Princeton by the Sea Memories

of the book arrived in the mail. The book is due to be published on December 10th.

It’s the first time I’ve seen the completed book. Yes! It was exciting.

I want to tell you that there IS a photo of our beloved Crab Cottage in the book. Surprisingly, a vintage photo wasn’t easy to find….Thank you, photographer Ed Davis.

One of the fun things you might not know about–and that I present in the Princeton book–….is that a group of colorful beatniks, artists, painters, writers (who had to leave San Francisco–they were even too beatnik-ish for the City!) lived & worked in what was locally called “The Abalone Factory.”

Tracking them down was most satisfying. You’ll see when you look at the book.

I’ll tell you more later.

P.S. I love the cover of the book–the photo was shot in front of Hazel’s Seafoods (now Barbara’s Fishtrap…Oh, yeah, there’s a wonderful photo of Paul & Barbara in the book, too!)

Thurs., January 28, 1965, from the “Half Moon Bay Review”

“New Doelger Project To Be Outlined At Meeting of Montara-Moss Beach Improvement Group on February 12”

By Colin Cooke

“Engineers for the Henry Doelger Corp. will outline development plans for the area at a meeting of the Montara-Moss Beach improvement association to be held February 12 at Farrallone View school.

“The engineers will be from the firm of Wilsey Ham & Blair who have been consultants to the Doelger organization on the project for a new community between Half Moon Bay and Devil’s Slide.

“Larz Anderson, assistant county planning director, urged support for the local improvement organization at a meeting held in early January. The association is headed by Rev. George Clemmons, pastor of the United Presbyterian church of Moss Beach. “You have a well organized group that has given valuable aid to the county planning staff,” said Anderson.

“He stated that all this public support was all the more necessary if the community was to face the unstable years of development that were ahead. Following public discussion of the plan, he said, it will go to the County Planning Commission for discussion and hoped for approval. It would then go to the county supervisors for review, which, though not mandatory, was highly desirable.

“The next action he felt would be an immediate number of requests for rezoning and subdivision. The plan would be a guide for all governing bodies whether county or local.

“He warned, ‘If you people here lose your interest in this plan for your communities, so will the county government. Maintain your interest and you will accomplish something positive, but lose it, and the results will be something negative where the individual rights of property owners are concerned.

“He was followed by senior planner George Laakso, who began somewhat dogmatically, ‘The idyllic days spent in the country are over!’

Continue reading →

(Photo Jerry Koontz, jerrysphotos.com)

Hundreds of empty crab pots are being moved from a Pillar Point Harbor parking lot to a boat where they will be temporarily stored—because of the uncertainty of the crab season after the tragic oil spill in San Francisco Bay.

Grim News: Crab Season NOT Opening: Story by Burt Blumert

Walking on this bright, beautiful Sunday morning on Johnson Pier at Princeton was glorious. The heavy rains yesterday scrubbed everything and the world seemed perfect.

An ideal day to inaugurate the opening of the crab season by buying some succulent crabs from the boats that sell to the public.

Not so. No crabs today. It’s grim for the fishermen who earn their living from harvesting crabs, for the restaurants that feature crab on their menus at this time of year and the poor consumer who will be denied their winter treat.

To walk on Johnson Pier at Princeton is very sad. All the fishing boats are sitting idle and their empty traps are quietly nested.

Not many crab-men were even on their boats or on the pier. I did encounter one or two; they were glum-faced.

There was a meeting of fisherman last night and they voted to cancel the opening of crab season.

The commercial fishermen haven’t had a good time of it; the salmon season was disappointing–and now with this devastating oil spill, things are going from bad to worse.

At the meeting, reported by a couple of locals, the fishermen discussed the fact that the crabs could be contaminated from the spill–and people could get sick consuming them. This factor eliminated any debate about whether to open the crab season or not.

I didn’t have time to get all of the facts. These poor fellows weren’t in a mood for chatty conversation– worse yet, they are concerned that this disastrous oil spill could threaten future crab seasons.

Let’s hope that there is better news ahead.

By John Vonderlin

Hi June,

I mentioned early on that I collect NotRocks and that Swiss Cheese NotRocks are the most common example found on our coast. Our local Swiss Cheese NotRocks come in three basic varieties: those varieties being determined by the shape and size of the holes.

Likewise, the size and shapes of the holes are determined by the types of sea creatures that create them.

Here’s information from Wikipedia about the mollusks that create the most commonly seen type.

Pholadidae, known as “piddocks” or “angelwings”, are a family of bivalve mollusc similar to a clam; however, they are unique in that each side of their shells are divided into 2 or 3 separate sections.

Furthermore, one of the piddock’s shells has a set of ridges or “teeth”, which they use to grind away at clay or soft rock and create tubular burrows. The shape of these burrows is due to the rotating motion of the piddock as it grinds the rock to make its home. The piddock stays in the burrow it digs for the entirety of its eight year lifespan, with only its siphon exposed to take in water that it filters for food. When the piddock dies and leaves an empty tubular burrow, other marine life such as sea anemone, crabs and other molluscs may use the burrow.

Some species of Pholadidae may reach up to seven inches. Their coloration is typically white, though through consumption of red tide algae some may develop a pink coloration.”

The first picture

is of a dead piddock clam still in its burrow in a rock I split. It clearly shows the shell’s ridges that it used to accomplish the amazing task of burrowing into the rock where it makes its home. Note that the hole becomes larger as it moves deeper into the rock. This is the way you can identify the holes from this family of mollusks in this type of Swiss Cheese NotRock.

I used to call these types of borer mollusks, “The Ocean’s Couch Potatoes.” I did so because any super serious TV watcher who has a favorite old broken-down sofa knows the importance in scootching back and forth until a perfect settling-in-for-the-long-haul process involving a proper melding of gluteal tissue, misplaced stuffing, and loose springs, has been accomplished.

The next photo

is from a place I call, “The Forbidden Zone.” Continue reading →

(Alvin Hatch’s father was engaged in the sawmill business near “Hatch’s Woods” south of Half Moon Bay. A local school is named after the family. Alvin (now gone) went on to become a county supervisor, and, at one point, the owner of the historic Princeton Inn.)

Here he’s talking with county librarian Richard Schellen (now gone.)

AH: Maybe it was 1930 when I sold it [the Princeton Inn] to Bill Large. I don’t recall exactly, but I do remember it was a complicated deal, and I wound up the loser. Frank F. Brophy built the main building originally, and I got into the picture somehow–anyway, I managed the place for a while. At that time the annex, which was farther to the left on the picture you have [note: next to the creek, where the parking lot is now] and moved over to join the main building. There were some financial dealings, and I wound up paying $2500 for the place; I sold it for $500.

My new “Princeton-by-the-Sea” book will be published by Arcadia on December 10th. If you haven’t seen one of Arcadia’s books  they’re a lot of fun and give readers pleasure as well as something new to talk about.

“Princeton-by-the-Sea” contains some 200 historical & present-day photos which will be of interest to everyone, especially Coastsiders. I am grateful to the “oldtimers,” who helped form the stories and provided great images.

It’s unbelievable that so much could have happened in a fishing village with a posted population of 300!

If you visit Arcadia’s website (click here), you’ll be amazed at how they have transformed local history books–traditionally self-published or the domain of  historical societies, into a sophisticated business formula.

In future posts, I will tell you more about my experience writing Princeton-by-the-Sea.

In the meantime, you can pre-order my book, “Princeton-by-the-Sea” here or here.

the-Sea subdivision of 1905-06. At first there was only a railroad depot with the shortened name Princeton a half mile to the north. In the 1920s the present fishing settlement began to grow up at the east end of the old subdivision site, where the closeness of the highway to the beach made a convenient spot for landing goods.–Place Names Of San Mateo County, by Dr. Alan K. Brown, (SMCHA:1975)