel Coastal Slides Collection.)

5. Anderson, Howard (UCB Waves Project) Half Moon Bay. About 10:30 a.m. Tidal wave receding, level of water is said to have come to the window sills of the house. Tide of 14.8 (Robert L. Wiegel Coastal Slides Collection.)

6. April 2, 1946. Tide at 3.7 stage. Same scene from end of pier. Coast Guard shack at right center. Beach was formerly fine sand; is now denuded, leaving hard clay base. (Robert L. Wiegel Coastal Slides Collection.)

Crackin’ Crab at Ida’s: Story by Collin Tiura

[One part of coast-side history that is noteworthy is the Mangue family. Ida, Ernie and their three children: Ron the eldest, then Jeanie and Rudy, who was a year or so older than me.]

My first job was working for Ida at her crab stand which was across from the HMB Brewing Co. on that now priceless piece of barren land right on the water. I was in the 4th grade and worked weekends, icing down the fish, cleaning, cracking and picking crab, and all the other cool stuff you do in the operation of a crab stand.

Ida was a sweet lady and you couldn’t help but like her. She had a loyal clientele that were more like family. It was a great place for a little guy to work.

Ida’s husband Ernie, a real character, was a commercial fisherman and abalone diver. The boys also worked with their dad.

Jeanie worked at the crab stand too. She was a hottie.

The Mangues bought the restaurant across the street, now the Brewing Co. Ernie was the chef, Jeanie the waitress, and I was everything else. Ida continued running the crab stand. The boys took over the fishing part of the operation.

When Ron was in high school, he fished with his dad on the week-ends. They’d head out to sea early in the morning and work all day. By the time they got back to the pier and unloaded their catch, little time was left for the pursuit of the opposite sex. Time was of the essence, and any serious competitor knew he’d better get out there if he were to catch something.

Ron had a collection of brightly colored Pendleton shirts. He’d throw one on, never bothering to take time to change his fish flavored levis, hell, that was what Mennen Skin Bracer aftershave was all about.

I was amazed at how quickly he could change and fly to his chariot, and then shoot to town. If odors had color, he would have left beautiful comtrail. Hence the “Mangue Bath�?.

And by the way, he did eventually hook himself a dandy.

Ida and Ernie bought ‘Rotten Ralph’s burger joint (now Sam’s Chowder house) and moved their restaurant business there, and operated it until Ida died.

Well June there’s a little. To this day those of us who knew Ron still call it taking a ‘Mangue’.

Princeton-by-the-Sea is a place filled with legends and tall tales.

An oft-asked question: Who burned down the beloved Crab Cottage?

As the legend goes, John and Slim were two characters that slept in a wood pile. They didn’t bother anyone….unless having way too much to drink counts. One day John and Slim woke up and heard from a passerby that the Crab Cottage wasn’t open for breakfast that morning. The Crab Cottage was always open for breakfast and it not being open on that particular morning irritated all three men.

John and Slim didn’t work at a regular job unless walking around and checking on the goings on in Princeton counts.

As the day turned from light to dark, John and Slim kept talking about the Crab Cottage being closed for breakfast. They bought some cheap wine and bought some more and by the time the moon was up, the men were outraged.

Something had to be done, they said. So they took matters into their own hands, and with plenty of matches zig zagged their way to the Crab Cottage….and burned it down.

In John and Slim’s mind, they had solved the problem of the Crab Cottage being closed for breakfast. They would never be disappointed again.

from NOAA click here

April 1, 1946 Eastern Aleutian Is. Tsunami Damage along the Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California coasts

See References for information sources.

Location	Amplitude (m)	Damage Summary
Unga, AK	0.8	Dock and boats washed away.
Ikatan, AK	?	Several homes washed away, Pankof light destroyed.
Sanak, AK	6.1	Boats beached, some houses destroyed.
Scotch Cap, Unimak I., AK	35	Five drowned. Lighthouse destroyed. Antenna 105 feet above sea level washed away. Radio station flooded.
Dutch Harbor, AK	?	Ferrys carried away, docks damaged.
Nikolski, AK	up to 12.2	Nine baraboras washed away
Taholah, WA	1.5	Five foot surge up Quinalt River swamped boats and damaged fishing nets.
Seaside, OR	1.2	Boats and log float swept away in Necanicum River.
Gold Beach, OR	?	Sixty-foot float endangered. Slight damage at Winchuck River.
Noyo River Mouth, CA	1.4	Many boats broke from moorings, several near drownings.
Drakes Bay, CA	2.6	Crab pots rolled over, rowboat capsized.
Princeton, CA	2.6	Much damage. Houses flooded, quarter mile inundation, boats beached, dock damaged, $20K damage.
Santa Cruz, CA	1.5	One drowned. Minor damage.
Port Hueneme, CA	0.8	Sand swept over railroad tracks.
Santa Catalina I., CA	?	Baseball field inundated, pier swept away.

Thank you John Vonderlin for sending this…(email John: benloudman@sbcglobal.net)

From “United States Tsunamis”

1946, April 1, 12:29. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake in the Aleutian Islands generated a 30-m tsunami on Unimak Island that destroyed Scotch Cap Lighthouse. In California the tsunami caused a rise above normal tides of, 2.6 m at Half Moon Bay, 2.6 m at Bolinas, 2.4 m at Arena Cove, 1.5 m at Morro Bay, 1.5 m at Santa Cruz, 1.4 m at Noyo, 1.3 m at San Luis Obispo, and 1.2-m rise at Avila.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports confirm the unusual heights at Santa Cruz, and at Half Moon Bay, California. At Charleston, Oregon, near Coos Bay, 3 meter waves were observed, and 1.8 m. waves were observed at Clatsop Spit, Oregon, at the mouth of the Columbia River. The wave was 1.5 m at Newport and 1.0 m (range) at Siuslaw River. Other localities reported runups of less than 1.0 m.

At Noyo River, California, 100 fishing boats were thrown 1.8 m up bank. At Half Moon Bay where $1,000 in damage occurred waves swept into the unoccupied Coast Guard barracks loosening the building from its foundation. A house was flooded to the window sills. At nearby Princeton huge boulders weighing up to 70 kilograms were washed as far as high highway and some residences were flooded. Water was about 1 m deep on the road. A shack had a wall cave in, and it was moved 0.6 m from its foundation.

Also, at nearby Granada a 10 m boat was washed onto the highway….”

Tuesday, April 2, 1946

From the San Mateo Times:

“Princeton. April 2–Coastside residents today were taking the cycle of total waves in stride. Consensus of opinion was that there was nothing they could do about it, individually or collectively. After reading newspaper accounts and hearing radio reports of what happened in the Hawaiian Islands and elsewhere, local residents took the viewpoint that they were lucky with no lives lost and comparatively small property loss.

“Fearful that a high tide at midnight last night might result in more damage, a number of persons gathered at the Nerli restaurant to keep a midnight watch on the tide. Shortly after midnight, the restaurant closed and all departed.

“Several telephone calls were received at the coast guard station asking if a special watch were being kept and if a warning could be issued. Advised that Twelfth naval district orders had put the coast guard complement on the alert over night the persons, thus assured, apparently went to bed.

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